Costa Rica: A climate success story - by Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin

In the space of just a few years, the small Central American nation of Costa Rica has become a global laboratory for decarbonisation. Costa Rica is the world's only tropical country that has managed to reverse the process of deforestation: forests now cover more than half its surface. It’s also one of the few countries to get almost all its electricity (99 percent) from renewable sources. Costa Rica's inspiring and bold example reflects badly on major world powers, which have considerably more resources available to achieve their climate goals.

Costa Rica abolished its army back in 1948, and 99 percent of its energy is renewable. The small country is an exception in Latin America. Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada sat down for an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24. Ahead of November's COP26 conference in Glasgow, he laid out several concrete proposals to fight climate change and sounded the alarm, saying: "The biggest challenge of this generation is decarbonisation and fighting climate change."

Read more at: Costa Rica: A climate success story - Reporters

The Netherlands: Another floating solar park goes online in the Netherlands – pv magazine International

Dutch water supplier Evides Waterbedrijf has completed the construction of a 1.62 floating solar power plant at a reservoir in Kralingen, near Rotterdam. 

The plant is expected to cover around 15% of the electricity demand of the company’sadjacent facility, with estimated annual power generation of1.7 million kWh.

Read more:
Another floating solar park goes online in the Netherlands – pv magazine International

The Netherlands: Microsoft Signs New PPA for Wind Farm Electricity in the Netherlands - by Alyssa Danigelis

Microsoft signed a PPA with the Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall to purchase all the electricity produced from a new 180-megawatt wind farm being built in the Netherlands, according to an announcement this week. The farm will be located in the Wieringermeer polder, near Amsterdam, next to Microsoft’s data center operations.

The 10-year deal, one of the largest wind PPAs in the Netherlands, is Vattenfall’s first with a data center outside Nordic countries. Nuon, part of Vattenfall, will be responsible for constructing and operating the wind farm. Eventually the company plans to expand the project to include 100 windmills, according to Microsoft. “That will allow the production of approximately 1.3 billion kilowatt hours of renewable electricity,” the announcement says.

The tech giant’s data center operations in the Netherlands are a regional hub for Microsoft Cloud service customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond. Vattenfall and Microsoft already had a partnership prior to the PPA — the energy company uses Microsoft’s cloud-based tools for its business operations including the enterprise platform Azure for analytics.

Lately Microsoft has been on a roll with renewable energy. Last month the company signed a deal for 100% of the energy produced by GE’s new 37-megawatt wind farm in Ireland. Recently Microsoft opened a pilot for a data center in Seattle that uses integrated fuel cells and natural gas rather than power from the electrical grid. The company’s Cloud Infrastructure and Operations team hopes the fuel cells can one day work with renewable biogas instead.

The Wieringermeer site currently has 93 turbines that are set to be replaced with more powerful machines, Wind Power Monthly reported. “Combined with an adjacent extension the project’s additional capacity of 115 MW, Wieringermeer will have 100 turbines in total with a total capacity of 295 MW when completed,” reporter Craig Richard wrote. “Vattenfall will own 82 of these turbines, the nearby Energy Research Center of the Netherlands will own 17, and the remaining turbine will be reserved for local residents, the developer said.”

Construction on Vattenfall’s new wind farm is planned to start next year. The partners expect additional generation capacity to become available in 2020. Once the project is completed, it will likely be one of the largest wind farms in the Netherlands.

Read more: Microsoft Signs New PPA for Wind Farm Electricity in the Netherlands - Energy Manager Today

The Netherlands - Wind Power: 4 TSO's join forces for North Sea Power Hub - by M. Jonk and C van der Weijden

EU: A new wind power hub in the North Sea

Dutch state owned Gasunie has joined the consortium of Danish Energinet.dk and Dutch and German TenneT to study the possible development of a wind power hub in the North Sea. The power hub will consist of one or more large-scale artificial island(s) for sustainable energy supply in the North Sea near the Doggersbank.

