company:renewable energy

Global land and water grabbing
▻http://www.pnas.org/content/110/3/892.full

The increase in global food demand as a result of population growth (1) and changes in diet (2) is enhancing the human pressure on the global land and freshwater resources. The increase in oil prices (3), the 2007 changes in the United States policy on bioethanol use (4), and the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive adopted by European Union (5) have increased the global demand for biofuel production, thereby further enhancing the need for land and water. As a result, some corporations and governments are investing in agricultural land as part of a long-term strategy for food and energy security (6, 7). The number of land-related deals has dramatically increased since 2005, reaching a peak in 2009 (8). In 2010 the World Bank estimated that about 45 million ha had been acquired since 2008; most of these land deals were for areas ranging between 10,000 and 200,000 ha (9). Moreover, several institutions [e.g., the World Bank (WB), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)] have reported that many deals were closed with limited consultation of the local population, without adequate compensation of the previous land users, and without seeking opportunities to create new jobs or enhance environment sustainability (9, 10).

#terre #eau #agrocarburants

100% Renewable Energy as Centerpiece of a Climate Action Plan
▻http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/100-renewable-energy-as-centerpiece-of-a-climate-action-plan

Climate Change is back on the political agenda. On 23rd of September, Heads of States are meeting in New York to pledge climate action. This is good news as it is about time. The rising...

World Gets 22% of Electricity From Renewable Energy
▻http://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/world-gets-22-of-electricity-from-renewable-energy-1456

The U.S. ranks second, after China, for annual investment in renewable energy and for generating electricity from renewable sources, yet the U.S. has a lower share of energy (13%) generated from renewable sources than the world average of 22.1%, according to the data compiled by Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, an international, government-supported institute that supports renewable-energy development. That’s because the U.S. uses a lot of electricity and resources in general.

The average is brought up by a number of countries like Austria and Costa Rica, which get a majority of their electricity from renewable sources. According to the report, hydropower accounts for 16.4% of the renewable energy, whereas the alternative energies including solar and wind make up 5.7%.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OG-AB723_renewa_G_20140619134317.jpg

Ministers of Electricity and Petroleum apologise for continued power outages - Daily News Egypt

▻http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/05/06/ministers-electricity-petroleum-apologise-continued-power-outages

Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker and Minister of Petroleum Mineral Resources Sherif Ismail apologised to Egyptians for rolling power outages experienced across the country in a joint statement on Monday.
The ministers said they expected power outages to continue in some areas, conducted “to maintain stability of the electrical grid”. The statement pointed to seasonal rise in temperatures having a “negative impact on natural gas supplies and hence the generating capacity of power plants,” according to state-owned MENA.

National Security and Renewable Energy | Meanderings of a Second-Rate Mind

▻http://golfsierra.org/blog/?p=216

Cette carte, signalé par quelqu’un du réseau de @freakonometrics, de conception intéressante et qui a quelques ressemblances avec la carte de la sanctuarisation.

National Security and Renewable Energy

http://golfsierra.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/pnm.jpg

Or, a more specific way to describe where we’re going with this: this is how our energy policy in the immediate future can impact our national security in the distant future: i.e., environmentalism may be more important we typically think it is, but for reasons that we don’t typically associate with it.

***

Back in 2004, the military geostrategist Thomas P. M. Barnett published The Pentagon’s New Map, a book about (among other things) America’s place in the world after the Cold War, and how globalization relates to issues of national security. This wasn’t Barnett’s first book, but it’s was the first one to present his overarching view of American foreign policy, and (as far as I can tell) is the first one that made Barnett a household name . . . at least at the Pentagon. Since then, Barnett has written a few more books – Blueprint for Action, a sequel to Pentagon’s New Map, and Great Powers: America and the World After Bush, which came out in 2009.

#cartoghraphie #représentation #sanctuarisation #discrimination_géographique

Leading from the Middle: How Illinois Communities Unleashed Renewable Energy | Publications | WWF
▻http://worldwildlife.org/publications/leading-from-the-middle-how-illinois-communities-unleashed-renewable-

Cities in Illinois have harnessed a little-known local energy model called Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) to switch to clean power and save their ratepayers millions of dollars. Since 2013 more than 90 Illinois towns, representing 1.7 million people, transitioned to 100% renewable electricity by using Renewable Energy Credits.

Their freedom of choice increased demand for energy sources like wind and solar by over 6 terawatt hours—reducing pollution levels equivalent to taking more than 1 million cars off the road or 250,000 homes off the grid.

Tasmania Wants To Use 100 Percent Renewable Energy By 2020 | ThinkProgress
▻http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/26/2996241/tasmania-renewable-energy-plan

Tasmania has given the climate community something to smile about after months of frowning toward Australia. Since being elected in September, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been waging an anti-climate crusade. He’s abandoned the country’s long-held emissions reduction target, taken steps towards repealing the carbon emissions trading scheme, and started an international row with the likes of Al Gore and U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres over climate change’s role in this year’s intense, early season bushfires.

