Chuyên mục: Năng lượng – Energy

Who’s afraid of cheap oil?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Low energy prices ought to be a shot in the arm for the economy. Think again Jan 23rd 2016 | From the print edition Timekeeper

economist – ALONG with bank runs and market crashes, oil shocks have rare power to set monsters loose. Starting with the Arab oil embargo of 1973, people have learnt that sudden surges in the price of oil cause economic havoc. Conversely, when the price slumps because of a glut, as in 1986, it has done the world a power of good. The rule of thumb is that a 10% fall in oil prices boosts growth by 0.1-0.5 percentage points.

In the past 18 months the price has fallen by 75%, from $110 a barrel to below $27. Yet this time the benefits are less certain. Although consumers have gained, producers are suffering grievously. The effects are spilling into financial markets, and could yet depress consumer confidence. Perhaps the benefits of such ultra-cheap oil still outweigh the costs, but markets have fallen so far so fast that even this is no longer clear.

The new economics of oil

The world is drowning in oil. Saudi Arabia is pumping at almost full tilt. It is widely thought that the Saudis want to drive out higher-cost producers from the industry, including some of the fracking firms that have boosted oil output in the United States from 5m barrels a day (b/d) in 2008 to over 9m b/d now. Saudi Arabia will also be prepared to suffer a lot of pain to thwart Iran, its bitter rival, which this week was poised to rejoin oil markets as nuclear sanctions were lifted, with potential output of 3m-4m b/d. Tiếp tục đọc “Who’s afraid of cheap oil?” →

IFC finances Canadian Solar Vietnam, Brazil fab projects to tune of $70m

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu welcomed the partnership with the IFC: "With IFC's commitment, we are able to expand our production capacity to meet the increasing demand for solar energy worldwide."

Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu welcomed the partnership with the IFC: “With IFC’s commitment, we are able to expand our production capacity to meet the increasing demand for solar energy worldwide.”

pv-magazine: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has entered into an agreement with Chinese Tier-1 solar power company Canadian Solar to deliver a finance package worth $70 million to aid the company’s overseas expansion plans.

The terms of the deal include a $60 million loan and a $10 million subscription in Canadian Solar common shares. Tiếp tục đọc “IFC finances Canadian Solar Vietnam, Brazil fab projects to tune of $70m” →

Vietnam Plans Move Away From Coal

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

January 28th, 2016 by

cleantecnica – Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has announced his government’s intention to “review development plans of all new coal plants and halt any new coal power development.”

Vietnam prime minister

Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Prime Minister of Vietnam

According to Solarplaza, the Premier stated that Vietnam needs to “responsibly implement all international commitments in cutting down greenhouse gas emissions; and to accelerate investment in renewable energy.”

The announcement comes in advance of the Solar PV Trade Mission, scheduled April 18 – 22 in Hanoi and Bangkok. It is hoped the trade missions will assemble diverse high-level delegations of stakeholders from around the world into emerging markets to jointly explore and create business development opportunities.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam Plans Move Away From Coal” →

Sensible subsidies – How should backing for clean technology be designed?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Governments usually provide subsidies based on overall adoption targets, such as the number of cars or solar panels they would like to see purchased over a period of time. But green technologies are often new products, and no one really knows how many consumers are waiting to buy them.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office
January 21, 2016

new.MIT.edu – Governments often offer subsidies to consumers for clean-technology products, from home solar panels to electric vehicles. But what are the right levels of subsidy, and how should they be calculated? As a new paper co-authored by MIT researchers shows, governments can easily make subsidies too low when they ignore a basic problem: Consumer demand for these products is usually highly uncertain.

Indeed, the paper’s analysis suggests this has already happened in the case of the Chevy Volt, an electric car introduced in 2010 that suffered slow initial sales before gaining more traction in the marketplace.

“The government will miss their target by a lot when ignoring demand uncertainty,” says Georgia Perakis, the William F. Pounds Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a co-author of the paper.

