[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', 'Y')ou can't have business without cooperation. In fact, the nature of business is changing:

Mapping the Connections Between Cities, Inequality, and Creative Economies

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')apitalism is in transition. It’s pulling away from its previous industrial model to a new one based on creativity and knowledge. In place of the natural resources and large-scale industries that powered the economies of previous centuries, economic growth today turns on knowledge, innovation, and talent.

In a new report released Wednesday, my Martin Prosperity Institute colleagues Charlotta Mellander and Karen King and I evaluate 139 nations worldwide on their ability to compete and prosper in this new, creativity-powered knowledge economy.

The map below shows how the nations of the world stack up on our Global Creativity Index—a comprehensive measure of creative competitiveness based on six indicators organized across the three key factors (“the three Ts”) driving today’s economic development: technology, talent, and tolerance. On the map, the nations that perform the best are in purple; the nations that do most poorly by our ranking are in light blue.

Australia takes the top spot on the GCI, followed by the United States. New Zealand comes in third, Canada fourth, and Denmark and Finland are tied for fifth. The rest of the top 10 includes Sweden in seventh place, Iceland in eighth, Singapore in ninth, and the Netherlands in tenth. While much has been made of the recent economic performance of the so-called BRIC nations—Brazil, Russia, India, and especially China—these rank much lower on our index: Brazil is in 29th place, Russia 38th, China 62nd, and India 99th.

[Graeme]

No that is false. RE growth and climate mitigation has just recently been proven. Look back and you will see that growth has decoupled from emissions (see page eight).

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he global economy grew strongly last year without increasing greenhouse gas emissions, suggesting that government regulations, carbon markets and existing technologies are starting to bite in the battle against climate change.


The IEA outlook that’s being presented Monday shows what would happen under the national pledges already set out for Paris, which at the time the report was written in May accounted for a third of global emissions. Under that outlook, the IEA sees the world economy growing 88 percent by 2030 with carbon emissions gaining just 8 percent.

[Graeme]

A Low-Carbon Revolution Can Mean Good Economic Growth

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')ast month, two democrats, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), unveiled new legislation to address climate change at an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. If it becomes a law, the proposed bill will tax fossil fuels, starting at $45 per ton of carbon dioxide and steadily rising each year.

Policymakers are often addressing conflicting goals when tackling climate change. While they see an urgent need for action, they also fear slow economic growth. But, as British Columbia has shown us, climate change action can be synonymous with economic prosperity.

When British Columbia implemented the carbon tax in 2008, it was a risky proposition. Critics said the tax would devastate BC's economy. Seven years later, it is an economic and environmental success. For countries that grapple with the economic realities that come with switching from fossil fuels to renewable resources, this is one option that deserves serious consideration.

Since 2008, BC's fuel consumption has declined 17.4 percent across all fuel types covered by the tax, according to Sustainable Prosperity. During that time, BC's GDP stayed in line with the rest of Canada. The tax levies a fee on carbon-based fuels, and all revenues from the carbon tax fund tax rebates in other areas. In 2012, this tax program gave BC the lowest tax rate in Canada.

World leaders may want to take the clue. According to Time, this year, G-7 world leaders laid out an "ambitious" plan to eliminate the use of fossil fuels worldwide by 2100, but didn't provide specifics on scaling back fuel consumption in their respective countries. In other words, the plan is a whole lot of nothing, wrapped in the pretty ribbon of good intentions.

It's a complex issue, which requires leaders to balance the fate of the planet against economic realities, powerful lobbying groups, and some legislators' skepticism about global warming. Even Germany, who many see as an environmental pioneer, has had to evaluate their ambitious climate change agenda when faced with the prospect of losing 100,000 jobs after the country approved a levy on high-polluting coal plants.

On the flip side of the coin, the carbon-climate crisis is also devastating. In 2010, economic problems caused by climate change were severe, causing $700 billion in losses or one percent of the global GDP, according to DARA International. Combined climate change and carbon economy losses in 2010 totaled $1.2 trillion.

DARA projects severe economic losses in the United States, China and India. In 2030, these three countries will have $2.5 trillion in combined economic costs linked to climate change and the carbon economy.

According to Time, 59 percent of global carbon emissions are created by G-7 countries. More than 10 times the carbon emissions produced by 48 developing countries. But, DARA reports that developing countries will feel the brunt of the economic loss from the carbon-climate crisis, totaling $4 trillion in 2030.

