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Has Fracking Killed RE?

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Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 10:40:36

Now that Graeme is back and the Renewable Wall of Press Releases has been rebuilt, I was surprised to come across these 2 charts from euanmearns.com that show RE investment stalling out right at the time fracking got rolling

Image


Image

The $232 billion invested in renewables in 2013 was dwarfed by the $1.6 trillion total global energy investment in that year reported by IEA, and of the 235GW of new generation capacity installed globally in 2012 only 76GW was wind or solar, according to EIA and BP



So why the big drop in RE investment even when oil prices were over $100/bbl?

Fracking is seen as not only an unqualified economic success, but a shining example of the triumph of the human ability to technologize our way out of any predicament; it is the killer argument against limits to growth. I'm not really surprised how many articles that talk about fracking nowadays mention peak oil — peak oil gets more press today than it ever did back in '08. It's like when you have a close call and the adrenaline is still flowing and you prattle on about how close you were. I'm beginning to think there is a bias in the mind of the investor that steers him away from RE because he doesn't want to admit PO.

Investors will put money into RE only when they are convinced FF are finished.

This price [oil] collapse led to the mistaken belief that droves of US oil and gas producers would go bust. It was obvious from at least as early as last October that this analysis was based on people who don't talk to enough people. What we have seen is nothing short of an explosion of innovation that has already driven US shale-oil production costs down by 15-25% over the last 12 months.

Even more 'no strings attached' easy financing has poured into the US oil and gas sector over the last few months, from hedge funds, pension funds and private equity players. The logic behind these investments is that oil prices will soon rally, resulting in a recovery in the 'undervalued' shares of US oil and gas companies.

http://www.icis.com/blogs/asian-chemica ... ss-credit/


So did fracking kill the RE-Revolution?
Did RE never have a chance to be self sustaining?
Will money flow to RE when fracking gives up the ghost?


(PDF with lots of RE charts)
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby C8 » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 11:33:40

If technology makes fracking and renewables similar in price then folks will always go w/ fracking- the infrastructure is already built and there are no nimby battles over unsightly panels or windmills
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Ulenspiegel » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 12:59:48

Pops,

what picture do you get when you display installed capacity as function of time, PV and wind are the most interesting.

A lower invested sum does not necessarily mean lower installed capacity. :-)

Fracking does not affect generation of electricity in Europe, such an assumption is nonsense. And to make my point, it will not affect generation of electricity as NG from whatever source is not competitive, coal, PV and wind kill it.

The low NG price in the USA is the result of the fact that you do not have sufficniet export capacity, not true for Europe.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 14:25:39

Uni, just pointing out the facts as they sit, pooh-pooh them as you will they are still the facts.

2 simple points, maybe 3
the amount of new investment in RE is stalled, in the EU especially, and globally is but a fraction of investment in FFs.
Yet PV and Wind are only 3.5% of total capacity to date
And the stall happened just as fracking took off

Not gonna get a RE-revolution without revolutionary investment
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 15:23:18

Such a blind eye to the obvious: can someone explain exactly where frac'd oil and any of the alts are competing directly against each other? Has the increase in wind power taken $1 away from the refiners of EFS oil used to make gasoline? Can anyone name one US fossil fuel burning power plant that has been replaced by any alt? Frac'ng the Marcellus has certainly put a lot of NG into the system. But where has any cheap source of NG inhibited an alt project? If it has then there's one simple answer: the alt wasn't economical. So is it that difficult to imagine folks not wanting to make uneconomical investments?

How about this as a possible reason: there is a finite amount of investments capital in the world. We had a lot of it going into the shale boom as well as the expansion of industries globally especially in China and India. We've also seen $TRILLIONS spent by govts on military conflicts.

Alt development had to compete with those other capex sinks and investments. The sinks were govt mandates and the investments had to compete on the basis of their potential returns. So maybe the answer is that simple: with the capital available the alts, in general, typically weren't worth a sh*t. LOL.

