Subject:  Renewable enrgies trends...Issue #108   (week of November 29 - December 3)
TRENDS in RENEWABLE ENERGIES
                                   (the condensed version)

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- A California utility will provide $500,000 for renewable energy
projects that are built outside its service area. A request for
proposals wants new grid-connected power projects from wind,
biomass, PV, small hydro, landfill gas, solar thermal or
geothermal. Proposals are due by January 18 and the number
and amount of grants will depend on the proposals received.

- A Finnish power company has supplied a solar system to a
research station in the Antarctic. It is the second PV system to be
installed at the Wasa research camp on Dronning Maud Land.
The PV electricity will power research equipment, satellite phones
and appliances. The modules were delivered in October and the
installation will be carried out by the Swedish researchers there.

- A residential builder is including a solar electricity generator as a
standard option on all its houses. "Homebuyers are typically
offered choices on items such as flooring, countertops and air
conditioning," says Tom Hoyt of McStain. "Isn't it time they also
had a choice in their electricity?" A 1.2 kW PV system will supply
one-third of a family's daily electricity and, during a power failure,
PV electricity is provided to one outlet in each room, as well as
the refrigerator, kitchen lights and furnace blower.

- A wind energy project in Minnesota has been selected as one of
the top two electric facilities by Power Engineering magazine. The
107 MW Lake Benton I wind energy project was commissioned in
July 1998, at which time it was the world's largest single wind
energy project. It has 143 Zond turbines and generates 327,000
MWh each year, displacing 329 million pounds of carbon.

- Farmers in Britain could receive more than £100 million over the
next 20 years from leasing their land for wind turbines. Annual
payments are between £1,000 and £3,000 per wind turbine, and
BWEA says the Country Landowners Association sees wind as a
huge benefit. New turbines should be permitted because they
support the rural economy and protect rural environments with
very low long-term environmental costs.

- The largest manufacturer of PV cells has achieved a record
efficiency for a thin film module. BP Solarex says its Apollo thin
film module achieved a conversion efficiency of 8.3 percent, the
highest for any monolithically integrated thin film module.

- The largest wind energy facility on the U.S. east coast has
started construction. Nordex will supply eight turbines for the
Pennsylvania site, where the 1.3 MW units will generate 25
million kWh each year.

- Extension of a U.S. tax credit for electricity generated by wind
turbines will allow the domestic industry "to continue growing and
producing new jobs," says AWEA. The Production Tax Credit will
be extended for 30 months and be retroactive to June 30 when it
expired. More than 900 MW of wind capacity will be installed this
year, bringing the U.S. total to more than 2,500 MW.

- A 12 story building beside a major interstate highway in
California is an enormous solar power generating system. The top
face of the DSC Solar Cube in Santa Ana is a 15 kW PV system,
using 464 PV panels and saving $8,000 a year in electricity.

- A U.S. company claims to have developed a system that can
store solar energy economically for use at night. SEL's 'Solar
Power & Energy Storage System' will provide cheap power at
high efficiency, and the firm's patent estimates that one square
mile of farmland could produce 876 million kWh a year, which is
an annual income of $43 million to farmers.

- A hydroelectric power station in northern Wales has been
refurbished after 50 years, to provide green electricity into the
national grid. The Croesor Valley power station was designed a
century ago but closed in the 1950s. After investing more than £1
million in renovations, National Power Hydro officially re-opened
the 500 kW generating plant inside Snowdonia National Park.

- An advanced wind turbine generates enough power for half the
town of Swaffham, and allows residents to climb the structure to a
viewing platform. The 1.5 MW Ecotricity turbine is the largest wind
unit in Britain at 67 m. A viewing platform is situated on the hub,
and a tour costs £1.90 and involves climbing 300 stairs inside.

- A wind project will be installed in west Texas to provide green
power for customers of TNMP. Legislation requires all utilities to
offer renewable energy, and the utility has beaten the deadline.

- The New York City Housing Authority will use computer software
to control energy efficiency at a 12-building complex in Manhattan.
Pacific Northwest National Lab's software provides diagnostic
monitoring and a maintenance program, and is saving $500,000 a
year for a Marine Corp facility in California. If NYCHA does not
save $1.4 million in energy costs within ten years, Batelle will
reimburse the difference between that installation cost and actual
measured energy savings.

- Singapore has electric capacity of 5.3 GW and generation of
23.4 billion kWh. Total energy consumed is 1.3 quadrillion Btu,
including 6.64 trillion Btu of renewables.

- The potential for hydro generation in Congo is 3,000 MW, but
most of the current capacity comes from the 74 MW Bouenza and
15 MW Djoué facilities. Feasibility studies for four micro hydro
plants and development of the 1 GW Sounda hydro project will be
done. Total energy consumed in Congo is 0.02quadrillion Btu, of
which 40 trillion Btu is from renewables.

- Canada is the world's fifth largest energy producer, where gas
accounts for 34% of primary energy production, petroleum is 29%,
hydro is 21%, coal is 11%, and nuclear is 5%. Installed electricity
capacity is 116.8 GW, of which 34.8 GW is thermal, 65.5 GW is
hydro, 16.4 GW is nuclear, and 0.05 GW is geothermal and other.
Total energy consumption is 12.2 quadrillion Btu, of which
renewable is estimated at 2,350 trillion Btu.

- Brazil's electric utility Coelce will auction for the construction of
two windfarms that will generate 60 MW.

- A hydroelectric dam on Little River in North Carolina has been
breached. The 4 m Rains Mill Dam was opened to allow fish
spawning, and is the third dam in the state to be opened in two
years for environmental reasons.