In the meantime, BC's economic performance is slightly outperforming the rest of Canada. In fact, the political debate focuses more on where to spend the tax revenue than whether or not to keep the tax. The carbon tax represents the out-the-box thinking and decisive action required to enact change.

[Graeme]

100% Renewable Energy — How To Get There (Video)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')ontinuing this series on Renewable Cities PechaKucha presentations, Mark Z Jacobson, a legend in the world of renewable energy research, gave an excellent, information-packed presentation on the opening night of the Renewable Cities Global Learning Forum (see our Renewable Cities archives here).

I love that he started by highlighting the insane health costs of burning fossil fuels, noting that “air pollution kills 4–7 million people prematurely each year,” with about 20% of those people being children under the age of 5 years old. Insane. It was particularly interesting seeing the image of a 1970s nonsmoking LA teenager’s lungs, which had suffered the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. Air pollution in much of the world today is comparable to LA in the 1970s….

Of course, Mark also highlighted global warming, which could even dwarf the negative effects of air pollution.

One of Mark’s big projects has been finding out how the world could switch 100% renewable energy using existing technology (and note that this is in reference to all human energy usage, not just electricity). You can see a quick run-through of the general plan in the presentation below. Enjoy!

[Graeme]

BNEF Correction Strengthens Q2’15 Clean Energy Investment Figures

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')loomberg New Energy Finance has released a correction to its Q2’15 clean energy investment figures, which strengthened the numbers significantly from $53 billion to $73.5 billion.

Last week Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released its clean energy investment figures for the second quarter of 2015. The numbers were significantly sluggish compared to 2014:

2014 was a big year for clean energy investment, but that trend has certainly not continued through to 2015. Investment numbers for Q1 were revised to stand at $54.4 billion, dropping a little bit further to Q2’s $53 billion mark, which itself was a catastrophic 28% down compared to the $73.6 billion recorded in Q2’2014.

“The first two quarters of 2015, taken together, have seen investment down 18% compared to the first half of last year,” said Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “It is possible that the Q1 and Q2 2015 figures will be revised up a bit in due course as some more deals are disclosed, but we have been predicting since January that this year would see lower investment than 2014 because of the strong dollar.”

However, in a press release published Friday, BNEF had to revise its figures due to “errors in the aggregating of project and deal-level data.”

Subsequently, Bloomberg figures reveal that the second quarter was much stronger than previously thought, up to $73.5 billion from their previously announced $53 billion. This means that Q2 investments were only 0.2% down on the same quarter a year earlier, and takes the first half of 2015’s clean energy investment figures up to $127.9 billion, only 3% down on the first half of 2014.

Bloomberg released a list of key features highlighted in the second quarter of 2015:

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', 'N')o that is false. RE growth and climate mitigation has just recently been proven. Look back and you will see that growth has decoupled from emissions (see page eight).

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he global economy grew strongly last year without increasing greenhouse gas emissions, suggesting that government regulations, carbon markets and existing technologies are starting to bite in the battle against climate change.


The IEA outlook that’s being presented Monday shows what would happen under the national pledges already set out for Paris, which at the time the report was written in May accounted for a third of global emissions. Under that outlook, the IEA sees the world economy growing 88 percent by 2030 with carbon emissions gaining just 8 percent.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', '[')b]A Low-Carbon Revolution Can Mean Good Economic Growth

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')ast month, two democrats, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), unveiled new legislation to address climate change at an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. If it becomes a law, the proposed bill will tax fossil fuels, starting at $45 per ton of carbon dioxide and steadily rising each year.

Policymakers are often addressing conflicting goals when tackling climate change. While they see an urgent need for action, they also fear slow economic growth. But, as British Columbia has shown us, climate change action can be synonymous with economic prosperity.

When British Columbia implemented the carbon tax in 2008, it was a risky proposition. Critics said the tax would devastate BC's economy. Seven years later, it is an economic and environmental success. For countries that grapple with the economic realities that come with switching from fossil fuels to renewable resources, this is one option that deserves serious consideration.

Since 2008, BC's fuel consumption has declined 17.4 percent across all fuel types covered by the tax, according to Sustainable Prosperity. During that time, BC's GDP stayed in line with the rest of Canada. The tax levies a fee on carbon-based fuels, and all revenues from the carbon tax fund tax rebates in other areas. In 2012, this tax program gave BC the lowest tax rate in Canada.