The island should produce 100,000 MW of wind energy. It is expected to contribute substantially to achieving the agreed European targets set out in the Paris climate agreement. If the Paris targets are to be met, it is expected that an additional 180 GW offshore wind capacity will need to be developed. According to the four TSO's these volumes will require power-to-gas solutions as energy transport in gas-form is cheaper than transportation through the electricity grid.

The island is to be situated in a location with favorable winds and the possibilities of tie-ins to offshore wind parks. Power surpluses will be converted to hydrogen for large-scale transportation to shore or for storage purposes.

Gasunie will contribute its gas transport expertise and its expertise in the field of hydrogen conversion and gas storage. Gasunie an TenneT are already combining forces to develop a factory for the conversion of solar and wind energy into hydrogen in the Dutch city of Zuidwending. The hydrogen is expected to be used for municipal busses. If the North Sea Wind Hub is deemed feasible, construction is expected by 2030-2050.

EU-Digest

Alternative energy Supplies: Desert solar project could power 5 million EU homes - by Sam Morgan

A consortium of clean energy developers has applied for permission to build a gigantic solar power plant on the edge of the Sahara desert, which will be linked to Europe by a number of undersea cables and could power over 5 million homes.

TuNur’s planned project in Tunisia hopes to tap into the Sahara desert’s vast potential to provide solar power. Its request to the Tunisian energy ministry envisages a facility in the southwest of the country that will produce 4.5GW of power.

Chief Executive Kevin Sara claimed that an initial 250MW could be up and running, powering Europe via an interconnector with Malta, by 2020. It would mean an extra 1,000GWh of clean power a year being made available to the European grid.

Italy and Malta’s energy grids are already connected via a 95km link that came online in 2015.

Read more: Desert solar project could power 5 million EU homes

Germany - Alternative Energy: Combustion engine ban puts 600,000 German jobs at risk says controversial Ifo report

Alternative Enery Car Industry - a win-win situation

More than 600,000 jobs could be at risk in Germany from a potential ban on combustion engine cars by 2030, the Ifo economic institute said in a study commissioned by Germany's VDA car industry lobby.

Pollution from cars, including those with diesel engines, has become a sensitive subject in Germany since Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) admitted to systematic cheating of emissions tests to mask levels of health threatening nitrogen oxides.

Cities such as Munich and Stuttgart are looking at banning older diesel cars, whose emissions they blame for causing an increase in respiratory diseases.

The Ifo study, published on Tuesday, said a switch to sales of zero-emission cars would threaten 426,000 car manufacturing jobs, with the rest coming from related industries, such as suppliers.

Two months before Germany's national elections, the government faces growing pressure to reduce emissions or face complete bans on diesel cars in some cities. Representatives of federal and regional governments will meet with carmakers on Aug. 2 to find ways to curb diesel-related pollution

Note EU-Digest: the study by the IFO is somewhat controversial, and one could even call it questionable, specially when it comes to the potential employment loss. Switching from combustion cars to other environmentally friendly automobiles, like electric or hydrogen powered cars, will certainly not cause a drop in the production of cars. To the contrary,it might even increase employment in the automobile industry, and most of all be a win-win when it comes to cleaning up the environment. 

For the full Report read more: Combustion engine ban puts 600,000 German jobs at risk: Ifo

US Economy:Renewable Energy Industry Creates Jobs 12 Times Faster Than Rest of US

The solar and wind industries are each creating jobs at a rate 12 times faster than that of the rest of the U.S. economy, according to a new report.

The study, published by the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) Climate Corps program, says that solar and wind jobs have grown at rates of about 20% annually in recent years, and sustainability now collectively represents four to four and a half million jobs in the U.S., up from 3.4 million in 2011.

The renewable energy sector has seen rapid growth over recent years, driven largely by significant reductions in manufacturing and installation costs. Building developers and owners have been fueled by state and local building efficiency policies and incentives, the report explains.