- Half a million PV systems have been installed in developing
countries by the World Bank.  More than 10,000 have been
installed in Sri Lanka, 60,000 in Indonesia, 150,000 in Kenya,
85,000 in Zimbabwe, 40,000 in Mexico, and 100,000 in China.

- The Netherlands wants 100 percent of its electricity to come
from certificated renewable energy sources. More than 100,000
residents currently pay for green power and one government
department wants to obtain 3 million kWh for its buildings.

- WorldWater will install PV water pumping systems in Tanzania
under an agreement to accelerate the use of solar to replace
diesel. The AquaSafe system can deliver up to 2,000 GPM of
water, and the Tanzania program could be worth $30 million in
five years.

- India may develop measures to reverse the dropping private
investment in wind energy projects, including withdrawal of
minimum tax on renewables projects and automatic environmental
clearance for units with less than 5 MW of generation capacity.
Between 1992 and 1997, India installed 900 MW of wind capacity
when it had a target of 600 MW. Only 125 MW was added from
1997 to 1999, when the target was 1,000 MW. India's wind
potential is estimated at 20,000 MW. Total installed capacity from
renewables reached 1,450 MW this year, with wind at 1,025 MW.

- The U.S. Department of Energy will fund a project that combines
renewable energy with coal to provide a source of energy. A
'SlurryCarb' process is being developed by EnerTech to convert
municipal sewage sludge and solid waste into a renewable fuel
that can be co-fired with various coals.

- Proven reserves of crude oil in the U.S. dropped by 7 percent
last year, the largest decline in more than 50 years. Reserves of
dry natural gas also declined by 2 percent, says EIA.

- The Midwest Research Institute has elected Dr. James Spigarelli
as its new President. MRI manages NREL in Colorado.

- Environmental officials from 27 countries have pledged to
reduce emissions of four major sources of air pollution in Europe.
By 2010, SO2 must drop by 63 percent and NOx by 41 percent
(compared to 1990 levels) with emissions reduced at electricity
generators and motor vehicles. Signatories include Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands,
Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K and U.S.

- GE MicroGen will begin testing its HomeGen 7000 fuel cell next
year at 20 residential test units in New Jersey. Small commercial
units are expected to become available in 2002.

- The People's Liberation Army and armed police have built 140
hydroelectric stations in Tibet during the past 40 years. The first
large-scale hydro station in Ngachen was constructed in 1959.

- Hydroelectric generation in India's hilly northeastern region is a
priority and government officials say hydro will take priority over
thermal because the potential for hydro is 48,000 MW, or one-
third of total reserves in India. Less than 3 percent of this potential
has been harnessed. The 75 MW Doyang hydro site and the 405
MW Ranganadi facility will be finished soon.

- The Albanian government wants investors to fund energy
production projects in the country. Projects will include eight
hydropower stations on the River Vjosa in southern Albania.

- The minimum flow level through hydro dams on Washington's
Columbia River will be kept at a higher level than last year after
more fall chinook salmon spawned near a key dam.

- Generation from hydroelectric facilities in Canada increased 5.5
percent in September, to 43,905 GWh. Exports increased 17.6
percent to 4,655 GWh, and imports fell from 1,327 to 614 GWh.
Conventional thermal generation dropped 14.2 percent to 11,207
GWh, nuclear was up 16.3 percent to 6,202 Gwh.

- Less demand from Canadian utilities resulted in a 2.0 percent
reduction in coal production in September to 5,970 kt. Export-
related production in BC rose 6.3 percent to 2,126 kt, while
production in other provinces was down 6.0 percent to 3,845 kt.
Electric utilities in Ontario and Nova Scotia were the main
customers for imports of foreign coal.

- The U.N. says Arab countries should privatize their electricity
sector to generate the capital required to meet growing demand.
An investment of $118 billion is needed by 2015 to install 131,000
MWh, and the economic cost of each kWh hour lost during a
power breakdown is $2, but costs only $0.03 to generate.

- The New York Power Authority is "well positioned" to meet the
challenge of a changing electricity industry, says its president
Eugene Zeltmann. NYPA will invest $500 million to modernize its
Niagara and St. Lawrence hydro facilities, and is promoting fuel
cells, solar power and electric transportation.

- Developers in Colorado have built more than $1 billion of 'green'
homes during the past two years, for a total of 3,500
environmentally friendly homes at a median price of $230,000.

- Bonneville Power Administration has selected ten partners to
test PEM fuel cells in the first demonstration of its fuel cell
program. Participating utilities will operate ten fuel cell systems,
and performance data will define the next generation fuel cells.

- Vermont Utility Seeks License to Sell Power Online in NJ
Feature about GreenMountain.com's strategy in New Jersey.

- Dazed and Confused by Kilowatt Choices in Das Kapital
Feature about electricity deregulation in Germany.

- Governor Hails California Wind Power Project
Feature on the response to the SeaWest WindPower project.

- Automakers Vie for Eco-friendly Title
Feature on the EV contest between Honda, Toyota and Ford.

- Boulder Businesses Show Support for Wind-Generated Power
A feature on corporate support for renewables in Colorado.

- Detroit-Based Energy Firm Plans on Taking Subsidiary Public
A feature on fuel cells and the role of electric utilities.

- Deregulation Could Increase Solar Energy Use
Feature on Ohio's deregulation boosting renewable energies.

- Tennessee Valley Authority Considers Windmills to Make Power
Feature on the plan to install turbines in Chattanooga.

- Electricity Will Be Sold in New Jersey with Environmental Labels
Feature on the use of content labels for consumer electricity.

- TVA Proposes to Locate Windmills at Chattanooga University
Feature on the Chattanooga plans for wind turbines.


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TRENDS in RENEWABLE ENERGIES has been produced and
circulated by the Canadian Association for Renewable Energies
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