Wheres hot – and not: where would you rather be a wind turbine?
China’s up; Australia’s down. Over here, solar’s poised to go big, while biomass is down in the dumps. Carbon Brief takes a look at the latest renewable energy listings.
Ernst & Young’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, released quarterly, tracks countries’ attractiveness to investors in renewable energy. So what has the last three months looked like for the renewable energy sector in different parts of the world – and how does the UK measure up? We take a look at the report’s verdict – and the headlines behind the trends.
Who’s up, who’s down internationally
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- China supports solar: the Chinese government set a new, ambitious target for its solar industry – aiming to quadruple capacity in just two years. Its solar support, however, is so enthusiastic that the European Union (EU) says it’s illegal under international trade laws.
- UK gets detailed: the UK government finally released the details of financial support it will offer different renewable technologies in the coming years. Yay.
- USA goes greenish: President Obama’s climate action plan promises to allow another 10 gigawatts of renewable energy projects on public land by the end of this decade (although this may be a slowdown on current growth).
DOWN
- Australian rules politics: Australia’s recent rapid turnover in Prime Ministers has implications for renewables investment as new PM Kevin Rudd wants to scrap the country’s carbon tax. Its replacement – with an EU-linked emissions trading scheme – could reduce the price of carbon by a factor of four, making clean energy investments far less attractive.
- Germany paralysed: Germany’s Energiewende – or energy transformation to a greener economy – is a beacon for the world, right? Not quite. Despite strong public support for the programme, rising political tensions in the run-up to an election, are “paralysing investment” in the renewable energy sector.
- India’s REC wreck: India’s Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) trading scheme is meant to support investment in renewables – but it collapsed in May, with trades falling by 87 per cent. This leaves developers with 2.1 million RECs and no buyers. Not so good.
What’s up, what’s down in the UK
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- Onshore wind: The renewables industry is feeling cheerier after the government finally announced new levels of subsidy for renewables in June. The numbers included an increase in subsidies for onshore wind – although shorter contracts might reduce their effectiveness.
- Solar fields: Is solar the next big thing? The UK’s first ever solar fund Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited was listed on the London Stock Exchange at £130 million. The potential for a growth in large-scale solar fields is attracting attention – including from local protestors.
- Green Bank top-up: The government ‘topped up’ its new Green Investment Bank with an additional £500 million, taking its total allocation for green investment to £3.8 billion.
DOWN
- No 2030 decarbonisation target: It was close(ish), but no cigar. A proposal to include a target to decarbonise the power sector by 2030 was narrowly voted down in the House of Commons in July – possibly damaging confidence in the government’s commitment to cutting emissions.
- Biomass bummer: In the future, will we be getting large amounts of electricity from burning plants, trees and crops in power stations? It’s looking less likely – following controversy about the sector’s sustainability, the government declined to include new financial support for the sector in the latest round of announcements.
- Offshore a bit less windy: New offshore wind projects keep coming – including the official inauguration of the the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the Thames estuary in July. But, somewhat on the quiet, the government has downgraded its ambition for the sector – its central scenario now shows the UK generating 18GW of energy from offshore wind by 2030, rather than by 2020. Homework a decade late, then.