The Earth’s oceans are acidifying faster than at any point during the last 300 million years due to industrial emissions, endangering marine life from oysters and reefs to sea-going salmon, researchers said.
The scientists found surging levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere forced down the pH of the ocean by 0.1 unit in the last century, 10 times faster than the closest historical comparison from 56 million years ago, New York’s Columbia University, which led the research, said yesterday in a statement. The seas absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, forming carbonic acid. The lower the pH level in the seas, the more acidic they are.
Past instances of ocean acidification have been linked with mass extinctions of marine creatures so the current one could also threaten important species, according to Baerbel Hoenisch, the paleoceanographer at Columbia who was lead author of the paper that appeared in the journal Science.
“If industrial carbon emissions continue at the current pace, we may lose organisms we care about -- coral reefs, oysters, salmon,” Hoenisch said.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said ocean pH may fall another 0.3 units this century, according to Columbia. The closest change to the current pace occurred during the so-called Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum about 56 million years ago, when a doubling of the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide may have pushed pH levels down by 0.45 units over 20,000 years, according to the researchers.
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Showing posts with label pollution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pollution. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Even bacteria don't poop where they eat and drink...
A southern Chinese city contained a toxic metal spill that threatened water supplies for 1.5 million people and contaminated a tributary feeding rivers that run to Hong Kong and Macau.
Crews in the city of Liuzhou used ships to spread canvas across the Longjiang River and stop the cadmium, China National Radio reported today. Tests done at 6 p.m. yesterday at Liuzhou’s water plants met national standards, it said.
The cadmium spill, first detected Jan. 15, killed fish and prompted panic buying of bottled water, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Authorities dumped hundreds of tons of chemicals into the river to neutralize the cadmium, according to Xinhua.
Any cadmium in the water will be “greatly diluted” by bigger rivers and reservoirs downstream and levels of the metal won’t exceed safety standards in neighboring Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau, China National Radio reported yesterday, citing Xu Zhencheng, a researcher involved in the spill cleanup.
Cadmium, used in batteries and paint pigments, may cause kidney dysfunction and cancer, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Liuzhou is prepared to discharge water from upstream reservoirs to help dilute the metal, today’s radio report said, citing Gan Jinglin, the city’s director of environmental protection.
Tests conducted Sunday evening found that cadmium concentrations at the Liuxi water plant were 0.0046 milligrams per liter, within national standards, the radio report said, citing local authorities.
Liuzhou may stop drawing water from the river and use reserve and ground water instead if the level of cadmium reaches double the normal rate, China National Radio said, citing Liuzhou Mayor Zheng Junkang.
All seven heavy-metal production plants located upstream have suspended operation in order to curb potential sources of pollution.
Crews in the city of Liuzhou used ships to spread canvas across the Longjiang River and stop the cadmium, China National Radio reported today. Tests done at 6 p.m. yesterday at Liuzhou’s water plants met national standards, it said.
The cadmium spill, first detected Jan. 15, killed fish and prompted panic buying of bottled water, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Authorities dumped hundreds of tons of chemicals into the river to neutralize the cadmium, according to Xinhua.
Any cadmium in the water will be “greatly diluted” by bigger rivers and reservoirs downstream and levels of the metal won’t exceed safety standards in neighboring Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau, China National Radio reported yesterday, citing Xu Zhencheng, a researcher involved in the spill cleanup.
Cadmium, used in batteries and paint pigments, may cause kidney dysfunction and cancer, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Liuzhou is prepared to discharge water from upstream reservoirs to help dilute the metal, today’s radio report said, citing Gan Jinglin, the city’s director of environmental protection.
Tests conducted Sunday evening found that cadmium concentrations at the Liuxi water plant were 0.0046 milligrams per liter, within national standards, the radio report said, citing local authorities.
Liuzhou may stop drawing water from the river and use reserve and ground water instead if the level of cadmium reaches double the normal rate, China National Radio said, citing Liuzhou Mayor Zheng Junkang.