But, these gains are in contrast to Trump's support for fossil fuel production, his climate change denial and his belief that renewable energy is a "bad investment".

 "Trump's current approach is basically ignoring an entire industry that has grown up over the last 10 years or so and is quite robust," Liz Delaney, program director at EDF Climate Corps, told Business Insider.

Note EU-Digest President Trump, however, who does not believe in scientifically proven evidence that Carbon Dioxide Emissions caused by fossil fuels and a variety of other factors are the main cause for global warming, has today signed several sweeping executive orders taking aim at a number of his predecessor's climate policies,  Thereby turning back the clock of American advantages in the alternative energy sector for many years. It will also jeopardize America's current role in international efforts to confront climate change.

Renewable Energy Industry:  Creates Jobs 12 Times Faster Than Rest of US | Fortune.com

Netherlands: Alternative Energy Railways: Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy

Dutch Trains -Alternative Energy - Wind Power

All Dutch electric trains are now powered by wind energy, the national railway company NS has said .

“Since 1 January, 100% of our trains are running on wind energy,” said NS spokesman, Ton Boon.

“So we in fact reached our goal a year earlier than planned,” said Boon, adding that an increase in the number of wind farms across the country and off the coast of the Netherlands had helped NS achieve its aim.

Eneco and NS said on a joint website that around 600,000 passengers daily are “the first in the world” to travel thanks to wind energy. NS operates about 5,500 train trips a day.

One windmill running for an hour can power a train for 120 miles, the companies said. They hope to reduce the energy used per passenger by a further 35% by 2020 compared with 2005.

Read more: Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy | World news | The Guardian

The Netherlands-Almere: Sun Island

Almere Zoneiland (Sun Island) is located in the Noorderplassen-West district in Almere and it is the first project in the Netherlands, where houses in a residential area is heated by a single solar energy system collectively.

The project is financially supported by the EU andmimplemented in a cooperation between the Dutch energy company Nuon, Almere Municipality and local citizens.

Read more: Almere: Sun Island - Danish Architecture Centre

The Netherlands - Alternative energy: Beautiful solar-powered car chargers keep the Netherlands moving

Ever since I started driving an electric car, I've been surprised by just how little I need or care about having a charging network available to me. But I have a driveway. And a second car. For the one-car families and/or those who live in apartments, a reliable charging network would go a long way toward making electric cars a more attractive and practical option.

In the Netherlands, just such a network is already emerging. Fastned has already built 50 beautiful solar-powered chargers and they are aiming for 200 in the very near future. Robert Llewellyn of Fully Charged paid one charging station a visit, and he chatted with company founder Bart Lubbers about their plans for the future.

A few points worthy of note:

    *The solar panels create enough charge for about three cars. The rest comes from a contract with wind power generators.
    *The charging stations are built with expansion in mind. The one in the video currently has two chargers, but there's room for six more.
    *Fastned offers several pricing options and plans, including monthly fees and lower Kwh rates for people charging regularly, and no monthly fee but higher Kwh rates for people needing to charge only occasionally.

Lubbers also shares that the company eventually plans to add shops/coffee shops/bathroom facilities etc. This really does look like a smart approach to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Now I kind of wish we had something like this in my neighborhood, even though I don't really need it...

Read more: Beautiful solar-powered car chargers keep the Netherlands moving : TreeHugger

EU Car Industry Goes Electric and prices are dropping: Netherlands looks to ban all non-electric cars by 2025 - by S. Hinckley

VW E-GOLF Electric

By 2025, the Netherlands may only allow electric vehicles on the road.

A majority of elected officials in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, supported a motion proposed by the Labor Party (PvdA) to ban all diesel and petroleum cars from the Dutch market starting in 2025. If enacted, this proposal would allow existing fossil fuel-powered cars to stay on the road until they died, but when it comes to new sales, only electric cars would be permitted.

"We are ambitious, perhaps other parties are less so," PvdA leader Diederik Samsom told the local NL Times.

