09 Feb 2012
Vienna is the world’s smartest city … will the EU cope without Iran’s oil? … UK’s “green” data centers not that efficient.
Smart Planet: Top 10 smartest cities in the world
Tyler Falk of Smart Planet writes about the world’s current top 10 ten smart cities, as listed by researcher Boyd Cohen, at Fast Company’s Co.Exist blog. The cities have been chosen according to:
· Past innovations
· Standard of life
· Sustainability and digital community
· ...
25 Jan 2012
The cost of free electricity in Qatar; South African LED lights and the Iranian oil embargo.
Energy Matters: What if Fossil Fuel Based Electricity Was Free.
The article discusses the high price paid for free electricity, generated by fossil fuels. The author points out that even though Qatar has access to free electricity, generated from natural gas; it had one of the highest per capita emissions in 2007. The author points to Qatar’s increasing generating capacity as a contributor and wonders how different the situation would be if Qatar were to use free solar energy instead...
23 Nov 2011
France has the second largest energy sector in the EU. It is also the EU’s largest net exporter of electricity. Overall, France’s per capita CO2 emission rate is one of the lowest in Europe, due to its strong dependence of nuclear power. Nuclear energy also keeps the electricity production costs down.
Nuclear Energy
The country’s nuclear power industry has been labelled a “success” in terms of providing cheap, CO2-free energy. However, France's nuclear reactors are commonly used in load-following mode. Some reactors are closed over the weekend as there is no market for the generated electricity. 11 of the 15 inland plants have cooling towers, which use evaporative cooling. Others use lake or river water directly. As a result, generation output is limited during hot...
09 Jan 2012
South Africa’s strong economic growth, rapid industrialization and a mass electrification program led to power demand outstripping supply in 2008. Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM) is the state energy company which supplies 95% of the country’s electricity. It has embarked on a massive program, upgrading and expanding the country's...
South Africa has been producing Nuclear energy since the 1980’s and is currently tendering to expand this project. Eskom is investing US$48.6bn into new generation projects through 2013 and plans to have spent in excess of US$126bn by 2026, doubling its capacity to 80,000MW.
Eskom is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, generating 60% of the total electricity generated on the African continent. It is among the top 11 utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity,...
02 Nov 2011
The UK closed many coal fired power stations to meet the clean air requirements of the European Large Combustion Plant Directive. This caused a growing 'energy gap' in generating capacity. The government estimated that the country would have a 20% generation shortfall by 2015. The 2006 Energy Review proposed the country construct new-generation...
The UK published its Low Carbon Transition Plan in July 2009. It plans to cut carbon emissions by 34% by 2020. The plan includes:
· Employing over 1.2 million people in green jobs
· Upgrading 7 million households to be more efficient and over 1.5 million will generate renewable energy
· Low carbon sources such as renewables, nuclear...
04 Apr 2012
Italy’s utility – Enel – looks to Africa for renewable energy growth opportunities.
What happened?
Abundant renewable energy sources in Morocco and South Africa offer attractive investment opportunities for Italy’s largest renewable energy group, Enel Green Power SpA (EGPW), reports Bloomberg. EGPW has its sights set on Africa as Europe’s “demand slumps” due to the recession and subsidy cuts. EGPW Chief Executive Officer, Francesco Starace, says the countries have a “promising abundance” of renewable-energy potential and a “huge...
02 Nov 2011
51% of urban areas in Kenya have electricity, whereas only 8% of rural areas are electrified. (See: World Bank - Rural electrification programs in Kenya.) The country boasts a high level of renewable energy due to its 60% hydroelectric generation. However, drought, deforestation and the silting of dams limit its capacity. As a result,...
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity in Kenya until 1997. The Electric Power Act split these functions.
There are 5 ‘actors’ in the energy sector:
· Ministry of Energy
· Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KenGen)
– manages the nation’s public power generation facilities. The company...
02 Nov 2011
Australia depends heavily on its extensive fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. The country’s electricity production was 251TWh in October 2010. Of this, renewable sources accounted for only 8.67%. It is one of the highest greenhouse gas emitters in the developed world. Electricity generation causes most of the country’s carbon...
Australia’s electricity generation breakdown in 2007 to 2008:
40% coal
35% oil
19% natural gas
6% renewable energy
The country plans to replace its fossil fuel electricity with 100% renewable energy by 2020. The goals are set out in the Zero Carbon Australia Stationery Energy Plan.
Variable pricing, smart meters and smart grids have not yet been used efficiently to offset peak electricity use. This would alleviate the increase in peak demand, according to the Garnaut...
31 Oct 2011
Indonesia generates 86% of its electricity from conventional fossil fuel sources (coal, gas, and oil). It was also the third-largest generator of geothermal power in 2009. The country had 27.8GW installed generating capacity and generated 122BKWh of electricity, during 2008. 86% of which came from fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), 8%...
State-owned electric utility PT PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Negara) is the main actor in the electric power sector. PLN owns and operates 86% of the country’s generating capacity through its subsidiaries. It still maintains a virtual monopoly over distribution. The 2009 Electricity Law ends PLN’s distribution monopoly, but sufficient implementing regulations have yet to come into effect.
Before the Asian financial crisis, Indonesia planned to increase its power supply. PLN opened the...
23 Feb 2012
Donald Trump has proposed an “extraordinarily straightforward energy policy.”
William Portland of Forbes.com says that this astonishing plan is two-fold:
1. Reinvade Iraq and take over the oil fields. This is not stealing, assures Trump, merely reimbursement for the US$1.5tn that the US spent to bring down the Saddam Hussein regime.
2. Send in a better spokesperson than President Barrack Obama to go and speak to OPEC. Because OPEC controls crude oil pricing, if they are asked nicely, then they will lower oil prices....
Visit our archive for Global