All seven heavy-metal production plants located upstream have suspended operation in order to curb potential sources of pollution.
Friday, January 6, 2012
$18 billion damage award upheld against Chevron
A court of appeals in Ecuador has upheld an $18 billion damage award issued by a lower court in February against U.S. oil giant Chevron for contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest by its subsidiary Texaco Petroleum.
After reviewing the 220,000 page trial record for 11 months, the three-member appellate panel in the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios in Lago Agrio ruled Tuesday that laboratory results confirm that pollution existed at Texaco's former well sites hundreds of times higher than permissible norms in Ecuador.
Chevron purchased Texaco in 2001, so the plaintiffs consider Chevron responsible for Texaco's liabilities incurred prior to the purchase.
"This decision confirms what we have been saying for years," said Pablo Fajardo, the lead Ecuadorian lawyer. "Chevron is guilty of extraordinary greed and criminal misconduct that has created a humanitarian crisis in Ecuador that puts thousands of people at risk."
The 30,000 plaintiffs, who are Ecuadorian indigenous people and farmers, said in a statement Tuesday, "The decision by an independent appellate court is yet further confirmation of Chevron's extraordinary greed and criminal misconduct in Ecuador. The decision is based on overwhelming scientific evidence presented at trial that proved Chevron deliberately dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste that poisoned the water supply of the Amazon rainforest, decimating indigenous groups and causing an outbreak of cancers and other diseases that continue to threaten thousands of innocent lives."
The decision is the largest environmental award in history and is the latest development in an 18-year legal battle to win cleanup of contaminated sites, clean drinking water, and health care.
Texaco is alleged to have caused hundreds of oil spills in Ecuador, many of which were "remediated" by setting them on fire and to have poured sludge from the oil waste pits along dirt roads.
"The judges found ample scientific basis to uphold the damages award, including devastating evidence provided the court by Chevron's own team of technical experts that proved levels of pollution hundreds of times higher than permitted by law," said Karen Hinton the Washington, DC-based spokesperson for the Amazon Defense Coalition, the plaintiffs' organization.
After reviewing the 220,000 page trial record for 11 months, the three-member appellate panel in the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios in Lago Agrio ruled Tuesday that laboratory results confirm that pollution existed at Texaco's former well sites hundreds of times higher than permissible norms in Ecuador.
Chevron purchased Texaco in 2001, so the plaintiffs consider Chevron responsible for Texaco's liabilities incurred prior to the purchase.
"This decision confirms what we have been saying for years," said Pablo Fajardo, the lead Ecuadorian lawyer. "Chevron is guilty of extraordinary greed and criminal misconduct that has created a humanitarian crisis in Ecuador that puts thousands of people at risk."
The 30,000 plaintiffs, who are Ecuadorian indigenous people and farmers, said in a statement Tuesday, "The decision by an independent appellate court is yet further confirmation of Chevron's extraordinary greed and criminal misconduct in Ecuador. The decision is based on overwhelming scientific evidence presented at trial that proved Chevron deliberately dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste that poisoned the water supply of the Amazon rainforest, decimating indigenous groups and causing an outbreak of cancers and other diseases that continue to threaten thousands of innocent lives."
The decision is the largest environmental award in history and is the latest development in an 18-year legal battle to win cleanup of contaminated sites, clean drinking water, and health care.
Texaco is alleged to have caused hundreds of oil spills in Ecuador, many of which were "remediated" by setting them on fire and to have poured sludge from the oil waste pits along dirt roads.
"The judges found ample scientific basis to uphold the damages award, including devastating evidence provided the court by Chevron's own team of technical experts that proved levels of pollution hundreds of times higher than permitted by law," said Karen Hinton the Washington, DC-based spokesperson for the Amazon Defense Coalition, the plaintiffs' organization.
Friday, December 9, 2011
The price of Oil = The price of War for citizens of Falluja, Iraq & their Babies...
