Tag Archives: Cleantech

Energy

Vancouver’s New Permits Discourage Rooftop Solar

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Editor’s Note: The City of Vancouver has since informed me that some of the information in this article arises from a misunderstanding. Permitting costs do not include the equipment, just installation costs, which significantly reduces the totals used below. Rob Baxter, President of SPEC, says the this is a verbal commitment they made and not yet in writing. It is expected to cut $650 from the bill, which he says will still be at least three times higher than permitting in Toronto. 

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Vancouver intends to become the Greenest City in the world. It has drawn up an Action Plan identifying 10 specific goals for that it wants addressed by 2020. These include the city’s carbon emissions, Waste and Ecosystems, but they appear to have largely overlooked the potential for solar energy. Vancouver is one of the least attractive cities for solar.

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Energy, Finances

Energiewende Will Succeed

Bye Roy L Hales

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American critics of Energiewende regularly announce its approaching  demise.  A hypocritical article in the Wallstreet Journal announced that Germany will spend €1 trillion on its’ renewable energy experiment by 2040, without mentioning that a large portion of that money was for electric grid upgrades that would be needed anyway. Nor did the author disclose the fact an even larger sum (€90 billion a year) would have gone to fossil fuels. Similarly, Forbes mocked Germany’s slight rise in CO2 levels, without mentioning they are already 23% lower than the 1990 benchmark set by the Kyoto Accord. (The author’s country, the US, is still 5% above that target.) Their carping does not explain how Germany became Europe’s powerhouse and the fourth largest economy in the World. Nor does it do justice to the nation the  Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) ranks #3 for renewable investments. Energiewende will succeed because it is embraced by the German people.

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Energy, Finances

The Other Face of Chinese Development

By Roy L Hales

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There is no modern parallel for the pace of Chinese development. Economically speaking, China was a third world nation only decades ago. Now it has surpassed the US and enters 2015 as the World’s leading economy and biggest polluter. The other face of Chinese development is that it also leads the World in the development of renewable energy.

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Transportation

The EV Tipping Point Will Arrive Quickly

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By Roy L Hales

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Though the Netherland’s EV sales are picking up, Fastned’s co- founder & CEO Michiel Langezaal does think they will reach  the national goal of 200,000 electric cars on the road by 2020. According to Michiel this number includes not only fully electric cars, but also the Hybrids.There are still parts of the country that are beyond the reach of EVs with a 100 kilometers per charge range. Around 85% of the population do not have their own parking spaces.  Yet Fastned’s co- founder & CEO Michiel Langezaal says the EV tipping point will arrive quickly.

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