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Page added on November 17, 2015
Solar Air-Conditioning: The Next Big Step for Solar Energy
Air-Conditioning (AC) has become an essential part of modern society as it enables a productive and comfortable life style in hot and humid climates. The amount of installed AC systems is expected to dramatically increase in the coming decades, largely driven by economic growth in developing countries. Since many of these countries, such as China, India, Indonesia and Brazil are in hot climates their AC use will be larger than in most Western countries [1]. Out of the 30 metropolitan areas with the highest demand for AC, all but two are in developing countries[2].
Air-conditioning is a very energy intensive activity. In the USA 5% of the electricity produced is used for AC, and up to 40% of the electricity demand for households in warm climates is due to AC. The rise of air-conditioning will cause a significant increase of fossil fuels.
It is difficult for a power grid to handle large amounts of air-conditioning. These power systems are characterizes by large peaks during summer days. In Israel, AC consumption requires 40% of the nation’s electricity during peaks while hardly any AC is required in the winter. Similarly, during peaks in Qatar 65% of the nation`s electricity goes to AC. It will be very difficult for poorly developed grids, common in many developing economies, to handle the large increase of peak electricity associated with a rise of AC.
A good solution for decreasing the demand of fossil fuels and removing electricity peaks is to use thermal solar AC. This technology makes excellent use of solar power by directly utilizing solar heat to produce cooling and drying, instead of attempting to convert it to electricity. AC demands and solar power supply coincide forming a perfect combination of demand and availability. As opposed to PV solar cells, an AC using thermal solar power could harness up to 60% of the sun’s radiated energy.
Solar thermal AC can be categorized into three technologies: absorption systems, desiccant systems and vapor compression systems.
Absorption Cooling.
Absorption cooling was invented already in 1858 and is today a common technology. The energy input is usually natural gas or exhaust heat from cogeneration plants. Single effect absorption systems require a heat source of about 75° C and will have a COP of 0.7. Double effect absorption requires a warmer heat source at about 130°C but will also have a higher COP of 1.4. Absorption systems include low pressure chambers and are complex and expensive to construct. This, in combination with the cost of solar collectors, makes solar absorption expensive. It is nevertheless the most popular form of solar thermal AC today. Many traditional companies within the absorption cooling segment can today supply systems that work well will solar heat. There are also new companies, such as Climate Well, that have developed novel types of absorption technology specifically for solar use.
Vapor Compression
Conventional air conditioning uses a vapor compression cycle for cooling. Several new types of vapor compression systems have recently been developed which utilizes solar heat. Some of these systems rely primarily on electricity and merely uses solar energy to boost the AC. Other systems rely on solar heat to power the compressor. As opposed to solar absorption cooling, most of the companies supplying solar vapor compression are new and have developed technologies specifically designed for solar power.
Desiccate Cooling
In air-conditioning both cooling and dehumidification are important. Desiccant systems are a technology that chemically dehumidifies the air. Both solid and liquid desiccant systems have been used for solar AC purposes. An advantage of these systems is that they can utilize low grade heat at 50°C – 75°C. Several hybrid desiccant systems have been developed that incooperates either vapor compression or absorption technology.
Small incentives for Solar Cooling
There is a great demand for solar cooling and also several good technological solutions. In spite of this, there are very few installed systems. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of political incentives for this technology. In both the US and in Europe there are many effective incentives for solar power (solar energy used for electricity generation). Solar thermal technologies, such as solar thermal cooling and solar heating, do not however enjoy the same policies. Reports from the US[3] and Europe[4] have shown that the incentives for solar thermal energy are both to low and accompanied with complicated bureaucracy. Countries that have effective policies for solar thermal energy, such as Greece, Cyprus and Israel, are today world leading in solar energy use. Solar energy supplies 3% of Israel’s primary energy. This could be compared to the world leader in solar power – Germany, in which solar energy only supplies 1% of the country’s primary energy.
With the rapid increase in air-conditioning, solar cooling can be expected to become more important. It is unfortunate that this technology has not enjoyed the same rapid development as solar power, as it has the potential to both significantly decreases fossil fuels and stabilize electricity grids.