Remember one of the big alt successes in the US: Texas wind has seen huge investments during that time period. Enough capex invested to push Texas (as measured as a country by itself) to tie for #4 in the world in wind power. And it was achieved strictly on the basis of good business practices.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Graeme » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 21:19:44

This thread is really an offshoot of the RE and economic growth thread I started. Stalling in investment (topic of thread) has nothing to do with fracking as Rockman pointed out. This 2013 report by UNEP explains why. The following quotes are copied from the Key Findings:

The main issue holding back investment last year was instability in the policy regime for renewable energy in important developed-economy markets.
Future investment is likely to coalesce in countries that can offer policies that command investor confidence, plus the need for extra generating capacity and strong renewable power resources.

The other major theme of 2012 was a further, significant reduction in the costs of solar photovoltaic technology. The levelised cost of generating a MWh
of electricity from PV was around one third lower last year than the 2011 average. This took smallscale residential PV power, in particular, much closer
to competitiveness.

The result was that, despite problems in former market hot-spots in southern Europe, the amount of PV capacity installed in 2012 was a record 30.5GW,
up from 2011’s 28.8GW. However this came at reduced cost, contributing to an 11% fall in overall solar investment last year, to $140 billion


Clean energy share prices had another poor year in 2012, the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, or NEX, slipping 6% while wider stock markets
gained. This followed a 40% plunge in the previous year. The NEX reached a low in late July some 78% below its record level reached in November 2007,
before beginning a rally that extended into 2013.

The main reasons for the further under-performance of renewable energy shares last year were severe distress in the manufacturing supply chain for
both wind and solar, caused by over-capacity; and investor unease about future prospects in the light of unhelpful policy moves in Europe and North
America.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby onlooker » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 21:50:56

I would weigh in somewhere in the middle. Fracking has had an effect, in so much as without the boom , that would have attracted more investment in RE. But also true is that Renewables were never going to replace the humongous infrastructure of FF. That was a pipe dream. First to reiterate the inherent lack of concentrated energy also the less bang for the buck of RE and unreliability so this was always prohibitive roadblocks for large scale adoption of RE. Add to that the natural variability as some places just are not situated well to take advantage of wind or solar. Finally are the internal obstacles particularly in the US from the potent FF industry.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Graeme » Sat 13 Jun 2015, 22:57:34

I concede that fracking had some effect in the US during 2012-2014. This from the executive summary:

The main reason for the 12% decline in 2012 was investor concern over policies to support renewable energy in its longest-established markets, Europe
and the US. In part this was a case of uncertainty – developers, equity providers and lenders were unsure about whether commitments to subsidise renewable energy deployment would continue beyond scheduled expiry dates in countries like the US, the UK and Germany.

There was also negative impact on investment levels from other factors, notably pressure on utility balance sheets in some European countries, the
low natural gas price in the US (which reduced the value of power purchasing agreements available to generators, including wind developers), and
the poor performance, once again, of clean energy share prices. The latter factor hit public market investment in specialist renewable energy companies and made venture capital and private equity funds more hesitant about putting money into the sector.


But since late last year, falling oil prices have not affected renewable energy investment. Watch video in this link:

Video Breakdown: Why Low Oil Prices Won’t Destroy Cleantech

The drop in oil prices had no impact on electricity prices. But it was a rough end to the year for publicly traded renewable energy companies in 2014. The Guggenheim Solar ETS, a global index that tracks companies in all segments of the solar energy industry, fell by 30 percent over the latter half of 2014. Large solar companies including SunEdison, SolarCity and SunPower saw their stocks fall between 20 percent and 40 percent over the period.

Solar companies weren’t the only ones affected. The WilderHill Clean Energy Index, which tracks dozens of different clean energy stocks worldwide, fell by 32 percent as oil prices tumbled. This poor stock performance comes as global investments in clean energy projects reach record highs.

