http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com Sustainable energy infrastructure for China and India - technology and economics Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:46:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en India’s central government has drafted a long-term national plan for ramping up solar-generation capacity that Greenpeace is already touting as “the most ambitious solar plan that any country has laid out so far.” A draft of the so-called National Solar Mission plan reportedly calls for 20,000 megawatts of capacity to ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/06/08/new-delhi-set-to-unveil-worlds-most-ambitious-solar-generation-plan/ Just a quick post today to update you with the latest on India’s position in global Climate Change negotiations. A lot of diplo-speak in this Worldwatch Institute interview with Shyam Saran, India’s Climate Change Special Envoy … but there are plenty of subtle shifts since our last post on this ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/05/18/update-on-indias-negotiating-position-on-climate-change/ This week, the New York Times spotlighted China’s emerging leadership in building coal-fired power plants that incorporate new technology to reduce emissions, including greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (read the article “China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants”). The report was framed not so much to praise China but ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/05/14/china-lauded-for-pursuing-cleaner-coal-fired-power/ A coalition of environmental groups has gotten together to run a “Reality” campaign challenging the notion of “clean coal” technology as a myth. The goal is clearly to counter mass-marketing spend by the coal industry to plant the unproven concept in the minds of US voters and officials. As noted in ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/04/23/environmentalists-get-fed-up-challenge-idea-of-clean-coal-with-reality-campaign/ Since news broke in the last week about plans by Beijing to introduce huge subsidies to support solar-based power generation, there has been a tsunami of media coverage. Most of the reporting has focused on the ensuing surge in share prices of China’s giant PV cell manufacturers, the lack of ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/03/31/killing-2-birds-with-1-stone-chinas-solar-subsidy-brouhaha/ Barack Obama’s well-known intention to institute a cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions by U.S. businesses could make future trade wars with China inevitable, according to this report in The Vine, the environment and energy blog of the US magazine, The New Republic. The logic goes like this: A cap-and-trade system ultimately ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/03/19/why-us-cap-and-trade-limits-on-carbon-puts-trade-with-china-in-the-hotseat/ Quick note to flag an excellent Podcast discussion summing up all that’s happening with Smart Grid in the USA right now. In it, NPR Science Friday’s Ira Flatow interviews: - Kurt Yeager, head of California’s Galvin Electricity Initiative and former campaign advisor on energy ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/03/05/uss-11b-push-on-smart-grid-worldwide-impact/ There are many, many, many blogs out there that focus on gadgets & gear. You know the ones — articles mainly along the lines of “check this cool XYZ out.” Some of them are even green-oriented. This is not that type of blog. However, I’m making an exception today because what ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/02/27/ge-explains-smart-grid-tech-through-3d-augmented-reality-try-it/ A little more on the subject of “clean coal” technology and its status as a holy grail in countries where coal appears to be an unavoidably important energy source in the coming decades. The last post focused on a proof of concept in China. (Hopefully the testing is yielding usable data ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/02/10/more-clean-coal-indian-moves/ Wanted to share with all of you the following article from Thomas R. Blakeslee, who gives a first-hand account of his recent visit to a showcase 845-megawatt “clean coal” power plant, the Huaneng Beijing Co-Generation plant. There is a fierce debate about the merits of so-called “clean coal” technologies raging worldwide, ... http://21stcenturypower.blogsome.com/2009/02/01/clean-coals-siren-call-too-tempting-for-china-india/