35 Comments on "Solar Air-Conditioning: The Next Big Step for Solar Energy"
makati1 on Tue, 17th Nov 2015 8:19 pm
Wow! Free, infinite cooling for everyone! I didn’t know that they could pile bullshit that high without it falling over. LOL
Always a ‘lack’ of something, mostly money or time to make these techie miracles work. Dream on boys. Your world is dying.
goat1001 on Tue, 17th Nov 2015 8:50 pm
Solar AC would be a nice addition to sustainable food production and sources of plentiful, clean drinking water. Especially if wasteful activities such as war become obsolete.
makati1 on Tue, 17th Nov 2015 11:35 pm
goat, war will never be obsolete. It is only going to get more and more the rule as we get closer to that last crumb of bread and glass of water.
Cloud9 on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 6:26 am
The sad thing is most construction since the 70’s here in central Florida was built around air conditioning. Without it those structures are hot boxes.
ghung on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 8:08 am
Give it up Mak. These things have been around for several years and are proven to work. A 12,000 BTU 48VDC split system can be had for about $3000. We’re looking at one to cool and dehumidify our master suite during hot daytimes; store “coolth” while the sun shines. Some specs:
http://sunelec.com/mail/solar2.png
In a warming world, a solar-direct unit like this that can cool a small home could come in handy.
ghung on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 8:10 am
BTW, Mak, why don’t you do some research before displaying your idiocy. This isn’t rocket science, but you’re a lazy shit, dismissing things outright before doing a little homework.
Lawfish1964 on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 9:00 am
Agree, Cloud9. That’s why I’m fortunate to live in a house that was built before AC was common. My house sits under 3 enormous oak trees, which almost completely block any direct sunlight exposure. If we don’t cool at all during summer, it will get up to 80 or so inside. I envision eventually going to a couple solar panels to power a small (12,000 BTU) unit in the bedroom only during the summer. Rest of the house is bearable with windows and doors open.
rockman on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 9:29 am
ghung – A lot longer then a few years. I was looking at such applications long ago. But not economical back then. What was making a small inroad was NG powered AC. The equipment was more expense but operating was much cheaper…in 1978.
An odd irony: huge Texas demand for AC. But thanks to wind power our e- rates are much lower then they would have been without all our turbines. That plays against not just individual solar powered AC but all other individual owner solar power applications.
twocats on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 10:12 am
to support rockman’s point – SunEdison is in the process of imploding as we speak:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/17/after-hedge-funds-dump-sunedison-will-anyone-save.aspx
twocats on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 10:18 am
as for ghung’s point – all that really matters is EROEI, and if it’s more than 10 (??) then it seems like Solar is a good investment. Just because it isn’t profitable in the current economic froofaroo that we have now, doesn’t mean that it won’t help support vestiges of civilization as it slides towards collapse.
Bob Owens on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 11:50 am
Barb and I currently live in Florida and have had experience with AC here. Our neighbors have $400 bills while we have $100 bills for household electric with conventional AC (Air Heat Pump). Why such a huge difference? First, we use a Heat Pump. Not a super efficient one either, just a 14 year old unit of 13 SEER. We have sealed all duct leaks in the attic. All draft leaks have been sealed in the house. Lots of insulation in the attic along with an aluminum foil radiant barrier. All our 1st floor rugs were replaced with tile or laminate. This allows cool ground temps to enter the house. Lastly, the thermostat is set at 78 F. It used to be 79, but in a concession to old age we lowered it to 78. No fancy setback or Nest thermostats. Eglass windows along with some solar screens top off the package. If we can achieve results like this anyone can. Our home is 2000 sq feet, 2 story. Average in most every way, except we haven’t had high electric bills for 25 years. All that money we didn’t have to spend!
goat1001 on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 12:22 pm
We have a 3,000 square foot ranch style house in North Alabama and usually our highest electricity bills come in in the summer at around $100 or at most $150 per month. We have solar photo-voltaic panels (www.knology.net/goat2054) supplying a substantial part of our lighting and small appliance load. In addition we rarely turn on the main HVAC unit in summer. We have exhaust fans that take care of most of our cooling needs, in the hottest (and most humid) part of summer we have high efficiency window units in the rooms, set to 78 degrees F, cooling only the rooms we are using. This helps out a lot.