Renault Zoe  - Electric

While it is still unclear whether or not the motion will pass, some electric enthusiasts see the proposal as progress all the same. This law would not only affect Dutch drivers, but would also require more electric vehicle output from car manufacturers, and potentially destigmatize electric vehicles as a niche purchase.

"One big thing that's preventing more people from buying [electric cars] is awareness – people just don't know about them," Joel Levin, executive director of Plug In America, tells The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview Thursday. "It is a pretty big shift for how you think about your car."

Fiat -500 Electric

But this proposal doesn't mean that the Netherlands is a model of energy efficiency – yet. Rather, it's one of the most carbon-intensive countries in the European Union, according to a 2015 study by Deloitte. Natural gas and petroleum make up the majority of the Netherland's energy resources at 41 and 42 percent respectively, with solid fuels coming in third at 10 percent and finally renewable energies making up five percent of the overall energy mix.

In 2012, the transportation sector consumed the most energy of all sources, constituting 29 percent of all consumption in the Netherlands.

In the United States, by comparison, transportation represents 27 percent of the country's consumption, according to a 2015 report from the Energy Information Administration.

BMW -i3 Electric

This isn't the first time that the Netherlands has announced an ambitious energy-saving goal in transportation technology.

The Dutch energy company Eneco, partnering with VIVENS rail companies, announced a plan in 2015 to make a fleet of trains powered entirely by wind energy within the next three years. And for almost a year now, the Netherlands has boasted the world's first solar road, a bike path made of solar panels that generates enough electricity to power a small home for a year.

The Netherlands has also announced plans to pave roads with recycled plastic, which they market as durable and low maintenance, with a smaller environmental impact than asphalt production.

Mercedes B-Class Electric

And while these proposals may be more experimental, advocates say electric vehicles have real potential.
"For people who are aware [of electric cars], there are a few myths," Mr. Levin says. Primarily, many people have the misconception that electric vehicles are expensive, slow, unsafe, and inconvenient.

"They are not fancy cars for rich people – there are many affordable ones. And if you compare apples to apples, the total coast of ownership is very competitive," he explains.

Along with these myths, there are also a lot of positives that gas or diesel-powered cars don't experience. "Apart from any environmental benefits, they are a pleasure to drive, there is tremendous power," he says. "And maintenance is low – there is no engine, so if you change the brakes and batteries, nothing really could go wrong."

Charging is easy, he adds; it can be done at home overnight. "People worry about running out of power, but the [drivers] that run out of power are the same ones that run out of gas."

Almere-digest

Dubai - Netherlands: DEWA visits Netherlands to strengthen ties

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer

A senior delegation, headed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority ( DEWA ), is visiting the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The visit is strengthening ties, exchanging expertise, and promoting participation by Dutch companies in the first Dubai Solar Show, which will be held in conjunction with the 18th Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX 2016) from 4 to 6 October 2016. WETEX is organised under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of DEWA .

The delegation includes Hussain Lootah, Executive Vice President of Transmission, Waleed Ali Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support & Human Resources, Matar Suhail Salem Al Mehairi, Vice President of Distribution Asset Management, Mohamed Al Shamsi, Vice President of Water & Civil Projects and Water Maintenance, Moza Al Akraf, CIO, Faisal Al Dashti, Senior Manager of Information Security, Ahmed Belarti, Senior Manager of Smart Services, Mohamed Abdulkarim Al Shamsi, Senior Manager of Sustainability & Climate Change, and Ahmed Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communications.

During the visit, Al Tayer commenced his first meetings with Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, HE Abdallah Hamdan Al Naqbi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and high-profile representatives of Dutch companies operating in energy, water and environment. Al Tayer praised the efforts of the UAE Embassy in the Netherlands.

In his speech, Al Tayer highlighted opportunities for cooperation between Dubai and the Netherlands, the potential of the energy and environment sectors in the UAE, and cooperation on renewable and clean energy projects, and plans that Dubai has for the future.

