Renewable ENERGY

City-leaders should take the opportunity to gain multi-benefits for their citizens and show governments the foward way in developing and promoting alternative energy, according to a firm statement made by Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Tanaka said:

“Leaders of cities and towns around the world who support and promote local renewable energy projects can blaze the trail towards greenhouse gas mitigation and energy security, sustainable development and social benefits for their citizens,“

Today, half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, consuming two-thirds of total primary energy and producing over 70% of global energy-related CO2. The IEA projects predictive that by 2030, as a result of increased urbanization, cities and towns will be responsible for 77% of global energy-related CO2 emissions.

Wind turbine

Tanaka added:

“Renewable energy resources know no boundaries. Businesses and residents of cities and towns can therefore benefit from increasing the use of renewable energy technologies to help meet their energy demands for heating, cooling, electricity and transport fuels.“

In addition, more than 80% of the projected increase in energy demand above 2006 levels will come from cities in non-OECD countries.

Consequently, Tanaka told,

“Local authorities have significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage the uptake of renewable energy systems. Yet relatively few are taking up the challenge. That is unfortunate, as those cities that have moved aggressively to promote renewable energy, have achieved some exciting results.”

Communities have attained these results through various policies such as:

• Regulations to install renewable energy technologies on all new buildings,
• Financial incentives for home owners to install solar water heaters or ground source heat pumps,
• Information dissemination for small and medium enterprises,
• Investment in innovative demonstration projects,
• Use of municipality-owned land and facilities to build plants to reduce their own operational costs,
• Encouragement of project developers to build wind farms, hydro plants, combined heat and power plants, solar installations etc. within the city boundary for local utilization.

Cities and towns can become involved in alternative energy transition by setting policies and measures to increase renewable energy deployment in an urban environment. Indeed, some new communities, such as Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates, are being designed and constructed around renewable energy systems. Older historic towns can also play a part, as exemplified by Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Germany, where solar systems have been carefully installed on the roofs of many buildings, including the historic city hall.

Moreover, given the proximity of local leaders to their citizens, efforts of municipalities have resulted in high social acceptance of renewable energy. Early adoption enhances pride in the community and provides greater energy independence, energy security, employment and social cohesion.

Many municipalities have introduced regulations, incentives and information to enable the community to respond with small-scale investments (known as “distributed energy”). Others have developed their own larger-scale projects (including landfill gas and waste-to-energy projects), or encouraged developers and investors to do so within the city boundary.

Smaller communities usually have the advantage of surrounding rural land available for project development, but all municipalities, large or small, have the potential to exploit the local renewable energy resources available in a cost-effective and reliable manner. The effectiveness of policies can be site-specific, but learning from the experience of others, as described in this report, is always possible.

There’s a revolution being tested in Europe right now, one that promises to change not only the roads, but also our relationship with our personal gadgets. Bolzano-based entrepreneur Valentin Runggaldier’s new roadside charging station is a solar-powered juice bar for everything from electric cars to Segways to iPods.

Solar station

The prototype station is equipped with mono-crystalline photovoltaic panels and can power up to eight vehicles at once. Once the kinks are ironed out, you can expect to see these stations sprouting up throughout Europe and hopefully North America.

LAGOS, Portugal — It’s a hot summer weekend and the parking lots around Lagos marina are filling quickly with the BMWs, Range Rovers and Porsche SUVs of the Portuguese yachting set.

The scene is repeated across the sun-splashed Algarve coast, but a new government plan could make the gas-guzzling race to the south coast a thing of the past.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates is seeking to make Portugal a European trendsetter in green transport. In June, he launched groundbreaking plans for a nationwide network of recharging stations that would allow battery driven electric automobiles to cruise the highways.

Battery Chargin Station

By 2011, Socrates’ Socialist administration wants 1,300 stations around the country where environment-friendly motorists can plug-in their electric cars as part of a drive to “liberate Portugal from its dependency on foreign oil.”

The first station in the Mobi-E network opened in Lisbon on July 23. A hundred are due to be up and running by the end of this year and 320 should be in place in 2010. In the meantime Renault-Nissan says that Portugal will be one of the first markets for the launch of its electric vehicles in 2011.

The charging network is part of a wider Portuguese plan to switch to green energy that involves investments in wind-turbines, solar panels and wave farms. The plan takes advantage of the country””””””””s location on Europe’s sunny, but breezy, southwest tip.