As U.S. forces pull out of Iraq, residents and officials in Falluja say they leave behind bullet-riddled homes, destroyed infrastructure and a worrying increase in birth defects and maladies in a city polluted by weapons and war chemicals.
Amir Hussain and Awfa Abdullah got married in Falluja in 2004 but their lives were turned upside by the birth of their two babies.
Their first child, a baby boy born in 2006, had brain damage and died last year. The second, a baby girl who was born in 2007, suffers from severe skin rashes and has one leg longer than the other.
"We've decided to stop having babies. We don't want any more, because it means new suffering and a new battle against new diseases," Hussain said. "It is our bad luck. Maybe because we got married in the wrong time and in the wrong place."
Falluja, in the desert province of Anbar, served as a base for Iraqi fighters after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and witnessed two major conflicts in 2004. U.S. troops used overwhelming force, tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships to crush insurgents there.
Falluja's residents await the U.S. withdrawal by year-end with a mixture of relief and fear that al Qaeda militants might return. Some are still seeking compensation for the suffering they endured.
At Falluja Hospital, pediatrician Samira al-Ani said the most insidious legacy of the war is seen every day in a startling increase in deformed newborns since 2005.
Amir Hussain and Awfa Abdullah got married in Falluja in 2004 but their lives were turned upside by the birth of their two babies.
Their first child, a baby boy born in 2006, had brain damage and died last year. The second, a baby girl who was born in 2007, suffers from severe skin rashes and has one leg longer than the other.
"We've decided to stop having babies. We don't want any more, because it means new suffering and a new battle against new diseases," Hussain said. "It is our bad luck. Maybe because we got married in the wrong time and in the wrong place."
Falluja, in the desert province of Anbar, served as a base for Iraqi fighters after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and witnessed two major conflicts in 2004. U.S. troops used overwhelming force, tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships to crush insurgents there.
Falluja's residents await the U.S. withdrawal by year-end with a mixture of relief and fear that al Qaeda militants might return. Some are still seeking compensation for the suffering they endured.
At Falluja Hospital, pediatrician Samira al-Ani said the most insidious legacy of the war is seen every day in a startling increase in deformed newborns since 2005.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Ahhh the great outdoors in Wyoming...just don't drink the water!!!
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said for the first time it found chemicals used in extracting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing in a drinking-water aquifer in west-central Wyoming.
Samples taken from two deep water-monitoring wells near a gas field in Pavillion, Wyoming, showed synthetic chemicals such as glycols and alcohols “consistent with gas production and hydraulic-fracturing fluids,” the agency said today in an e- mailed statement.
The U.S. gets about one-third of its gas from fracturing, or fracking, in which millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand are forced underground to break rock and let trapped vapor flow. The findings give ammunition to environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, that have said the drilling risks tainting drinking water and needs stronger regulation.
“This is just evidence of why we need better rules,” Amy Mall, senior policy analyst for the group in Washington, said in an interview. “It’s a game-changer. EPA experts and scientists have recognized that there is real contamination, that there is a real scientific basis for linking it to fracking.”
After complaints from residents of Pavillion, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northeast of Salt Lake City, the EPA began investigating private drinking-water wells about three years ago. Calgary-based Encana Corp. (ECA), Canada’s largest natural- gas producer, owns about 150 wells in Pavillion, according to spokesman Doug Hock.
Samples taken from two deep water-monitoring wells near a gas field in Pavillion, Wyoming, showed synthetic chemicals such as glycols and alcohols “consistent with gas production and hydraulic-fracturing fluids,” the agency said today in an e- mailed statement.
The U.S. gets about one-third of its gas from fracturing, or fracking, in which millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand are forced underground to break rock and let trapped vapor flow. The findings give ammunition to environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, that have said the drilling risks tainting drinking water and needs stronger regulation.
