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a reprint from triplepundit , 2018-10-25 Renewable energy funds are on the rise, seeking to match profits with a commitment to sustainability. These funds invest not only in generators of solar and wind power and their suppliers, but also in manufacturers of LED light bulbs, electric cars and automobile batteries. Stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are jumping on the bandwagon—from big players like Fidelity Investments and its  Select Environment and Alternative Energy Portfolio to smaller ones that have been at it for decades, such as the  New Alternatives Fund . The fact that major companies like Facebook, with its pledge to power global operations with 100 percent renewable energy by 2020, are going in big for renewables sweetens the financial prospect for investors. Electricity sector leads the way in renewable energy investment According to the International Energy Agency’s latest market forecast , renewables will continue their ex...

a reprint from Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft , 2018-10-17 Seit 2008 hat sich der Strommarkt stark verändert. Getrieben wird diese Entwicklung vom technologischen Fortschritt bei der erneuerbaren Stromproduktion und den digitalen Technologien, der Preisentwicklung der fossilen Energien und des CO2 sowie von neuen energie- und klimapolitischen Zielen der Schweiz und ihrer europäischen Nachbarn. Der Bundesrat hat vor diesem Hintergrund entschieden, für den Schweizer Strommarkt neue Rahmenbedingungen zu schaffen. Er hat an seiner Sitzung vom 17. Oktober 2018 dazu die Revision des Stromversorgungsgesetzes (StromVG) in die Vernehmlassung gegeben. Im Zentrum stehen die Versorgungssicherheit, ein effizient funktionierender, offener Markt sowie neue Netzregulierungen, die den Ausbau der dezentralen, erneuerbaren Stromproduktion unterstützen sollen. Die Vernehmlassung dauert bis am 31. Januar 2019. D...

a reprint from Naturwissenschaften Schweiz , 2018-10-17 Ein Rückblick auf das erste schweizweite NCCS Forum, ein Ausblick auf die Lancierung der neuen Schweizer CH2018 Klimaszenarien und das NCCS als Film einfach erklärt. Das erste NCCS Forum: Ein Rückblick Am 5. Dezember 2017 stellte das National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS) – das Netzwerk des Bundes für Klimadienstleistungen – sich und seine Aufgaben und Aktivitäten in seinem ersten Forum in Bern vor. Ziel des schweizweiten Anlasses war es, eine Schnittstelle für den Dialog zwischen Produzentinnen und Produzenten und Nutzenden von Klimadienstleistungen zu schaffen, dadurch zu vernetzen sowie interaktiv Ideen und Bedürfnisse auszutauschen. Nach einem Einstieg in die Klimadienstleistungs-Thematik und einer Präsentation zum NCCS berichteten drei Nutzerinnen und Nutzer, warum und wofür sie für ihre Arbeit Klimadienstleistungen benötigen: Die Finanzexpertin Sabine Döbeli von Swiss Sustainable Finance ...

a reprint from IEA , 2018-06-16 Fossil fuels currently play a critical role in industry, not only as sources of energy, but also of feedstocks and process agents. Clean electricity could provide a sustainable alternative , but hurdles remain – particularly in terms of costs. In Northern Europe, offshore wind is showing potential to provide significant amounts of clean power to industry, with generation costs possibly falling to the range of €55 to € 70/MWh. This increasingly affordable renewable electricity strengthens the potential for cost-effective replacement of fossil fuels by electricity in industry. However, the continuing cost gap with the direct use of gas or coal to generate heat limits this potential to those electric technologies that are at least twice as efficient as fossil fuel uses. For now, a complete shift would require carbon prices at levels up to € 150 per tonne, a level even higher than projected for 2040 in the World Energy Outlook Sustai...

