Green Options

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The quest for cleaner energy generation is one that is going to be a main focus for the next several decades. Without a doubt, humanity has finally realized that our insane overdependence on oil and other fossil fuels is, if nothing else, simply not healthy. It will eventually run out, and we’ve decided to, finally, look for alternate sources.

But turn our eyes away from the mainstream and western face of this planet, and we see that Africa is already on the renewable energy bandwagon.

Many dams in Southwest China sustained significant damage after the recent massive earthquake.

The Min River and its tributaries have 30 dams upstream from Dujiangyan and 16 incurred significant damage from the recent earthquake. The Zipingpu dam is an example where a dam failure could have disastrous consequences.

Zipingpu dam threatens millions

The Zipingpu reservoir can hold a staggering 1.1 billion cubic meters of water, but the dam wall was cracked after the earthquake. Dujiangyan, with a population of 600,000 would be devastated by a dam failure first. Within a couple hours, water would then hit the provincial capital, Chengdu.

3TIER: one of the largest independent providers of wind, solar and hydro energy assessment and power forecasting worldwide announced the opening of an office in Bangalore, India today. It should be noted here that India is one of the top four wind-power markets in the world and also, the most developed market in Asia.

According to Kenneth Westrick, fonder and CEO of 3TIER, “India has the elements needed to prove that it is possible to leapfrog fossil fuels and fully integrate renewable energy projects into a country’s energy portfolio. He further elaborated on his statement by informing that India has good wind resources in its southern and western states, tremendous potential to tap into solar and hydropower, a government commitment to explore renewable energy sources and a market of more than 1 billion people – including 420 million people with no access to electricity.

Of the total number of villages in India with no access to electricity, it can said with absolute certainty that close to 40% of these cannot be electrified using fossil fuels. Thus, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower can play an even greater role by electrifying remote parts of the country. “As the most densely populated country in the world with many villages that have no electricity, there is strong demand to augment the power grid in India,” said Steven Cashen, 3TIER’s Director of International Marketing Development. “3TIER will work closely with developers to assess and forecast potential wind, solar and hydro energy projects.” explained Cashen.

People are familiar with motion-sensing faucets that turn on when people move their hands under them, and automatically turn themselves off, so they don’t have to handle the germy handles. People like that. But Toto takes this design much further with its Ecopower faucet, which saves energy AND water. How? It uses “self-generating hydropower” to automatically recharge a tiny battery in the faucet, thus saving the electricity [...]

China regularly takes its fair share of heat for its pollution problems, tainted seafood and lead-based toys, but maybe it’s time to give it some credit too. While the country is on pace to pass the U.S. as the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide, it might also be on its way to becoming the global leader in renewable energy.

According to a report released this week by the Worldwatch Institute, if China keeps heading down the path it’s on, the nation could see 30 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources by 2050. In the nearer term, China aims to get 15 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020. If if keeps moving forward as it has, though, it might even exceed that target, according to the Worldwatch report.

“China is poised to become a leader in renewables manufacturing, which will have global implications for the future of the technology,” said Eric Martinot, a senior fellow at Worldwatch who authored the report with Li Junfeng, vice chair of China’s Renewable Energy Society.

This year, China is expected to spend more than $10 billion in building new renewables capacity. Its wind and solar-energy sectors are growing especially rapidly (both doubled last year), so much so that China is likely to pass solar and wind leaders in Europe, Japan and North America in the next three years.

For comparison’s sake, only Germany is likely to invest more in new renewables this year. Total global spending on renewables in 2006 was $50 billion-plus.

Martinot pins China’s success so far on “a combination of policy leadership and entrepreneurial savvy.”

As of this year, China can boast of four major domestic makers of wind turbines, as well as six foreign wind-power subsidiaries. Another 40-plus companies are in the development stage of commercial wind-turbine production. The country has also seen its production capacity for solar photovoltaic cells more than quadruple over the past three years, from 350 megawatts in 2005 to an expected 1,500 megawatts this year.

Last week China reiterated its commitment to renewable energy, particularly hydropower. The Asian nation plans to triple its hydropower production to 300,000 megawatts by 2020.

Chinese officials also asked the world to cut them some slack in their efforts to cut global warming pollution.

China’s contribution to global warming has been relatively small compared to the more developed Western nations, they argue, and they shouldn’t be held overly accountable. According to Chen Deming

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Canada’s province of British Columbia could be energy independent within 18 years and do it without relying on any domestic fossil fuels use.

A report from the GLOBE Foundation examined the feasibility of making Canada’s most western province completely energy self-sufficient. Dubbed “The Endless Energy Project,” it determined that not only can British Columbia (BC) be energy independent, but that it could be done "without undo social or economic hardship" and bring0

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More Quebecers will be getting their power from hydroelectric dams, thanks to a $4.2 billion USD project begun by the province. The four dams and 72 dikes will add 883 MW of electricity by 2010, enough to power 425,000 homes.

The Quebec-owned utility, Hydro-Quebec, will be the producer and distributor of the hydropower. The utility is the fourth-largest power producer in the world, generating and distributing most of the province’s electricity as well as exporting

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