STUFF

Avg cost of solar panels down 60% since begin of '11. 4Q12 panels 13% of cost for avg residential system. 32% in 4Q10.

US PV solar industry added 3.3Gw of capacity in '12. $11.5B market. Up 34% over '11. US 11% of global growth last year. Residential market 83K installs - 488Mw, up 62% in '12. Commercial installs over 1Gw, up 26%. Utility scale 1.78Gw installed, up 134%. Cal top state at over 1Gw, AZ 710Mw, NJ 415Mw, NV 198Mw, NC 132Mw. Avg installed system prices down 26% to over $3/w. Residential systems down 18% to over $5/w. Commercial down 13% to $4.27/w. Utility down to $2.27/w. Total installed US PV capacity now 7.2Gw. Expecting over 10Gw by yearend.

DOI approved 3 large scale clean energy projects - 1.1Gw - covering thousands of acres of public land in Cal, NV. 1 projected to become world's largest solar plant. 750Mw Next Era energy PV solar project, EDF'S (France) 150Mw PV solar project - both in Cal - and Duke's 200Mw NV wind project. DOI has approved 37 utility scale clean energy projects on fed land since '09. Plans to complete review of 20 more this year and '14.

Enviro groups filed appeal of fed judge's ruling that upheld BLM's decision to lease over 4K acres for coal mining in WY.

Supply worries plague China as it continues to rely on coal power.

Cal groups to provide loans for energy efficiency projects in buildings.

Biz groups say road to EV's to be paved with more creative incentives.

IEA chief: advanced biofuels needed to slow CO2 build up.

US Ex-Im Bank has loaned near $8B to Exxon, Conoco, others building LNG projects in Australia.

MN town denying major frac sand project.

Encana got OK to inject wastewater into WY aquifer.

2 China govt advisers say govt won't rescue Suntech (STP). "Comp needs to retrench along with rest of industry."

Cal Solar Initiative created financial incentives to encourage residents to adopt solar. Residential system typically pays for itself in ~5 yrs. Cal PUC offers solar rebate programs designed for low-income homeowners with 10% of Solar Initiative funds.

Lux Research: rapid biofuels industry growth driven by mandates will greatly strain ag by '30. Using today's techs, it would take area the size of Russia to be cultivated to replace all petrol used for fuels, chems. 1B metric tons biomass/yr now replaces 3% of total petrol products. 3.7B est. for '30.

Petition urges EPA to acknowledge biofuel incentives' link to global hunger.

Berlin to buy back grid, go 100% clean/renewable energy. Vattenfall (Sweden) now owns the grid ... German town south of Berlin gone off grid, 100% energy independent with wind power. (I presume some kind of battery storage for when wind doesn't blow. Or some other back up.)

Nuke reactor outages this year more than past 5 yrs: EIA.

Davy Process Tech, SEKAB to collab to develop, market SEKAB's lignocellulosic-based biorefinery tech. Among most advanced methods to treat lignocell biomass in world. Process includes thermochem pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis to initially produce sugars. Platform can accomodate wood, straw, corn residues, bagasse, other feedstocks.

NASA has developed unique coastal floating system - OMEGA - to grow algae. Photobioreactors also offer new habitats for marine life. 450 gal prototype already trialed.

IEA: oil shipments leaving Iran up 13% last month to 1.28Mb/d.

Team of scientists collected data from NASA's Wind Solar Probe for 19 yrs. Found solar winds increase in speed, temp as they travel away from sun. Ion cyclotron waves. Heavy ions mass interaction with ion cyclotron waves. Increases energy, increases speed, temp. Could lead to grounbreaking advance in nuke fusion power. 1 of main probs in fusion is heavy ions collide with plasma. Steals energy, cooling plasma, eventually stopping reaction. Ion cyclotron waves could add energy to plasma. (If for real, maybe it is time for investment surge in fusion.)

Libya has more solar reserves than oil reserves.

Duke, American Transmission buying 72% stake in Cal power line already built. Atlantic Power (Boston) to get $56M, Duke-ATC to assume $137M debt. 84-mile Path 15 power line links south and north Cal. FERC to rule on deal. AP revs $28.7M, income $5.1M from line in '12. (Seems like a long payback to me.) Duke-ATC has proposed series of projects including 7 midwest power lines for est. $4B, $3.5B line from WY to NV.

TransAlta (TAC) completed 68Mw wind farm in Quebec, connected to grid. Hydro-Quebec 20-yr PPA.

Revolution Energy, Dynamic Energy completed 1.6Mw solar project in Mass.

GBT Brasil - JV between Global Blade Tech (Netherlands) and Feel Energia (Brazil) - to start making 900Kw wind turbines in Brazil by yearend. Brazil wind farms able to produce power at ~$46/Mwh. Factories often buy power from grid for more than twice that. (Some of highest power prices in world.)

India to tender 750Mw of solar capacity in May to kick off phase 2. Expects to auction more than 1.65Gw target for year through March '14.

Iowa, SD approached 25% power from wind in '12.