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Wind has the potential to supply one third of the world's electricity by 2050, according to a report by umbrella group the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace International.
The development of wind power is key in the fight against dangerous climate change, the report - the Global Wind Energy Outlook 2006 - concludes.
By getting solar panels you do your part in reducing CO2 emissions and decrease global warming, ensuring a healthy and livable atmosphere for future generations.
Adding solar panels to an average home which pays $130 per month for electricity, would eliminate approximately 361 tons of CO2, 1324 lbs of NOx, 1838 lbs of SO2, 45 lbs of PM, 19 lbs of VOC, and 163 lbs of CO. That is equivalent to taking approximately, 63 automobiles off of the road, or planting 1060 trees.
Solar Energy stocks Biomass Stocks
The photovoltaic roof shingles on this townhouse operate independently of utility service, serving as a "home energy security system" in the event utility power is lost. Embedded in these roof shingles are advanced, high-efficiency PV cells.
This solar boat is used mostly on lakes. Under good sunshine the boat can be powered totally by solar energy and it can be driven by humans when sunlight is insufficient. The advantage of the solar boat is absence of batteries.
One of nine solar electric energy generating systems at Kramer Junction, California,The largest solar electric generating plant in the world produces a maximum of 354 megawatts (MW) of electricity and is located at Kramer Junction, California. This solar energy generating facility, shown below, produces electricity for the Southern California Edison power grid supplying the greater Los Angeles area.
The solar collectors concentrate sunlight to heat a heat transfer fluid to a high temperature. The hot heat transfer fluid is then used to generate steam that drives the power conversion subsystem, producing electricity.
Every creature except man has solar energy
as its sole energy source.
U.S. Solar Energy (Direct Normal Solar Radiation)
Congress Extends Federal Solar Energy Tax Credits Through End of 2008
(WASHINGTON, DC) - In its waning hours, the 109th Congress today passed legislation that would extend the 30% solar energy investment tax credit (ITC) for homeowners and businesses for one additional year, through the end of 2008.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) applauded the one-year extension of the solar ITC in H.R. 6111, the "Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006." At the same time, the industry cautioned that the lifespan of the credits is too short to encourage significant industry growth and cost reductions.
"While this bill does not constitute a long-term solar growth policy, it does provide some breathing room for solar projects in the 12- to 18-month pipeline," said Rhone Resch, SEIA President. "It ensures that the solar industry will continue to grow at a record rate in 2007. The passage of this bill with an extension of the solar ITC is recognition by Congress that solar is indispensable to our clean energy future."
An eight-year extension of the ITC will remain the solar industry's top legislative priority in 2007. A long-term extension is essential to reducing the cost of solar energy, as it would create market conditions that allow solar companies to make investments and drive down costs through economies of scale. A longer duration will also be needed to help stimulate the development of large-scale concentrating solar power projects.
SEIA's Resch expressed optimism that the 110th Congress would enact an eight-year extension as contained in S. 2677 and H.R. 5206, the "Securing America's Energy Independence Act," a bill which gained a bipartisan group of 80 House and 15 Senate cosponsors this year.
"This bill is a patch, and emphasizes the importance for Congress to enact long-term, comprehensive clean energy legislation when they return in January," said Resch. "We look forward to working with the next Congress, to craft a comprehensive and effective policy blueprint for a self-sustaining clean energy infrastructure in the United States."
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The bill contains the following provisions:
Residential Solar Tax Credit: Extends a 30-percent tax credit, created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for the purchase of residential solar water heating, photovoltaic equipment, and fuel cell property. Expires after December 31, 2008.
Business Solar Tax Credit and Fuel Cell Tax Credit: Extends a 30-percent business credit, established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for the purchase of fuel cell power plants, solar energy property, and fiber-optic property used to illuminate the inside of a structure. After December 31, 2008, the credit reverts to a permanent 10-percent level.
"We need to use available resources and technologies to make solar energy the backbone of the electricity network."
- Abdullah Juma
A patch of 100 square miles of open space covered with efficient solar panels such as in Nevada, where sun rays are powerful, could generate all the electrical power needs of the United States. - National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Being Your Own Utility Company
The federal PURPA regulations passed in 1978 allow you to interconnect a
suitable renewable energy powered generator to your house or business to
reduce your consumption of utility supplied electricity. This same law
requires utilities to purchase any excess electricity production at a price
(avoided cost) usually below the retail cost of electricity.
Solar Is No. 1: A new, untitled report from the Worldwatch Institute reports that solar energy has surpassed wind power generation to become the world's fastest-growing energy source. The report shows that sales of solar cells increased more than 40% last year, compared to wind power's growth of 25%. However, while there is a total of about 800 MW of solar power capacity in place around the world (enough to meet the yearly energy needs of 200,000 U.S. homes), wind power capacity totals about 7,630 MW (enough to fuel 1.9 million homes). Perhaps more importantly, world solar markets are growing at ten times the rate of the oil industry, whose sales have expanded at just 1.4% per year since 1990. Worldwatch predicts that "solar energy may now join computers and telecommunications as a leading growth industry in the 21st century."