“This is just evidence of why we need better rules,” Amy Mall, senior policy analyst for the group in Washington, said in an interview. “It’s a game-changer. EPA experts and scientists have recognized that there is real contamination, that there is a real scientific basis for linking it to fracking.”
After complaints from residents of Pavillion, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northeast of Salt Lake City, the EPA began investigating private drinking-water wells about three years ago. Calgary-based Encana Corp. (ECA), Canada’s largest natural- gas producer, owns about 150 wells in Pavillion, according to spokesman Doug Hock.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Canada is the only country in the world saying it won’t honor Kyoto!!!
Canada, the country furthest from meeting its commitment to cut carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.
The country’s greenhouse-gas emissions are almost a third higher than 1990 levels, and it has a 6 percent CO2 reduction target for the end of 2012. If it couldn’t meet its goal, Canada would have to buy carbon credits, under the rules of the legally binding treaty.
Canada, which has the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves, would be the first of 191 signatories to the Kyoto Protocol to annul its emission-reduction obligations. While Environment Minister Peter Kent declined to confirm Nov. 28 that Canada is preparing to pull out of Kyoto, which may ease the burden for oil-sands producers and coal-burning utilities, he said the government wouldn’t make further commitments to it.
“Canada is the only country in the world saying it won’t honor Kyoto,” said Keith Stewart, an energy and climate policy analyst for Greenpeace in Toronto. Under a previous Liberal government, Canada was one of the first countries to sign Kyoto in 1998. The current Conservative government made a non-binding commitment at 2009 United Nations talks in Copenhagen to reduce emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, in line with a pledge by the U.S., its biggest trading partner.
The country’s greenhouse-gas emissions are almost a third higher than 1990 levels, and it has a 6 percent CO2 reduction target for the end of 2012. If it couldn’t meet its goal, Canada would have to buy carbon credits, under the rules of the legally binding treaty.
Canada, which has the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves, would be the first of 191 signatories to the Kyoto Protocol to annul its emission-reduction obligations. While Environment Minister Peter Kent declined to confirm Nov. 28 that Canada is preparing to pull out of Kyoto, which may ease the burden for oil-sands producers and coal-burning utilities, he said the government wouldn’t make further commitments to it.
“Canada is the only country in the world saying it won’t honor Kyoto,” said Keith Stewart, an energy and climate policy analyst for Greenpeace in Toronto. Under a previous Liberal government, Canada was one of the first countries to sign Kyoto in 1998. The current Conservative government made a non-binding commitment at 2009 United Nations talks in Copenhagen to reduce emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, in line with a pledge by the U.S., its biggest trading partner.
Friday, October 21, 2011
EU: Calls Canadian Tar Sands the Filth they are!!!
Oil derived from tar sands will be penalised by the European Union after its executive arm resisted pressure from Canada to exclude the fuel from new pollution standards.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, decided to target tar sands on Tuesday after more than a year of review, which saw intense lobbying from Ottawa and the oil industry. It will classify oil derived from tar sands as being nearly a quarter more polluting than conventional crude in new legislation that requires suppliers to reduce transport fuels’ carbon emissions.
In order to import such oil, suppliers will also have to invest in biofuels and other green products to offset the pollution – which could be cost prohibitive.
Although tar sands oil is almost non-existent in Europe, the new restrictions could scupper plans for future exports from Canada and Venezuela.
They could also influence other markets, including the US, as they debate the merits of an abundant new source of energy that critics contend is highly polluting.
The US will decide this year whether to allow the proposed $7bn Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry heavy crude extracted from the oil sands of Alberta to refineries on the US Gulf of Mexico. “That’s why the Canadians are so worried about this. They know it will set a precedent and have financial implications for them,” said Nusa Urbancic, a policy adviser at Transport & Environment, a campaign group.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, decided to target tar sands on Tuesday after more than a year of review, which saw intense lobbying from Ottawa and the oil industry. It will classify oil derived from tar sands as being nearly a quarter more polluting than conventional crude in new legislation that requires suppliers to reduce transport fuels’ carbon emissions.
