The UAE Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) became the first government entity to join Leading by Example, a programme of the Heroes of the UAE campaign targeting the public sector. An audit of the building predicted that the carbon footprint (associated with energy consumption) can be reduced by up to 24% in one year with a 2.5 year pay-back period, as well as up to 44% reduction in water consumption through the use of water saving devices, with a 4 month pay-back period

Critical Factors for Achieving Commercial Breakeven in Renewable Energy
(Abhishek Uppal)
There are a number of key sensitivities that affect the point at which renewable technologies hit the commercial breakeven points. In their research, analysts have pointed out how four sensitivities are particularly important:

The regulatory framework
Regulation is important for low carbon technologies. These technologies can be expensive and costs need to be brought down the learning curve. There are a variety of policy levers that can be employed to do this – with the rate of learning tied to how effective policy is in encouraging the development and deployment of the technology.

Local electricity price
There is significant geographic variation in electricity price due to differences in fuel prices and in conventional power production methods. There are also variations between peak power and off-peak power prices, which is important to consider when evaluating the competitiveness of renewable technologies.

Solar:
If capital costs of solar PV could be lowered to the region of $2,500/KW and natural gas stays above the $8/MMBtu mark, solar PV could be competitive with traditional peak power. The US has variable electricity prices that will result in different regions exhibiting different electric grid parity bands as peak retail rates in some regions have already gone above $150/MWh. Citigroup notes that, as a whole, rising electricity prices in the US are likely to drive demand for solar PV installations. High electricity prices in markets such as Spain and Italy in Europe have supported growth in solar in these countries.

Wind:
At current gas prices, wind is cost competitive with conventional gas in regions such as the UK and California. Despite supply chain issues, which we discuss below, onshore wind is an established form of power generation that can respond profitably, and is ready to be scaled up within favourably high gas price economies.

Natural resources
The theoretical resources available for the exploitation of solar PV power and wind power are far larger than any practical means for development. Nevertheless some regions exhibit particularly favourable conditions, which help to explain why geographic growth pockets have emerged.

Solar:
Electric grid parity without carbon pricing or subsidies is dependent on location as a result of variation in insulation (solar intensity). Areas such as Southern Europe and California benefit from above average hours of sunlight and some island economies such as Hawaii have already achieved electric grid parity without carbon pricing or subsidies for solar PV, in part because of high sun resources and in part due to high fossil fuel costs. The potential for developing countries, such as India, to utilize the natural resource of the sun is high, but barriers of connectivity to electric power grids will need to be overcome.

Wind:
Wind power is driven by the nature of the resource. A doubling of wind speed means about an eight-fold gain in electricity production. The UK is the best region in Europe for wind power owing to high wind speeds. Similarly, the Midwest US is rich in wind energy resources. Research and development in technology may enable wind power at higher elevations, offering more wind extraction.

Supply chain bottlenecks
Material supply chain bottlenecks may potentially delay the competitiveness of both solar and wind.

Solar:
Severe shortages of silicon have plagued the solar PV market for the past two years and thus, the cost of supplying the modules required for solar PV has remained high. The market is currently in tight supply, a state that is expected to ease up in 2009/2010. When the silicon bottleneck does eventually clear, costs will decline as a result and the overall cost of solar PV is likely to come down the curve, moving the technology closer to commercial breakeven without carbon pricing or incentives. Goldman Sachs notes that going forward there will be cheaper silicon prices due to significant production capacity coming online, which will move solar PV towards electric grid parity without carbon pricing or subsidies. Lehman believes that the availability of polysilicon will remain a bottleneck until 2010 as a result of greater capacity expansion plans from cell manufacturers than poly suppliers.

Wind:
Strong regulatory incentives, pockets of high wind resources, the push from high conventional fossil fuel prices and continued improvements in wind technology and performance have enabled wind to reach electric grid parity without carbon pricing or subsidies in some geographies. However, there are a few potential bumps in the market that could delay broad electric grid parity without carbon pricing or subsidies. The turbine market is currently in tight supply, and steel prices that are integral to turbine manufacture have increased significantly. Major capacity investments in manufacturing are needed to ease this lag in supply. In addition there are challenges of skills shortages in the sector. Both drawbacks are inherently the result of strong demand in the sector and consequently, as long as they can be overcome, the wind industry should be positioned to grow rapidly.

Beyond breakeven: The special case of biofuels: A renewable that is actually reducing the costs of conventional energy
While biofuels have suffered a lot of criticism for being unsustainable, causing deforestation, harming indigenous people and being net carbon emitters, we believe that there are good biofuels out there. We consider 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels, along with a limited number of 1st generation biofuels (sugarcane ethanol and jatropha-based biodiesel) to be worthy parts of the climate change investment universe.

Biofuels compete in the road transport fuel market rather than the electric power market. However, their special story deserves attention as a sign of what may be coming down the road.

More so than any other renewable, the economic influence of ethanol has been felt in the conventional energy markets. Research from Iowa State University indicates that blending ethanol with gasoline has kept fuel prices $0.29-$0.40 lower than they otherwise would have been in the US; McKinsey analysis indicates additional upside for blending up to E10, with the potential to decrease retail gasoline prices by $0.43-$0.65. Biofuels in the US are now “beyond breakeven.” We recognise that the sustainability of much of the ethanol for sale in the US is debatable. This is problematic, and will need to be addressed. However, economically, US ethanol has reached the final goal of renewables – becoming lower-cost alternatives to fossil fuels, unlocking cheaper energy costs and a wave of low-carbon prosperity.

The reason that ethanol is having this material impact on the price of retail gasoline in the US is that blending permits the replacement of expensive gasoline imports with a lower-cost substitute.

