Pew Report: Global Clean Energy Investment a Record $263 Billion in 2011

Via: @ClimateReality

Global clean energy finance and investment grew to $263 billion in 2011, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year, according to new research released by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Among Group of Twenty (G-20) nations, the United States reclaimed the top spot from China, which led the global clean energy race since 2009. Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and India were also among the nations that most successfully attracted private investments last year.

“Clean energy investment, excluding research and development, has grown by 600 percent since 2004, on the basis of effective national policies that create market certainty,” said Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew’s Clean Energy Program. “This increase was due in part to the number of countries that have implemented effective national policies to support the clean energy market. In the United States, which attracted $48 billion last year, investors took advantage of the country’s stimulus programs before they expired at the end of 2011, as well as the production tax credit for electricity from renewable energy, which is to end this December.”

Among renewable technologies, solar increased globally by 44 percent, attracting $128 billion and accounting for more than half of all clean energy investment among members of the G-20. Dramatic price declines, with the cost of solar modules dropping by half in the past 12 months, fueled the activity. Wind prices also were lower in 2011.

The combination of falling prices and growing investments accelerated installation of clean energy generating capacity by a record 83.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2011. Almost 30 GW of new solar and 43 GW of wind power were deployed. Renewable power generating capacity, at 565 GW globally, was nearly 50 percent more than installed nuclear generating capacity in 2010.

“The clean energy sector received its trillionth dollar of private investment just before the end of 2011, demonstrating significant growth over the past eight years,” said Michael Liebreich, CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Pew’s research partner. “Solar installations drove most of the activity last year as the falling price of photovoltaic modules, now 75 percent lower than three years ago, more than compensated for weakening clean energy support mechanisms in a number of parts of the world.”

China attracted $45.5 billion in clean energy investment, which spurred deployment of 20 GW of wind power, the most of any nation. Germany ranked third among the G-20 with $30.6 billion and 7.4 GW of solar power installed.

Italy received $28 billion in clean energy financing last year, an increase of 38.4 percent from 2010, enabling deployment of a record of nearly 8 GW of solar generating capacity. Over the last five years, no G-20 country has experienced higher growth rates than Italy, which led the world with investment levels relative to the size of its economy.

India’s clean energy sector continued to flourish in 2011, with investment up 54 percent to $10.2 billion. India’s “National Solar Mission,” with a goal of 20 GW of power installed by 2020, helped drive the sevenfold jump in this type of energy, to $4.2 billion. Wind received $4.6 billion, and an additional 2.8 GW of capacity was installed during the year.

Read more: http://bit.ly/Iqv9Fw

The Arbor Day Revitalization Project

One of my professional contacts on LinkedIn shared this great project they are currently working on in Michigan, Detroit.

The event is called the “Arbor Day Revitalization Project”. They will be ramping up with all their sponsors to plant about 100 trees in the City of Detroit. So if your company is based in the USA, this is a great opportunity for your business to be involved on a local and national level with the cleaning of our air and planet.

They currently we have over 20 organizations and sites that are helping to promote this event. You can visit their site at www.arbordayrevitalizationproject.com

Sponsorship does not necessarily mean monetary. Attaching your name to this project is at the very least what they ask. If you are interested in participating:  email: edrissman@tvihq.com.

US Shale Gas in 2012: Top 10 Environmental Legal Issues to Watch by Jennifer Smokelin & David Wagner |

In the State of the Union address in late January, President Obama offered his support to further develop natural gas as an energy source and stated that “my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.” The President also underscored that this development requires environmental safeguards. He added: “I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.” In this context, what can we expect from environmental regulators this year? In our outlook for 2012, we identify 10 environmental legal issues to watch.

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s First Report on the Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is studying the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources primarily in shale formations. Look for EPA’s initial study results this year and an additional report based on long-term study projects in 2014.