World leaders may want to take the clue. According to Time, this year, G-7 world leaders laid out an "ambitious" plan to eliminate the use of fossil fuels worldwide by 2100, but didn't provide specifics on scaling back fuel consumption in their respective countries. In other words, the plan is a whole lot of nothing, wrapped in the pretty ribbon of good intentions.

It's a complex issue, which requires leaders to balance the fate of the planet against economic realities, powerful lobbying groups, and some legislators' skepticism about global warming. Even Germany, who many see as an environmental pioneer, has had to evaluate their ambitious climate change agenda when faced with the prospect of losing 100,000 jobs after the country approved a levy on high-polluting coal plants.

On the flip side of the coin, the carbon-climate crisis is also devastating. In 2010, economic problems caused by climate change were severe, causing $700 billion in losses or one percent of the global GDP, according to DARA International. Combined climate change and carbon economy losses in 2010 totaled $1.2 trillion.

DARA projects severe economic losses in the United States, China and India. In 2030, these three countries will have $2.5 trillion in combined economic costs linked to climate change and the carbon economy.

According to Time, 59 percent of global carbon emissions are created by G-7 countries. More than 10 times the carbon emissions produced by 48 developing countries. But, DARA reports that developing countries will feel the brunt of the economic loss from the carbon-climate crisis, totaling $4 trillion in 2030.

In the meantime, BC's economic performance is slightly outperforming the rest of Canada. In fact, the political debate focuses more on where to spend the tax revenue than whether or not to keep the tax. The carbon tax represents the out-the-box thinking and decisive action required to enact change.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', '[')b]100% Renewable Energy — How To Get There (Video)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')ontinuing this series on Renewable Cities PechaKucha presentations, Mark Z Jacobson, a legend in the world of renewable energy research, gave an excellent, information-packed presentation on the opening night of the Renewable Cities Global Learning Forum (see our Renewable Cities archives here).

I love that he started by highlighting the insane health costs of burning fossil fuels, noting that “air pollution kills 4–7 million people prematurely each year,” with about 20% of those people being children under the age of 5 years old. Insane. It was particularly interesting seeing the image of a 1970s nonsmoking LA teenager’s lungs, which had suffered the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. Air pollution in much of the world today is comparable to LA in the 1970s….

Of course, Mark also highlighted global warming, which could even dwarf the negative effects of air pollution.

One of Mark’s big projects has been finding out how the world could switch 100% renewable energy using existing technology (and note that this is in reference to all human energy usage, not just electricity). You can see a quick run-through of the general plan in the presentation below. Enjoy!

[Graeme]

Renewable energy boom will mean vastly cheaper electricity

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')enewable energy, combined with prolific battery storage, will soon result in vastly cheaper electricity -- and solar power that's less expensive than what fossil fuel-based power plants can produce.

Additionally, solar power with lithium-ion and flow-battery storage systems will make the combination of renewable energy so inexpensive that it will surpass nuclear power and obviate the need for futuristic power sources such as fusion.

That was consensus view from a several keynote speeches delivered at the Intersolar Conference in San Francisco this week.

Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, said that in sun-rich countries, the cost of solar power is already below 5 cents per kilowatt and it will continue to plummet as battery storage systems become more prolific and less expensive.

"We are looking forward to create electricity for 2 to 4 cents per kilowatt hour. Compared to this, you can forget everything else, especially nuclear power plants and the quest to try to obtain nuclear fusion on earth," Weber said, explaining that solar will be less costly than any other power source.

Tesla CTO JB Straubel said he expects photovoltaic and battery storage systems to continue dropping in price, soon even passing fossil-fuel powered plants in price per kilowatt.

New installations of solar power capacity surpassed those of wind and coal for the second year in a row in 2014, accounting for 32% of all new electrical capacity, according to a report released earlier this year from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
Tesla has a lot of skin in the battery storage game, as the all-electric car maker has announced two new batteries: one for businesses and one for homes.

[Graeme]

BLOOMBERG REPORT PREDICTS PHENOMENAL RENEWABLE ENERGY GROWTH

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ith bolder policy action, zero-emission sources will make up 60% of the added world’s energy capacity within 25 years, a new Bloomberg New Energy Finance report states.