Socrates’ motives are not purely ecological. Portugal has no domestic coal, natural gas or oil and has been forced to import most of its energy. By investing in renewables, Western Europe’s poorest nation is seeking to find cheaper energy alternatives for itself and to create a niche as an exporter of green technology.

Portugal already produces over one-third of its electricity from renewable sources, double the average of the 27 European Union nations. Socrates says the proportion will rise to 45 percent by 2010.

Near the southern town of Moura, Portugal has built one of the world’s biggest photovoltaic power stations. The world’s first commercial wave farm began producing electricity from the coast of northern Portugal last year. Hill tops and cliffs around the nation are covered by giant wind turbines, many operated by the power company EDP, Portugal””””””””s lead electricity supplier that has emerged as a world leader in wind technology.

“Portugal is a global leader in renewable energy. The next step is to make Portugal a pioneer in zero emission mobility,”

Socrates said announcing the decision to create a web of recharging sites in gas stations, shopping malls, hotels, airports and parking lots.

Socrates hopes the state investment will encourage vehicle manufacturers to locate new production facilities in his country, which has been hit hard by the global recession.

On July 20, Renault-Nissan announced it will build a new 250 million euro ($355 million) plant in Portugal to produce 60,000 lithium-ion batteries a year for electric cars.

The Franco-Japanese alliance has also agreed to make Portugal one of a number of pilot markets for the roll out of electric cars over the next few years, along with Denmark and Israel. The first vehicles should be on the Portuguese market within the next two years.

Although the early Renault-Nissan models will be made in France and Japan, Portugal is hoping the battery plant and recharging network will be stepping stones to a much greater investment in car manufacturing in Portugal.

The cooperation between Portugal and Renault-Nissan aims to overcome the chicken-and-egg dilemma that has long dogged electric car projects.

Manufacturers have been reluctant to invest in mass production of battery-powered vehicles without guarantees that customers will have a recharging network. At the same time, governments and power companies have been wary of investing in the networks when the cars are not on the market.

To kick start the battery car market, the Portuguese government says it will give the first 5,000 buyers a 5,000 euro ($7,100) reduction on the price of their battery-powered car, plus tax breaks for companies that turn to electric for their fleets. Setting an example, the authorities say 20 percent of all new public vehicles will be battery-run by 2011.

The first phase of the government’s plan will set up recharging sites in 21 cities. Customers are expected to be offered a range of charging options from a cheaper six- to eight-hour recharge, to an express deal lasting less than 30 minutes. Drivers will be able to pay using a pre-paid charge card. No announcements have been made about the price of recharging.

The first generation of mass-produced electric vehicles are expected to have a range of 160 kilometers (100 miles) before needing a recharge, meaning they are more suited to urban driving than long-distance trips.

However, according to government estimates, Portugal could have 180,000 electric autos on the roads by 2020. The network of recharging stations could have expanded to 25,000 by then, it says. EDP, a partners in the project, estimates the recharging market could be worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion) by then.

THE ANNUAL Global Green Car Challenge is shaping up to be a good one this year. Scheduled to begin in Darwin on October 24 and finish 3000km away in Adelaide on October 31, this year’s event will see environmentally-friendly production cars battling for the title of “most eco-friendly” alongside the usual experimental solar-powered.

Global Green Car Challenge

Originally a solar-only competition, the Green Car Challenge now allows mainstream road cars to enter and demonstrate their real-world fuel economy on actual Australian roads, rather than an ADR-mandated test cycle.

Production cars that conform to the ADR81/01 rating are eligible to compete, and so far Holden, Ford, Hyundai, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, Suzuki and Toyota have registered their interest in entering the challenge.

The specific models that each manufacturer intends to enter remain secret for now, but expect to see a lot of diesels (particularly from the Europeans) and Toyota’s all-new Prius hybrid lining up on the grid. Holden will likely bring an AFM-equipped Commodore to the party, but a diesel Cruze may be just as likely.

Global Green Car Challenge

The test route is mostly highway, although the production car-based Eco Challenge category also features an urban cycle that will take place on the streets of Adelaide.

Cars will have their fuel consumptioin precisely monitored throughout the event, and the vehicle that records the greatest improvement over the manufacturer’s claimed fuel economy figure will be declared the winner. With many consumers constantly looking for the most frugal car for their money, the 2009 Global Green Car Challenge will certainly be one to watch.