This is a repost from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun, below:
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
On Monday, September 20, 2021, the share of renewable energy (solar, wind, and hydro) on Australia’s main electricity grid shot above 60% (at 60.1%) for the first time at 12:10 pm, exactly one day and 15 minutes after its previous peak and record of 59.8% on Sunday, September 19, 2021, according to Dylan McConnell of the Climate Energy College in Melbourne, Australia, using data from OpenNEM. This new peak highlights the increased pace of transition into the clean or renewable energy and the shrinking output of coal as more solar and wind are rolled out across Australia. According to another data watcher, Geoff Eldridge from NEWLog, Sunday, September 19, 2021, did not just break the record for the share of renewable energy, but also the record for instantaneous wind and solar at 57%. The Australian Energy Market Operator also noticed: NSW record maximum rooftop solar PV (2,694.4 MW) and corresponding lowest minimums for network demand (4,867.4 MW) and Operation Demand (5,065.0 MW) and tweeted on Friday, September 24, 2021, “Spring is the season for records to bloom! Forecast mild temperatures and sunny weather in NSW and QLD on Sunday may see rooftop solar drive down energy demand from the grid to a new record low!” With such occurrence, NSW, the Australian state grid with the highest dependency on coal generation, would find it easier to align with the state government’s push to replace the aging coal fleet of more than 10GW with wind, solar, and storage under its renewable infrastructure plan. According to Eldridge of NEMLog, coal output on the main grid was at a record minimum of 9,161.6 MW at noon on Sunday, September 19, 2021 (or, at leas the lowest since Nov. 1, 2020), and was down 153.57 MW on the previous minimum on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. It was also a record low share of coal generation (38.97%) on the main grid and for combined coal and gas (40.05%). The share of solar and wind could have been significantly higher were it not for the level of curtailment, either economic (switching off to avoid negative prices) or network (being forced to switch off due to grid issues or capacity constraints). On Sunday, September 19, 2021, the level of curtailment was more than 3.5 GW when that short-lived record was set. As the rollout of solar, wind, and storage (both battery and pumped hydro) continues to enter the grid, more records will change. AEMO forecasts that the rooftop solar, alone, will be able to reach 100% of demand in the state of South Australia some time this Spring (of Australia), around October, a FIRST for any gigawatt scale grid in the world! AEMO is also predicting that rooftop solar could meet up to 75% of demand on the entire main grid within next five years and is preparing the national grid to accommodate times of up to 100% solar and wind by 2025. ABC News: South Australia’s renewable energy boom has achieved a global milestone, in the video published on Oct. 25, 2020, “ABC News: South Australia runs purely on solar power in world first“, below:
Australia is preparing to build the world’s most powerful solar power plant. Engineers and builders will have to solve complex problems to cover an area equal to 17 thousand football fields that accommodate photovoltaic panels with a total capacity of 10 Gigawatts. The second challenge will be to transfer this energy to Singapore, the main consumer of electricity. There is also talk of exporting energy to Indonesia and various parts of Asia. But how exactly will the power plant be able to power a country more than three thousand kilometers away? In the video published on Sep. 21, 2021, “How Australia’s Most Powerful $16 Billion Solar Power plant Will Power Singapore“, below:
To begin with, it is worth understanding why energy problems have arisen in one of the most developed countries in the world. Australia faces regular power outages, and, unfortunately, South Australia suffers the most. There may be a lot of reasons: for instance, in September 2016, due to a storm, almost the entire state was left without electricity. One reason for the outages is that there are not enough storage facilities on the territory to supply more electricity during peak loads. The local authorities could not ensure the commensurate development of their own energy or storage capacities capable of providing electricity supplies during calm or cloudy weather. And it is quite difficult to restore the network because of the climatic conditions and long distances – Australia is not a tiny country. At the same time, electricity prices in the country are considered one of the highest in the world, in the video published on Jan. 13, 2021, “HOW ELON MUSK MANAGED TO SOLVE THE ENERGY CRISIS IN AUSTRALIA“, below:
In the video published on Oct. 29, 2017, “Elon Musk gets emotional over Australia’s energy emergency (Part Two) | 60 Minutes Australia“, below:
Australian Renewable Energy Agency CEO Darren Miller told Sky News Australia has made “incredible progress” in the transition to renewable energy sources, in the video published on May 18, 2021, “Australia making ‘incredible progress’ in the transition to renewable energy”, below:
Internationally recognized leader on global climate change, Christiana Figueres tells Liz Hayes we have just three years to get our renewable energy house in order, in the video published on Oct. 31, 2017, “Australians have just three years to get our renewable energy house in order | 60 Minutes Australia“, below:
This is a repost from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun, below:
Elon Musk, 2018 (Attribution: The Royal Society, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en, Presented at: WindermereSun.com & sunisthefuture.net)
Elon Musk talks about his plan for the sun. It’s already very normal day when Elon Musk talks about some revolutionary idea and this speech is no exception, in the video published on Sep. 12, 2021, “Elon Musk – Sun is The Future“, below:
In order to be sustainable, we have to have sustainable means of production and consumption of energy, to drive electric cars in order to reduce CO2 emission, and to generate sustainable energy. Sustainable energy may be in the form of solar, nuclear, hydro-thermal, hydro, and wind energy. The primary form of energy to be generated will be solar. Sustainable or solar energy production combined with stationary storage, the world can be powered many times over by solar energy. About a third of our energy use is electricity, about a third of energy use is for for heating, and a third of energy use is in transport. There is enough energy from the sun to support all three areas of energy use/need. There is 1 gw per square km amount of energy coming from the sun. The earth is already almost entirely solar powered. The amount of energy needed to power our civilization is tiny compared to energy from the sun (1 gigabit per square kilometer). At 20% efficient solar panels, that’s 200 Mw per square kilometer. There would be plenty of energy for all three areas of energy use from solar, with some contribution from wind, geothermal, and tidal. And we need to stop subsidizing burning fossil fuels. For more about the use of solar energy, please visit: Sun Is The Future and Sun Is The Future youtube channel. Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
This is a repost from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun, below:
Terrific, on Thursday, Sep. 9, 2021, Australia has once again beaten its previous record for the share of renewables on its main grid, reaching instantaneous 58.3% , and also setting a new record for the share of wind and solar in the grid. According to OpenNEM’s data, the new record was set at 12:30 pm, and easily beat the previous record of 57.3% set just a few days earlier. Since such records are usually set on weekends when industrial use is lower, it is quite telling when this new record was set on a weekday.
Wind and solar reached 56.1% at 12:30 pm, also a record of total output, although the aggregate total of about 14.5 GW was not a record. At the time of the record, rooftop solar alone contributed 32.4% of the total demand of about 24 GW while wind farms contributed 12.9%, and utility scale solar farms 10.8%. Coal was reduced to 40% of the output, with black coal in Queensland and NSW providing 29.4% and brown coal in Victoria 10.4%.
Did you know that last year Costa Rica was able to run on only clean renewable energy (from hydro, geothermal, solar, wind, and biofuel) for 299 out of the 365 days in 2015? In order to get to the finish line during our marathon of transitioning toward a clean and renewable future, we need to address the issue brought up by Monica Araya of Costa Rica. It is important for us to also move onto electric transportation vehicles in order to achieve healthy and clean future for our future cities. It is important to break free from vehicles running on fossil fuel.
As the temperature arrives at its highest level since the recorded history of homo sapiens, as the suicide rate of Indian farmers and farmers from elsewhere continues to rise, and various other signs and symptoms associated with climate change picking up its respective pace, there is greater need to slow down the climate change, CO2 emission, and to speed up our transition not only to solar and renewable energy sources, but also to EV (electric vehicles). We all need to act fast! Have you started researching for your EV’s?
The Great Transition by Lester Brown and co-authors Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Do you feel the change in the air? We truly are living in an exciting time! Every where I turn, I see the sign of change and transition, including an email that I’ve received few days ago from Earth Policy Institute, about the arrival of a new publication. This is a recently released book titled, The Great Transition, by Lester Brown with co-authors Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams. It is a summary presentation for the worldwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, Solar and Wind Energy. It lays out the rapidly evolving global shift toward cleaner sources of energy, driven by economics, policy, and the reality of accelerating climate change. The authors stress the fact that this shift represents a lasting change in the way we power our world in centuries to come.