The results will no doubt be an impetus for regulatory and policy changes that could have a significant impact on the shale gas industry. Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting water, sand and chemicals deep underground to break up shale rock formations that contain natural gas. Under the study, EPA researchers, in collaboration with outside experts from the public and private sector, will examine the impacts of: large volume water withdrawals from ground and surface waters; surface spills resulting from hydraulic fracturing fluids; the injection and fracturing process; surface spills of flowback and produced water; and wastewater treatment and waste disposal.

2. EPA’s Development of Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater Standards

EPA is also developing national standards for wastewater discharges produced by natural gas extraction from underground coalbed and shale formations. The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) effluent guidelines program sets national standards for industrial wastewater discharges based on best available technologies that are economically achievable. Effluent guidelines for oil and gas extraction prohibit the on-site direct discharge of wastewater from shale gas extraction into waters of the United States. While some of the wastewater from shale gas extraction is reused or re-injected, the rest still requires disposal. Currently, the disposal of wastewater generated by shale gas production activities is regulated by the states. In some states, wastewater is injected into deep underground shafts, while in others wastewater has been sent to sewage treatment plants.

In 2012, EPA plans to gather data, consult with stakeholders – including industry stakeholders — and solicit public comment on a proposed rule for wastewater discharges produced by natural gas extraction from coalbed methane in 2013 and a proposed rule for shale gas in 2014. The schedule for coalbed methane is shorter because EPA has already gathered data in this area. In particular, EPA will be looking at the potential for cost-effective steps for pretreatment of wastewater based on practices and technologies that are already available and being deployed or tested by industry to reduce pollutants in these discharges.

3. EPA’s Permitting Guidance on Underground Injection Control for Facilities that Use Diesel Fuels in Injection Fluids

The Safe Drinking Water Act’s (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program establishes requirements for proper well siting, construction, and operation to minimize risks to underground sources of drinking water. Even though the Energy Policy Act of 2005 excluded hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas production from permitting under the UIC Program, the exclusion did not include fracturing using diesel fuel. Armed with the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing using diesel fuel, EPA is developing permitting guidance for fracturing activities that use diesel fuels in fracturing fluids. The permitting guidance is expected this year and EPA has indicated that it will include a broad definition of diesel fuel, e.g., a definition that includes substances with physical and chemical characteristics of diesel such as BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene).

4. EPA to Start Rulemaking Process on the Disclosure of Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing

In November 2011 EPA stated that it will begin a rulemaking procedure under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to require companies to disclose information on the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. In a response to a petition filed by Earthjustice and 120 other organizations, EPA stated that it “believe[s] there is value in initiating a proposed rulemaking process using TSCA authorities to obtain data on chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing.” EPA has not stated what information will be subject to disclosure, but has limited disclosure to substances used in hydraulic fracturing. EPA said it will attempt to avoid duplication of “the well-by-well disclosure programs already being implemented in several states,” and its regulations will “focus on providing aggregate pictures of the chemical substances and mixtures used in hydraulic fracturing.” In 2012, EPA is expected to issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking followed by stakeholder process and public comment period.

Read more on RIGZONE: http://bit.ly/wDL9dd

Is This the World’s Best ‘Greenest Companies’ List?

Via @GreenBizWorld

I’m skeptical about efforts to rank and rate green or sustainable companies, and I have been for a time. [See 100 Best Corporate Citizens? What a CROck!] It’s terribly difficult to compare big and small companies, retailers with manufacturers, software firms with oil companies, etc. We once tried at FORTUNE, and gave up because we decided it couldn’t be done right.

Having said that, I’m impressed with the rigor and methodology used by a Canadian magazine called Corporate Knights to produce its 8th annual list of Global 100 Most Sustainable Companies, which it calls “the most extensive data-driven corporate sustainability assessment in existence.” The ratings are transparent and they encompass social as well as environmental metrics, among them energy, carbon, waste and water productivity, diversity and employee turnover, safety and, interestingly, the ratio between CEO and average worker pay — a revealing metric that most such rankings do not include. [Disclosure: While I played no part in putting the list together, I did write a profile of Novo Nordisk, the top-ranked company, for Corporate Knights.]