These window units are powered from the utility grid, not solar power, yet the total cost to air condition is not unreasonable. Still would be interested in a solar-powered AC unit but only if and when the cost gets into a practical range. With power bills around $100 per month, it will have to get pretty cheap to compete with what we have now.
If a total collapse comes, I wouldn’t count on being able to hold onto many things. A lot of hungry, desperate people with guns will come calling. However, for the interim, a small solar photo-voltaic or even a/c system may make sense…
goat1001 on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 12:25 pm
Makati1, my comment “war may become obsolete” was meant to be sarcastic…. 🙂
apneaman on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 12:57 pm
Heaven forbid the privileged should have to feel any discomfort for their decades of piggish mass consumption via carbon burning. Special apes should be as comfortable as possible while the world burns and the ozone hole depletes even further.
Tierra del Fuego ozone alert with ‘UV radiation reaching extreme risk or harm’
“Tierra del Fuego in south Argentina has sent out a warning to residents in the province that the ozone layer hole as it expands to the north, over the tip of South America continent this week, it will be reaching its maximum size with UV radiation at 12, violet or extreme alert. The information was provided by Argentina’s VAG Ushuaia Station.”
According to the international UV Index reading of 11 or more means extreme risk of harm from unprotected sun exposure and several precautions must be taken since unprotected skin and eyes can burn in minutes.
Among which are: Try to avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. If outdoors, seek shade and wear protective clothing, a wide-brimmed hat, and UV-blocking sunglasses. Generously apply broad spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen every 2 hours, even on cloudy days, and after swimming or sweating. Watch out for bright surfaces, like sand, water and snow, which reflect UV and increase exposure.
“The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is now larger than the North American continent. Based on data collected in October, scientists have announced that it now measures around 10 million square miles, which is only slightly smaller than the record set in 2006, when its size reached 10.42 million square miles across.”
more
http://en.mercopress.com/2015/11/18/tierra-del-fuego-ozone-alert-with-uv-radiation-reaching-extreme-risk-or-harm
Hydrofluorocarbon emissions up 54% with air conditioning on the rise
“Scientists invented HFCs to take their place. HFCs don’t damage the ozone layer, but as with their predecessors, they are potent greenhouse gases – as much as several thousand times stronger at absorbing heat than carbon dioxide.”
http://www.carbonbrief.org/hydrofluorocarbon-emissions-up-54-with-air-conditioning-on-the-rise
Black Market CFCs/HCFCs and You
http://www3.epa.gov/ozone/enforce/blackmkt.html
apneaman on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 1:05 pm
Looks like all those Rupert Murdoch loving Aussie denier fucks be needing some AC. Summertime downunder is still a month away.
Heat records smashed again as big El Nino rides on global warming
“Worldwide temperatures last month soared to new heights for October, boosted by the second-strongest El Nino on record, adding to the likelihood that 2015 will also smash annual heat records.
The amount of heat required to warm up just the top two metres of the El Nino hot spot in the Pacific has been calculated at 100 quadrillion kilojoules – or about the total annual energy use in the US.”
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/heat-records-smashed-again-as-big-el-nino-rides-on-global-warming-20151116-gl0j1j.html
apneaman on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 1:11 pm
Everybody pretend this is normal.
Springtime in November: Tornadoes Rake High Plains from Nebraska to Texas
“The latest tornado outbreak on record west of the 100th meridian left damage strewn late Monday across parts of western Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles. The tornadoes emerged from a batch of long-lived supercell thunderstorms spawned by a very strong upper-level low that encountered near-record levels of atmospheric moisture for mid-November. The same upper-level storm has plastered the southern Rockies with heavy snow and produced blizzard conditions over parts of the High Plains, but the tornado outbreak was far more exceptional for the location and time of year. As of Tuesday morning, the NOAA Storm Prediction Center had logged an amazing 41 tornado reports. Many of these are likely to be multiple reports of the same tornado, so the final count may well drop, but it is clear that a remarkable event unfolded. Based on photos via social media, several of the tornadoes were large “wedges.” A Halliburton oil-field servicing plant was largely destroyed by a tornado east of Pampa, Texas, according to the county sheriff’s office. Nobody was in the building at the time, and chemicals and gas leaks produced by the tornado strike have reportedly been contained. Damage reports from this and other tornadoes on Monday are summarized in a weather.com roundup. For a dramatic time lapse of the Pampa storm, see the Twitter clip from JR Hehnly embedded with permission at the bottom of this post.”
