Cheaper solar power gains ground in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE -- Southeast Asia is accelerating plans to harness energy from the sun in coming years as the cost of generating electricity from some solar power projects has become more affordable than gas-fired plants, officials and analysts said.

The region, where power demand is expected to double by 2040, is striving to expand the share of renewable sources as developing nations seek affordable electricity while battling climate change.

Southeast Asia's cumulative solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity could nearly triple to 35.8 gigawatt (GW) in 2024 from an estimated 12.6 GW this year, consultancy Wood Mackenzie says.

Vietnam leads the pack with a cumulative solar PV installation of 5.5 GW by this year, or 44 percent of the total capacity in the region, said Rishab Shrestha, Woodmac's power and renewables analyst. This compares with 134 MW last year.

Among the encouraging signs for the solar industry was a recent auction for a 500 megawatt (MW) solar project in Malaysia of which 365 MW were bid at a price lower than the country's average gas-powered electricity, said Yeo Bee Yin, minister of energy, science, technology, environment and climate change.

"For the first time in the history of Malaysia we have a large-scale solar energy costs that is less than gas, Yeo said at the Singapore International Energy Week.

"We now finally have an alternative energy that is cheaper than gas to replace our peak energy demand at midday."

Malaysia has set a target to increase its renewable energy in electricity generation from current 6 percent to 20 percent by 2025, and a majority of this would be driven by solar.

The country also plans to open at least another 500 MW tender in the second quarter next year, Yeo said.

Singapore has also targeted at least 2 gigawatt (GW) peak of solar power capacity by 2030, or more than 10 percent of current peak electricity demand, potentially replacing natural gas which generates 95 percent of the country's power now.

"This being presented by the (Singaporean) authorities is very interesting as this points towards firm political determination to go towards a low-carbon economy in a constrained world," said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Keisuke Sadamori, the International Energy Agency (IEA) director for energy markets and security said: "There needs to be some good measures to ensure that investors feel confident that their money could be returned in a relatively reasonable period."

Still, the mushrooming of solar PV in Vietnam has exceeded its grid capacity by 18 percent, Woodmac's Shrestha said, underscoring the need for further investments across power sector.

"The approved capacity for the Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces amounts to 5 GW, more than double the grid usable capacity," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Climate deal needed if Bill's billions are to help poor nations

WASHINGTON - Heads of state and big-name billionaires opened the Paris climate summit with a bang on Monday, promising billions of dollars to develop new green technology to solve a key sticking point of the negotiations: financing a low-carbon future for developing nations like India.

Yet campaigners and experts warned that it will be hard to deploy any new technologies quickly in places where they are needed most unless negotiators at the two-week U.N. talks can work out a deal on how rich countries will help finance this.

"I think the elephant in the room is still finance," said Yvo de Boer, former head of the U.N. climate change secretariat.

He and others were encouraged by Monday's announcements, which opened the taps for funding a wave of research in hopes of breakthroughs such as the artificial photosynthesis Bill Gates envisions to produce liquid hydrocarbons that challenge fossil fuels. France and India launched a plan for a trillion-dollar alliance to deliver solar energy to poor nations.

Still, many countries are simply not ready to be on the receiving end of major technology transfers, experts said. For a poor country to adopt new technologies, it must have the right institutions, regulations and workforce in place.

During the Paris talks, experts said, negotiators must map out ways for rich countries to provide funds poor countries need to prepare to receive new technology. They noted that rich countries have promised to spend more than $100 billion a year beginning in 2020 to adapt low-carbon technologies and build defenses against rising sea levels, droughts and other climate-related problems.

So far, the UN's Green Climate Fund, the main vehicle to dole out this money, has a a long way to go, with just $12 billion in pledges. Scaling up that amount is a major task at the Paris talks. Rich nations want some emerging economies like China to contribute, while developing countries want target dates and accountability.

The billions promised on Monday for technology development "should not be seen as a substitute for the public finance that must be on the table to unlock a stronger agreement by the end of next week," said Tim Gore, head of policy and advocacy for Oxfam International.

Gore said the world needs "a deal to regularly set new targets for financial and technological support for poor countries that need it."

The U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which has conducted early research on technologies like fusion and advanced batteries, found that some workers in poor countries "weren't able to maintain new projects, so things fail," said Cheryl Martin, the program's former acting director.

Even if larger nations like India and China can get over these hurdles, less-developed poor nations risk falling further behind.

"We need to ensure that competitiveness of even less developed countries is enhanced by these opportunities rather than being left behind," said Jonathan Coony, coordinator for the World Bank's Climate Technology Program.

Poor countries must build manufacturing capacity, research capabilities and a local workforce to develop their own green economy "rather than remaining technology takers," Coony said.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property rights could also pose a barrier to technology transfer. Patents fuel innovation and attract investors to companies that develop technology. But India and other poor countries have said for years that much patented technology is too expensive. They want green technologies treated as a public good.

India had pushed a plan to use part of the U.N. fund to buy out intellectual property rights for desired technologies, but the United States opposes any attempt to change the protections.

Developed countries pressing India to abandon coal and fossil fuels more quickly will "have to pick up the incremental cost" of IP rights, says Ajai Malhotra, a former climate negotiator who advises the Indian delegation.

"Developed and developing countries can move ahead by sharing about technology, and it doesn't mean this will deprive industry in the developed world of their share of profits," he said.

Gates said in an interview on the sidelines of the talks on Monday that green technology companies could learn from the information technology sector on how to deal with intellectual property rights.

"It's like the IT space," Gates said. "Some governments put the research into the public domain. Some license it. Then the start-up companies have to deal with intense competition."

Gates said companies will watch their pricing on green technology if they want to access huge markets in India.

