COLUMN-Nuclear power is set to disappoint, again: Kemp

Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:02pm IST

(John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

By John Kemp

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Nuclear power is the energy dream that refuses to die, despite serious accidents at Windscale (1957), Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011).

Many of the arguments that were employed in favour of nuclear in the 1950s and 1960s as a solution to oil supplies running out are now being resurrected in favour of nuclear as a solution to climate change.

But the promise of safe, clean and reasonably priced nuclear power seems as far away now as it was 60 years ago. We are still waiting for the safe, cheap and reliable reactor designs that were promised in 1956.

PEAKING OIL

Back in the 1950s, plentiful and cheap energy from fissioning uranium and thorium was seen as the only alternative to fast-depleting fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

Shell geologist M. King Hubbert is best known as the grandfather of "peak oil" for his theories about the imminent exhaustion of oil resources in the United States and around the world.

But he was also a strong advocate for nuclear power. The 1956 paper that made him famous explicitly linked it to peaking oil production ("Nuclear energy and the fossil fuels").

"It appears that there exist within minable depths in the United States rocks with uranium contents equivalent to 1,000 barrels of oil or more per metric tonne, whose total energy content is probably several hundred times that of all the fossil fuels combined," Hubbert wrote.

"The world appears to be on the threshold of an era which in terms of energy consumption will be at least an order of magnitude greater than that made possible by fossil fuels."

On a time-scale spanning millennia, "the discovery, exploitation and exhaustion of the fossil fuels will be seen to be but an ephemeral event".

By contrast, nuclear offered an energy supply adequate to meet the planet's needs for thousands of years.

Writing in the 1950s, when the United States and the Soviet Union were racing to build ever-bigger nuclear weapons, Hubbert could not be unaware of the perils associated with splitting the atom.

Nuclear scientists were still learning to master the peaceful uses of atomic energy to build utility-scale civilian power reactors.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: THRUST TOWARDS SOLAR ENERGY IS THE RIGHT STEP FOR ENERGY SECURITY OPTION FOR ONE AND ALL
 Energy security through clean energy is much more than the necessity for mankind. In fact looking at the problems associated with all fuel based energy options, namely the global warming and health hazards, quest for clean energy has become the need of the hour to save our mother earth and its occupants. In this kind of a scenario and the finite quantum of all fuel resources one fails to understand as to why thrust towards clean renewable energy sources is languishing. 

Out of all clean renewable sources, solar energy occupies the pride of place for its large scale availability at almost all the places on our globe and above all the source is eternal and will last till humanity lives. The amount of energy falling on our globe is of the order of 174000 TWatts, a magnitude best understood by the fact that 1 hour of solar rays' energy is more than what mankind uses in a year. When this energy is responsible for lifting water from surface of sea to fall back down on the high mountains, drives ocean currents from tropics to poles, spins winds from pole to pole and power the green engine of life with guaranteed absolute safety, why it cannot be depended upon to provide energy security to all mankind on our globe. The powerful and mighty of this globe, the men who take pride in changing the fortunes of mankind certainly owe an explanation to the same mankind for guiding it to the brink of self destruction through their vested and motivated interests by resorting to all kind of energy security approaches likely to result in annihilation of life.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: ENERGY SECURITY: THE MAGIC OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR CHA...

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: ENERGY SECURITY: THE MAGIC OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR CHA...: Chandigarh with its controlled and uniform skyline and vast spaces of parks is potentially one of the most suitable cities to realize its energy security through the magic of solar energy. Recently the government of India has proposed to develop it as a "Solar City". Based on the analysis of potential for demand side measures along with that of supply side augmentation through renewable energy technologies, the following targets are proposed for Chandigarh in order to develop it as a “Solar City”. The concept of Solar Cities  is being taken up all over our globe as humanity is aware of deleterious effects of global warming and fast depletion of fossil fuels. The government of India has also come up with a plan to develop 60 solar cities, Chandigarh being one of them. Looking at the potential of solar energy in a planned city like Chandigarh the targets set are minuscule and a lot more can be done and achieved in this endeavor. The targets set in the master plan are mentioned in the table below.