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/springtime-in-november-tornadoes-rake-high-plains-from-nebraska-to-te
No Halliburton crews at Pampa site when tornado hit
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/No-Halliburton-crews-at-Pampa-site-when-tornado-6638046.php
BC on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 4:31 pm
In the US, renewables’ production/capacity has been growing at an exponential rate vs. US electricity consumption per capita that has not grown since the late 1990s.
Growth of wind and solar production peaked with the price of oil and has steadily decelerated since, with the oil/commodities cycle turning negative as in in 1986 and the early 1960s (the Kuznets and Juglar cycles).
US wind and solar’s growth will now be constrained by no growth per capita of electricity consumption for nearly 20 years against a dramatic deceleration in the differential growth rates of fossil fuel capacity substitution by renewables in the years ahead.
IOW, we don’t need additional NET capacity of electricity production under conditions of LTG/EOG, whereas renewables’ exponential growth is catching up to capacity and the necessary growth of substitute electricity production to replace the declining fossil fuel share.
Because most of us don’t understand exponentials, differentials, and the implied capacity needs/constraints, renewable advocates will continue to extrapolate unsustainable exponential growth rates as “normal” until they are not (as in soon).
But we’ve been here before . . .
Boat on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 5:29 pm
lol BC
US population growth is around 2.5 million per year. Equal to or close to an average since the 30’s. So yea you could say growth is slowing even while it’s growing. Your per capita thing.
Renewables will continue to eat up market share of new growth and take it’s fair share of displacing coal while nat gas will get the lions share because it’s cheaper. The question is how long will it take for renewables to become cheaper than nat gas. Then you may see a new peak.
Of course smarter buildings will continue to be built and investiment in older buildings will be made to make them more energy efficient. Breakthroughs in motors, CHP etc will continue to drive energy savings in industry along with robots replacing humans.
This does not spell doom but a move towards a cleaner planet. If we become so energy efficient renewables are no longer having exponential growth a milestone of common sense will have happened.
Boat on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 5:33 pm
BC,
Nice chart showing some success.
http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/section_energyintesity.cfm
BobInget on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 6:27 pm
This tip from “Home Power”magazine.
If you live in a climate with freezing winters,
try this trick.
Buy new or USED (there will soon be six year old, used panels around for cheap, after 6 years a guy can get ‘new and improved’ panels that can almost double KW’s for the same roof real-estate).
Now, shut off power to your conventional
water-heater. Disconnect grid power from the LOWER element of your tank.
THEN, with properly sized wire connect the 220 V LOWER element directly from your solar panels to a shut/off/breaker to the Water Heater. No need to convert to AC
your heater can’t tell the difference.
No need to deal with freezing pipes, rusting tanks, preheat, freeze dumping etc.
This is possible today because it’s cheaper to buy USED PV panels from power hungry rich people who need another tax credit.
Talk to you local PV installer for a deal.
bob
BobInget on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 6:35 pm
Oh, BTW, because those used panels are new … to you.. declare them on your state and IRS return. If you itemize, begin to depreciate them for as few years as you expect to own.
On rainy/snow filled winter days you still
have plenty of HW with the upper element.
Travler on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 6:44 pm
Of those listed is one of the most efficient, cost effective, and simplest one to build. Bury pipes in the ground and duct that cool air into the house. There formulas for how much pipe, how deep, and other things, but it works. Instead of using all of those CFC’s and other garbage use mother natures way. This has been used for thousands of years. KISS (keep it simple stupid)
apneaman on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 6:47 pm
Boat, plenty of investment opportunities for true believers like you.
After Hedge Funds Dump SunEdison, Will Anyone Save It?
Options are running out for the biggest renewable energy developer in the world.
“The walls are closing in around SunEdison Inc. (NYSE:SUNE) and with hedge funds selling shares at breakneck speed, there’s no obvious solution to how to stop the bleeding.
On Tuesday, shares are selling off because recent SEC filings from hedge funds revealed that Third Point, LLC, Greenlight Capital, Lone Pine Capital, Glenview Capital Management, and Omega Advisors all sold stakes in SunEdison during the third quarter. They were among the largest shareholders of the stock, and now that they’re jumping ship.”