So what’s going on here? Falling stock prices usually reflect a weak market. And yet the market fundamentals for technologies like solar, wind, battery storage and energy efficiency continue to improve. Why are investors so confused?
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby ennui2 » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 10:17:04

If Graeme is conceding some negativity, then the reality is far worse. ;)
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 10:24:07

Come down off your hobby horses guys, your bias is showing, LOL. Google "fracking renewables investment" for 545k hits, here is the first one I got,

The country’s embrace of natural gas means less love for wind and solar. New investments in renewable energy sources declined 5 percent in North America last year to $56 billion, the lowest since 2010, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. By comparison, North American oil and gas companies spent $168.2 billion on exploration and production last year, more than double 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
...
Hydraulic fracturing, the technical name for fracking, has helped open the money tap for gas and oil. Since 2012, investors added more than $2.3 billion to the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund, which tracks oil and gas companies. In the same period, investors withdrew $32.5 million from the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Portfolio, the biggest exchange-traded fund tied to renewable-energy equities, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“There’s absolutely no question that investors’ dollars have moved from one to the other,” said Bruce Jenkyn-Jones, a managing director at London-based Impax Asset Management Group Plc, which oversees about $4.2 billion

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... ipses-u-s-

The trajectory seemed clear and encouraging with new investments in RE increasing every year (as noted by the uncountable press releases posted here by G) right up until US "energy independence" happened. We were treated to several headlines each day about the exponential growth of RE. Trouble is, "exponential" only happens when the rate of increase keeps increasing, but since 2011 it ain't.

The thing that will be interesting to see is whether the rumors of fracking's demise pan out. I'd kind of figured there would be more news of bankruptcy and M&A by now, since as we all "know" the frackers were never profitable to begin with.

OTOH, oil futures are in contango, all the futures contracts are higher than today's price. IOW gamblers think the price of oil will rise and I'm guessing that makes throwing ever more QE Bucks at bargain priced fracking even more attractive than ever!
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 10:24:56

Graeme wrote:I concede that fracking had some effect in the US during 2012-2014.

Gah!
We're Dead!


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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 11:10:09

Graeme wrote:This thread is really an offshoot of the RE and economic growth thread I started.

G, if you'll pardon me for being blunt, I long ago gave up sifting through your endless reposting of alt trade press fluff. Appeal to the authority of publications whose revenue is dependent on the alt industry is not only not convincing, it eventually begins to undermine your entire point. Whatever news, development, insight might be buried in your posts is hidden by your own noise.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Graeme » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 17:15:02

Pops, Excuse me for being blunt but aren't you doing exactly what you are accusing me of doing? You are posting news articles and "appealing to authority". Of course there is a lot of new information being published in the media . That is what it is: NEWS. I try to cover a wide range of topics nearly on a daily basis. Your arguments against me are very weak. Yes fracking in the US has had an effect on shifting investment toward natural gas but that is not the main reason that investment has declined since 2010. I stated them above if you care to read. Do I need to repeat? NG has up until recently been cheaper but you should know that grid parity is spreading throughout the country so eventually it will be renewables that will kill fracking. The good residents of Georgetown Texas have recognized this and are acting accordingly. Here is some more news. You could of course choose to ignore it.

With demand for PV cells growing quickly, China--factory to the world--got into the game. Beginning around 2006, a boom in the Chinese PV industry massively expanded global production and drove prices down even further. Today China is a solar manufacturing giant, producing close to two thirds of the world's PV--more than the United States, Japan, and Germany combined.

The decline in PV panel prices over the decades is astonishing. In 1972, they cost over $74 per watt. The average price as of mid-2014 was less than 70¢ per watt--99 percent cheaper. (For reference, the typical U.S. rooftop system today has between 2 and 10 kilowatts of generating capacity. One kilowatt equals 1,000 watts.)

Around the world, solar installations are growing by leaps and bounds on residential and commercial rooftops and in solar farms, also called solar power plants or parks, that can cover thousands of acres. Between 2008 and 2013, as solar panel prices dropped by roughly two thirds, the PV installed worldwide skyrocketed from 16,000 to 139,000 megawatts. That is enough to power every home in Germany, a country with 83 million people. In its January 2014 solar outlook report, Deutsche Bank projected that 46,000 megawatts would be added to global PV capacity in 2014 and that new installations would jump to a record 56,000 megawatts in 2015.