In order to import such oil, suppliers will also have to invest in biofuels and other green products to offset the pollution – which could be cost prohibitive.
Although tar sands oil is almost non-existent in Europe, the new restrictions could scupper plans for future exports from Canada and Venezuela.
They could also influence other markets, including the US, as they debate the merits of an abundant new source of energy that critics contend is highly polluting.
The US will decide this year whether to allow the proposed $7bn Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry heavy crude extracted from the oil sands of Alberta to refineries on the US Gulf of Mexico. “That’s why the Canadians are so worried about this. They know it will set a precedent and have financial implications for them,” said Nusa Urbancic, a policy adviser at Transport & Environment, a campaign group.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Let the Sun Shine in for Solar Cities, let’s get FIT!
Solar companies are warning about the potential for a significant hit to demand for solar and falling prices due to Europe government subsidy cuts. It is unlikely that growing demand from other countries and markets can absorb industry-wide module supply. There will be significant inventory build-up & price reductions.
Polysilicon, the main raw material in solar panels, has plunged more than 33 percent in the spot market to $22/lb. during the second quarter, lowering production costs in the $35 billion global market for the photovoltaic devices.
The price for polysilicon, also used in semiconductors, peaked at about $182 a pound during the boom in the Spanish market in 2008 before collapsing. “People are getting rid of stock that’s been on the floor, in some cases actually below cost,” Andrew Lee, head of international sales at Sharp Corp.’s European solar division, said in an interview from Wrexham, Wales.
Profit margins will be squeezed at all polysilicon makers, though it may benefit the newest competitors, such as Hong Kong- based GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Inc. and Korea’s OCI Co., Jefferies’ Xu said in a phone interview from New York.
In recent months the Czech Republic, Germany (moderated growth), France, UK, Italy and Spain have all severely cut subsidies for solar photovoltaic after a boom in projects started to strain public budgets. Europe accounts for 80% of solar demand, the cuts will have a big impact, particularly if the US, China and India don’t pick up demand. The likely result = loads of capacity and few attractive markets. Silicon prices have plummeted. Enter….smart USA cities. Construct a reasonable (read economic) feed in tariff regime and you will light your cities with the sun at a fraction of the cost it ran to illuminate European grids.
Falls in solar panel prices may flatten by 2013-2014, said Steven Chan, president of Suntech America, the North American unit of Chinese panel maker Suntech, who cited studies suggesting widespread grid parity with retail power prices by 2015.
Trina Solar, China's largest solar panel maker by value, was shipping modules at $1.50-1.55 now, down nearly 10 percent from a year ago, and expected prices at $1.40-$1.45 by year-end.
For example Los Angeles County/City
Los Angeles gets 40% of its electricity from coal fired power from Arizona and Utah. Combined, these plants emit nearly 36 million tons of climate-disrupting pollution every year - as much as roughly 6 million cars. These plants are also significant sources of mercury, ozone, and other hazardous air pollutants. In fact, the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona has ranked as high as third in the nation in ozone pollution in recent years.
Enter LA Solar
- Nearly 1.5 million rooftops throughout Los Angeles County could be used as solar power generators.
- On the whole, there’s currently enough potential roof space to create 19,000 MW from rooftop solar.
- The total rooftop solar potential for the city of Los Angeles is over 5,500 MW, which could power the city on most days. (The highest-ever peak in Los Angeles was 6,177.) Of course, the city must have more power capacity than is needed at peak times.
In addition the County could install 19,113 MW over 1.4 million land parcels (parking lots and empty land).