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/17/after-hedge-funds-dump-sunedison-will-anyone-save.aspx
“cleaner planet” with alt energy? Ya right.
The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust
Hidden in an unknown corner of Inner Mongolia is a toxic, nightmarish lake created by our thirst for smartphones, consumer gadgets and green tech, discovers Tim Maughan
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150402-the-worst-place-on-earth
Then there is the mining……………………….
apneaman on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 6:48 pm
More of this should help clean up the planet.
Brazil declares emergency after mine waste spill
November 18, 2015
“Brazilian authorities declared a state of emergency Tuesday in more than 200 towns affected by a deadly mining waste spill.
The government of Minas Gerais state said the measure covered the Rio Doce river basin and all towns impacted by the avalanche of mud and waste unleashed when two dams collapsed at the Samarco iron ore mine in Mariana 12 days ago.
The torrent of yellowish muck caused an environmental catastrophe, contaminated drinking water supplies and mostly destroyed the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues, with a toll of 10 dead and 15 missing.”
http://phys.org/news/2015-11-brazil-declares-emergency.html
2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Gold_King_Mine_waste_water_spill
Mount Polley mine disaster
The Mount Polley open pit copper and gold mine disaster in the Cariboo region of British Columbia began in the early morning of 4 August 2014 with a partial breach of the tailings pond dam, releasing 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres[2] of slurry into Polley Lake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Polley_mine_disaster
makati1 on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 7:12 pm
I stand by my first comment. What part of shrinking global supply chains and the crumbling financial system don’t you understand? Without either or both, nothing techie is going to be made or sold. This sentence is typical of all three ideas:
“Absorption systems include low pressure chambers and are complex and expensive to construct. This, in combination with the cost of solar collectors, makes solar absorption expensive.”
Ditto for vapor or desiccate systems. Heat pumps are nothing new, but they also require a manufacturing system that will not exist after. How many companies will exist after the collapse and how will they get their raw materials if they could remain?
Too many here have never lived in a world without international shipping and without cheap plentiful energy and a world wide financial system that makes international trade easy. None of us lived through the Great Depression. Few of us have had to do without commercial electricity except during storms. Most Americans have not had to live in a hot climate without A/C of some kind, but we all soon will have that opportunity. Be patient.
ghung on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 10:35 pm
BobInget said; “Now, shut off power to your conventional
water-heater. Disconnect grid power from the LOWER element of your tank.
THEN, with properly sized wire connect the 220 V LOWER element directly from your solar panels to a shut/off/breaker to the Water Heater. No need to convert to AC
your heater can’t tell the difference.”
Not sure who wrote that, Actually, there is a big difference. An AC resistive heater produces exponentially less heat using the DC electricity from the PV panels. The bottom element needs to be replaced with a DC element (pretty expensive, those). Better to run the DC power through an inverter to the AC element. I use the inverters to dump surplus PV power to our big hot water tank (at 240 VAC). A 3500 watt AC heating element costs about $10. A 600 watt DC element costs about $90.
BC on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 11:03 pm
Boat, I’ve repeatedly explained the energy intensity to GDP to marmico and others in terms of the concurrent growth of debt to wages and GDP, offshoring, record low for the labor share, extreme inequality, the resulting decelerating productivity and real GDP per capita, etc., but clearly you haven’t been paying attention in class.
So, I’ll give you provisional D- for the quarter until you provide me a 20-page essay with proper citations to demonstrate that you understand why energy intensity declined and its implications hereafter. I’ll give you until Thanksgiving Eve or I’ll have to give you a failing grade for the quarter. 😀
GregT on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 11:10 pm
Your wasting you’re time BC. 🙂
BC on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 11:13 pm
Boat, the point is, if you knew that you knew better, you would never show the energy intensity to GDP without describing WHY it has declined in addition to the obvious incremental effects of energy efficiency.
We offshored a proportional share of goods production and employment and substituted for the lost output and purchasing power by increasing to an unprecedented scale debt to wages and GDP, leaving the “success” you describe as the bottom 90%+ being poorer than when the process began 40-45 years ago.
Now that the gains from offshoring and debt are over, it will become altogether apparent in the years to come that the world is now where the US was in the late 1970s to early to mid-1980s, i.e., growth of the fossil fuel-induced industrialized economic model is done.