"Our nation is blessed with leaders who have a real vision of a brighter future that incorporates sustainability at the heart of our daily lives. HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, have both mandated that Solar Energy and sustainability are essential to the future of our nation," said Al Tayer.

"The UAE's commitment to combatting climate change and developing renewable energy is already well-established. As well as supporting the COP21 accords in Paris, the UAE hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Dubai intends to generate 75% of its total power output from clean energy by 2050. This target is part of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum last November," added Al Tayer.

"This strategy has defined our efforts to develop the efforts of our Emirate and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to bring solar power to our citizens and residents. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, which is the largest single-site solar park in the world, will generate 1,000 megawatts by 2020 and 5,000 megawatts by 2030, which will save approximately 6.5 million metric tons per year in carbon dioxide emissions," added Al Tayer.

Read more: DEWA visits Netherlands to strengthen ties - Zawya

Wood Pulp Industry: Eastport, Maine company hopes to boost wood fiber exports to Europe - by Johanna S. Billings

Low Grade Wood Fiber for a variety of uses

In Maine, USA, an Eastport firm’s efforts will create a new market for low-grade fiber that will help the entire wood pulp industry in Maine, a company official says.

Stephean Chute, managing director of Phyto-Charter Inc., said the firm plans to export cull — waste wood unsuitable for paper and pulp mills in Maine — to Europe, where the wood fiber will be used for heating and generating electricity. No such market for low-grade wood chips exists in Maine or the United States, he said.

The Phyto-Charter Shipboard Heat Treating System is designed to work on board a ship while it is in dock. An airtight chamber is created in the ship’s hold, where moisture-laden air is recirculated until the humidity level inside the chamber reaches 100 percent. The humidity level must be maintained for 30 minutes and, during this process, chips are heated to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit), he said.

“The system] is adaptable to any ship. We don’t modify any ships,” Chute said. “We don’t have to own [ships]. We’re just chartering. It’s the only way to do it.”

Wood products have not been exported to Europe since the European Union enacted its current regulations in 2000, he said. Phyto-Charter’s system is the first since then that meets regulations for treating wood chips for sending them to Europe, Chute said.

In late 2014, Phyto-Charter shipped to Ireland samples of treated wood chips that were certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as being treated according to the European standards, he said. The USDA will continue to monitor and certify shipments when the company officially starts up its export operations.

Countries in the European Union have developed what Chute called an “aggressive” strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent and have 20 percent of its energy needs met by renewable sources by 2020.

“Europe has adopted a very aggressive set of incentives for switching to renewables,” Chute said, adding that wood chips are considered renewables. Phyto-Charter is “part of the solution” in Europe, he said.
Chute declined to say exactly who his customers were or whether he has contracts in place. He said the wood supply mostly would come from harvesters in Maine, though some may also come from pulp and paper mills.

“Eastport, Maine, is the closest deep-water port to European markets of all the continental U.S.,” Chute said. “Eastport is the closest port where the forest meets the ocean.”

Chris Gardner, executive director of the Eastport Port Authority, said he is “happy” to see Phyto-Charter making progress in its work. He said the port authority has been working with Phyto-Charter since 2009.
“What we are doing is putting Eastport in a position to show we can be of great assistance to the pulp and paper industry,” Gardner said.

Phyto-Charter also plans to ship out of Eastport because the port authority invested in a bulk cargo conveyor system to assist with loading ships. The project was part of a port expansion in 2010 and 2011.

The state kicked in a $4.5 million transportation grant and $2.25 million came from the federal government, Gardner said. The port authority put up the rest of the total expansion cost, which he said Thursday was between $8 million and $10 million. Phyto-Charter will run the ship loading system at the port, he said.

Note Almere-Digest: Interested parties  re: pulp , low grade wood pulp, wood chips, fireplace wood, can contact us by using contact form  at the bottom of this publication.