So what would solar capacity cost without subsidies? About $0.16 / kWh v about $0.08 / kWh for conventional. However, the $0.08 kWh is a fiction…it doesn’t include environmental emissions & health costs. If we factor those in then we get – in Los Angeles – to a cost of about $0.12 / kWh. Almost grid parity. With dropping silicon prices and increased efficiencies – we might very well be at grid parity in the next 12 months. Now consider feedstock volatility, for example, natural gas has varied from $3 mmbtu to $17 mmbtu over the trailing decade whereas the price of sunlight has remained a constant zero. I will predict the price of sunlight for the next 20 years will remain zero!
A well-designed Feed-in-Tariff (FIT), 20 year contracts with a fixed price providing 5-7% unlevered return on investment and guaranteed connection to the grid, could create a minimum of 600 MW of solar projects per annum which would provide 3% of Los Angeles city’s energy needs today and in a decade the city would be 30% solar powered. The merit to slow penetration is it allows for deployment of best of breed technology over the investment period.
This investment program would create at least 11,000 jobs.
Next Steps for Los Angeles
LADWP is currently developing a dynamic Local Renewable Energy Program (LREP), also known as a Feed-in Tariff, to encourage renewable energy development within the Los Angeles Basin and to help meet the 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard Goal by 2020. The LREP will allow LADWP to partner with program participants to purchase, through a standard power purchase contract, electricity generated from a participant’s renewable energy plant. These plants will be located within our service territory and connected to our electrical distribution system.
The LREP will be a separate program from the existing the Solar Incentive Program (SIP). The renewable generator under the LREP program will not be able to participate in SIP.
Program Schedule
• March 2011: Conduct workshops to solicit public comments on the principles and design considerations for the program
• June-July 2011: Draft Guidelines and Standard Offer Power Purchase Agreement will be available for public review
Conduct workshops on the Draft Guidelines and Standard Offer Power Purchase Agreement
• August 2011: Present the program to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners for approval
• September 2011: Conduct educational workshops for potential participants to review the program guidelines and the administrative and technical processes
• October 2011: Program launch*
Also if you follow tortoises… UCLA’s Luskin Center reports that rooftop solar in Los Angeles can generate more than five times the output of the desert-destroying 9,500-acre Blythe Solar Millennium project. Save a tortoise!
Luskin Center report: Los Angeles is a Rooftop Solar Hotspot
http://164.67.121.27/files/Downloads/luskincenter/SolarAtlas/LosAngelesSolarAtlas(hi-res).pdf
Companies that might be shorts: WFR, STP and FSLR (margin squeeze as it uses cadmium telluride); to a lesser extent JASO -- of course if they are smart and they are; they will be at the urban workshops pushing for speedy legislation to firm up demand.
A good buy: TSL
Polysilicon, the main raw material in solar panels, has plunged more than 33 percent in the spot market to $22/lb. during the second quarter, lowering production costs in the $35 billion global market for the photovoltaic devices.
The price for polysilicon, also used in semiconductors, peaked at about $182 a pound during the boom in the Spanish market in 2008 before collapsing. “People are getting rid of stock that’s been on the floor, in some cases actually below cost,” Andrew Lee, head of international sales at Sharp Corp.’s European solar division, said in an interview from Wrexham, Wales.
Profit margins will be squeezed at all polysilicon makers, though it may benefit the newest competitors, such as Hong Kong- based GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Inc. and Korea’s OCI Co., Jefferies’ Xu said in a phone interview from New York.
In recent months the Czech Republic, Germany (moderated growth), France, UK, Italy and Spain have all severely cut subsidies for solar photovoltaic after a boom in projects started to strain public budgets. Europe accounts for 80% of solar demand, the cuts will have a big impact, particularly if the US, China and India don’t pick up demand. The likely result = loads of capacity and few attractive markets. Silicon prices have plummeted. Enter….smart USA cities. Construct a reasonable (read economic) feed in tariff regime and you will light your cities with the sun at a fraction of the cost it ran to illuminate European grids.
Falls in solar panel prices may flatten by 2013-2014, said Steven Chan, president of Suntech America, the North American unit of Chinese panel maker Suntech, who cited studies suggesting widespread grid parity with retail power prices by 2015.
