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And here is this week’s Green Numbers round-up with a special shoutout to SAP’s Evan Welsh, who told me recently he loves the Green Numbers posts – thanks Evan!
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UK names nine electric cars eligible for subsidy
The government on Tuesday revealed the first nine electric vehicles that will be eligible for their purchasers to receive subsidies of up to 5,000 pounds under a plan to promote low-carbon transport.
Under the scheme, the government has pledged 43 million pounds until the end of March 2012 to help British motorists shift to low-carbon vehicles.
They will receive up to 5,000 pounds towards the purchase of a low-carbon car from January 2011 to the end of March 2012.
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The current world market for Smart Grid software and data management applications is $1.4 billion in 2010, and it will grow to $2.9 billion in 2015 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6%, according to The Smart Grid Utility Data Market by market research publisher SBI Energy.
A significant portion of this growth is going to occur in 2011 and 2012, as more American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funded projects in the U.S. are finally given approval.
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US set for wave of coal plant closures, report says
… emerging EPA regulations on air quality and water for coal-fired power plants could result in over 50,000 MW of coal plant retirements and require an investment of up to $180 billion for remaining plants to comply with the likely mandates.
Both those numbers go up substantially — retirements by 11-12 GW and needed investment by $30-50 billion — if EPA requires cooling towers in addition to smokestack scrubbers. (This is consistent with the FBR Capital Markets report, which finds a total of up to 70,000 MW of coal on the line.)
By 2020, the authors say, coal plant closures will reduce coal demand by about 15 percent, increase natural gas demand by about 10 percent, and (assuming the coal is replaced by gas) reduce CO2 emissions by 150 million tons.
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Power Play: EPRI Analysis Reveals That Video Game Consoles Differ in Energy Consumption
Buyers of video game hardware who like to compare costs and features may want to consider the various systems? energy consumption after the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) tested three top-selling systems and found that a Nintendo Wii? system uses six times less power than a Sony PlayStation ? 3 or Microsoft ? Xbox 360 in active mode.
?We included only a small sample of the many gaming systems available, but it reveals that the differences in energy use can be significant,? said Mark McGranaghan, vice president of Power Delivery & Utilization for EPRI. ??With the holiday shopping season in full swing, now is a good time to consider this factor.?EPRI tested each system for one hour of active play using EA Sports? Madden 2011 football game, which is widely played on all three game consoles. EPRI found that the Nintendo Wii system used an average of 13.7 watts, the Sony PlayStation 3 used an average of 84.8 watts, and the Microsoft Xbox 360 used an average of 87.9 watts.
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Qnuru 6.4W and 9.2W LED Lightbulbs (Product Review)
LED is Coming of Age – To paraphrase William Gibson, the future of lighting is here, it’s just not evenly distributed. Light-emitting diodes (LED) lightbulbs have been coming on the market in the past few years, but their quality varies greatly, from “almost perfect” to “horrible” (kind of like the early compact fluorescents). I had the opportunity to spend a few days with two LED lightbulbs from Qnuru, and I’d like to share my impressions with you. Read on for more photos and my review.
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U.S. To Invest $184 Million For Advanced Vehicle Research
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today the Department is accepting applications for up to $184 million over three to five years to accelerate the development and deployment of new efficient vehicle technologies that will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, save drivers money, and limit carbon pollution.
Projects will span the broad spectrum of technology approaches, including advanced materials, combustion research, hybrid electric systems, fleet efficiency, and fuels technology.
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California Energy Commission Approves Ninth California Solar Project in Four Months!
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has voted to license the 500-MW Palen project and the 150-MW Rice? project in Southern California, which now brings to nine the number of solar thermal power projects approved in the last four months.
Altogether the solar projects comprise 4,142.5MW of solar thermal power to be added to the California grid and will provide more than 8,000 jobs in initial construction, and then more than 1,000 ongoing jobs in operations.
Photo credit Unhindered by Talent
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