Happy New Year from OpenEI

What a year it has been for OpenEI and renewable energy technologies across the globe. Here are some of the lessons learned in the past year:

1. China is leading the way in renewable energy development: While every country in the world has released information about new cleantech advancements, China was in the news nearly everyday. They are rapidly advancing utility-scale solar projects, both onshore and offshore wind projects, and are providing subsidies to create an electric and natural-gas powered vehicle force.

Furthermore, they made many headlines regarding Rare Earths, by cutting exports and causing a huge ripple effect in the global market. Other countries are now searching for new places to invest, and in the United States in California, Molycorp is even reopening its Rare Earth mine due to large investments from Japan pushing countries other than China into Rare Earth production.

2. Transparency is here: And we aren't talking about wikileaks! Obama's open government initiative (OGI) has made renewable energy data more accessible, allowing for collaboration amongst different communities to qualitatively analyze and disseminate information. This will be important in order for consumers who aren't subject matter experts to become aware and comfortable with new technologies in order for cleantech to be a mainstay.

3 . Renewables are cool: We saw numerous companies, Wal-mart, Google, IKEA, showcase new projects in cleantech for the future. Wal-mart will install solar in parking lots and on stores, Google made a large investment in developing an offshore superhighway known as the Atlantic Wind Connection, and IKEA will have geothermal power at its new Colorado location. Furthermore, we saw a news story reporting on the value of companies going 'green', a message that these companies and many others are taking seriously.

4. Government policy and scientific research favoring renewable energy technologies have grown: From offshore wind power to solar, geothermal, biofuels, and much more, we saw a robust movement in the research and development of renewable energy technologies in 2010. In Britain, the University of Leicester developed a green supercomputer that uses significantly less energy and generates considerably less carbon emissions while in the United States, NASA discovered a new microbe with the potential to revolutionize the production of clean fuels and toxic waste clean-up. As well, policies to enhance and promote renewable energy technologies continued to be pushed, with Congress extending subsidies and grants, and numerous cities and countries around the world setting goals for becoming greener, such as Scotland and New Zealand’s pledge to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2025.

5. Renewable energy is the wave of the future: As nearly all of the blogs we posted to OpenEI illustrated, renewable energy is the wave of the future and countries are racing to be at the forefront of the movement. China’s position as the main source of rare earth metals is leading other countries, such as the United States, to locate and mine their own supplies. The European Union continues to further its goals of becoming a clean energy economy by imposing strict regulations on its industrial sectors to preserve air, water and land. Even developing nations such as Uganda are embracing renewable energy and a cleaner economy, as we witnessed the country’s creation of a solid-waste composting program to reduce methane emissions, which it registered under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

2010 was a great year for OpenEI and for renewable energy technologies across the world. Continued support of cleantech research, programs, and companies is required to make sure that this recent movement can succeed, which inevitably could help many countries recover from the recession in 2008, among many potential improvements to the world we live in.

OpenEI is a great place to start supporting renewable energy development. You can follow us on our Facebook and Twitter page, and you can read new content and news at OpenEI.org in our Renewable Energy News gateway.

Thanks for all your support, and happy new year!

OpenEI team

China offering subsidies to encourage E.V. use

China in just the past couple of years has surpassed the United States in several energy-related categories, including passing the United States to become the world's largest automobile market. All signs point to an extended rise in vehicle sales in China in the coming years. Experts agree that there is a heavy burden on energy demand that will grow in correlation with automobile sales, which has prompted the Chinese Government to offer subsidies and other financial incentives to encourage the use of electric vehicles.

China has developed an electric vehicle development plan that also includes the development of natural-gas powered vehicles along with hybrid and all-electric vehicles. China's financial support extends to the promotion of electric buses and public passenger vehicles alongside private electric vehicle promotion. The hope is that pushing development in both public and private vehicles will be a "two ends meet" strategy, advancing all vehicles into more fuel efficient standards.

China has also launched the "one thousand electric cars" initiative, a drive to put 1,000 E.V.s in 10 Chinese cities each year. The Chinese government believes the initiative would make 10% of all vehicles in China electric by 2012.

Article at: Ecoseed Green

The race for rare earth metals heats up

Rare earth metals, such as cerium, europium, lanthanum, and neodymium, are critical to many renewable energy technologies. Electric batteries, wind turbines, and catalysts used to decrease automotive carbon emissions are just a few examples of technologies that require these metals. And yet, with China in possession of nearly 97 percent of the world’s supply (according to some estimates), the race for other countries to locate and mine their own rare earth metals is heating up.

The top contender in the race is the United States. In response to China’s announcement that it plans to cut back on exports of its rare earth metals, mining companies such as Molycorp Inc. of Colorado, which has working mines in California, are increasing their activities to meet the surge in demand that is expected as the supply from China diminishes. Molycorp recently announced plans to form a partnership with Japanese rare earth magnet manufacturer Hitatchi Metals Ltd., which will keep the production of magnets and other alloys key to the development of renewable energy technologies moving forward. By increasing the output of rare earth metals from its domestic mines, the U.S. can continue its quest to be the global leader in renewable energy technologies.

Department of Energy allocates $74 million to fuel cell research and development

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week that it will allocate $74 million to fund fuel cell research and development projects over the next three years. The program will support projects focused on both stationary and transportation applications, with the goal of positioning the U.S. as a leading force in the emerging global fuel cell market.

Funding will be distributed for two primary uses:

• $65 million will go towards continuing research and development of fuel cell components, looking specifically at ways to reduce costs, improve strength and life, and increase efficiency
• $9 million will be used to conduct independent cost analyses to determine the economic viability and technological advancement of fuel cell applications, including use in vehicles and stationary power plants

Explains Energy Secretary Steven Chu, "The investments we're making today will help advance fuel cell technology in the United States. This is part of a broad effort to create American jobs, reduce carbon pollution and help ensure the U.S. stays competitive in the growing clean energy economy.”