Amidst all that, Abbott also found time to slash funding for renewable energy. Now Tasmania, Australia’s island state off the southeastern edge of the continent, has taken it’s own initiative in the face of Abbott’s many setbacks and released a climate change strategy aimed at achieving 100 percent renewable power usage by 2020.

Tasmania’s new plan — known as the Climate Smart Tasmania plan — includes energy reduction targets across multiple sectors with an interim 2020 target to reduce carbon emissions to 35 percent below 1990 levels.

#climat #Tasmanie #Australie

Renewables: The 99.9% solution | Climate News Network

▻http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/01/renewables-the-99-9-solution

Renewables: The 99.9% solution

January 20, 2013 in Energy

By Tim Radford

Renewable energy? Too unreliable, too expensive, many people think. But a new study has found that the right mix of renewables can tick all the boxes.

LONDON, 20 January – A combination of wind and solar power and sophisticated energy storage systems could keep a power grid fully supplied between 90 and 99.9% of the time, at costs comparable with today’s fossil fuel and nuclear mix, according to a new study from Delaware in the United States.

Computer simulation measured the performance of inland and offshore wind farms and photovoltaic cells, backed up by battery and fuel cell storage, under the lowest cost conditions, for a 72 gigawatt grid system (one gigawatt will typically provide power for about 750,000 to a million US households)..

Renewable energy ‘could run Australia’ | Climate News Network

▻http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/01/renewable-energy-could-run-australia

Renewable energy ‘could run Australia’

January 16, 2013 in Adaptation

By Paul Brown

All that stands between Australia and a future fuelled entirely by renewable energy, researchers say, is the political will to make the change – a finding directly relevant to a country currently ravaged by an extraordinary heat wave.

LONDON, 16 January – Australia could be self-sufficient in renewable energy in 10 years by converting to solar and wind energy if the country had the right social and political leadership, according to the Energy Research Institute of the University of Melbourne.

In a paper published before the current catastrophic heat wave (the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan), the researchers conclude that existing proven technologies could be deployed on a large scale to show an example to the world and to wean Australia off its addiction to fossil fuels.

#climat #australie #énergie-renouvelable

Is Japan on the Cusp of a Renewable Energy Revolution?

►http://blogs.worldwatch.org/revolt/is-japan-on-the-cusp-of-a-renewable-energy-revolution

2012-12-03

More than a year-and-a-half after the tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japanese policymakers are trying to figure out what to do about Japan’s power-generation future. In September, the government released a document titled “Revolutionary Energy and Environment Strategy,” which proposes to eliminate all nuclear generation in Japan by 2040. While the general public continues to support a transition away from nuclear power in Japan, business leaders have argued that such a change would increase energy costs, thereby making Japanese companies less competitive in an already increasingly competitive East Asian market.

Algeria puts off decision on Desertec solar project until preconditions are met - sourceOil & Gas - Zawya
►http://www.zawya.com/story/Algeria_puts_off_decision_on_Desertec_solar_project_until_preconditions_are_met__source-ZAWYA20121022035839/?lok=035800121021&weeklynewsletter&zawyaemailmarketing

Algeria has decided to postpone its decision on participating in the Sonelgaz Desertec Renewable Energy Program until 2013, and is waiting for Germany’s Desertec to approve its preconditions, a government official told Zawya.

The Algerian government would delay its final resolution on the project till the mid of 2013, as it is still unclear whether Algeria will take part in the project, the official at the Algerian ministry of energy and mining said.

“The government is reconsidering the economic gains it may acquire from participation and is testing the acquiescence of the foreign partner to its terms, which require manufacturing the project appliances and needs in Algeria, as well as involving the Algerian experts in the project,” the official told Zawya on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media. Algeria’s participation may not exceed 50%, he added.

The EUR 400 billion Desertec project intends to convert solar energy from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and export it to Europe. It is expected to supply as much as 15% of Europe’s power needs by 2050.

Christoph Partsch, the general manager of the German-Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was earlier quoted as saying that the forthcoming round of talks between the German company and the Algerian government will be launched in Oran in October and some serious steps will be disclosed by the first quarter of 2013.

Algeria is facing a 1,300 MW shortfall in power supply, pointed out Abdul Rahman Mabtoul, a former senior executive at Sonatrach. The Algerian government generates 9,700 MW, while the demand is as high as 11,000 MW, he said.

“The government needs to invest USD 20 billion over the next five years to resolve the power supply crisis,” Mabtoul told Zawya.

#Desertec
#Algérie
#solaire
#énergie
#électricité