As fossil fuel resources shrink, as air pollution worsens, and as concerns about climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal, oil, and natural gas, a new world energy economy is emerging. The old economy, fueled largely by coal and oil, is being replaced with one powered by solar and wind energy.
TheGreatTransition details this trend, focusing on falling prices and rising adoption for wind, solar, electric vehicles, geothermal energy, and energy efficiency; and the emerging turn from coal, nuclear power, oil, and traditional transportation that is happening faster than anticipated.
Yes, as seen in some of our previous posts, the change will always be faster than many have previously anticipated.
The authors of The Great Transition have also kindly provided us with slides to be shared among people who are interested in the course of energy in human history. They have also helped to shatter some of the old myths popularized by detractors of Renewable Energy in this book. It’s a great read for those who want to have a better understanding of how our world have and will continue to transition from fossil fuels into Renewable Energy Age. Educators and policy makers from different locations are encouraged to utilize this well synthesized information to mobilize or fix our energy system.
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
~have a bright and sunny day~
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,
Please click and view the video below for The Biggest People’s Climate March Ever!
(Please click on red links and note magenta)
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of NYC, other cities in USA and elsewhere in the world, on Sunday (September 21, 2014), Monday (September 22, 2014) and Tuesday (September 23, 2014), demanding world leaders to do more to take serious actions to slow the Climate Change. In NYC (New York City) alone, there were 310,000 people showing up to march for Climate Justice. So far, there is no global agreement on what to do regarding Climate Change, even though some countries have already taken actions in reducing CO2 emissions (such as Australia’s previous Carbon Tax, European nations (esp. policies by Germany, Italy, and UK), China’s, Taiwan’s, and Japan’s Feed-In-Tariff for Solar & Wind & switching from coal to natural gas, U.S. has switched from coal to natural gas and increased solar and wind installations). This largest climate march in history involves approximately 1500 organizations, but is mostly organized by AVAAZ (with membership of over 30 million people according to wikipedia) and 350.org . It has brought together great diversity of people from different social, economic, political, and religious affiliations. It is purposely designed to take place prior to the UN meeting on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, when discussion regarding future direction and finance associated with the topic of climate change will be taking place.
Here, at Sun Is The Future, we’d like to implore leaders of the world to consider implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy: Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) have proven to be the world’s most successful policy for delivering large quantities of renewable energy generation quickly and cheaply. It will help to develop vibrant renewable energy industries (solar-wind-water-geothermal-wave ) that will Reduce CO2 emissions, Slow Climate Change, Solve Energy Problem, Create Local Jobs, by using our abundant Sunshine and various Renewable Resources. We believe, by implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy, incorporating True Value of Each and Every Renewable Energy, Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy will be implemented most effectively.
This is what hope looks like:
Above photo from @cynryan on Twitter
Below, is part of the email received from Jamie from 350.org
On Monday, 310,000 people took to the streets of New York City to call for climate action — the largest climate march in history.
And on Tuesday, the world’s politicians will gather in New York to talk about climate action — 125 heads of state in total. They’ll be gathering with the knowledge that more people than ever are demanding action, not just words, and that their political future is on the line — as well as the future of the planet.
We will bring that message to the top leadership of the UN inside Tuesday’s summit, with a hand-delivered message to top UN climate negotiators. If you stand with the hundreds of thousands of people who marched today around the world, tell world leaders that you mean business: act.350.org/letter/ready-for-action/
Today people from the communities where fossil fuels are dug up marched alongside people who live where they are burned. Thousands of workers, the people who stand ready to build a clean, renewable energy system, walked alongside indigenous communities that are already leading with their own climate solutions.
New Yorkers, including those whose homes were wrecked by Superstorm Sandy, marched in huge numbers, standing alongside international ambassadors from communities responding to climate disasters worldwide.
The ripples of the People’s Climate Mobilization are already spreading. A people’s summit outlining the path to a just transition away from fossil fuels starts tomorrow, along with actions targeting corporate polluters in New York.