The New Energy Outlook 2015, an annual forecast of global energy markets up to 2040, also predicts that new onshore wind and solar plants will be cheaper than new and existing fossil fuel plants by 2030.

“This report predicts the exciting change for renewable energy that we already see developing worldwide,” says Emily Farnworth, Campaign Director of RE100, The Climate Group. “The business case for renewable energy couldn’t be clearer and this is further confirmation for the many companies already signed up to becoming 100% powered by renewables through RE100”.

Influential companies that are signed up to the RE100 campaign – an initiative of The Climate Group in partnership with CDP which encourages companies to go 100% renewable – are already acting on.

[Graeme]

Global Annual Revenue For Solar PV Set To Surpass $151 Billion In 2024

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') new report from Navigant Research has concluded that the annual revenue from global solar PV installations is set to surpass $151 billion in 2024.

Navigant Research released its Distributed SolarPV report, which analyzes the solar PV market and provides forecasts for capacity and revenue, down through region and country through to 2024. The report highlights various emerging trends that the authors believe will affect the future of distributed solar energy generation. These include:

Price drops: Navigant report that crystalline module costs have dropped from approximately $4/W in 2006 to, in some cases, below $0.60/W in 2015. These lower prices are opening up new markets for distributed PV while similarly helping existing markets reach grid parity.
Yieldcos and green bonds: Financial structures such as yieldcos and green bonds have been developed that are de-risking investment in solar
Leasing programs: The US has seen third-party owned financing options continuing to drive the residential solar PV market
Governments rein in financial incentives: Governments have been forced at the state and federal level to reevalute their support of solar given the recent years of success for the market.

“The distributed solar PV generation market continues to transition from being dependent on lavish feed-in tariffs and environmentally conscious wealthy homeowners to a cost-effective source of electricity that is gaining traction across market segments and customer types,” said Roberto Rodriguez Labastida, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “The successful adoption of new business models is expected to continue to further drive the industry in its transition to a post-incentive world in most major markets.”

[Graeme]

Deutsche Bank Revises Solar PV Forecast For India Up 240%

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ew research published by Deutsche Bank has had to adjust the company’s forecast for India’s solar PV market up 240%, expecting 34 GW by 2020.

This is up from the analysts’ previous forecast of 14 GW by 2020, thanks in part to an influx of approximately $35 billion from global investors into the Indian solar PV sector. India itself has increased its solar energy target to attempt 100 GW by 2022, which has subsequently pushed its Renewable Energy Target up to 175 GW.

In fact, capital expenditure on solar could well surpass coal by the financial year-2019, and solar PV capacity could overtake coal in financial year-2020. Such forecasts are thanks to the current commissioning of 4.5 GW, and a strong pipeline of approximately 5.1 GW under construction and 15 GW worth of new projects. New investment and fund-raising opportunities such as yieldcos and green bonds are allowing India’s private sector to shift its focus from coal to solar.

[Graeme]

India's clean energy targets way ahead of others: UN official

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')ndia can lead the world in the area of sustainable energy from renewable sources, as its clean energy target is way ahead of the UN global goal, senior official of the United Nations said today.

"We believe that India can lead the world. Your (India's) targets here and some of the progress you are making here is way ahead of UN global targets. But of course, there is a lot more work to do," United Nations Under Secretary General and CEO for 'SE4ALL' initiative, Kandeh K Yumkella, said.

[Graeme]

Vancouver’s 100% Renewable Energy Goal

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')s we reported back in April, Vancouver’s City Council has voted to transition 100% to renewable energy (not just electricity, but all energy). Deputy City Manager Sadhu Johnston discussed this plan and plenty of positive clean energy Vancouver initiatives in this final Renewable Cities PechaKucha presentation:

Some of the highlights from Sadhu’s presentation include the fact that the city has seen a 6% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions while seeing a 30% increase in its population and a 20% increase in its number of jobs. The city also has 98% greenhouse gas–free electricity, and 31% renewable electricity.