While discussion of “demand uncertainty” might sound a bit abstract, it matters. Governments usually provide subsidies based on overall adoption targets, such as the number of cars or solar panels they would like to see adopted over a period of time. But green technologies are often new products, and no one really knows how many consumers are waiting to buy them. Tiếp tục đọc “Sensible subsidies – How should backing for clean technology be designed?” →

CSIS Energy Publication | Assessing the Final Clean Power Plan: Emissions Outcomes

~ Trần Đình Hoành ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

FROM THE CSIS ENERGY AND NATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM

Assessing the Final Clean Power Plan:
Emissions Outcomes

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan (CPP) is the most significant greenhouse gas (GHG) policy ever undertaken in the United States, and is expected to achieve significant emission reductions by the time it is fully implemented in 2030. However, calculating the ultimate emissions-abatement potential is more difficult than simply adding up the state reduction targets. While the EPA has set a floor on cumulative emissions from existing fossil-fuel-fired power plants, it has not set a ceiling, and projecting the actual emissions outcome on a national level is not straightforward due to the flexibility states have in implementation.

Our analysis deepens the understanding of the potential emissions outcomes of the CPP and what factors could influence that outcome. We start by explaining the primary factor that has the potential to undermine EPA’s emissions floor—leakage—and how EPA is attempting to address this issue. We then turn to a quantitative analysis of two potential pathways for state implementation plans (SIPs) under optimal implementation conditions. Bearing in mind that optimal implementation is unlikely, we also explore key drivers and decisions that could result in emissions that are higher or lower than our initial projections.

To read the full report, click here

By: John Larsen, Director, Rhodium Group, and Non-Resident Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS; Sarah Ladislaw, Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS; Michelle Melton, Associate Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS; and Whitney Herndon, Research Analyst, Rhodium Group

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Adjusting to Low Prices:
Prospects for Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform

By: Sarah Ladislaw, Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS and Zachary Cuyler, Research Associate, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS

Is India the Next China? An Energy-Related Comparison

By: Jane Nakano, Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS and Michelle Melton, Associate Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS

Renewed Solar Subsidies – A Missed Opportunity

By: Francis O’Sullivan, Director of Research and Analysis, MIT Energy Initiative; Senior Associate, Energy and National Security Program, CSIS

Study Looks at Renewable Energy in Germany and Texas

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Holbert Janson
Dec 29, 2015

renewablenergyworld – A report published by Stanford’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance looks at three of the world’s largest economies and largest energy jurisdictions in an attempt to compare their approaches to ramping up renewable energy.  Included in the report is a comparison of electricity rates in Germany to those in Texas and California as well a discussion of how renewables contribute to overall costs.

The report compares Germany, the world’s fourth largest economy and an aggressive adopter of renewable energy, with the states of California and Texas.  California and Texas are the world’s 8th and 12th largest economies respectively, and are both leaders in the U.S. with respect to wind and solar deployment. Tiếp tục đọc “Study Looks at Renewable Energy in Germany and Texas” →

Our Energy Transformation in 2015

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Like 1973, the year 2015 marked a decisive shift in the world’s energy economy.

technologyreview – In 2015 a series of events combined to drive what may well to be profound shifts—even turning points—in the history of the energy sector.

The ongoing decline in oil prices, which began as early as 2012, accelerated noticeably in 2015. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil price fell to $34.53 a barrel on December 18, lower than it’s been since before the financial crash of 2008, with no floor in sight. Goldman Sachs has predicted that oil could fall as low as $20 a barrel, a development that would cripple most oil-producing economies and have geopolitical ripple effects for years to come. At the same time, the price of natural gas remains near historic lows. Cheap oil and natural gas are conventionally thought to be negative influences on the adoption of renewable energy, lessening the incentives of businesses and consumers to give up fossil fuels. But that doesn’t seem to have slowed the shift away from fossil fuels in 2015.
Tiếp tục đọc “Our Energy Transformation in 2015” →

Sơn La còn 313 bản vùng cao chưa có điện lưới quốc gia

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ 1 bình luận

ĐIÊU CHÍNH TỚI (TTXVN/VIETNAM+) LÚC : 07/12/15 14:47

(Ảnh minh họa: Ngọc Hà/TTXVN)

 
Theo thống kê của Công ty Điện lực Sơn La, hiện còn 313 bản, với tổng số gần 36.400 hộ đồng bào dân tộc ở vùng cao, vùng sâu, vùng xa của tỉnh Sơn La chưa có điện lưới quốc gia.