Almere-Digest

The Netherlands: Siemens and Prysmian share €420m Cobra Danish-Dutch RE link deal -Recharge

The Dutch and Danish transmission system operators, TenneT and Energinet.dk, have awarded an order to Siemens and Prysmian to supply a subsea 700MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) 'Cobra' link under the North Sea to transport renewable energy between Denmark and the Netherlands. 

Read more: Siemens and Prysmian share €420m Cobra Danish-Dutch RE link deal -Recharge | Global Renewable Energy News

World Solar Challenge: Dutch university Delft wins race in Australia

A team from Delft University in the Netherlands has won a solar car race in the Australian outback.

The university's Nuon Solar Team was the first to arrive at the finish line in Adelaide and the 3,000km (1,800 mile) race took four days to complete.

In second place was a team from the University of Twente, also from the Netherlands; while Japan's Tokai University came in third.

The race, which happens once every two years, started on Sunday in Darwin.

Nearly 50 teams from universities and schools around the world took part. Delft University had also won the last challenge in 2013.

The World Solar Challenge is aimed at promoting research on solar-powered cars which could become a consumer product one day.

World Solar Challenge: Dutch university Delft wins race in Australia - BBC News

European Wind Farms: Houston Texas based RigNet wins major contract for European wind farm infrastructure development

Offshore Windparks

The Houston, Texas's based RigNet TSI has been awarded a multi-million EURO contract to deliver communications systems and infrastructure for a high-voltage transmission platform in an offshore wind farm located in the German sector of the North Sea.
 
The award of this contract by a leading UK-based offshore contractor continues RigNet’s long-term success in the delivery of integrated telecommunications and operations support systems for a diverse range of applications and industries.

“As modern wind farms grow in scale and move farther offshore, they begin to resemble deepwater drilling operations in terms of complexity and technology requirements,” said Mark Slaughter, RigNet’s CEO and President. “Through our TSI business unit, RigNet applies its significant track record for offshore performance to help these renewable energy developments meet safety and production targets.”

RigNet TSI’s scope of work includes the integration and delivery of critical facility communications infrastructure, including Structured Cabling, Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless LAN (WLAN), Telephony, Public Address / General Alarm (PAGA), Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Access Control (ACS), Meteorological Systems, Navigation and Lifeboat Radio support for the platforms.

RigNet TSI is a leading global Provider of managed remote communications, telecoms systems integration and collaborative applications dedicated to the oil and gas industry, focusing on offshore and onshore drilling rigs, energy production facilities and energy maritime vessels. RigNet is based in Houston, Texas.

Read more: RigNet wins Telecoms EPC contract for European wind farm infrastructure development

Alternative Energy: Want a competitive Europe? Embrace renewables

Last week, on  March 19, one day ahead of the European Heads of States and Governments’ discussions on the 2030 climate and energy framework proposals, the European renewable energy associations jointly called on EU leaders to fully grasp the long-term benefits of an ambitious nationally binding EU renewable energy target. 

"The European economy is exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices and insecure fossil fuel imports, especially in these days of geopolitical turmoil at our borders. It must confront climate change. It is facing international competition in sectors of strategic importance for Europe’s growth. In view of the European Council meeting tomorrow, the renewable energy associations emphasise the need for a sustainable and cost-efficient energy mix that can help Europe tackle these challenges. According to the European Commission’s own Impact Assessment, the proposals that the Heads of States will discuss tomorrow are not the ones that would bring the most benefits by 2030. 

While a 2030 framework based on a truly ambitious and binding renewable energy target would deliver major savings, such as an additional €260 billion in avoided fossil fuel imports, and 568,000 more jobs1, the discussion has been pre-formatted to only consider the least ambitious pathway. 

An ambitious 2030 climate and energy framework based on a binding national renewable EU energy target is not only justified from a macro-economic viewpoint, but it is also crucial for businesses and investors. Both 

Europe’s economy and its citizens would greatly benefit from a strong commitment of EU leaders towards the energy transition. Such commitment needs to go beyond a simple volatile CO2 price and thus drive investments into clean energy technologies. EU citizens would this way benefit from a secure and clean energy supply, healthier living conditions and a boosted job market, while the European economy would enjoy a competitive and stable energy framework for the years to come. 