In Japan, housing companies have introduced homes with silicon roof tiles that generate enough electricity to meet most of a family's annual needs and have already installed 10,000." - Worldwatch
TELL CONGRESS TO BRING BACK 40% SOLAR TAX CREDITS SOLAR MAX Your Guide to the Year of the Active Sun
According to the American Solar Energy Society, a minute's worth of sunshine provides enough energy to power the earth's needs for a year.
Last year world solar cell production soared to 395 megawatts (MW), up 37percent over 2000.
WORLD WIND CAPACITY GROWSBY MORE THAN 30% IN 2001
US Solar Power Exports Up 43%
Mexico the single biggest customer of U.S. solar-energy equipment.
Source: Dow Jones [May 21, 2002]
WASHINGTON - U.S. solar power exports last year totaled $550 million, an increase of 43% over 2000, the Solar Energy Industries Association said Monday.
Over the past five years, the growth in U.S. exports of photovoltaic material, solar hot-water systems and other related components has increased an average of 36% annually, the Washington , D.C .-based trade group said.
Mexico was the single biggest customer of U.S. solar-energy equipment, while 70% went to the European Union, Japan and Hong Kong , the association said.
"Worldwide, photovoltaic production increased 35%, the group said.
"This dramatic growth in the world solar industry and U.S. solar exports is another sign that solar power will play an increasingly important role in the world's energy mix in the 21st Century," said Glenn Hamer, executive director of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
World wind electric generating capacity climbed from 17,800 MW in 2000 to an estimated 23,300 MW in 2001, according to preliminary data released January 8 by Lester Brown's Earth Policy Institute--a dramatic one-year gain of 5,500 MW or 31%. The cumulative capacity total can meet the needs of some 23 million people, the Institute said, asuming that 1 MW will satisfy the electricity needs of 350 households in an industrial society, or roughly 1,000 people.
Other findings released by the Institute include:
* Since 1995, world wind power capacity has increased by 487%, or nearly five-fold. During the same period, the use of coal has declined by 9%.
* In wind power capacity, Germany continues to lead the world with 8,000 MW, nearly a third of the total. The United States stayed in second place, now with a total of over 4,200 MW installed. Spain remained in third place, with 3,300 MW. Denmark, in fourth with 2,500 MW, now gets 18% of its electricity from wind.
* Two-thirds of the capacity added in 2001 was concentrated in the top three countries: Germany added 1,890 MW; the United States, more than 1,600; and Spain, 1,065. For the United States, this translates into a growth in generating capacity of more than 60% in 2001.
Even more impressive than the recent growth in generating capacity, the Institute said, are the plans for future growth. The European Wind Energy Association has recently revised its 2010 wind capacity projections for Europe from 40,000 MW to 60,000 MW. France announced in December, 2000, that it would develop 5,000 MW of wind-generating capacity during this decade. Argentina said in December, 2000, that it was planning to develop 3,000 MW of wind power capacity in Patagonia. In April, 2001, the United Kingdom sold offshore lease rights for an estimated 1,500 MW of capacity to several bidders, including Shell Renewables. And in May, a report from Beijing indicated that China would develop up to 2,500 MW of wind capacity by 2005. A survey of some 70 wind developers in Germany indicates that they plan to install 2,500 MW of capacity in 2002 and a similar amount in 2003. If they succeed, they will surpass the German government's 2010 goal of 12,500 MW by the end of 2003.
In the United States, the wind industry installed more than twice as much capacity in 2001 than it has in any other single year in history--over 1,600 MW. Texas alone installed more than 900 MW, including what is now the world's largest wind farm, the 278-MW King Mountain Wind Ranch.
Solar Energy is Natural, Clean, and Reliable.It reduces dependency on conventional fuels.
It protects you against inflationary fuel costs and possible shortages.
Solar equipment will pay for itself in fuel savings.
It will increase the resale value of your residential commercial, or industrial property.
The American Lung Association reports that air pollution from electricity production costs the nation $20 billion per year in health care impacts.
It's official: 2006 was warmest year ever for the contiguous U.S.In 2006, the contiguous U.S. experienced its warmest year since records began in 1895 (also the year of the first volleyball game -- who knew?). Every state in the Lower 48 had average temperatures above, well, average; New Jersey hit its highest temperature ever. The U.S. also logged its fourth-warmest December -- little surprise to East Coast folk, who have been frolicking among cherry blossoms. Nationwide, residences have used 13.5 percent less energy for heat than usual this "winter." Now that nine years in a row have landed in the top 25 warmest years ever for the Lower 48, even officials will admit something funny's going on: "Burning of fossil fuels is causing an increase in greenhouse gases, and there's a broad scientific consensus that [it] is producing climate change," says Jay Lawrimore of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which released the data. He added, "The expectation is that temperatures will continue to warm in the U.S. and globally." Well, who'da thunk
NEWSFLASH: SOLAR ENERGY IS BACK AT THE WHITE HOUSE!
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