Ủy ban Nhân dân tỉnh Sơn La đã chỉ đạo các ngành chức năng, các huyện phối hợp với ngành điện rà soát lại hệ thống lưới điện, các bản và số hộ chưa có điện trên địa bàn toàn tỉnh. Tiếp tục đọc “Sơn La còn 313 bản vùng cao chưa có điện lưới quốc gia” →

Germany Could Make $2 Billion By Exporting Electricity

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

November 10th, 2015 by

cleantecnica – The Fraunhofer Institute has found that Germany made about €1.7 billion, or $1.93 billion, in 2014 by selling surplus electricity. In 2015, that amount could reach €2 billion or $2.2 billion. Germany may also achieve a record export surplus of 40 TWh of electricity in 2015. “Over the past years, Germany was able to secure higher prices for its electricity exports than it paid for electricity imports,” explained Fraunhofer professor, Bruno Burger.

germancliffsRenewables added 118 TWh of energy production capacity in Germany from the period beginning in 2010 through 2014. What are some of Germany’s other exports? According to one source, Germany exported about $2.6 billion in pharmaceuticals to Japan in 2014. In 2007, cheese exports were about €2.7 billion. Tiếp tục đọc “Germany Could Make $2 Billion By Exporting Electricity” →

Powering the Internet with renewable energy

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

December 3, 2015

Googleblog – Today we’re announcing the largest, and most diverse, purchase of renewable energy ever made by a non-utility company. Google has already committed to purchase more renewable energy than any other company. Now, through a series of new wind and solar projects around the world, we’re one step closer to our commitment to triple our purchases of renewable energy by 2025 and our goal of powering 100% of our operations with clean energy. 842 MW of renewable energy around the world Today’s agreements will add an additional 842 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to power our data centers. Across three countries, we’re nearly doubling the amount of renewable energy we’ve purchased to date. We’re now up to 2 gigawatts—the equivalent to taking nearly 1 million cars off the road. These additional 842 megawatts represent a range of locations and technologies, from a wind farm in Sweden to a solar plant in Chile.

These long-term contracts range from 10-20 years and provide projects with the financial certainty and scale necessary to build these wind and solar facilities—thus bringing new renewable energy onto the grid in these regions. For our part, these contracts not only help minimize the environmental impact of our services—they also make good business sense by ensuring good prices. Our commitment to a sustainable energy future Since we opened our very first owned data center in 2006, we’ve been working to promote renewable and sustainable energy use in several ways:

  • First, we’re building the world’s most efficient computer infrastructure by designing our data centers to use as little energy as possible.

Tiếp tục đọc “Powering the Internet with renewable energy” →

Đóng góp ý kiến cho Quy hoạch điện VII hiệu chỉnh (Việt Nam)

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

25/11/2015 | 13:40

Xem và tải báo cáo tại đây: Bản tiếng Việt – Bản tiếng Anh

GreenID – “Không cần đầu tư xây dựng mới khoảng 30.000 tới 40.000 MW nhiệt điện than mà có thể dùng nguồn đầu tư này vào việc thực hiện sử dụng hiệu quả năng lượng và phát triển nguồn năng lượng tái tạo trong khi vẫn đáp ứng được nhu cầu”. Đây là một trong những thông tin quan trọng được đề cập trong báo cáo “Phân tích Quy hoạch điện VII và một số khuyến nghị đối với Quy hoạch điện VII hiệu chỉnh – hướng tới phát triển năng lượng bền vững tại Việt Nam” do Trung tâm Phát triển Sáng tạo Xanh (GreenID) thực hiện với sự tham gia và tư vấn của các chuyên gia năng lượng trong nước và quốc tế.