Clean Break Inspires Americans to Pursue "Energy Change"

By John Farrell
March 7, 2013

 

Renewable energy journalist Osha Gray Davidson recently released a book called Clean Break, detailing the German Energiewende (translation: energy change).  It’s a story of how the Germans systematically shifted to clean energy, finding as they proceeded that the possibilities were greater, the costs lower, and the benefits for ordinary citizens more prodigious than anyone could have forecast. From the book:

“We’ll definitely get to 35 percent renewable power by 2020,” [Dr. Joachim Pfeiffer, a leading spokesman for the center-right Christian Democrats] said, referring to the next official target. “In fact, we’ll probably reach 40 percent.”
…A whopping 65 percent of the country’s total renewable power capacity is now owned by individuals, cooperatives and communities, leaving Germany’s once all?powerful utilities with just a sliver (6.5 percent) of this burgeoning sector.

It’s a good lesson for the U.S., where policy makers often feel that they have to cater to set expectations based on entrenched interests (e.g. utilities and fossil fuel companies), and where the Germans took their inspiration from (in President Carter’s response to the energy crisis).  President Reagan undid most of our progress, and the German lead on clean energy is the result of our belated return to the game.  Clean Break shows how the Germans have led, and how (in turn) the U.S. can regain its leadership role in clean energy.
My recommendation? Read this book.  Buy it for $1.
And believe that we can do the same.

French Favour Renewables, but Perceive High Costs

By Zoë Casey
January 29, 2013 

 

Nine in ten people in France are in favour of renewable energy, a survey published on Thursday in Le Monde’s annual special publication Le Bilan du monde found, largely because of their clean and non-polluting image. Moreover, 63 percent of those surveyed said they think that more renewables will be used than traditional fuels in 50 years’ time.
However, only half of those surveyed consider renewable energies to be a cheap energy option and some 68 percent said the biggest obstacle to the development of renewables is their cost. 26 percent said wind farm aesthetics was the biggest hurdle, but 68 percent said they would accept the installation of wind turbines in their district with 45 percent of the 68 percent saying they would also accept turbines in their line of vision.
When it comes to wind energy, onshore wind is already competitive with traditional fossil fuels — a fact those surveyed do not seem to be aware of. Offshore wind meanwhile is more expensive than fossil fuels — although the cost is falling — and considerably cheaper than nuclear.
Last year, Delphine Batho, French Minister of Ecology, launched a national debate on France’s energy transition and a new energy law is expected at the end of this year. In September 2012 Batho promised her government will set stable rules for renewables.
However, the survey published in Le Bilan du monde revealed that 79 percent had not heard of the national debate on energy, and seven out of ten respondents felt that the French government did not dedicate enough time to energy matters.
Meanwhile, 77 percent of the population said they did not consider nuclear to be a renewable energy — leaving a relatively large amount perhaps unaware of the fact that nuclear uses fuel, the most common being uranium mined from countries including Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Namibia and Russia.

Bobby Kennedy: We should have solar on every rooftop by Giles Parkinson

In inviting Robert F. Kennedy Jr to become a director of its board, Australian renewable energy minnow CBD Energy has not only acquired a famous family name, it has also brought in one of the most committed environmental campaigners in the world, with a no-holds-barred approach to combating the immensely powerful fossil fuel industry, fighting pollution and promoting wind and solar.

In an exclusive interview with RenewEconomy in January – click here for the full transcript – Bobby Kennedy says the global energy system has been corrupted by the absolute power of immensely wealthy oil and coal companies, and the main hope to combat this is by “democratising” the energy industry through individual production, such as rooftop solar.

“The rules by which energy is regulated were written to favour the most poisonous, destructive and addictive fuels from hell, rather than cheap, clean, green, safe, abundant and patriotic fuels from heaven,” he told RenewEconomy. “We need to reverse that dynamic, it’s in our national interest to do so – of Australia and the US. It’s in the global interest of humanity to do so. We’re on a trajectory to a place where we are creating a planet that is a science fiction nightmare.”

Bobby Kennedy says the wealth and dominance built up by the fossil fuel industry over the past few decades, supported by huge and continuing subsidies, has not only corrupted the energy system, but the political one too.