"If you want India to buy something you better price it cheaper than coal," Gates said. "That's a very tough challenge for these companies. They have to come up with something that's cheaper than coal or else the amount they are going to sell to India is going to be pretty modest."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Clinton pledges to be America's renewable energy president

WASHINGTON, United States - Hillary Clinton laid out ambitious plans Monday to invest in solar and other renewable energy if elected US president, drawing a contrast with her fossil fuel-loving Republican rivals.

"We will make America the world's clean energy superpower," she declared at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, unveiling highlights of a concept she said could ultimately impact every American household.

But she declined to weigh in on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would send Canadian crude oil to US refineries, a project criticized by environmentalists and many Democratic lawmakers that is awaiting a final State Department review.

"I refuse to turn my back on what is one of the greatest threats and greatest opportunities America faces," the Democratic 2016 frontrunner said about greenhouse gas emissions and their climate impact.

"I refuse to let those who are deniers, who disagree with what we need to do, to rip away all the progress we've made and leave our country exposed to the most severe consequences of climate change," she added.

"America needs to lead this fight, not go MIA."

Clinton laid out a two-pronged renewables agenda.

"We need to have more than half a billion solar panels installed across the country by the end of my first term," she said.

"Second, we'll set a 10-year goal of generating enough renewable energy to power every single home in America."

According to her campaign, those goals translate into an installed solar energy capacity of 140 gigawatts by 2020, or a 700 percent increase over the number of solar panels installed today.

Her plan calls for using renewable energy to generate a third of all electric power in 2020, along with investments that her campaign says will put America's economy on the road toward "deep decarbonization by 2050."

Climate change is a hyper-partisan issue in the United States, with many Republicans, including some 2016 presidential candidates, questioning whether human activity contributes to global warming.

In Congress, the Republican majority has fought anti-pollution standards established by President Barack Obama, notably for coal-fueled power plants.

Clinton signaled the need for a compassionate approach to Americans in the coal industry.

"We cannot close our eyes to the challenges facing hard-working families in Coal Country, who kept our lights on and our factories running for more than a century," she said.

In 2014, about 67 percent of US electricity came from fossil fuels, principally coal, according to the Energy Information Administration.

About 13 percent comes from renewables, including just 0.4 percent from solar. The rest, almost 20 percent, is generated by nuclear power plants.

Keystone is a quandary for Clinton, whose silence on the matter -- she was the top US diplomat when the State Department began its pipeline review -- has earned her rebukes from liberals seeking the Democratic nomination.

"I will refrain from commenting because I had a leading role in getting that process started and we have to let it run its course," she said.

Clinton proposes giving states and localities financial incentives to fight climate change, either by placing tighter emissions curbs than the law requires or through stepped-up investments in renewables.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple patents hint at solar-powered, smudge-free devices

At least two new patents have emerged that may allow Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad devices to use solar energy and keep away fingerprint smudges, a site following Apple Inc.’s patents disclosed this week.

Patently Apple also bared a patent for an antenna clip design that suggests it may be used in an “iPhone-nano-like device."

“The last patent is very interesting as well as it covers a new iPhone related antenna clip for use with an all-metal embodiment. The patent states that the patent figure is an exploded view of the device which could suggest that the antenna clip could one day be a part of an iPhone-nano-like device. Time will tell if this idea will ever fly, but it’s definitely one to keep an eye out for going forward," it said.

It added the Apple patent applications surfaced at the US Patent and Trademark Office recently.

Antenna clip

Patently Apple said the patent for an antenna clip addresses the problem of radio interference for devices with a “significant" metal housing.

The antenna is “coupled to the attachment member" and “communicatively coupled to the operative circuitry" to enable the electronic device to communicate wirelessly.

Another form may be an attachment clip moveably coupled to the metal housing, and an antenna is located on the attachment clip.

A conduit communicatively couples the radio frequency (RF) component and the antenna.

Yet another embodiment may take the form of a method of manufacturing a metallic, small form factor electronic device.

The method includes milling a metal housing and a metal attachment member. A portion of the attachment member is relief cut and filled with an RF transparent material.

An antenna is positioned in the relief cut portion of the attachment member. Components are secured within the metal housing, a conduit connection is provided external to the housing that is communicatively coupled to an RF component in the metal housing and the housing is sealed.

The method includes communicatively coupling the antenna and the conduit and coupling the metal housing and the metal attachment member using a hinge pin.

“Apple states that the invention could apply to their iPod family (MP3 players), a radio, an audio/video recorder, a mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, tablet computing device, or other similar device," Patently Apple said.

Solar power

A second patent application involves using solar power for portable devices ranging from the iPod to the MacBook Pro.

It suggested the use of solar cell panels for media players and a new power adapter that will use solar energy.

* fighting finger oils

The third patent application involves applying an oleophobic coating to the surface of a material.

It uses a direct liquid application in a Physical Vapor Deposition (“PVD") chamber to apply the coating to the material.

“One way to limit the amount of oils and particles deposited on the surface of portable devices is to apply an oleophobic treatment to the surface. However, this approach could be difficult to accomplish," it said.

Apple said that to prevent the deposition of oils on an electronic device surface, an oleophobic ingredient could be bonded to the electronic device surface.

The oleophobic ingredient could be provided as part of a raw liquid material in one or more concentrations.

So as to avoid adverse reactions due to exposure to air, heat, or humidity, the raw liquid material can be placed in a bottle purged with an inert gas during the manufacturing process.

The bottle could be placed in a liquid supply system having a mechanism for controlling the amount of raw liquid material that passes through the liquid supply system.

“Upon reaching the vaporizing unit, the liquid could be vaporized and the oleophobic ingredient within the liquid can then be deposited on the electronic device component surface. As the liquid supply is drained from the bottle, additional inert gas is supplied in its place to further prevent contamination," Apple Insider said. — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanews.tv