Trina Solar, China's largest solar panel maker by value, was shipping modules at $1.50-1.55 now, down nearly 10 percent from a year ago, and expected prices at $1.40-$1.45 by year-end.
For example Los Angeles County/City
Los Angeles gets 40% of its electricity from coal fired power from Arizona and Utah. Combined, these plants emit nearly 36 million tons of climate-disrupting pollution every year - as much as roughly 6 million cars. These plants are also significant sources of mercury, ozone, and other hazardous air pollutants. In fact, the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona has ranked as high as third in the nation in ozone pollution in recent years.
Enter LA Solar
- Nearly 1.5 million rooftops throughout Los Angeles County could be used as solar power generators.
- On the whole, there’s currently enough potential roof space to create 19,000 MW from rooftop solar.
- The total rooftop solar potential for the city of Los Angeles is over 5,500 MW, which could power the city on most days. (The highest-ever peak in Los Angeles was 6,177.) Of course, the city must have more power capacity than is needed at peak times.
In addition the County could install 19,113 MW over 1.4 million land parcels (parking lots and empty land).
So what would solar capacity cost without subsidies? About $0.16 / kWh v about $0.08 / kWh for conventional. However, the $0.08 kWh is a fiction…it doesn’t include environmental emissions & health costs. If we factor those in then we get – in Los Angeles – to a cost of about $0.12 / kWh. Almost grid parity. With dropping silicon prices and increased efficiencies – we might very well be at grid parity in the next 12 months. Now consider feedstock volatility, for example, natural gas has varied from $3 mmbtu to $17 mmbtu over the trailing decade whereas the price of sunlight has remained a constant zero. I will predict the price of sunlight for the next 20 years will remain zero!
A well-designed Feed-in-Tariff (FIT), 20 year contracts with a fixed price providing 5-7% unlevered return on investment and guaranteed connection to the grid, could create a minimum of 600 MW of solar projects per annum which would provide 3% of Los Angeles city’s energy needs today and in a decade the city would be 30% solar powered. The merit to slow penetration is it allows for deployment of best of breed technology over the investment period.
This investment program would create at least 11,000 jobs.
Next Steps for Los Angeles
LADWP is currently developing a dynamic Local Renewable Energy Program (LREP), also known as a Feed-in Tariff, to encourage renewable energy development within the Los Angeles Basin and to help meet the 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard Goal by 2020. The LREP will allow LADWP to partner with program participants to purchase, through a standard power purchase contract, electricity generated from a participant’s renewable energy plant. These plants will be located within our service territory and connected to our electrical distribution system.
The LREP will be a separate program from the existing the Solar Incentive Program (SIP). The renewable generator under the LREP program will not be able to participate in SIP.
Program Schedule
• March 2011: Conduct workshops to solicit public comments on the principles and design considerations for the program
• June-July 2011: Draft Guidelines and Standard Offer Power Purchase Agreement will be available for public review
Conduct workshops on the Draft Guidelines and Standard Offer Power Purchase Agreement
• August 2011: Present the program to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners for approval
• September 2011: Conduct educational workshops for potential participants to review the program guidelines and the administrative and technical processes
• October 2011: Program launch*
Also if you follow tortoises… UCLA’s Luskin Center reports that rooftop solar in Los Angeles can generate more than five times the output of the desert-destroying 9,500-acre Blythe Solar Millennium project. Save a tortoise!
Luskin Center report: Los Angeles is a Rooftop Solar Hotspot
http://164.67.121.27/files/Downloads/luskincenter/SolarAtlas/LosAngelesSolarAtlas(hi-res).pdf
Companies that might be shorts: WFR, STP and FSLR (margin squeeze as it uses cadmium telluride); to a lesser extent JASO -- of course if they are smart and they are; they will be at the urban workshops pushing for speedy legislation to firm up demand.
A good buy: TSL
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