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BLOOMBERG BUSINESS
Google Buys 781 Megawatts of Wind, Solar Power in Three Nations
Google, the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy, is expanding its clean power portfolio with deals for 781 megawatts of solar and wind power. The Alphabet Inc. unit completed five deals to buy the output from power plants in the U.S., Chile and Sweden, and now has contracts for 2 gigawatts of renewable energy worldwide, according to a statement Thursday. The power-purchase agreements run from 10 to 20 years.
“It’s the largest, most diverse purchase of renewable energy by a non-utility,” Michael Terrell, Google’s principal of energy and global infrastructure, said in an interview. The announcement coincides with the climate talks in Paris, where envoys from almost 200 nations are seeking to complete a global deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
“We wanted to send the message that corporate America is really committed to driving the transition to a clean-energy economy,” Terrell said.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Skies clear for Alberta’s solar-energy industry
The outlook for Alberta’s emerging solar-power industry just became a lot sunnier thanks to the provincial climate change policy that pledges to eliminate coal-fired electricity plants by 2030. “The opportunity is huge,” says David Kelly, founder and chief executive officer of Calgary-based SkyFire Energy Inc., an engineering, procurement and construction provider of solar electric systems.
“We’ve been struggling against cheap coal for years,” said Mr. Kelly, who entered the industry in 2001 with a solar photovoltaic (PV) installation in his own home. He has since designed and installed solar thermal and PV systems across Canada.
“Currently in Alberta, it’s cheaper to produce electricity with coal as long as it’s free to dump all of those pollutants in the sky,” Mr. Kelly said. “If you had to pay for those pollutants, then solar would be the cheapest.”
FAST COMPANY
India’s Solar Ambitions Are Big, But So Are Its Ambitions For Coal
“1,000 billion U.S. Dollars” ($1 trillion). That’s how much the International Solar Alliance says it needs for a “massive deployment” of solar power around the world. We don’t exactly how big that deployment might be, but this week 121 sun-rich countries signed on to the planning document, showing, at least, that they see massive potential in solar.
The initiative is led by India, which is putting up $30 million to headquarter the new organization. “We want to bring solar energy into our lives and homes by making it cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to grid,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Paris. “Today, when the energy sources of our industrial age have put our planet in peril, the world must turn to the Sun to power our future.”
BUSINESS STANDARD
Political, fiscal steps must for solar alliance to shine (Comment, Special to IANS)
The Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, now holding its 21st summit meeting in Paris, is the world’s most influential platform that has the power to change the face of the planet.
And the word “power” reminds you of its importance at this stage, being among of the prime factors that play a pivotal role in the climate change.
With the advancement of technology, the demand and dependence on energy has increased. Every growing city is energy-hungry and adding to the climate issues. But, we cannot ignore the fact that we need energy to sustain. In such a scenario, we certainly require a change.
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