Biofuels have demonstrated their potential to reduce the cost of energy – and we see a promising future for them, as long as they are produced with respect to the highest standards of sustainability. This may mean that tariff regimes need to be eased to allow increased imports from tropical climates that are naturally disposed to produce biofuels, such as Africa and Brazil.

In any case, the story of ethanol’s impact on US gasoline prices may become more familiar in other energy markets going forward – ethanol may be the very first of a number of renewable technologies that unlock a low-carbon revolution, where consumers pay less to consume clean, renewable fuels.

The Pharox is the first LED based light from Lemnis Lighting to offer light quality comparable to that of a traditional 40W light bulb. In addition, it is 90% more energy efficient than an incandescent bulb. The Pharox bulb is based on a breakthrough and patented technology that opens the lighting market to LED technology.

Aaron Dykes Infowars.com August 2, 2010 Members of We Are Change San Francisco caught up with David de Rothschild, heir to the notorious Rothschild family, and asked him some relevant questions. Heir to a global system of manipulation, lies and enslavement for the average family, David de Rothschild has put his reputation on the line to push for climate change taxation. David de Rothschild shilled for the Copenhagen climate summit and stumped for his ‘earth saving’ plastiki boat that runs on human feces fuel. He has boldly advocated carbon taxes that his family’s carbon exchange firm would benefit directly from. He has even gone so far in the name of arguing for phony global warming as to claim that icecaps melt on Mars because the planet is closer to the Sun than Earth. Now David de Rothschild is even taking on crowds and talking to ordinary people to redeem support for phony climate change legislation. At one moment in the video, he attempts to explain away the impact of Climategate in his presentation. Rothschild claims he appreciates the ‘skepticism’ of the public over global warming, but calls it a “futile debate,” arguing that other environmental factors still demand our action… and carbon policing laws. Members of We Are Change San Francisco then had a chance to chat with David after his talk. One member asked, “What’s more important, the sustainability you’re talking about, or the 99% of the public who will feel the crunch of dramatically reducing their …

Copyright (c) 2010 Nadine Davis

If solar technology has been out of your financial reach in the past, 2011 may be the year for you. Changes to the Renewable Energy Target plan are going to make buying solar panels, solar hot water systems and other products more affordable than ever. Find out the details by reading on below.

How Solar Energy Comes into Play:

Beginning on 1 January 2011, the Renewable Energy Target is going to include two parts. The Small Scale Renewable Energy Scheme, or SRES, will cover small scale technologies like solar hot water water systems and solar panels. It will provide $40 per megawatt to homeowners who install these types of products. Investing in solar power products will come with great incentives for homeowners, thanks to this change.

Under the new SRES scheme, a household that installs a 1.5 kilowatt solar panel system in the year 2011 will receive an estimated $6,200 upfront subsidy. The typical solar hot water system will garner homeowners an upfront subsidy of around $1,200. In other words, investing in – and using – solar panel and other products will be more affordable than ever. Since they will reduce energy bills, they are doubly cost effective. Those home owners that have been putting thought behind the purchase of a solar panel system or solar hot water system may choose to wait until the changes come into reality on the 1st of January next year (2011).

Help the Planet and Save Money:

The goal of the revised Renewable Energy Target plan is for 20% of Australia’s energy in 2010 to come from renewable sources. Thanks to the new changes, this goal looks to be more attainable than ever. Its clear to see that these revised items improve the plan, and it’s definitely good news for households who are a little short on cash but would like to do their bit to assist in making this big goal an actuality. If you’re one of them, 2011 is going to be a prime year for finally investing in this eco-friendly technology.

The Large Scale Renewable Energy Target, or LRET, portion of the plan concerns large scale projects like wind farms and geothermal and solar enterprises. Although these organisations are expected to do a lot of the “heavy lifting,” the help of private homes is going to be essential for success. With everyone pitching in, it is hoped that that 20% goal will be met and exceeded. This will help reduce energy costs and, more importantly, will help save and protect the planet. If you’d like to do your own part, you can read more about these changes online.

Solar panels are examples of equipments that use the sun’s renewable energy in an efficient way. Besides, these renewable energy using equipments can be prepared easily so that you can get maximum efficiency from sun’s sustainable energy.

In this article, you can find detailed information on preparing solar panels that use renewable energy. First of all, let’s have a look at the materials needed for the purpose. Re-used and broken pieces of solar cells are the main components of this equipment. If you have them, try using them. The other option for obtaining these includes ordering through websites. Copper mesh that is actively conductive would be required.

Sticks, multimeter, glue gun and the conductive pen are the other equipments required in the preparation. Once you obtain the cells, you can start the preparation of renewable energy using solar panels. The first thing to be done in the preparation of this is to check the voltage between positive sides and negative sides. The black portion would be the negative area and the positive portion is almost gray. This should be done with each of the cells.

For this, use of a multimeter would be beneficial. As the next step, ensure that the little lines present on the cell’s negative side are connected with each other. This is carried out for gathering electrons from its surface. This is applicable for those cells that lack between lines connections. Conductive pen can be used here for connecting them.

Once this is done, rise of voltage for that particular cell could be seen. Use of conductive pen is found to be highly beneficial. Next, there is a need to link the cells of this renewable energy dependant equipment. Series connecting of them would give you higher voltage. It would be better to get detailed technical details on this.

The solar array prepared in this way has been found to have the capacity to light LEDs. Coating it with silicon is found to be important in its functioning. This is effective in dealing with various problems such as movement or detachment of the cells, cells being highly fragile etc. Add a servo motor and a battery inside so that it functions effectively.

This equipment would use renewable energy of the sun in such a way that maximum efficiency is guaranteed of renewable energy from sun.