Sau hơn 4 năm thực hiện Quyết định Phê duyệt Quy hoạch phát triển điện lực Quốc gia giai đoạn 2011-2020 có xét đến năm 2030 số 1208/QĐ-TTg ngày 21/7/2011 của Thủ tướng Chính phủ, ngành điện đạt được một số thành tựu đáng ghi nhận, từ chỗ phải tiết giảm điện trong các năm 2010-2011 do thiếu điện đến nay ngành điện không những đã cung cấp được đủ điện cho sản xuất và sinh hoạt của nhân dân mà còn có dự phòng. Tuy nhiên, Quy hoạch điện VII cũng đã bộc lộ một số vấn đề mang tính vĩ mô và ảnh hưởng tới tính khả thi như dự báo nhu cầu điện năng quá lớn khiến nhu cầu vốn đầu tư quá nhiều mà nền kinh tế không chịu nổi; huy động nhà máy nhiệt điện chạy than quá cao, nhu cầu than cung cấp cho điện quá lớn, có thể dẫn tới không đủ nguồn cung cấp kể cả nhập khẩu, không đảm bảo môi trường và phát triển bền vững; chưa chú trọng đúng mức tới nguồn năng lượng tái tạo. Tiếp tục đọc “Đóng góp ý kiến cho Quy hoạch điện VII hiệu chỉnh (Việt Nam)” →

Carbon capture analyst: ‘Coal should stay in the ground’

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Date:December 2, 2015

Source:University of Michigan

Summary:Serious flaws have been found in a decade’s worth of studies about the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize the climate, report experts in a new article.

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Serious flaws have been found in a decade’s worth of studies about the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize the climate.

sciencedaily – The findings, from the University of Michigan, are released as world leaders at COP21 attempt to negotiate the globe’s first internationally binding climate agreement.

The U-M researchers have found that most economic analysis of carbon capture and storage, or CCS, technology for coal-fired power plants severely underestimates the technique’s costs and overestimates its energy efficiency. CCS involves sucking carbon out of coal-fired power plants’ flue gases, compressing it and then injecting it deep underground.

The new analysis puts the cost of reducing carbon emissions with CCS-equipped coal plants higher than any previous study — and most importantly, higher than wind and comparable to solar power. It’s the first study to confront the so-called ‘energy loop’ inherent in the CCS process. Tiếp tục đọc “Carbon capture analyst: ‘Coal should stay in the ground’” →

Tìm ra điểm sáng trong quyết định Keystone XL

~ Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hợp ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

English: Finding the Silver Pipelining in the Keystone XL Decision

“Dù cho Hilary Clinton có ý nói theo nghĩa này hay không, Hilary Clinton gọi đường ống Keystone XL là một “sự phân tâm” khỏi việc giải quyết vấn đề biến đổi khí hậu – một thông điệp mà tổng Thống Obama lặp đi lặp lại khi giải thích cho quyết định từ chối của mình. Cho những ai trong chúng ta nhận ra nhu cầu bức thiết của việc giải quyết vấn đề biến đổi khí hậu và của việc đưa ra những lựa chọn khó khăn và phác thảo những chính sách rõ ràng để đưa đến những kết quả khả quan và cân bằng, thời gian, công sức và sự chú ý hướng đến Keystone XL đã thực sự là một sự phân tâm.”

