I braced myself for the American Wind Energy Association’s quarterly report, thinking the sinking economy would lead to slower wind deployment in the US. But then I got the just-released report, and they showed another record wind deployment for the first quarter! The US added (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘2009’
1st Quarter Wind Power Growth Breaks Record!
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009Biggest Wind Utility Grows Profit Amid Downturn
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
While many companies are reporting lower profits here in 2009, Florida Power & Light shared a profit increase of 46% above the first quarter of 2008. And it was no coincidence that it is the nation’s largest wind power producer. The company made $364 million and (more…)
US Electricity Emissions in Freefall
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) US electric power estimates for January and February just came out. And the numbers are dramatic. Net generation in January was down ~3.3% from January 2008, largely on lower demand from industrial users. February showed an even greater ~6.9% nosedive in (more…)
US Solar Industry Growing in 2009: Whole Foods and Wal-Mart Step Up
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
With bulging inventories of oil and a global economy set to shrink for the first time since World War II, it’s hard to imagine great short-term growth prospects for solar and other renewable energy sources. But generous governmental support, a bit of private leadership, and a backlog of demand from 2008 have kept the industry (more…)
Recession Demand Sends Fuel Inventories Toward Record Highs
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
This past quarter was another tough one for the US economy. Industrial production sank to a record low in March below 70% of capacity. The resulting lower demand for fuels is sending storage levels toward record highs. The EIA reported this morning that natural gas rose another (more…)
New Report: US emissions to fall another 2.5+% in 2009
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
In February, I shared that the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted lower greenhouse gas emissions from US energy consumption in 2009. Their earlier projection of ~2% lower emissions just shifted in their April report to a much lower (more…)
Report: 2008 US Wind Growth Even Faster
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009The American Wind Energy Assocation (AWEA) reported yesterday that their initial estimate of US wind growth was too slow. It turns out wind capacity grew more than 8.5 GW rather than 8.3 GW, a white-hot 51%! And they released a projection for 2009 of (more…)
Oil Report Shows Global Emissions May Fall in 2009
Friday, April 10th, 2009
For the first time since the last oil shock of the early 1980s, global greenhouse gas emissions are poised to fall significantly. The International Energy Agency (IEA) just released its monthly oil report within which they lowered oil demand projections by 1 million barrels per day (Mbd) from last month. Such a fall in consumption brings total demand down 2.4 Mbd (2.8%) from 2008 and translates into a fall in carbon emissions by (more…)
US Oil Output Down: Noise or Beginning of New Trend?
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum report today and it continues to point to ample supplies of crude oil and related products. But domestic crude oil production fell for the first week in a long time. Is this just a blip or have we begun the downward slide in crude oil production due to (more…)
China Begins Energy Leapfrog
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Canadian Solar announced yesterday that they won a rural electrification bid for 80,000 homes in China’s western province of Sichuan. At 1.6 MW in total, the systems will provide 20 watts for each house or enough to power some lighting or very efficient appliance. Potentially coupled with China’s leading solar thermal water-heating systems, this translates into an example of (more…)