Home Archive by category "Renewable Energy" (Page 3)

Category Archives: Renewable Energy

Developing reliable renewable energy sources

As the world’s population continues to grow, so does our consumption of natural resources. Many of these resources are non-renewable, so research into renewable sources of energy is vital. Research led by Bournemouth University’s Dr Zulfiqar Khan is tackling this issue through reducing corrosion, improving heat transfer and fluid dynamics, and using nano coatings to enhance surface effiencies in renewable energy systems as reported by Science News. The European Union’s (EU’s) Renewable Energy Directive states that the EU should be producing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020; a challenging target for any country. Dr Khan’s research is …

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Victoria’s largest wind farm approved

Victoria has approved a new $650 million, 96-turbine wind farm as the state bids to become the nation’s renewable energy leader. But that could be hard to do if nothing is done to phase out coal-fired energy, the Greens say. The wind farm, in Dundonnell in the state’s southwest, will save an estimated 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year – equivalent to removing 170,000 cars from Victorian roads. The approval of the project means 300 direct and indirect jobs will be created during construction, and the turbines will generate 1000Gwh of clean energy each year. It’s enough to …

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SA Liberals pushing for all new wind farms to be assessed for their impact on the electricity market

All new wind farm projects would have to undergo an assessment to see how they would affect the electricity market before being approved, if changes proposed by the Opposition were adopted as reported by Lauren Novak. The move comes in response to concerns raised last week after major employers warned the State Government they were considering shutdowns because of wild fluctuations in energy prices. The instability was blamed in part on wild storms, demand interstate and delays in upgrading an interconnector with Victoria. Opposition Leader Steven Marshall added that South Australia’s “massive abundance” of renewable energy, such as wind and …

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Australia’s Largest Solar Crowdfunding Campaign a Success

For-purpose business, The People’s Solar has helped iconic Melbourne Not for Profit, the Abbotsford Convent raise $120,000 for its renewable energy project in the biggest crowdfunding project of its kind in Australia. The People’s Solar, part of Energy for the People, is a platform for delivering community-owned solar power to schools and Not for Profits as reported by Probono Australia. Director and co-founder Tosh Szatow told Pro Bono Australia News this was the biggest solar crowdfunding project of its kind in Australia to date. It was also the largest project his business has been involved in. “It’s really exciting. We’ve …

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A shift towards clean energy; Victoria’s renewables target

The Victorian Labor government has announced an “ambitious and achievable” Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET). This target will commit the state to generating 25% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020, and 40% by 2025 as reported by Dylan McConnell. While details of the VRET are yet to be fully fleshed out, it is set to be based on a similar mechanism to the scheme used in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which has managed to sidestep the uncertainty that has plagued the renewables industry in recent years. ACT deputy chief minister Simon Corbell called Victoria’s announcement “a game-changer”. …

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The Future of Renewables, Solar, Battery Storage and Electric Vehicles

A global renewable energy transformation is underway. The proposed merger between Tesla and Solar City outlines the shape of things to come. The integration of solar panels with battery storage and electric vehicles is the paradigm for both ecological global economic growth, and reaching the goals of the Paris Climate accord as reported by Roy Morrison. An integrated renewable energy company will combine electric vehicles, battery storage, and solar electric panels, all with rapidly expanding market share and plunging prices. Globally, investment in cheap and carbon free solar energy is already rapidly supplanting fossil fuels. Whether or not Tesla’s corporate …

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Hybrid nanogenerator harvests hard-to-reach ocean energy

(Phys.org)—Energy from the ocean, or “blue energy,” is arguably the most underexploited power source, according to researchers in a new study. Although the oceans contain enough energy to meet all of the world’s energy needs, currently there is no effective way to harvest it economically and with reasonable efficiency. The main problem is that ocean waves are irregular and pass by at low frequencies, whereas most energy harvesters operate best with waves that have regular amplitudes and high frequencies. Unfortunately, the calming lull of slow, unpredictable waves beating against the shore that we tend to find so peaceful is not …

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Coal won’t solve energy poverty, but renewables will

Last month, a remarkable story emerged out of Kenya. Not one of violence or unrest that the world is becoming used to, but a lighter one: the national power grid was disrupted by a solitary monkey. The unfortunate primate’s precarious exploration of Kenya’s most important electrical source — a hydro power plant operated by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company — resulted in it falling onto a transformer, short circuiting the nation’s power grid, and causing widespread blackouts and disruption in the process as reported by The HP. While the episode exposed the vulnerabilities of Kenya’s national power gird, it also …

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Energy crowdfunding: the new way to boost renewables

Millions of euros have been crowdfunded in four years to finance small and medium renewable energy projects. And there is still potential to be developed It’s a brand new sector: the first steps date back to 2012. Today energy crowdfunding is a way of financing solar panel or wind turbine projects. For some people, like Andrew Yakub, founder of a US solar manufacturing company, it will save the planet. There is already a big annual conference dedicated to the sector, and a European association that brings together the platforms involved in renewable energy. In March 2016, when one of the …

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Wind farm boom looms as Premier Daniel Andrews looks to boost clean power

Victoria would have 40 per cent clean electricity in less than a decade – nearly tripling the current level – under an ambitious plan announced by the Andrews government. The government has set targets to ramp up wind power and large-scale solar power, paid for through an increase in household and business electricity bills and spending from the budget. With private spending on clean electricity largely stalled due to a lack of confidence in federal government support for a national renewable energy target, the Andrews government believes its policy will make Victoria the centre of a revitalised industry. It estimates …

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