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Photo courtesy of rickz from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickz/2113212191/in/photolist-4dJLmX-8AaSq8-4R2T6-ogvPnb-cHW8qL-9c4B2L-H8U2t-6YX1eb-6YWZVG-6YX1J7-4ZLHta-P4pxK-P3MCu-P4py8-P4ABV-P432S-P432b-P4ABR-P3Mgd-6YSZz2-axSvq-6hmrrn-P4ABK-5btKCU-BmhUs-9YT
By Sarah Ladislaw, Frank A. Verrastro

Hôm nay Tổng thống Obama, sau 7 năm nghiên cứu và thảo luận, đã từ chối yêu cầu của TransCanada xin Giấy Phép của Tổng thống cho đường ống Keystone XL – một đường ống dài 1179 dặm được thiết kế để vận chuyển số lượng đến 830,000 thùng dầu một ngày sản xuất tại Canada đến một hệ thống ống dẫn tích hợp ở Mỹ. Mặc cho sự biểu tình phản đối của chính quyền Obama đối với sự kiện này, quyết định từ chối cấp giấy phép được đồn là đã được đưa ra một thời gian trước đây và quyết định công bố vào thời điểm hôm nay là một bước đi có tính toán để thắng chiếc ghế tổng thống và sự hỗ bổ sung của chính quyền từ cộng đồng môi trường trước khi đến Paris để dự các cuộc đàm phán về khí hậu của Liên Hiệp Quốc vào cuối tháng này. Tổng thống xác nhận rằng chấp thuận cho đường ống Keystone XL sẽ làm giảm vai trò của Mỹ với tư cách là nước đi tiên phong trong cuộc chiến khí hậu, khi trong thực tế quyết định này dường như có trọng lượng trong nước hơn là quốc tế. Thực sự, vai trò lãnh đạo của Mỹ trong cuộc chiến khí hậu được hỗ trợ mạnh mẽ hơn bởi các hoạt động Mỹ đã thực hiện như là một phần của Kế hoạch Hành động vì Khí hậu – Climate Action Plan. Tiếp tục đọc “Tìm ra điểm sáng trong quyết định Keystone XL” →

Nuclear waste storage sites in rock salt may be more vulnerable than previously thought

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Date: November 26, 2015

Source:University of Texas at Austin

Summary:Research shows that rock salt, used by Germany and the United States as a subsurface container for radioactive waste, might not be as impermeable as thought.

Research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that rock salt, used by Germany and the United States as a subsurface container for radioactive waste, might not be as impermeable as thought or as capable of isolating nuclear waste from groundwater in the event that a capsule or storage vessel failed.

sciencedaily – A team of researchers from the university has used field testing and 3-D micro-CT imaging of laboratory experiments to show that rock salt can become permeable. Their findings, published in the Nov. 27 issue of Science, has implications for oil and gas operations, and, most notably, nuclear waste storage. The team includes researchers from the university’s Cockrell School of Engineering and Jackson School of Geosciences.

“What this new information tells us is that the potential for permeability is there and should be a consideration when deciding where and how to store nuclear waste,” said Maša Prodanovic, assistant professor in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. “If it’s an existing nuclear waste storage site, you may want to re-evaluate it with this new information.”

Salt generally blocks fluid flow at shallow depth, a feature that allows oil reservoirs to form. But scientists have long suspected that salt becomes permeable at greater depth. Jackson School professor James E. Gardner confirmed this theory through laboratory experiments with synthetic rock salt. Tiếp tục đọc “Nuclear waste storage sites in rock salt may be more vulnerable than previously thought” →

Obama’s nuclear play

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Allen Greenberg | Nov 29, 2015

Here’s a nice bit of irony:

Energybiz – James Hansen, the scientist who was first to raise the alarm about climate change, fueling calls to shut down coal-fired power plants, will later this week urge the expansion of nuclear power.

In other words, depending on how things work out, utilities that were forced to close down or convert their coal-powered operations because of Hansen’s work, could soon find themselves thanking him for encouraging policymakers and regulators to approve plans to build new nuclear plants.

Hansen will issue his call in Paris, during the two-week climate conference that kicks off Monday. The conference is expected to draw some 20,000 attendees, including President Obama and 120 or so other world leaders.

Also read: First U.S. small modular reactor inches ahead

The hope of the climate talks is to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. Few, however, expect the conference to deliver anything meaningful. That’s because the pledges being made to cut greenhouse gas emissions are voluntary and are unlikely to be enough to stave off environmental catastrophe. Tiếp tục đọc “Obama’s nuclear play” →