Latest Global Warming News

Hot times ahead for Australia

Peter Jean

July 07, 2008 12:00am

Mercedes to phase out fossil fuel powered cars in 7 years

London, 3 July 2008 - MERCEDES are aiming to end the need for filling your fuel tank with petrol or diesel within just SEVEN YEARS.The German firm are determined to make their model range run on alternative fuels - to improve costs, become more eco-friendly and because the oil supply will eventually run out.

There are 50million jobs worldwide associated with the car and more than 80 per cent of goods are transported by road.

Hawaii mandates solar hot water on all new homes

In a groundbreaking law, Hawaii has become the first state to mandate that all new homes be outfitted with solar water heaters.

Starting in 2010, all new single-family homes in the state will have to include solar water heaters, or they will not be granted permits. A few reasonable exceptions will be allowed, including for homes under forest canopies.

Thin-Film Solar to Grab 28 Percent Solar Market by 2012

Thin-film solar technology, or thin layers of photovoltaics that can be printed onto flexible surfaces, will make up 28 percent of the solar market by 2012, says a report out this morning from Lux Research. Thin-film solar technology, which is being developed with materials like amorphous silicon, cadmium-telluride and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), is the next generation in solar technology and, through low cost materials and manufacturing processes, is poised to bring down the cost of solar production dramatically.In dollar amounts, thin film is projected to bring in $19.7 billion in sales in that time frame. That's significant sales for a technology that's just starting to gain traction. Companies making more mature versions of thin-film solar, using amorphous silicon and cadmium telluride, are aggressively ramping up their lines. This includes companies such as investment darling First Solar, as well as Calyxo and Primestar. Lux says cadmium telluride manufacturing can be less than a third of the cost of traditional silicon solar panels.

As the Lux report points out, the companies making the cutting edge versions of thin film based on CIGS are just starting to reach the market. Nanosolar touted its 1GW, 100-feet-per-minute thin-film solar equipment in mid-June and Arizona-based Global Solar is supposed to start producing its CIGS-based thin-film solar strings this month.

Massive Ausra solar manufacturing plant open in Nevada

LOS ANGELES - 2 July 2008 - Solar thermal power developer Ausra on Monday officially opened its first U.S.-based manufacturing plant for reflectors and other components of utility-scale solar power plants.Ausra says that once the plant gets to full production in a couple of years it will be the largest plant making solar thermal power components in the world.

The opening in Las Vegas, Nevada, near the McCarran International Airport, featured Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the U.S. Senate majority leader who wants to keep nuclear power out of the state and keep coal-fired power plants from expanding.

Church buys energy monitors for congregation

24 June 2008, LONDON - A church in Cheltenham is bulk buying energy monitors in a drive to shrink the carbon footprint of its congregation.Bethesda Methodist Church, which recently received it's second 'Eco-Congregation Award', is buying in the Owl energy monitors for churchgoers, which help reduce electricity consumption by enabling users to see exactly how much they are spending at any given moment.

Owl wireless energy monitors were launched to the UK market in September 2007, and enable users to see their usage through an easy to read portable monitor unit which can be placed anywhere in the home.

2010 solar grid parity predicted

25 June 2008, San Diego - With the photovoltaic industry growing at a compound annual growth rate of 40 percent through 2010, iSuppli Corp. is projecting that the global production of PV cells will reach 12GW by 2010, up from 3.5GW in 2007. To reach that figure, as many as 400 production lines with at least 1MW of PV cell production per year will be established, a four-fold increase from about 90 to 100 production lines in existence at the end of 2007, iSuppli said. Importantly, iSuppli sees the number of 1GW scale fabs to grow as part of the photovoltaic industry's cost reduction strategies.
"The market for PV cells is estimated to grow by 40 percent annually until 2010, and 20 percent beyond," said Dr. Henning Wicht, Senior Director and Principal Analyst, MEMS and photovoltaics, for iSuppli. "Nearly all market participants plan to increase their sales by a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 40 to 50 percent during the next few years."

The need for a four-fold increase in the number of production facilities will require PV manufacturers to spend an average of $500 million or more on each facility. The result will be the need for as many as 1,000 employees per facility. Annual revenues per fab will top $1 billion, according to Dr. Wicht.

Thin Film Solar 99% less silicon and less embodied energy

25 June 2008 Tokyo - JAPANESE ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURER Sharp says it plans to provide at least some of the power for its new solar panel factory from its own solar panels fitted to the roof.Teaming up with local power plant Kansai Electric, Sharp reckons its roof panels could, in the early stages, produce about nine megawatts of power, increasing to about 18 megawatts soon after. 18 megawatts would probably account for around five per cent of the plant's total energy consumption, which is not incredible, but it's a good start.

Sharp's plant, aptly set up in Sakai City, near Osaka, in the land of the rising sun, is apparently costing $69 million to build and should be producing 480 megawatts worth of cells per year by start of production in March 2010. It will specialise in thin-film type solar panels which use only one per cent of the silicon needed for regular crystalline-type panels.

German town mandates solar

24 June 2008, BERLIN - Solar panels will soon grace the roofs of the quiet medieval town of Marburg under a controversial new law forcing owners of all new or renovated buildings in its limits to include solar panels, setting a national precedent.

A coalition of Social Democrats and Greens passed the ruling late on Friday to counter climate change and soaring energy prices. Anyone failing to comply will face a Euro 1,000 fine.

Passive Solar Mobile kiln demonstrated

June 21, Oregon - Oregon State University has gone on the road to show small-scale timber growers and handlers how they can save money drying small lots of wood.All it takes is a partnership with the sun, in a passive sort of way.

For several years OSU forestry extension has been touring Oregon with a portable, passive solar dry kiln.