a reprint from The Guardian , 2018-06-16 The world is on track to exceed 1.5C of warming unless countries rapidly implement “far-reaching” actions to reduce carbon emissions, according to a draft UN report leaked to Reuters . The final draft report from the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) was due for publication in October. It is the guiding scientific document for what countries must do to combat climate change. Human-induced warming would exceed 1.5C by about 2040 if emissions continued at their present rate, the report found, but countries could keep warming below that level if they made “rapid and far-reaching” changes. Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, almost 200 countries signed up to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C. Climate scientist and Climate Analytics director Bill Hare said the draft report showed with greater clarity ...

reprint A major new Deutsche Bank report has predicted that energy storage – the “missing link of solar adoption” – will be cheap enough – and technologically ready – to be deployed on a large-scale within the next five years. The solar industry report, published on Friday, said that while costs for the greater majority of available battery technologies remained prohibitive, economically competitive batteries were the “killer app” and the “holy grail” of solar penetration. But with many costs already lower than published literature would suggest, Deutsche Bank believes this ultimate solar and renewable energy goal might not be far out of reach. “Using conservative assumptions and no incentives, our model indicates that the incremental cost of storage will decrease from ~14c/kWh today to ~2c/kWh within the next five years,” the report says. “When overall system cost decreases are considered, we believe solar + batteries will be a clear financial choice in mature solar ma...

_NEW: follow the development of the new web-presence wolframscharnhorst.blogspot.com reprint Energy is used to heat and to cool buildings and homes, transport goods, and power the economy. But with ageing infrastructure, poorly integrated markets, and uncoordinated policies, our consumers, households and businesses do not benefit from increased choice or from lower energy prices. It is time to complete the single energy market in Europe . _progress | M replaces _kt75 | mirror. visit: http://progress-m.blogspot.com . ready: 01.07.2015. close ✕ Delivering on this top priority set out in President Juncker's political guidelines, today the European Commission sets out its strategy to achieve a resilient Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change policy. The Energy Union means in particular: Solidarity clause : reducing the dependence on single suppliers and fully relying on their neighbours, especially when confronted with energy supply disruptions. With more transparency ...

_NEW: follow the development of the new web-presence wolframscharnhorst.blogspot.com reprint Energy is used to heat and to cool buildings and homes, transport goods, and power the economy. But with ageing infrastructure, poorly integrated markets, and uncoordinated policies, our consumers, households and businesses do not benefit from increased choice or from lower energy prices. It is time to complete the single energy market in Europe . Delivering on this top priority set out in President Juncker's political guidelines, today the European Commission sets out its strategy to achieve a resilient Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change policy. The Energy Union means in particular: Solidarity clause : reducing the dependence on single suppliers and fully relying on their neighbours, especially when confronted with energy supply disruptions. With more transparency when EU countries make deals to buy energy or gas from countries outside the EU; Energy flows, as if it were ...

-- a _kt75 | reprint NEW: explore all _kt75 | publications via the news db... Water is scarce but it continues to be wasted excessively in many industrial states, warns a new study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), predicting that a global conflict over water resources could bring billions in losses for the German market. EurActiv Germany reports.  Tomatoes from Spain, textiles from India, metals from South Africa, roses from Kenya; every year, Germany imports massive amounts of goods from around the world that would not be available without considerable water resources. But water is becoming an increasingly scarce global resource . In many countries, it has become more and more difficult to supply the population with adequate drinking water and irrigation for crops. Besides export-reliant countries with critical water resources, the effects of the shortage can be devastating for others as well. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the...

-- a _kt75 | reprint Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q02/2014 . A severe drought affecting Brazil’s biggest city has led to a “water war” that could cause the water supply to collapse in parts of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Authorities in São Paulo have been battling a water crisis for months as reservoirs run dry for lack of rainfall.Earlier this month, the state energy company in São Paulo (Cesp) asked the national operator of the electric system (ONS) to reduce the water flow at the Jaguari hydro-electric dam on the Rio Paraíba do Sul from 40,000 litres per second to 10,000 litres per second.The measure was intended to prioritise water supply to residents in São Paulo state over energy generation.But according to the ONS, which reduced the flow over several days to just 30,000 litres per second, a unilateral reduction would empty reserves and leave millions in 41 municipalities without water by the end of October. _p...