And don’t laugh about the 2.5 million more people each year in the US, because they and theirs will be poorer still in terms of net energy, material consumption, and well-being in the years to come.
BC on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 11:14 pm
GregT: No doubt. 🙂
marmico on Wed, 18th Nov 2015 11:16 pm
real GDP per capita
Davy on Thu, 19th Nov 2015 6:14 am
Boat, you need to read BC because he is a good carpenter smacking the nails daily. We are kidding ourselves with false narratives of success. Since the 1960’s especially since the Reagan 80’s we have been gutting this once great country. The same is true across the global world. Look at what China has done on the flip side of the equation since Deng years of economic openness. China has destroyed its once sustainable culture and turned its once beautiful fertile and sustainable rural areas into industrial dumps of pollution and cancerous development.
This point discussed above is the part of the cycle that can be characterized by death. We are on the end game down. Kidding yourself that all is well by referencing a distortion of the truth with energy intensity to GDP is something we that know better laugh about. At a higher level it is very dangerous because if the sheeple people knew what was going on they would be full of anger. This is about exploitation of the common good for personal profit by a few over years. It is the story of mankind and why civilizations always come crashing down. Resources and the social good are always sacrificed by the interest of a few. Why would our global world be any different? Globalism is nothing more than the ultimate of capitalisms destructive tendency of exploitation and cancerous growth. Globalism is the end game of modern man.
makati1 on Thu, 19th Nov 2015 8:23 pm
From the current Archdruid article:
“It’s far from rare, at sustainability-oriented events, to hear well-to-do attendees waxing rhapsodically about how great life will be when the Ecotopian future arrives. If you encounter someone engaging in that sort of nostalgic exercise, and are minded to be cruel, ask the person who’s doing it whether he (it’s usually a man) bicycles to work, and if not, why not. Odds are you’ll get to hear any number of frantic excuses to explain why the lifestyle that everyone’s going to love in the Ecotopian future is one that he can’t possibly embrace today.
If you want a look behind the excuses and evasions, ask him how he got to the sustainability-oriented event you’re attending. Odds are that he drove his SUV, in which there were no other passengers, and if you press him about that you can expect to see the dark heart of privilege and rage that underlies his enthusiastic praise of an imaginary lifestyle that he would never, not even for a moment, dream of adopting himself.”
If the shoe fits, Boat…
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/
Joe Clarkson on Fri, 20th Nov 2015 1:37 am
Aloha ghung,
Resistive elements work just fine on either AC or DC as long as the voltage is appropriate for staying below the amps rating of the element. The switch for the DC needs to be more robust due to the lack of the zero crossing voltage with AC that makes switching AC easier on the switch contacts.
Please provide a link to the “DC element” you mention. I find it hard to believe that anyone could honestly sell such a thing.
apneaman on Sun, 22nd Nov 2015 12:52 pm
On eve of Paris climate summit, Britain pulls the plug on renewables
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On eve of Paris climate summit, Britain pulls the plug on renewables
Resize Text Print Article Comments 347
By Griff Witte November 20
POWER PLAY | Cheap electricity, a changing climate This is part of a series exploring how the world’s hunger for cheap electricity is complicating efforts to combat climate change.
Wind turbines sit in the North Sea at the London Array offshore wind farm, a partnership between Dong Energy and Abu Dhabi-based Masdar. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg News)
LONDON — After standing dormant for 34 years, the Bankside Power Station was reborn last month. The onetime oil-fired, soot-spewing electric power plant, shut down and then converted into the Tate Modern, the world’s most popular contemporary art museum, is back producing energy again.
Its roof has been coated with solar panels, which soak up the sun’s rays even on a cloudy London afternoon and help illuminate the avant-garde works in the galleries below.
But rather than a shiny vision of modernity, the solar installation may become a sad remnant of a lost future. With breathtaking abruptness, the British government has in recent months slashed its support for solar power and other renewable forms of energy, leaving a once-promising industry with grim prospects and throwing into doubt the country’s commitment to clean power.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/on-eve-of-paris-climate-summit-britain-pulls-the-plug-on-renewables/2015/11/20/240c5630-8311-11e5-8bd2-680fff868306_story.html