We hope the UN leaders have heard our voices and will seriously consider implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy With Incorporation of True Value of Each and Every Renewable Energy throughout our planet earth.
Governor John de Jongh, Jr. of the Virgin Islands signed a bill enacting feed-in tariffs in the US territory on May 16, 2004. Act 7586 is a greatly watered down version of the original proposal by Senator Craig W Barshinger. The act directs the territory’s utility to set the tariffs and otherwise administer the program. The tariffs must be approved by the Public Service Commission. Unlike many recent feed-in tariff proposals in North America, the Virgin Islands act includes other renewables an[more]
Facing pressure due in large part to a pipeline of proposed PV installations and increasing electricity demand, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) is organizing plans to raise its feed-in tariff (FiT) cap to 10 times more than the current rate.
Since the domestic RHI launched in April 2014, I’ve been hearing people saying that the domestic RHI ‘isn’t such a good return as the feed-in tariff (FiT).
Here is yet another reason why the reductions German energy intensive industry gets when paying surcharges are not subsidies, and therefore none of the EU Commission’s business.
REACH’s wrapup summary of renewable legislation that was considered by Hawaii’s state legislature during its 2014 session, including 100% RE, storage, grid modernization, net-metering, and various renewable energy tax credits.
The Fukui District Court ruled Wednesday that it will not allow the restart of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear plant, now under safety examination by Japan’s top nuclear watchdog. . . It is the first time since the Fukushima nuclear crisis erupted in March 2011 that a Japanese court has ordered a power supplier not to bring a nuclear plant online.
The Danish Energy Agency has published an energy-scenario report and five sub-analyses on the energy system of the future and the challenges that need managing up to 2050 as fossil fuels are phased out and replaced with renewable energy.
Windpower Ownership in Sweden: Business models and motives, the new book by Tore Wizelius helps English-speakers understand how Swedes have taken a sizable ownership of wind energy in spite of their government. In this, his book can serve as an inspiration to community wind advocates worldwide who face many of the same challenges faced in Sweden.[more]
In comparison, the German Chancellor’s office (Bundeskanzleramt) has a 150 kW installation. That’s at least by a factor 10 more than what Obama has installed.
Evance have an innovative new windmill design 90% of the way through development and nearing the production stage, following the manufacture and supply of almost 2,000 of smaller windmills –between 10-20m tall – to Britain and locations across the globe from the USA and Madagascar over the past decade.
However, developers say a lot of the uncertainty around geothermal in the U.S., and part of the reason it hasn’t grown much in recent years, is due to the unreliable nature of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC).
This feed-in tariff news update is made in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and are not necessarily those of ILSR.
Gathered and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
April 9, 2014, by Craig Morris: Even when the foreign press reports on the correct numbers, a lot of the terms can still be slightly misleading. Today, we focus on a report at Reuters to help the international audience understand the issues.
April 4, 2014, by Linda Archibald: The man who initiated the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) concept says Malaysia should increase the quota for renewable energy (RE) for its own FiT programme to create enough mass to face potential roadblocks ahead.
April 4, 2014,The Strategy makes clear DECC want this market to grow over the next few years, so it will be key to change the feed-in tariff reduction triggers and the upper tariff band to enable this. We can fix the barriers, but the policy framework must allow the growth we all want to see.
April 4, 2014,The use of the fixed feed‐in systems that have so far been successful in minimizing financing costs is prohibited from January 2015 for all but small installations. This shift to a “market premium” is likely to increase financing costs and might have negative effects on the efficiency of short‐term markets and effectiveness of forward markets.
April 3, 2014, by Craig Morris: While the German government does not specifically plan to change the design of feed-in tariffs for PV this year, the application of the renewables surcharge to solar power directly consumed does change things considerably.
April 3, 2014, by John Parnel: End-market demand was said to have been driven by Japan and the UK, which combined accounted for more than one-third of demand globally as well as setting new quarterly records for PV deployed.
March 28, 2014, by Paul Gipe: In a potentially far-reaching decision, the European Commission has decided that the French system of feed-in tariffs for wind energy on land is not excluded under prohibitions against “state aid,” and is therefore permitted under European Union (EU) regulations. [more]
March 28, 2014,Three German federal states have reached a deal with German Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) whereby only part of the feed-in tariff surcharge will be applied to new solar photovoltaic systems which supply electricity for the system owner’s use.