“Wherever you see large-scale pollution, you will also see the subversion of democracy, you will see the compromise of public officials, the capture of the agencies they are supposed to protect; they become sock puppets of the industries they are supposed to regulate. You see that in the political system, the kowtowing  of the politicians who become indentured servants in the US and in Canada."

Now, he says, technology and costs of renewables – solar PV, in particular – has moved to the point where this stranglehold can be relaxed, or even released. This is part of the reason why Kennedy recently joined with David Crane, the CEO of US generation giant NRG, to push for the installation of rooftop solar in every household in the country.

In a joint opinion piece published in December in the New York Times, Kennedy and Crane said solar PV would "significantly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and our dependence on the grid.”

Four resolutions to transform the US electricity system by Peter Bronski It’s that time of year when people make New Year’s resolutions, commitments to do things differently in the coming year that are going to have a positive impact on their lives. But what would the US electricity system look like if the United States as a nation resolved to decrease its fossil fuel consumption and increase the adoption of efficiency and renewables? I sat down with program director James Newcomb and principal Lena Hansen to find out. They offered up four New Year’s resolutions that can help make the United States’ electricity system more efficient, more resilient, and more planet-friendly sooner than later. 1. Invest further in end-use efficiency. Energy efficiency is often considered one of the cheapest and most readily available energy sources. Investments in efficiency programs have been increasing around the country, butsignificant opportunity remains on the table and many utilities are still incentivized to sell more electricity, rather than to sell more efficiency. Taking end-use efficiency to the next level will require utilities and consumers to work more closely together than ever before. Utilities especially can take several steps to make that happen: a) improve efficiency program marketing to truly engage customers and increase participation, b) streamline program transaction costs, such as by implementing faster and simpler energy audits, c) adopt regulatory mechanisms that remove utilities’ disincentives and create incentives to sell efficiency, and d) embrace collaboration with other stakeholders, including regulators, NGOs, auditors, customers, and architectural and engineering firms. 2. Anticipate and head off friction over solar. As the cost of solar has come down in recent years (19 percent overall between 2011 and 2012 alone, ranging from 15 percent for residential solar up to 30 percent for utility solar) and new business models have emerged, solar is becoming cost competitive with grid-sourced electricity in an increasing number of locales. Meanwhile, the amount of installed solar continues to grow. (According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the U.S. now has more than 6,400MW of installed solar electric capacity, enough to power more than 1 million average American homes.) These trends are set to continue, and as they do, there’s likely to be increased conflict between utilities, solar companies, and customers. Utilities, regulators, and solar companies need to come together now to dialogue and develop regulatory, business, and pricing models that will enable sustained growth for the solar market while still compensating utilities for the real and valuable grid services they provide.

Saudi Arabia wants to transition to 100% renewables

By Tyler Falk | October 19, 2012

One of the largest oil producing countries in the world says it wants to be powered only by renewable and low carbon energy, eventually.

The Guardian reports that Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, a member of the Saudi Arabia royal family, told the Global Economic Symposium in Brazil that he hoped the country would make this transition entirely to clean energy in his lifetime (he’s 67). Though with his country mostly reliant on fossiel fuels, he acknowledges that he might be a little ambitious. He does say that Saudi Arabia is investing in renewables, nuclear power, and other alternatives. Though, according to The Guardian’s report, the country would still use oil for needs other than power.

“Oil is more precious for us underground than as a fuel source,” he said. “If we can get to the point where we can replace fossil fuels and use oil to produce other products that are useful, that would be very good for the world. I wish that may be in my lifetime, but I don’t think it will be.”

Joss Garman, political director of Greenpeace, said: “It speaks volumes that a Saudi prince can see the benefits of switching to clean energy sources when [UK chancellor] George Osborne seemingly cannot, but Saudi Arabia will only truly be a green economy when it leaves its fossil fuels in the ground.”

It’s big talk, of course, and would likely take many years and a lot of investment to achieve. But Saudi Arabia is on the right track. As SmartPlanet’s Kirsten Korosec reported earlier this early, the country is making a major, multi-billion dollar investment in solar which would add 41 gigawatts of solar capacity, or 20 percent of Saudi Arabia’s power, by 2032. And as Mark Halper notes, Saudi Arabia has partnered with China to develop nuclear power. To reach their ambitious goals, it’s definitely a good start.

