The proposed offshore grid would be more than 3850 miles long, and connect more than 100 wind farms, containing a total of 10,000 turbines to seven countries, including Britain, Denmark, France, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The plans, based on a report written by Greenpeace and environmental consultants 3E, assume that 68.4 gigawatts of capacity, across 118 identified wind farms, will be in place across the North Sea within 10-20 years, and could meet an impressive 13% of the annual energy needs of the countries involved.

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The study by the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland showed that there were still 657 megawatts of fiscally safe, small scale hydroelectricity schemes available to them. This figure equates to about half the amount of installed hydro generation currently running in Scotland, and could power about 600,000 homes, a quarter of the nation’s homes.

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Shouldn’t a strenuous run provide something more than a rush of endorphins? Something, perhaps, like power to charge your cell phone? M2E Power agrees. The company, which works with kinetic motion technology, announced plans today to release a portable charger for mobile devices sometime next summer.

The charger, which is the size of a pack of cards, derives power from cumulative motion from walking, jogging, cycling, or driving. Six hours of motion provides 30 to 60 minutes of extra power. And at $25 to $40, M2E’s catch-all charger won’t break the bank.

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As part of electricity restructuring efforts in the last few years, 25 states have adopted a Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS). This new policy promotes renewable energy sources that are consistent and compatible with competitive electricity markets and if efficiently implemented can develop 3,800 MW of new renewable energy capacity and maintain another 3,600 MW of existing capacity that might otherwise go off line. The RPS obliges retailers to include in their portfolios energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Such a move makes economic sense as the Energy Information Administration showed that by 2020 the nation’s energy bill can be lowered by $15 billion per year with only a 10% renewable-based energy supply compared to a heavily fossil-based supply mix.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“The EcoPower faucet recharges itself every time it is used. The flowing water causes a turbine to spin, creating a current that’s stored in the rechargeable batteries. The faucet will stay charged with as few as five uses per day.”

Why is this so exciting? Because it shows that engineers are beginning to think of ways to save energy in even the most mundane of processes and applications. So the EcoPower faucet uses a mere .25 gallons in ten seconds, and also saves energy by not requiring any electrical energy to turn it on and off. Beautiful!

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.

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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 of the National Development and Reform Commission, "I hope the international media will give us some development rights, some development space and not overly blame us."

Wind power and biofuels, in addition to big hydro, will help China reach its goal of producing 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. But it’s the hydropower expansion that is raising the eyebrows of some who are concerned about the large dams’ environmental impact.

Chen Deming argued that cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that contribute to global warming is more important than any negative environmental impact of huge hydropower. Other groups like Greenpeace argue that the damage caused by large dams – like the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River — could have more consequences than conventional power plants because of the massive amount of CO2 released when trees and plant life are destroyed.

AFX News, via Forbes
Associated Press, via DelawareOnline

Image: China’s Three Gorges Dam

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 global warming emissions down to below the levels they were at in the year 2000. From the Executive Summary:

“The Endless Energy project has evaluated the rising price of conventional energy, energy security concerns, the threat of climate change and many other trends and combined them to show that moving from 40 percent renewable supply in year 2000 to 100 percent renewable supply in 2025 is not only possible, but entirely reasonable and desirable.

Importantly, the scenario described implies little disruption in way people live and the way businesses operate. However, it does imply a major expansion in economic growth as a result of: increased energy and technology exports, major investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and replacement of petroleum imports with indigenous bio-fuels and electricity.”

BC would need to develop its renewable energy sources on a massive scale, with hydropower being the backbone of the energy supply. Wind, solar, geothermal, and other sources would also be ramped up. Small scale renewable energy – such as solar systems on individual buildings – could provide up to 14 percent of the total energy needs of homes and businesses. The report also recommended that BC’s urban and rural areas explore district energy systems, in which a group of buildings or a small community gets is electricity and heat from a central source.

This could provide a helpful model for other provines in Canada who want to follow suit and to the States. However, hydropower has had its share of environmental justice problems in Canada, notably in Manitoba and Quebec. If BC does expand its hydropower, I hope it does so in respectful collaboration with the First Nations there.

The Endless Energy Project full report
Renewable Energy Access

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 it to the Northeastern U.S. States.

The massive undertaking is being billed as energy security for Quebec and an important economic development project. Indeed, it is expected to take around 4,000 people to build the dams. But is it really “green” power?

Some Indian communities like the Cree and Inuit oppose the dam, and have fought the province before on hydro projects on their lands. The anticipated jobs and economic development are attractive to many in this poor, remote location. But the dams will also have massive environmental impact on their lands, including possible flooding of hunting areas and sacred burial sites.

It’s no wonder they are wary; the Cree in Manitoba have been fighting the provincially owned Manitoba Hydro for years seeking reparations for the destruction of their lands and culture due to large hydropower dams. When the Manitoba Hydro project began in the 1970s, the Cree were made promises of economic development and prosperity that have no where near been realized. The hydropower is even being billed as “green” power in some places in the Upper Midwest where it is sold, despite the environmental devastation it’s caused. The Hydro-Quebec project has also been deemed “green” by the Quebec Environment Minister Claude Bechard.

Environmental News Network
Fresh Energy
East Grand Forks Water and Light