March 28, 2014, by Craig Morris: Yesterday, Brussels approved French feed-in tariffs for wind but said it would investigate industry exemptions. In related news, a draft of the latest energy policy proposals leaked earlier this month probably provides so many backdoors for feed-in tariffs as to make the policy viable going forward.
April 7, 2014, by Andrew Dewitt: Japan’s energy policy regime appears dangerously adrift in the context of accelerating climate change. The core problem is agency. On the one hand, Japanese PM Abe Shinzo and the nuclear village appear obsessed with nuclear power restarts and 20th century paradigms of the power economy.
March 31, 2014, by Craig Morris: On Friday, German power provider Eon confirmed that it will shut down a nuclear plant ahead of schedule. The premature discontinuation of lignite excavation also announced that day, however, is a governmental decision, albeit one the firm may have been about to make itself.
March 27, 2014, by Glen Estill: Natural gas in storage in the US continued its decline in the most recent update from the US Energy Information Agency. (Why doesn’t Canada publish this type of data?) The ongoing cold winter reduced the gas in storage to 896 Bcf. This compares with the 5 year average of 1822 Bcf, a reduction of 51%. Gas in storage dropped in the week ended Mar 21 by 57 Bcf. Last year in the same week gas in storage was pretty much the same as the week before.
March 26, 2014, by Bernard Chabot: But as his Figure 1 and, in particular, Figure 3 show, the boom in nuclear mainly took place in the 1970s. Growth continued in the 80s, but began stagnating at the end of the 90s, and has taken a dive since Fukushima.
March 24, 2014, by Glen Estill: Areas with periodic droughts, like California, Australia, and even the US and Canadian west (remember the dust bowl) need to preserve their rivers and aquifers, or face severe economic consequences. In Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan are especially vulnerable to drought. And these two province rely primarily on thermal electricity generation.
March 23, 2014, by Dave Toke: The Hinkley C nuclear power plant deal that gives the nuclear developers a £92.50 per MWh premium price for 35 years will give nuclear power a clear competitive advantage over solar pv in what will be a growing electricity for motor vehicles market.
March 20, 2014, by Chisaki Watanabe: Japan added 7,044 megawatts of clean energy capacity since it began an incentive program in July 2012 through the end of last year.
March 19, 2014, by Craig Morris: In any normal situation, such hard facts would simply be reported – it’s not like there’s no way to say “carbon emissions are slightly down year-over-year” in German.
March 18, 2014,A majority of respondents continue to oppose bringing idle nuclear reactors back online, despite moves by the Abe administration to allow restarts as soon as this summer, according to an Asahi Shimbun poll.
March 17, 2014, by Glen Estill: Some have forecast that the fracking boom may be close to running it’s course. The depletion rates for fracked gas are very high – that is, the well stops producing very quickly. We may not have the surpluses we think we do. But we can make huge surpluses without fracking if we choose to.
April 3, 2014, by David Suzuki: I think windmills are beautiful. They harness the wind’s power to supply us with heat and light. They provide local jobs. They help clean air and reduce climate change.
March 30, 2014, by Karl-Friedrich LenzDaniel Wetzel at WELT reports on a new nationwide anti-wind organization recently founded in Germany. The name of the new lobby group is “Vernunftkraft” (reason power). I am not linking to them, but I think that’s an interesting name.
March 24, 2014, by Ketan Joshi: Recently, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) released a comprehensive position statement on the curiously invulnerable issue of ‘wind turbine syndrome’. One phrase from the statement caught my eye, because it goes slightly further than other institutions (like the Victorian Department of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council, or New South Wales Health), in that it mentions the impact of misinformation:
March 19, 2014, by Sarah Taylor: A proposed wind turbine installation near Camp Perry in Northwestern Ohio has recently been halted (see article) by environmental groups that turn out to have connections to the oil, gas and tourism industries.