The International Energy Agency in Paris, which is typically conservative in its renewable energy forecasts, has been revising its solar projections upward. As recently as 2011 it forecast 112,000 megawatts of solar generating capacity by 2015--a figure the world left far behind in 2013. The organization now projects that by 2018 the total will be 326,000 megawatts of generating capacity, but the world will likely come close to this in 2016.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 18:26:52

Graeme wrote:Pops, Excuse me for being blunt but aren't you doing exactly what you are accusing me of doing?

The difference G is I post an article to make a point. You post page after page of the same point.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Graeme » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 18:42:47

The answer to the thread question is an emphatic NO. Image I hoped that I did't have to repeat myself but in your case it appears that I have to. A simple google search can reveal:

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015

According to UNEP's 9th "Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015", prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance — the past year brought a rebound of green energy investments worldwide with a surge of a solid 17% to $270 Billion. Brushing aside the challenge of sharply lower crude oil prices this sudden increase reveresed the investment dip of the past two years and was mainly driven by investments in solar and wind energy.


UNEP

10 things you should know about investment in renewable energy
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby kublikhan » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 19:40:37

Pops wrote:So why the big drop in RE investment even when oil prices were over $100/bbl?
Oil = primarily transportation. Renewables = primarily electricty. The only renewables to take a hit from cheap oil are in the transportation sector(biofuels, evs, etc.) There is not a strong correlation between oil prices and renewable investments. At least not currently. Cheap oil in the 80's reduced investments in renewables. But this time around renewable investments are still going strong even with cheap oil. Renewable investments are at quadruple their 2000 level.

Clean energy investment rose for the first time in three years in 2014, overcoming a slump in oil prices that unsettled the outlook for the industry. New funds for wind, solar, biofuels and other low-carbon energy technologies gained 16 percent to $310 billion last year.

“Healthy investment in clean energy may surprise some commentators, who have been predicting trouble for renewables as a result of the oil price collapse. The impact of cheaper crude will be felt much more in road transport than in electricity generation.”

The findings ease concerns that the oil price rout that began in the middle of last year would lead to a sharp reduction in funds for low-carbon energy, which is more costly than fossil fuels. “This increase in renewable energy investment demonstrates the resilience of the sector in the face of tumbling oil prices. This trend is set to continue as technology around renewables becomes more affordable. The increasing role that renewable energy plays in emerging markets will also help ensure sustainable growth for the sector.”

Unshaken by Oil
“Technologies such as solar are much more cost competitive now so you might not see as much pressure from low oil prices.”

Investment in biofuels, which are blended with gasoline to help cut emissions, was one of the few clean-energy segments to suffer a decline, dropping 7 percent to $5.1 billion.
Clean Energy Investment Jumps 16%, Shaking Off Oil’s Drop

Pops wrote:The $232 billion invested in renewables in 2013 was dwarfed by the $1.6 trillion total global energy investment in that year reported by IEA, and of the 235GW of new generation capacity installed globally in 2012 only 76GW was wind or solar, according to EIA and BP
This changed in 2013 with renewables adding more capacity than fossil fuels. Renewables had even greater additions if you look at actual generation instead of generating capacity. There was alot of new coal capacity added in China and yet the utilization rates of China's coal plants are at record lows, approaching 50%. India's utilization rates are hitting record lows as well. In terms of actual generation, renewables additions to the power grid were more than triple fossil fuel's additions.

The race for renewable energy has passed a turning point. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there's no going back. The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels.

"Despite the change in oil and gas prices there is going to be a substantial buildout of renewable energy that is likely to be an order of magnitude larger than the buildout of coal and gas." The question is no longer if the world will transition to cleaner energy, but how long it will take.
Fossil Fuels Just Lost the Race Against Renewables

kublikhan wrote:World electricity sector increase from prior year TWh
source 2013
fossil fuels 110
renewables 383
nuclear 13
total 506
Energy Infrastructure Progress Report

