QUICK NEWS, May 19: FOSSIL SUBSIDIES AND THE DAMAGE DONE; NO CAROLINA’S FIGHT FOR NEW ENERGY; GE COMPUTERIZES WIND

FOSSIL SUBSIDIES AND THE DAMAGE DONE Global energy subsidies fuel climate change, says IMF study

Shawn Donnan, May 18, 2015 (Financial Times)

“Governments around the world will subsidise the cost of oil, gas and coal to the tune of $5.3tn this year, fuelling pollution and climate change as they misallocate the equivalent of what is spent globally on public health…It amounts to a clarion call for higher taxes on energy and therefore higher energy prices for consumers at a time when much of the global economy remains in a fragile recovery…The $5.3tn ‘true cost’ of government energy subsidies that the IMF team arrived at is equivalent to 6.5 per cent of global economic output. It is also more than twice the $1.9tn cost calculated by IMF researchers just two years ago. At the time the fund itself called that estimate ‘staggering’…More than half the total for 2015, or $2.7tn, came from an estimate of the cost of “local pollution”, while a further $1.3tn was attributed to the price of global warming…” click here for more

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NO CAROLINA’S FIGHT FOR NEW ENERGY Push To Change NC Solar Energy Law Raises Concerns

Keri Brown, May 18, 2015 (88.5 – WFDD)

“North Carolina lawmakers are considering a series of solar energy bills. They include extending tax credits for solar energy installations and setting up a loan fund to help businesses and homeowners pay for solar projects…Environmental groups say they’re concerned over proposed legislation that could repeal the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard…At issue is a requirement that the state's utilities generate a portion of their power from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and livestock waste methane. Current state law says they must account for 12.5 percent of total retail sales by 2021…[Fossil-fuel backed groups like] Americans For Prosperity support repealing the state’s renewable portfolio standard. They say millions of North Carolina residents are forced to pay higher energy bills under the legislation…” click here for more

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GE COMPUTERIZES WIND GE Uses Cloud Computing to Boost Wind-Energy Output 20%

James Passeri, May 19, 2015 (The Street)

“…[General Electric] is introducing a wind-farm system that boosts production as much as 20% by linking turbines with software that not only gathers and analyzes industrial data but improves its analytical capability over time by learning from a machine's performance… The new product is one piece of CEO Jeffrey Immelt's plan to boost sales from GE's sprawling industrial divisions as he sells off most of the lucrative finance business to focus on the company's manufacturing roots…[With the new wind-farm platform] operators can adjust the machines in real time to achieve the best results. Cost savings from the technology, if applied to all wind turbines, would add $50 billion in value to the global wind industry, by adding $100 million in value to every 100 mega-watt farm, the company estimated…” click here for more

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