March 17, 2014,The available Australian and international evidence does not support the view that the infrasound or low frequency sound generated by wind farms, as they are currently regulated in Australia, causes adverse health effects on populations residing in their vicinity. The infrasound and low frequency sound generated by modern wind farms in Australia is well below the level where known health effects occur, and there is no accepted physiological mechanism where sub-audible infrasound could cause heal
March 31, 2014, by Jonathan Migneault: Bob Jeffery, vice-president of the SUN Co-operative board, said the group has made an application with the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, which offers small green-power generators a chance to sell power to the provincial grid at a guaranteed rate.
March 24, 2014, by Mark Pengilly: SB 1520, which passed the Oregon House and Senate with bipartisan support, has been signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber. The bill allows renewable energy cooperative corporations to be created and capitalized without the requirement of securities registration.
March 19, 2014, by Craig Morris: The switch from state-run water services to the private sector made the public aware of the difference between the two options, but the possibility of energy democracy is poorly understood outside Germany even among proponents of renewables. Do citizens have the right to make their own energy? Should such a right be made law explicitly?
April 7, 2014, by Mike Barnard: Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) continue to get attention, press and R&D funding. Antagonists of mainstream wind generation continually point at them as if they were a superior technology. People perpetually re-invent them and believe that they have found something new and exciting. However, they are undeserving of any significant attention, are an inferior technology and definitely aren’t new. Outside of a couple of niches, they are more of a distraction from deployment of effective utility-scale, horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) than anything else.
March 24, 2014,The world market for small wind has continued to grow: As of the end of 2012, a cumulative total of at least 806’000 small wind turbines were installed all over the world. This is an increase of 10 % compared with the previous year, when 730’000 units were registered.
This feed-in tariff news update is made in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and not necessarily of ILSR
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers, (Please click on red links below)
The Solutions Project Story, www.thesolutionsproject.org (image by sunisthefuture.net)
Have you heard about the 50-state roadmap developed by Stanford University scientist/professor Mark Jacobson and his colleagues ? It is transforming the United States from dependence on fossil fuels, replacing coal, oil, and natural gas to 100% renewable energy by 2050, using solar, wind, and water. The plan for this roadmap was unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. This 50-state plan is posted at The Solutions Project website, a nonprofit outreach effort led by Professor Jacobson, Actor Mark Ruffalo (co-star of The Avengers), movie Director Josh Fox, etc., to raise public awareness about the necessity of our transition from fossil fuels to clean/renewable energy (solar, wind, and water). This transition would help to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming and spare the lives of the estimated 59,000 Americans who die from exposure to air pollution annually. Let’s hear what Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson has to say about this, below:
Similar talks with Dr./Prof. Jacobson available at links below:
According to Professor/Dr. Jacobson, the motivation for this 50-state plan is to address the negative impacts on climate and human health from widespread use of coal, oil, and natural gas. “Drastic problems require drastic and immediate solutions….Global warming, air pollution, and energy security are three of the most significant problems facing the world today,” commented Dr. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, “Our new roadmap is designed to provide each state a first step toward a renewable future.” Conversion of energy infrastructures of New York, California, and Washington states to 100% clean energy (composed of solar-wind-water power) by 2050 have been developed by Jacobson and his colleagues, with an online interactive map tailored to maximize the renewable resource potential of each of the 50 states. For example, as one hovers a cursor over region of CA on the map, one sees that CA can meet almost all of its power demands (transportation, electricity, heating, etc.) in 2050 by a clean energy portfolio composed of 55% solar, 35.5% wind (on-and offshore), 5% geothermal, and 4% hydroelectric, and 0.5% wave power. Florida, on the other hand, will be meeting its power demands by 77.9% solar, 21% wind, 1% wave device, and 0.1% hydroelectric power by 2050. Nuclear power, ethanol, and other biofuels are not included in the energy mix of any of the 50 states by 2050.
Professor Jacobson added, “The new map provides all of the basic information, such as how many wind turbines and solar panels would be needed to power each state, how much land area would be required, what would be the cost and cost savings, how many jobs would be created, and how much pollution-related mortality and global-warming emissions would be avoided.”
The goal of The Solutions Project is in combining science, business, policy, outreaching through social media and artists and entertainers who can facilitate in circulating the information among general public, and in researching for solutions to these global challenges.
