Henry Harrell"s Blog: February 22 Green Energy News

Headline News:

A new report on Australia’s rising power prices over the past decade, from the Australian National University, has undermined claims that South Australia’s high electricity prices have been driven by the state’s uptake wind and solar. It shows that its rises have been less in SA than in the states that are dependent on coal. [RenewEconomy]

Wattle Point wind farm near Edithburgh, South Australia (Wikimedia Commons)

Almost every railway station in India will soon be fed with solar power if the plans in India’s new union budget are implemented. The Indian Finance Minister announced that the 7,000 railway stations across the country will be fed with solar power as per the Indian Railways mission to implement 1,000 MW of solar power capacity. [CleanTechnica]
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to enact a national carbon tax by 2018. After meeting with US president Donald Trump, he said that Canada would aggressively pursue its climate change goals. But according to a study by four leading environmental groups, Canadian fossil fuel subsidies totaled $3.3 billion last year. [CleanTechnica]
As the world’s number one exporter of crude oil, renewable energy may be the last thing that comes to mind when thinking of Saudi Arabia. But it is now turning to solar and wind power in a SGD 71 billion ($50 billion) bid to cut dependency on oil amid growing energy demands domestically, according to the Saudi energy minister. [VR-Zone]
A new study says Pacific Northwest utility ratepayers could save hundreds of millions of dollars if the region’s only commercial nuclear power plant is closed and its output replaced with renewable energy. The Portland-based McCullough Research consulting firm estimated savings from $261.2 million to $530.7 million over 10 years. [The Columbian]

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