The European renewable energy associations thus call on the Heads of States and Governments to fully reap the benefits of a more sustainable energy system and to agree on an ambitious nationally binding EU renewable energy target for 2030."

Read more: 2030-Joint-Press-Release.pdf

Alternative Energy: US data show wind energy works and is cost-effective -- by Robert H. Owen Jr.

Occasionally a misinformed reader asserts wind turbines produce insignificant electrical output. That's simply untrue.

MGE reports the energy produced by its wind turbines annually. According to reports, its Rosiere Wind Farm in Kewaunee County produced 19,513,000 kilowatt hours in 2011 and 20,279,000 in 2012, the former at an operating cost of 2.11 cents per kilowatt hour.

MGE reported that its Top-of-Iowa Wind Farm produced 80,592,300 kilowatt  hours in 2011 and 74,147,900 in 2012, the former at an operating cost of 1.48 cents per kilowatt  hour.

MGE also reports the energy it buys from two Iowa and one Wisconsin wind farms owned by others. It reported total wind energy purchases of 275,932,000 kilowatt hours in 2011 and 290,540,000 in 2012 at a net cost of about 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

By contrast, MGE's inefficient Blount Street Plant, which burns natural gas, produced only 47,689,100 kilowatt hours at an operating cost of about 14 cents per kilowatt hour in 2012.

Modern wind turbines are being widely adopted in other states in the Midwest because they are productive and cost-effective.

Read more: Data show wind energy works and is cost-effective -- Robert H. Owen Jr. : Ws

European Car Industry - Alternative Energy: 1,000 European EV Quick Chargers Energized - by Philippe Crowe

Nissan has announced the milestone of 1,000 CHAdeMO quick chargers installed in Europe has been reached.

The 1,000^th EV charging station was installed at Roadchef Clacket Lane Services in Surrey, UK.
The fast charging unit can recharge the batteries of compatible electric vehicles from zero to 80 percent charge in 30 minutes, and at zero cost.

Nissan said the installation of the fastest type of chargers dramatically increases the uptake and usage of electric vehicles. In Norway, Europe’s biggest EV market, the number of electric vehicles using the E18 highway increased eight fold in an 18 month period after a CHAdeMO quick charger was installed on the route.

The latest charger has been installed in collaboration with Ecotricity, a UK green energy specialist. The location south of London on the M25 motorway, considered one of the busiest in Europe, allows drivers west of London easy access to Kent and onwards into Europe“.

This is a huge landmark for zero-emission mobility, allowing a range of EVs, including the Nissan Leaf and forthcoming Nissan e-NV200 electric van, to quickly extend their journeys,” said Director of Electric Vehicles, Nissan Europe, Jean Pierre Diernaz. “The UK charging network is expanding rapidly and through our partner Ecotricity, customers are able to ‘refuel’ their car for free with wind and solar generated electricity.”

According to Nissan, this latest charger is part of a network of 195 chargers in the UK, which is forming electric corridors across the country, linking major towns and cities. In the UK, Nissan has been working with partners including IKEA, Moto, Roadchef, Welcome Break and Nissan dealers to create this rapidly growing network with 124 quick chargers installed in 2013.

Nissan explained the rate of installation of CHAdeMO quick chargers across Europe rose sharply in 2013, hugely increasing access for its Nissan Leaf customers. In 2010 there were just 16 quick charging points; this rose to 155 a year later and 540 in 2012. The 1,000 mark in 2013 will be dwarfed by the end of 2014 with over 1,800 quick charger points expected.

Investment in this Euope-wide development of infrastructure comes from Nissan and a multitude of partners in the energy field, including the Swiss multinational power company ABB, French quick charger manufacturers DBT, and the Portuguese EFACEC Corporation.

Read more: 1,000 European EV Quick Chargers Energized - HybridCars.com