Saudi Arabia reveals plans to be powered entirely by renewable energy [The Guardian]

Coming soon: 100% renewable power

By Chris Nelder | December 12, 2012

One day in the not-too-distant future — probably sooner than many expect — some parts of the world will have power grids that are completely powered by renewables. Eventually, the entire world could be powered by renewables.

These are not green pie-in-the-sky fantasies, but the conclusions of recent research.

There is no doubt that renewable resources are positively vast. Solar alone could power the world: The solar energy that falls on the Earth every minute is more than the amount of fossil fuel the world uses every year. Wind alone could provide about 15 times the world’s energy demand. The recoverable geothermal heat under the U.S. is about 140,000 times its annual energy consumption. Wave power alone could supply twice as much electricity as the world consumes.

Capturing that energy, and being able to use it to power everything, is the hard part.

Probably the most ambitious attempt to quantify that challenge to date has been done by Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi of Stanford University, who have published a series of papers over the past several years outlining how it could be done. In 2010, they published two papers (Part Iand Part II) estimating how the world’s energy demand for all purposes — including electric power, transportation, heating and cooling — could be met with renewables by 2030, and replace the existing energy generation mix by 2050:

• 3,800,000 5-MW wind turbines
• 49,000 300-MW concentrated solar plants
• 40,000 300-MW solar PV power plants
• 1.7 billion 3-kW rooftop PV systems
• 5,350 100-MW geothermal power plants
• 270 new 1300-MW hydroelectric power plants
• 720,000 0.75-MW wave devices
• 490,000 1-MW tidal turbines
• Storage in grid-connected electric and hybrid-electric vehicles
• Increased grid transmission capability

(A quick word on units: A kilowatt, or kW, is 1000 watts. A megawatt, or MW, is 1000 kW. A gigawatt, or GW, is 1000 MW.)

25 Nuclear Power Plants Could Be Replaced By Geothermal In Japan

December 22, 2012Jake Richardson

Stefan Larus Stefansson, Iceland’s ambassador to Japan, recently gave a lecture in Tokyo about the very high geothermal potential in Japan. He said that if Japan were to invest in fully realizing its geothermal potential, the country could replace 25 nuclear reactors.

He used his home country as an example of geothermal success because about two-thirds of the country’s energy comes from this renewable, stable source. Japan has the world’s third-highest geothermal potential but has not been pursuing its development nearly as much as it could be.

Ironically, it was the nation’s focus on nuclear power that caused this lack of attention for geothermal development. It isn’t as if Japan is missing the technical knowledge required for geothermal installations either. They actually make the turbines Iceland uses for its geothermal plants. As a percentage of total power, developing countries like Kenya and El Salvador have more geothermal power than Japan.

Clean Technica (http://s.tt/1xz6M)
Read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2012/12/22/25-nuclear-power-plants-could-be-replaced-by-geothermal-in-japan/#XQmY2SXswitJLvPV.99 

Why Scotland aims for 100% renewables – and more by Giles Parkinson

Scotland plans to generate enough renewable energy to account for 100 per cent of its electricity needs by 2020 – mostly through onshore and offshore wind farm developments, with some hydro and possibly just a little wave and solar.

According to Scotland's climate change and environment minister, Paul Wheelhouse, the country is well on its way, reaching 35 per cent in 2011 (ahead of its target of 31 per cent), and has another interim target of 50 per cent to be met by 2015.

But it won’t stop at 100 per cent – the country is so blessed with wind, waves and tides that could, in theory, generate some seven times its electricity needs. Whether it gets quite that far remains to be seen, but to make sure that energy does not go to waste, Scotland is hurriedly upgrading its interconnectors to the UK, across the North Sea and beyond to ensure it has a market for all those green electrons.

Wheelhouse says Scotland has a vision to become a global leader in clean energy, with expertise in offshore wind, but particularly in wave and tidal energy – where it wants to succeed where Denmark and Germany did before them with wind and solar.

“We can already demonstrate the benefits of going to a low-carbon economy,” he said at the World Climate Summit, held on the sidelines of the international climate change negotiations in Doha on Sunday. “It has been counter cyclical, and helped to maintain economic activity when other sectors have declined.”

