Renewables could supply 99.5 of power by 2050
UNITED KINGDOM - Renewable energies could furnish 99.5 percent of European Union electricity needs by 2050 if nuclear loses its priority access to distribution networks, Greenpeace said in a report recently released.
The environmental campaigners said that windfarms are "often stopped in peak production periods to give priority access" to electricity generated by nuclear reactors and coal-fired power stations.
Greenpeace researchers said that solar energy in Europe's south and wind energy from the north could supply 68 percent of the 27-nation EU's electricity needs in 2030 and 99.5 percent by the middle of the century.
However, the group claimed that would require governments to change policy tack and favor investments in green energy to the tune of 94 billion dollars by 2030.
"It's a question of choice," said campaign figurehead Jan Vande Putte.
Renewables produced 16.1 percent of German electricity needs in 2009, more than double the total six years earlier, according to the German federation of renewable energy producers.
Greenpeace is trying to influence the debate in the run-up to a February 4 summit of EU leaders representing half a billion people.
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REGINA - Saskatchewan has unveiled a new program that credits electricity customers for generating their own solar power, but it won’t pay as much as an older program did or reimburse them with rebates for their costs to buy and install equipment.
The new net metering program takes effect Nov. 1, and customers will be able to use solar to offset their own power use at the retail rate.
But they will only get 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour credit on their bills for excess energy they put back into the grid, rather than the 14 cents in the previous program.
Dustin Duncan,…