The goal of The Solutions Project is definitely in sync with that of Sun Is The Future…spreading the information about solar energy (www.sunisthefuture.net), helping entrepreneurs to establish small businesses in solar energy/renewable energy/energy efficiency/recycling (www.kiva.org/team/sunisthefuture), and operating online store (www.sunisthefuture.com). Let’s join The Solutions Project and sign up to support the movement of your/our respective states’ Transition Toward Clean Energy!
U.S. New Generation In-Service Power Capacity During 2013, Data Made Available By FERC
1. U.S. New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion), Jan.-Dec. of 2013 Chart: On horizontal axis, 10 top sources of new U.S. power capacity (in 2013) are ranked in terms of Newly Installed Capacity (MW) during 2013, in the order from: 1st being Natural Gas (7,270 MW), 2nd is Solar (2,936 MW), 3rd is Coal (1,543 MW), 4th is Wind (1,129 MW), 5th is Biomass (777 MW), 6th is Water (378 MW), 7th is Waste Heat (76 MW), 8th is Geothermal Steam (59 MW), 9th is Oil (38 MW), 10th is Nuclear (0 MW).
Even though Solar’s rank of 2 is impressive from the above chart, in reality the actual solar power capacity generated during 2013 is much greater than 2,936 MW. If you’d refer to FERC’s key findings from Office of Energy Projects-Energy Infrastructure Update of U.S. by 2013 from FERC , you would realize that the 2,936 MW did not include the distributed solar (rooftop solar power systems) installed in 2013. Various sources indicated that California added more rooftop solar capacity in 2013 than in the past 30 years combined . As the distributed solar will continue to play an increasingly significant role in solar capacity generation, such data needs to be included in the calculation in the future in order to provide a more complete picture.
U.S. Total Installed Operating Generating Capacity (GW) By Dec. of 2013, Data Made Available By FERC
2. U.S. Total Installed Operating Generating Capacity By December of 2013 Chart: On horizontal axis, 10 top sources of total U.S. power capacity by 2013 are ranked in terms of Total Installed Capacity (GW) up to December of 2013, in the order from: 1st being Natural Gas (487.21 GW), 2nd is Coal (333.43 GW), 3rd is Nuclear (107.32 GW), 4th is Water (97.88 GW), 5th is Wiind (60.29 GW), 6th is Oil (47.03 GW), 7th is Biomass (15.74 GW), 8th is Solar (7.42 GW), 9th is Geothermal Steam (3.83 GW), 10th is Waste Heat (1.13 GW).
The second table above reminds us that despite how much renewable energy has grown in U.S., the total installed operating generating capacity from renewable such as solar, water,geothermal, biomass, and wind only add up to about 15% of the total U.S. installed operating generating capacity as of 2013. Solar only represents 0.64% and wind represents 5.2% of the total U.S. installed operating generating capacity as of 2013. Renewable Energy is still in its early stage of its evolution. In 2014 solar power is projected to have another year of record growth. To this I say: we surely need it!
Flood at Key Heaven as a result of Hurricane Wilma (Author Marc Averette, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0)
Flood of Toowoomba (Author Kingbob86, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)
Some of my friends, acquaintances, and relatives find it puzzling why I would be so anxious while optimistic about the Solar/Renewable future. The two tables above truly reflect my state of mind toward current state of affair: optimistic with exponential growth of Solar Capacity (table 1) while anxiously worried about millions of people who will be losing their homes as a result of climate change (this would be the case if Clean and/or Renewable Energy takes up such a small percentage of the overall total power capacity as demonstrated in table 2 above )….we need to move toward Renewable…toward Solar-Wind-Water-Geothermal-Biomass much faster….in order to avoid more of what is likely to come……for millions and millions of people on planet earth…..
Let’s maintain our optimism in moving forward. We need to optimize the most effective incentive policy to drive all Renewables forward…be it Solar-Wind-Water-Geothermal-Biomass….in order to prevent millions and millions of people in becoming homeless in the decades to come…..
~may we all have a bright and sunny day~
Written, gathered and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments/suggestions/questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
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