China is reducing coal use for power generation faster than expected as the use of cleaner-burning fuels and slowing economic growth drags thermal utilisation rates to a potential record low. Clean-fuel policies, as well as an economy growing at its slowest pace in 25 years, are driving lower coal use, with power companies using a greater mix of hydro, nuclear and renewable options, especially wind. Coal still makes up nearly two-thirds of China's energy mix, but utilisation rates at thermal power plants - nearly all coal-fired - have dropped to 52.2 percent.
China's coal use falling faster than expected

NEW DELHI: This summer has been the worst ever for both consumers and power generation companies. Thermal plants have run at the lowest capacity in 20 years. Most coal-based power plants can't recover even their operating costs while running gas plants has become commercially unviable. Average utilisation of coalfired plants dipped to 64% this June. Gas-based power projects operated at just 29% of their capacity during the first quarter and at 22.5% last month.
Power plants’ capacity utilisation at record low

Pops wrote:Uni, just pointing out the facts as they sit, pooh-pooh them as you will they are still the facts.
Just to reiterate the point Ulenspiegel was making:

kublikhan wrote:2013 renewable highlights:
Solar PV investments declined 22% while installations increased 32%(declining costs).
Energy Infrastructure Progress Report

Declining investments do not equal declining installations.

Pops wrote:The country’s embrace of natural gas means less love for wind and solar. New investments in renewable energy sources declined 5 percent in North America last year to $56 billion, the lowest since 2010, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. By comparison, North American oil and gas companies spent $168.2 billion on exploration and production last year, more than double 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
This is misleading for 2 reasons Pops.
#1 2009 was an outlier in terms of new global investments(world wide recession and all).
#2. The outlook for oil and gas exploration and production has changed alot since that article was posted.

Global capital expenditures for oil and gas exploration and production projects are expected to drop 17% to $571 billion in 2015. The decline represents the third largest in global expenditures since 1985. If oil prices average $60/bbl, US E&P spending would drop 30-35%.

Based upon the expectation of $70/bbl WTI, international E&P spending is expected to decline at least 15%. The seven supermajors are estimated to be down by 9-15% due in part to the completion of or reduced spending.
Sharp drop expected in global E&P spending in 2015
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Pops » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 20:15:19

Graeme wrote:the past year brought a rebound of green energy investments worldwide with a surge of a solid 17% to $270 Billion.

This information is in my original post, the first chart, the one that shows new investment stalled.

kublikhan wrote:
2013 renewable highlights:
Solar PV investments declined 22% while installations increased 32%(declining costs).


Ah, good point. But if they are getting cheaper, why are they not even more competitive and growing even faster? As the deal gets better it seems like it would attract even more investment, not less.

oh, and of course nat gas influences oil and vice versa. And 1/3 of the electricity in the US is made from nat gas. and is projected to be for some time yet. Even in the greenest scenario RE takes from coal not gas.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby kublikhan » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 20:37:16

Pops wrote:Ah, good point. But if they are getting cheaper, why are they not even more competitive and growing even faster? As the deal gets better it seems like it would attract even more investment, not less.
Because subsidies are being withdrawn/cut as well. Up till now many renewables were only cost competitive with fossil fuels with expensive subsidies. Now that renewables' costs are falling to levels approaching fossil fuels(and subsidy programs are ballooning to excessive proportions), those subsidies are being withdrawn. Sometimes faster than costs are declining. Some of the subsidy programs were growing quite large so I think some pullback here is justified. However you have to understand that shutting down this gravy train is going to have consequences as well, such as demand taking a hit. But at least renewables are starting to stand on their own merits now.

Europe has been at the forefront of setting mandates for wind and solar generation coupled with hefty renewable subsidies as enticements. The Europeans have found that these subsidies have grown too large, are hurting their economies, and as a result are now slashing the subsidies.

In fact, the costs have become so enormous that governments in European countries are unilaterally rewriting their contracts with renewable generating firms and reneging on the generous deals they initially provided. Spain, for example, ended its feed-in-tariff, which guaranteed an extremely high price for renewable power, replacing it with a much lower subsidy or in some cases no subsidy. It has been a rude awakening for European countries that have ventured into renewable markets.
Europe Slashing Renewable Subsidies

The UK renewable energy industry has warned the government’s new climate secretary that she will face a legal challenge if she oversees the “wilful destruction” of the industry by retrospectively curtailing subsidies.