Some of the key ways Sadhu noted they could hit 100% renewable energy were by:

building the city so that people could walk places
adding bike infrastructure (Vancouver had a 400% increase in the morning bike commute on the route pictured below when they added that protected bike lane)
electrifying public transit, and incentivizing a switch to electric cars and trucks
greening building codes
using district energy systems and better using sewage and waste heat for energy

[Graeme]

Clean Energy Gives Rise To Robust Economies, Says Steyer

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')s we noted in a sister article on Friday (“Climate Change Issues May Decide 2016 US Election”), NextGen Climate has come out with a thought-provoking white paper called “The Economic Case For Clean Energy.” Its context mirrors and supports the gist of remarks by Tom Steyer, president and 2013 founder of the group, that challenge American politicians to step up to the plate when it comes to climate change.

“In order to address climate change,” the report says, “we must find common-sense, economical solutions to reduce carbon pollution by building a clean energy economy.” It’s short (16 pages), sweet (24 respectable references), and to the point (8 very focused graphics).

[Graeme]

Renewables = 98% Of New US Electricity Generation Capacity In June

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')dding rooftop solar electricity generation capacity to FERC’s monthly report on new electricity generation capacity, here’s CleanTechnica‘s latest update on new US electricity generation capacity.

For the month of June, the story is that 44% of new capacity came from wind power, 41.5% came from solar power, 13% came from biomass, and 2% came from natural gas.

For January through June, the renewable share drops a bit. All renewables came to 78.4%, with almost all of that from solar and wind (75% of the total). Natural gas jumped up to 21.4%.

Of course, the story gets a lot worse when you look at total electricity generation capacity. Solar and wind together come to 7.6%, and all renewables come to 18%. Still, it was nice to see that more coal capacity was retired in June and some oil capacity was also retired. According to my calculations, coal capacity is actually down to 26.6%

Here are charts and a table if you want to dig further:

[poppy090]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ralfy', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', '[')b]100% Renewable Energy — How To Get There (Video)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')ontinuing this series on Renewable Cities PechaKucha presentations, Mark Z Jacobson, a legend in the world of renewable energy research, gave an excellent, information-packed presentation on the opening night of the Renewable Cities Global Learning Forum (see our Renewable Cities archives here).

I love that he started by highlighting the insane health costs of burning fossil fuels, noting that “air pollution kills 4–7 million people prematurely each year,” with about 20% of those people being children under the age of 5 years old. Insane. It was particularly interesting seeing the image of a 1970s nonsmoking LA teenager’s lungs, which had suffered the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. Air pollution in much of the world today is comparable to LA in the 1970s….

Of course, Mark also highlighted global warming, which could even dwarf the negative effects of air pollution.

One of Mark’s big projects has been finding out how the world could switch 100% renewable energy using existing technology (and note that this is in reference to all human energy usage, not just electricity). You can see a quick run-through of the general plan in the presentation below. Enjoy!

[Subjectivist]

I don't think there can be economic growth in the modern sense from renewable energy, the eroei just isn't high enough.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', '[')b]Why Renewable Energy Is Attracting the Smart Money

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')r. Kent Moors writes: While everyone's been fixated on oil, renewable energy has been gathering some serious steam.

Led by solar power, worldwide capital investment in "clean" energy surged by more than 16% last year.

In fact, spending on renewable energy was so strong in 2014, some have begun to label the recent rush into renewables as a "turning point" in the energy balance.

According to a report last week from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the total invested in renewable power jumped to $310 billion, just $17 billion shy of the all-time record in 2011.

The global renewable picture is very uneven. While new projects have moved forward in the Middle East and certain parts of Asia, the biggest move has been largely spearheaded by solar power investment in the United States and China.

Meanwhile, had it not been for some large-scale offshore wind farms in Europe, investment there would have been in negative territory. And in Australia, where there had been signs of a major initiative, lack of government support has resulted in an absolute contraction in support for renewables.

In all, solar investment rose by 25%, while wind power rose 11% to account for a third of all investment in 2014. Meanwhile, energy efficiency and electric vehicles rose 10%, including the $2.3 billion raised by Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA). On the downside, biofuels investments fell 7% and biomass and incinerator projects attracted 10% less financing.

[GHung]

If the nimbys don't want so much of their garbage burned (or buried) they can push their local jurisdictions to mandate recycling and cut their own consumption and waste streams. Baltimore doesn't even offer recycling for businesses, and recycles about a measly 20% of their solid wastes.

Trying to put a good spin on burning stuff because it makes electricity, much of which is wasted on superfluous uses like electronic billboards and other discretionary things, won't mean much to our grandkids. Just another once-through use of finite resources with long-lasting bad effects.