A couple of things to note about the list. First, US companies perform poorly. There’s not one US-based company in the top 10. Life Technologies (No. 15) is the highest ranked US-based firm, followed by Intel (18), Agilent (59), Johnson Controls (64), Procter & Gamble (66) and IBM (69). Lest you suspect a Canadian bias, our neighbors to the north did no better. The top-ranked Canadian firm was Suncor (48), which calls itself an “oil sands pioneer.” Go figure.

read more: http://bit.ly/xkp00U  - By Marc Gunther

First Movers in ‘Green’ Drilling: Low-Footprint Rigs

Ecologically-friendly oil and natural gas drilling might sound like an oxymoron, but the specialty is growing briskly and also proving to be a way to cut operating costs.

One of the hot newer developments is the low “footprint” rig, increasingly automated, to take up less land space, transport more easily, use less energy and require smaller crews.

“This has been a wonderful and fulfilling journey for all of us, as we have added to our team some leaders from a variety of disciplines with one mission,” said Tom Williams, senior advisor to the Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems (EFD) program, an effort of the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) and Texas A&M University (TAMU). “Our funding comes from industry, the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) and other organizations who realize that collectively we can make a difference.”

Williams originally became involved with low-footprint rigs when he was vice president of technology for Noble Drilling Technology Services.

“We (Noble and Anadarko) drilled the first dedicated gas hydrate well in the US on the North Slope – one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the world. We used a platform and many creative methods to reduce our footprint. When we finished, you could not tell we had been there,” Williams said.

Today, the low-footprint rig movement is beginning to take off commercially. Rigs operating in at least eight countries show strong environmental and economic results.

Read more: http://bit.ly/wE6Gzu

Hundreds Protest Inside UN Climate Talks in Solidarity with Africa and Small Islands

Via: @TarSandsAction

DURBAN — In solidarity with the millions of people already feeling the impacts of climate change, hundreds of people protested in the halls of the UN Climate Talks this afternoon to demand that nations not sign a “death sentence” in Durban.

The march filled the hall outside of the main negotiating room in Durban just as the afternoon round of talks were scheduled to begin. Standing side-by-side with delegates from some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, civil society representatives sang traditional South African freedom songs and chanted slogans like, “Listen to the People, Not the Polluters.”

“We are all the people of Africa. We are all people of the islands,” said Kumi Naidoo, the Durban-born Executive Director of Greenpeace International. Naidoo appealed directly to the United States to step out of the way of progress. “President Obama, do not listen to the CEOs of fossil fuel companies. Listen to the people.”

In the last 48 hours, over 700,000 people have signed petitions calling on major emitters to stand with the nations of Africa and resist any attempts to delay climate action until 2020. The bulk of the signatures came from the global campaigning organization, Avaaz.org who called on the leaders of Brazil, China and Europe to, “Stand with Africa and face down the USA and other countries looking to wreck the climate talks and our planet.”

“The world is standing in solidarity with those here in Durban who are taking action,” said Avaaz Senior Campaigner Iain Keith. “The climate talks have just a few hours to go, and the future of Africa and the planet hangs in the balance. History will judge these negotiators based on the decisions they make tonight.”

As of 3:30 PM Durban time, protesters still filled a hallway of the conference center, singing, chanting, and listening to speeches from activists and representatives from around the world. It is unclear whether security will allow the gathering to proceed throughout the day or clear the area.

“Any agreement to delay real climate action until 2020 would be a death sentence for millions of people in Africa and around the world,” said Landry Ninteretse of the international climate campaign 350.org. “We are tired of waiting for progress.”

Follow up:

Jamie Henn, E: jamie@350.org, M: 0825473841
Daniel Kessler, E: daniel@avaaz.org, M: 0829546010

SOURCE: http://www.350.org/en/about/blogs/breaking-hundreds-protest-inside-un-climate-talks-solidarity-africa-and-small-islands

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