Later this week, the Department of Energy and Climate Change will announce that the existing subsidy scheme for onshore wind power will be closed a year earlier than it was due to. Such a move would be a major blow to the industry.
UK renewable energy industry warns of legal action over subsidies
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Graeme » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 21:58:13

Pops, No it hasn't stalled. Your charts are from Bloomberg; mine are from the UNEP report, which offers more details. You don't quote UNEP. Investments for renewables for the entire year of 2014 went up 17%. Here are some of the key findings from the UNEP report:

Additional highlights:

China saw by far the biggest renewable energy investments in 2014 — a record $83.3 billion, up 39% from 2013. The US was second at $38.3 billion, up 7% on the year but well below its all-time high reached in 2011. Third came Japan, at $35.7 billion, 10% higher than in 2013 and its biggest total ever.

A key feature of the 2014 result was the rapid expansion of renewables into new markets in developing countries. Investment in developing countries, at $131.3 billion, was up 36% on the previous year and came the closest ever to overhauling the total for developed economies, at $138.9 billion, up just 3% on the year. Additional to China, Brazil ($7.6 billion), India ($7.4 billion) and South Africa ($5.5 billion) were all in the top 10 of investing countries while more than $1 billion was invested in Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, Kenya and Turkey.

Wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-power, geothermal, small hydro and marine power contributed an estimated 9.1% of world electricity generation in 2014, compared to 8.5% in 2013. This would be equivalent to a saving of 1.3 gigatonnes of CO2 taking place as a result of the installed capacity of those renewable sources.

As in previous years, the market in 2014 was dominated by record investments in solar and wind, which accounted for 92% of overall investment in renewable power and fuels. Investment in solar jumped 29% to $149.6 billion, the second highest figure ever, while wind investment increased 11% to a record $99.5 billion. These expenditures added 49GW of wind capacity and 46GW of solar PV, both records.

Investment in Europe advanced less than 1% to $57.5 billion. There were seven billion-dollar-plus financings of offshore wind projects, boosting the investment totals for the Netherlands, the UK and Germany. These included, at the euro equivalent of $3.8 billion, the largest single renewable energy asset finance deal ever, outside large hydro – that of the 600MW Gemini project in Dutch waters.


And just to emphasize there is no stalling, IRENA has just published a new report, which provides even more detail:

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The world’s most comprehensive, up-to-date and accessible figures on renewable energy capacity have just been released by IRENA.

Renewable Energy Capacity Statistics 2015, which includes figures from 2000 to 2014, contains 12,000 data points from more than 200 countries and territories. While capacity data is readily available for larger markets like China and Germany, information for smaller markets like Small Island Developing States (SIDS) can be more difficult to find.

Data reveals that global renewable energy capacity has increased 120% since 2000. While SIDS were not able to keep pace with this growth rate, the data indicates they did use a more diversified mix of renewable energy than other countries, including hydropower, bagasse, solar and wind power. Among SIDS themselves, notable trends include the rise of wind power in the Caribbean and a broader range of renewable energy developments in solar, wind and geothermal energy for Pacific SIDS.

Another impressive trend is the growth in biogas, which was present in only 26 countries in 2000 and has now reached 63 countries worldwide.
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Re: Has Fracking Killed RE?

Unread postby Subjectivist » Sun 14 Jun 2015, 22:13:38

To me the real question is, with Fracking proving to be a financial black hole for the lower volume wells drilled in more marginal pockets of the formations where will the fracking investors turn? I am a huge fan of large scale Wind turbines and they were being built around here a few each year until Fracking sucked up all the investment money.

Will my beloved wind power get a second burst of investment from investors scared away from Fracking as the poorly positioned or unlucky companies start going bankrupt? Or will the Fracking investors just turn their funds loose in the rest of the Oil industry in refining, or shipping/pipeline/rail yard construction? Or will they go a completely unexpected direction and pour funding into Nuclear, or Hydroelectric, or Tidal, or something I have not thought of?
II Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
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