“China invested almost twice as much in clean energy projects last year compared with the US, and has emerged as the world’s market leader in installed wind power capacity in 2009”. An impressive opening by the last issue of the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices, released by Ernst & Young. The US, despite the increasing likelihood that the clean energy bill will not pass before the November mid-term elections and the lowest installed wind capacity last quarter since 2007, is placed as the second most attractive country in the world to invest in renewable energy.
On one side, two countries have experimented a two point increase in the index, India and UK, due to Government’s injection (US$ 1 billion) in the green economy by the former, and the government plans to launch a £2 billion “green investment bank” fund by the latter. On the other side, “Greece, Spain and Portugal have all suffered negative score changes due to worsening capital markets and a downward revision of sovereign credit ratings by Standard and Poor (S&P)”, stresses the report.
The report shows that China is now tied with America as the most attractive location in which to invest in renewable energy projects. The report looks at the "Shift to green" and challenges for renewable support mechanisms.
The Country Attractiveness Indices track the relative attractiveness of 27 countries’ renewable energy markets across a selection of technologies each quarter. The Ernst & Young index tracks and scores investment in renewable energy, all renewables, long-term on or off-shore solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, biomass, geothermal and infrastructure. Since 2003, the Ernst & Young Energy and Environmental Infrastructure Advisory team has been releasing quarterly data that ranks national renewable energy markets, and their suitability for individual technologies.
Via: EY
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Construction began in 2006, and it will be finished later this year. The architecture firm behind this 71-story high building is Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The skyscraper will be home to the China National Tobacco Corporation.
Let’s see, this building will include solar panels, wind turbines, greywater recycling, efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning, among other features.
The Pearl River Tower will have motorized louvers that open or close according to the position of the sun, and the interior and exterior temperatures. These help keep the building cool, and provide ventilation.
As for the wind turbines, they will generate 4% of the tower’s power. Together with the solar panels, the turbines will power the HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning).
On the whole, the building will be 58% more energy efficient than conventional skyscrapers.
The team is from Tianjin University, and their house has been called “Sunflower”, and it also uses solar energy, thanks to which it doesn’t need to be connected to the grid.
This year’s Solar Decathlon will be held in Spain, in June.
Among the Sunflower’s sustainable features are its energy efficient kitchen and its recycling toilet system. Part of its exterior is covered in solar panels. I’ll be posting more details when they become available.
VIA: Ecofriend
The world’s largest solar powered building is located in Dezhou, Shangdong Province, in northwest China. The facility has a 75,000 square meter surface which was built based on the sun dial structure. The innovation in the design and construction of this type of building is being pushed forward by the urgent need of seeking renewable energy to start replacing fossil fuels, that have an enormous impact on air pollution.
The building has exhibition centers, scientific research facilities, meeting and training facilities and even a sustainable hotel. Dubbed the Sun and the Moon Altar micro-row buildings, the architecture features the Chinese characters for sun and moon, while the white exterior structure symbolizes clean energy.
The most important feature of this green office building is the huge quantity of solar light that the roof panels attract and the powerful energy you can obtain from them. But, there were also other ideas that came up while the building was being constructed.
For example, roof and wall insulation technology systems reduce 30% more energy than the national energy saving standard.
The building will be the main stage for the 4th World Solar City Congress that will be held in September 2010.
VIA: Ecofriend
Let’s be honest, Copenhagen was not what we expected. What we had in mind was that an international treaty in which countries would accept to be legally bound to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions would be achieved. The main purpose of the summit was the establishment of a strong and binding agreement, and this was not achieved.
BUT, we Sustentators believe that in order to progress we need to find the positive side of things. While no binding agreement was reached, there were other accomplishments, possibly minor, but not irrelevant.
To start with, more than 110 world leaders gathered with a common goal: to discuss how to address climate change. We believe this is really remarkable. The Presidents of the USA, China, Germany, France and Brazil, among others, were in Copenhagen. That means the world and political leaders are giving increasing importance to global warming.
Secondly, the conference was covered by thousands of media reporting during the two weeks of Copenhagen on the progress and challenges that occurred there. This breadth in media coverage must have reached many people around the world, which were in contact with environmental problems. This is a virtuous circle, because if more people are aware, the social pressure increases for politicians, and this helps legitimate stronger actions.
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US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and in his acceptance speech he emphasized the need for fighting climate change. He mentioned that from scientists and environmental activists to military leaders, the knowledge that “our common security hangs in the balance” is widespread.
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100 nations are demanding more ambitious targets in terms of combating climate change. Among these, the 43-member alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is particularly concerned about the effect rising sea levels can have on them. The least developed countries (LDCs) and
the AOSIS support the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees temperature rise. This would require at least a 45% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by rich nations, from 1990 levels by 2020. -
A new draft, the “Copenhagen Accord” has surfaced, prepared by China, India, South Africa and Brazil, the four major emerging economies. The draft suggests that rich countries should reduce their emissions by more than 40% compared to 1990 levels, and that the Kyoto Protocol should include a “binding” amendment. The draft was posted by French newspaper “Le Monde” in its website. The “Copenhagen Accord” aims at keeping temperatures from increasing more than two degrees compared to pre-industrial levels. An interesting proposal is that emissions reductions should be achieved “mainly through domestic measures” and not so much through paying for offsetting in other countries.
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US president Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed a number of agreements to work together on climate change and energy security. This is great news, being the US the second largest carbon-emitter, and India the fourth. The US has already advanced on negotiations with China. The fact that such powerful leaders are starting to jointly address environmental issues is a great sign, and might be of great help to create a stronger and more effective climate deal in Copenhagen.
Some of the initiatives they have agreed on are the following:
The US and India will foster development and deployment of clean energy technologies. An Indo-US Clean Energy Research and Deployment Initiative has been launched. This includes a Joint Research Center. Some of the priorities of this initiative include energy efficiency, smart grid, second-generation biofuels, and clean coal technologies such as carbon capture and storage. Also solar energy, sustainable transportation, and wind energy development.
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US president Barack Obama’s visit to China is proving to be worth its carbon footprint… Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao have already established a deal to share information on renewable energy. Now they’ve announced some great plans on clean energy initiatives.
Their plan focuses mainly on clean energy. The idea is that the implementation of clean energy will be studied and fostered, and that emissions will be hopefully reduced thanks to natural gas and the development of carbon capture technology.
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