He says Scotland estimates that the renewables will account for 10 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2015/16 and 5 per cent of its workforce by 2020. “We want to make Scotland a major target for international investment. We see billions of pounds in onshore wind and billions more in offshore.”

The irony is that Scotland remains the biggest oil and gas producer in the EU, with some 30-40 years of reserves, estimated to be worth $1.5 trillion – and it could become a centre, too, for carbon capture. But Wheelhouse says the transformation to a low-carbon economy is inevitable.

Wheelhouse granted an interview to RenewEconomy after his event. Here is a (lightly) edited transcript:

The Great Transition, Part I: From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy

OCTOBER 25, 2012 BY EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE 4 COMMENTS

X

By Lester R. Brown

The great energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way. As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about pollution and climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new world energy economy is emerging. The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced with an economy powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy. The Earth’s renewable energy resources are vast and available to be tapped through visionary initiatives. Our civilization needs to embrace renewable energy on a scale and at a pace we’ve never seen before.

Our Fossil Fuel Heritage

We inherited our current fossil fuel based world energy economy from another era. The 19th century was the century of coal, and oil took the lead during the 20th century. Today, global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)—the principal climate-altering greenhouse gas—come largely from burning coal, oil, and natural gas. Coal, mainly used for electricity generation, accounts for 44 percent of global fossil-fuel CO2 emissions. Oil, used primarily for transportation, accounts for 36 percent. Natural gas, used for electricity and heating, accounts for the remaining 20 percent. It is time to design a carbon- and pollution-free energy economy for the 21st century.

sustainablog (http://s.tt/1qZFj)

Sandy strengthens need to confront future of energy COMMENTARY Kenneth M. Klemow

THE DEVASTATION caused by Hurricane Sandy produced heart-wrenching loss of life, entire communities obliterated by floods, wind and fires, and the need for millions of people to rebuild a semblance of normalcy. For some, the pain promises to linger for weeks if not months. From the complete reworking of New Jersey’s coastlines to the freakish blizzards in West Virginia, Sandy will leave an indelible imprint on our memories and our physical surroundings.

Sandy also taught us lessons relating to energy.

One lesson is that we take energy for granted, and interruptions in its delivery to our homes and businesses profoundly disrupt our lives. Millions without personal generators either evacuated or suffered in darkened homes, awaiting a return to power that could take hours to days. The simple modern pleasures of watching television, washing clothes or keeping food cold were denied to many so dependent on electricity.

The importance of that lesson should be kept in mind as we debate the wisdom of extracting energy in our own backyards. Critics of natural gas development from shale rightly cite the risks, especially to drinking water, surface water and public health. However, they often underplay the benefits that such energy provides to consumers.

Unfortunately, distance and circumstance prevent people from fully seeing both the risks and benefits. Those who live in energy-development regions must often cope with the risks. But they don’t see the benefits that their energy provides to consumers, often hundreds of miles away. And energy consumers typically don’t worry about distant risks when they flip the switch or turn the knob. In order to have intelligent discussion about the energy options available to us, we need to honestly consider both the risks and benefits – as well as the choices in front of us. We can’t have energy policy driven solely by “no.”

A Nuclear-Free, Carbon-Free World is Possible!

Nix nuclear. Chuck coal. Rebuff biofuel. All we need is the wind, the water, and the sun

Article Courtesy: IEEE Spectrum

We don’t need nuclear power, coal, or biofuels. We can get 100 percent of our energy from wind, water, and solar (WWS) power. And we can do it today—efficiently, reliably, safely, sustainably, and economically.
We can get to this WWS world by simply building a lot of new systems for the production, transmission, and use of energy. One scenario that Stanford engineering professor Mark Jacobson and I developed, projecting to 2030, includes:

• 3.8 million wind turbines, 5 megawatts each, supplying 50 percent of the projected total global power demand
• 49 000 solar thermal power plants, 300 MW each, supplying 20 percent
• 40 000 solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants supplying 14 percent
• 1.7 billion rooftop PV systems, 3 kilowatts each, supplying 6 percent
• 5350 geothermal power plants, 100 MW each, supplying 4 percent
• 900 hydroelectric power plants, 1300 MW each, of which 70 percent are already in place, supplying 4 percent
• 720 000 ocean-wave devices, 0.75 MW each, supplying 1 percent
• 490 000 tidal turbines, 1 MW each, supplying 1 percent.

