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kristopher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 02:04 AM
Original message
Wind beating down nuclear and coal in Europe
Wind beating down nuclear and coal in Europe
February 4, 2010 - by Cleantech Group
New data finds wind is on the rise, while nuclear and coal are declining in Europe, if you believe the wind industry.


More signs of the ascendancy of renewables and the waning of conventional energy, at least in Europe, according to two new reports:
1. Wind installations were up dramatically in 2009 despite the recession, driven by China, and accounted for the largest proportion of new power installations in the world, says one report, and
2. In Europe, more nuclear and coal capacity were decommissioned than installed in 2009, according to the other

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), a trade group for the wind industry, the wind power market grew by 31 percent in 2009, adding 37.5 GW of installations to bring capacity up to 157.9 GW.

Growth was led by China, which more than doubled its capacity from 12.1 GW in 2008 to 25.1 GW at the end of 2009 (see our article from yesterday, Report: China now world’s largest wind market). This outperformed the U.S., which installed nearly 10 GW in 2009, increasing the country’s installed capacity by 39 percent to 35 GW.

GWEC said...


http://cleantech.com/news/5601/wind-beating-nuclear-and-coal-europe
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 02:37 AM
Response to Original message
1. Indeed, EU and the US are slated to have less coal usage according to WEO 2010.
But, unfortunately, that will be largely irrelevant toward the rest of the world.

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kristopher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 03:09 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. No, it isn't.
It is part of the engine driving reduced costs for renewables. The more renewables deployed, the more investment that has been made. The more investment made, the more competition to reduce costs. The more cost reductions leads to more deployed units. More deployed units leads to more investment and so on until the industries are "mature" and manufacturers become "price takers".

You are (once again) just trying to belittle renewables, no?

Nuclear and coal are two sides of the same coin - and they both suck.
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 03:48 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. WEO 2010 expects 0.17% global investment in all renewables by 2035. Right now it's .08% (1)
I am not belittling renewables, I am trying to give people some bit of insight that they aren't doing enough. I am tired of anti-environmentalists spoiling this forum with distortions like "Cancun was a success." I'm tired of people pretending that we're addressing our global environmental problems. We're not. Renewables aren't going to cut it.

But it is at least admirable that the US and EU are leading the way toward a coal phaseout. In another 20 years. I'll post the relevant graphs later, I forgot what page they were on.

(1) pp 296 WEO 2010

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NNadir Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 07:22 AM
Response to Reply #2
8. Actually it's the World Energy Organization that is "belittling" "renewables."
Fifty years of hyping renewables by gas company clerks has not made them a significant source of energy, never mind the main source of energy anywhere on earth.
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 07:14 PM
Response to Reply #8
11. WEO = World Energy Outlook, by the IEA.
They do say that wind and other renewables will make a huge dent, but it's still not going to affect very much future coal buildout or CO2 emissions under the New Policies Scenario (Cancun).
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 03:56 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. Here's the growth projection of EU and US:


pp 234 WEO 2010
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XemaSab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 04:27 AM
Response to Reply #4
5. Where do they expect all this biomass to come from?
:shrug:
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 06:29 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. Subsidies. Lots of subsidies.
Unrelated graphic why I don't think we're doing enough.

Current Policy Scenario leaves us burning coal heavily well into 2035:

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Dead_Parrot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 06:44 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. Soylent green is.... renewable.
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madokie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 07:55 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. Only up to a point
:-)
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jpak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-11 08:58 AM
Response to Original message
10. Hooray for Amory Lovins and Mark Z. Jacobson!!
Edited on Fri Jan-07-11 09:00 AM by jpak
:yourock:

<snip>

And according to a newly-released report from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), wind power accounted for 39 percent of new installed capacity in the EU in 2009. In fact, in Europe, more nuclear and coal capacity were decommissioned than installed in 2009, the report said (referencing figures from a graph in the report, but without citing a source for its data).

<more>

:rofl:

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kristopher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-08-11 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. This is one of the primary things I'm keeping an eye on.
Few people have anticipated the effect of China on renewable technology prices, and I'm eager to see where we are with solar by 2015.



http://www.1366tech.com/v2/company-mainmenu-1/reaching-coal-parity

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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-08-11 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. So am I, its a very quickly testable prediction.
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