-- a _kt75 | reprint Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q02/2014 . A severe drought affecting Brazil’s biggest city has led to a “water war” that could cause the water supply to collapse in parts of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Authorities in São Paulo have been battling a water crisis for months as reservoirs run dry for lack of rainfall.Earlier this month, the state energy company in São Paulo (Cesp) asked the national operator of the electric system (ONS) to reduce the water flow at the Jaguari hydro-electric dam on the Rio Paraíba do Sul from 40,000 litres per second to 10,000 litres per second.The measure was intended to prioritise water supply to residents in São Paulo state over energy generation.But according to the ONS, which reduced the flow over several days to just 30,000 litres per second, a unilateral reduction would empty reserves and leave millions in 41 municipalities without water by the end of October. In...

-- a _kt75 | reprint Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q02/2014 . On a bitter cold day in Inner Mongolia, the grasslands here hold an unexpected sight: a shallow lake so warm the surface is shrouded in steam. This lake is a recent addition, formed by water discharged from a new plant that converts coal into methane gas . When operating at full capacity, the Datang International plant will require more than 7 billion gallons of water each year. And this is just a side stream of the vast flows of water demanded by plants turning coal into gas, chemicals and electricity in Inner Mongolia and other regions of China's north and west. These coal complexes rank among the planet's largest industrial emitters of carbon dioxide , which in the decades ahead will escalate climate change and acidification of the oceans. But right now, the coal industry's massive thirst may be both its biggest liability and the biggest constraint to expansion in a...

-- a _kt75 | reprint Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q02/2014 . Abstract In 2013 faced with a critical shortage of water, the Iranian government called for water conservation and greater water use efficiency nation-wide. Despite imminent shortages , water use in Iran remains inefficient, with domestic use 70 per cent higher than the global average. Iran has a national population of 75 million people, 12 million of whom reside in the capital; demand for water is rapidly increasing, even as major lakes and groundwater resources begin to shrink. Population growth, more frequent droughts and the effects of climate change are creating the ‘perfect storm’ for future water insecurity. We are left with the question, are the proposed changes too little, too late? Paper (abbrev.) Security in the Middle East continues to focus on the political and geostrategic priorities of regional states, but a greater challenge has now presented itself, in the form of natural...

-- a _kt75 | reprint Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q02/2014 . Abstract In 2013 faced with a critical shortage of water, the Iranian government called for water conservation and greater water use efficiency nation-wide. Despite imminent shortages , water use in Iran remains inefficient, with domestic use 70 per cent higher than the global average. Iran has a national population of 75 million people, 12 million of whom reside in the capital; demand for water is rapidly increasing, even as major lakes and groundwater resources begin to shrink. Population growth, more frequent droughts and the effects of climate change are creating the ‘perfect storm’ for future water insecurity. We are left with the question, are the proposed changes too little, too late? Paper (abbrev.) Security in the Middle East continues to focus on the political and geostrategic priorities of regional states, but a greater challenge has now presented itself, in the form of natural...

-- a _kt75 | note Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q02/2014 . The most recent issue of the Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management (Q02/2014) is freely available. In continuation of the successful publication of the Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management the current issue concentrates on a broad range of topics including land subsidence, implications of climate change on ground water regimes, technical developments in the small hydro power sector, etc. Geographically, the Notes once more focus on regions exposed to complicated water supply conditions: Middle-East and Asia. A number of publications tackle the named issues in detail and provide cutting-edge insights on present developments. An important, because seldom considered, region represents the Horn of Africa and the water supply issues encountered there. A comprehensive overview is provided by a dedicated report. As always all reprints are completely referenced and can be accesse...