We also need to greatly expand the transmission infrastructure in order to create the large supergrids that will span many regions and often several countries and even continents. And we need to expand production of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, ships that run on hydrogen fuel cell and battery combinations, liquefied hydrogen aircraft, air- and ground-source heat pumps, electric resistance heating, and hydrogen for high-temperature processes.

What is Japan’s plan for current energy crisis

BY 

STEPHEN VAGUS

 – MARCH 27, 2011POSTED IN: FEATURED NEWS, INTERNATIONAL, OTHER FUEL CELL

In the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Japan is struggling with a severe power shortage. Japan derives a third of its energy from nuclear power and the majority of that has been put offline by a growing crisis with the generation facilities. To offset the electricity shortfall, the country must increase the production from coal, oil and natural gas plants. The increased import of oil and coal is likely to have a significant economic impact. There may be an alternative solution that has a lighter impact on both the environment and the economy.

Some experts are saying that the answer to the current energy problem in Japan is the virtual power plant. A virtual power plant is a series of distributed generation installations, typically fuel cells, which are collectively run by a central control entity. A similar system is used in some parts of the U.S. and has functioned as a way to provide high amounts of electricity at short notice. Many say that this is an ideal system to mitigate an emergency situation.

“I would not be surprised if utilities in Japan focus more on this concept moving into the future,” says Kurt Yeager, executive director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative. The nation’s focus on technological endeavors has made them more digitally advanced than most. Yeager holds that this puts them in a good position to benefit from a virtual power plant system.

Mega-scale “Energy Bridge” to transform Irish midlands into Europe’s Renewable Energy Hub

26 Jun 2012 | Category: Europe, Investment, News Releases, Onshore wind

 
Irish midlands set to supply UK with up to 5,000MW of wind energy from 2017
 
At the official opening of its new office in Edenderry, Co Offaly Eddie O’Connor’s global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power has unveiled its plans for the 5,000MW “Energy Bridge” wind park in the midlands which will export power to plug the UK’s energy gap starting in 2017. The Company has already invested over €500,000 to secure a grid connection to the UK and has identified 900 eligible landowners in the midlands to site the wind turbines.
 
Last week Ireland’s Energy Minister Pat Rabitte met with the  UK’s Energy and Climate Change Minister Charles Hendry to discuss the opportunity and have agreed to have a Memorandum of Understanding in place by October of this year.
 
The wind farms and the cables will be completely separate to Ireland’s existing electricity system and will not be paid for by the Irish consumer. All of the cables will be entirely underground so will not be visible at any point. Once fully operational “Energy Bridge” will bring the following benefits: 

World Energy Revolution? Not Yet

By Paul Hockenos
14 June 2012 

 

No one needs Trotsky around these days to tell us that revolution, even energy revolutions, have to be international, or as we’d say today “global.” An Energiewende confined to a single nation-state alone, even an industrial giant like Germany, won’t add up to more than a pile of agricultural biomass.

Although a worldwide transition to a low carbon, resource-efficient green economy is far away, the new UN Environmental Program annual report is out, which gives us a bird’s eye view of the global picture. The bright side is that in 2011 investment in renewable energies hit an all-time high: 205 billion euros (257 billion dollars) for solar technologies, wind power, and biofuels. For the first time ever, more money was doled out for renewables than for new fossil fuel plants. Horrah, indeed!

If you count hydro, including big, environmentally nasty dam projects, then China is Number One. Without hydro, Germany leads the global pack. Taken as a whole, EU Europe is way out in front of everyone else, accounting for nearly half of all investment in renewables. Well over half of the total went to solar, which jumped 52 percent to 147 billion dollars, thanks to the boom in rooftop installations in Germany and Italy, but also because of the spread of small-scale PV in China and the United Kingdom, and large solar thermal (CSP) projects in Spain and the United States.