Why European Union might have to Rescind the Green Tax on Airlines as India,China and USA gang up

11 Jan, 2012
Climate Change

Europe which has been one of the greenest regions on earth in terms of promoting green energy and reducing carbon emissions is set to face a severe test. Europe is going to impose a Carbon Tax on Airlines flying into the region from 2012 . This has got the other major countries seeing red, with most of them planning retaliation. This Green Tax will add around $3 billion per year in terms of extra fees from airlines or around $6 per extra passenger. While airlines from USA and Canada approached the court, airlines from India and China are refusing to pay the tax outright. Indian airlines won’t supply their carbon data while China won’t pay the taxes . Note European Union is isolated in this fight against climate change . Though Carbon Trading is not a perfect system and open to abuses, at least it makes a pretense to fight global warming. On the other hand,these other countries have no plan or intention to fight climate change.

With global public opinion focused on the economic crisis , governments don’t care a hoot for a problem that is a decade away . So instead of enacting some policies to reduce carbon emissions from airlines which is around 3% of the carbon emissions or around 300 million tons, they want to browbeat the European Union.

Why European Union might have to Rescind the Green Tax

1) Retaliation by other countries on European Airlines like putting up overflight fees

2) Action against the European Airline Industry (Airbus), if countries like India and China prefer Boeing for their aircraft orders

3) Flights will be diverted away from Europe to avoid the Green Tax. The main beneficiaries will be Emirates, Ethihad over Lufthanse and British Airways on transworld flights

4) Ruling against European Union in international courts against violation of international airline treaties

EU stops the Free Carbon Lunch – Airline Prices to Increase to factor in Carbon Emissions

Airline Ticket Prices are set to go up as European Union implements its ETS Scheme on the Airline Industry from 2012.Note EU as a region has been one of the most active players in the climate change arena  and has an active carbon emissions market.Though this market has encouraged fraud and profiteering by unscrupulous players making it a good target for the fossil fuel lobby,the principle to fight against global warming is a good one.Compare that to USA,Canada and Japan who have done nothing to fight climate change despite the wealth of these nations.Canada has been guilty of abandoning the Kyoto Plan after missing its previous target.It has faced no penalties as it is not legally enforceable.The country continues down the pollute as much as you can pushing oil extraction from tar sands which is much more dangerous to the environment than normal oil drilling.

Europe’s Doomed Flight of Decarbonizing Fancy

The decision to include the airlines – responsible for just 3 percent of global CO2 emissions – in the EU cap-and-trade scheme came in the wake of the failure to agree a global agreement. While airlines will only pay for 15 percent of their emission allowances in 2012, around €256 at current market prices, from 2013 they will have to pay 18 percent. The airline industry estimates the cost over the first 8 years will be in the region of €17 billion ($23.8 billion). Although the carbon pollution bill kicked-in on January 1, 2012, invoices will not be sent to airlines until 2013; which is why non-EU governments are considering their next moves carefully.

At the heart of the “legal options” for the airline lawyers is the international agreement regulating air commerce known as the Chicago Accords. More prosaically known as the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, its opening section specifically states, “The contracting states recognize that every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.” The new EU carbon regulations clearly violate the terms of this agreement by seeking to regulate air flight above nations outside Europe.

France tries it hand at saving a Bankrupt Solar Company Photowatt like China and Germany

9 Jan, 2012
Solar Energy

Saving bankrupt solar companies has become the national pasttime of most governments it seems. Competition in the solar market has become so severe that solar comapnies are failing left and right. This has made the government come out to save them with bailouts which only make the oversupply situation in the solar panel industry worse. While China is the worst culprit supporting hundreds of failing solar companies through cheap loans which will be never paid back, other governments are not far behind.

Sunpower has been saved by Total which is somewhat of an exception as it a a Big private Oil Company.S olon the German solar module company which failed last month was earlier given a bailout by the German government last year. France has not learned the lesson of investing good money behind a lost cause.It is preparing to help Photowatt a subsidiary of the failing Canadian Company ATS. The solar module company is just not able to compete with super cheap Chinese solar panels.T he French government will help the company alongwith a private partner for which bidding has started.17 companies are bidding majority of which are Chinese solar companies.

Excerpts of my previous articles

LDK Solar is one of the most insolvent companies in the world right now with billions of dollars in debt,a battered balance sheet,continuing losses and dodgy accounting.However LDK has acquired a German company Sunways and continues to build new solar power plants as the Chinese state owned banks continue to fund it with cheap money without any consideration about losing their investments.LDK has become the poster boy of the Solarworld complaint against Chinese solar panel producers as it continues to run and thrive despite being insolvent.The Chinese government is hurting itself and its other solar companies like Trina,Yingli which are more competitive by continuing to support and increase the global glut of cheap solar panels.These solar panels are being clearly sold at below cost as most of the companies would be bankrupt without these absurd loans which make no free market sense

German Solar Energy Company Sunways has sold a 33% stake to LDK solar for around 2 million euros .Note most small German solar companies are almost insolvent and have no hopes of  turnaround.Around 5000 German solar companies have closed according to BSW.Some big German companies like Solon and Solar Millennium have already announced bankruptcy.Note Chinese companies too would have shut down but the state owned Chinese banks are keeping them alive with loans at ridiculous interest rates.LDK  which is buying Sunways is almost insolvent as well with its convertibles trading at less than 50c on the dollar in Singapore.It has more than n$3 billion in debt compared to its market cap of around $600 million.It faces massive losses in the coming qtrs and can’t serve the interest payments much less expand.

Free Market in the new Green Industries like Solar Energy are a myth as Asian government give billions of dollars in free money in  supporting their domestic companies at the expense of other

 

EU stops the Free Carbon Lunch – Airline Prices to Increase to factor in Carbon Emissions

3 Jan, 2012
Climate Change,Europe

Airline Ticket Prices are set to go up as European Union implements its ETS Scheme on the Airline Industry from 2012.Note EU as a region has been one of the most active players in the climate change arena  and has an active carbon emissions market.Though this market has encouraged fraud and profiteering by unscrupulous players making it a good target for the fossil fuel lobby,the principle to fight against global warming is a good one.Compare that to USA,Canada and Japan who have done nothing to fight climate change despite the wealth of these nations.Canada has been guilty of abandoning the Kyoto Plan after missing its previous target.It has faced no penalties as it is not legally enforceable.The country continues down the pollute as much as you can pushing oil extraction from tar sands which is much more dangerous to the environment than normal oil drilling.

Not only have other countries not done anything to curb emissions they have protested against EU as well for imposing carbon emission taxes on airlines.Note airlines are a big carbon emitter and this part can be easily be avoided through use of biofuels and carbon mitigation efforts.However everyone wants a free carbon lunch.In my view it is a great move and other polluting industries everywhere should be made to pay for the global common goods.The voracious use and exploitation of world resources has to stop sometime .

Gulf carriers say EU scheme may inflate fares: Report

Fast-growing Gulf airlines Emirates andEtihad Airways warned of higher ticket prices on Tuesday as they look to pass on costs of a European Union carbon trading scheme to passengers. Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, Dubai’s flag carrier and the world’s largest long-haul airline, told the Gulf News newspaper that the company would spend over 40 million euros ($51.93 million) in 2012 to purchase additional emission allowances. The EU says the new scheme, which already applies to other industries, is the fairest way to cope with aviation’s contribution to global warming.

However, it has sparked a trade spat, with the United States, China, India and others accusing it of infringing their sovereignty.

Note USA has completely given up its carbon emission plan as well despite high hopes with the election of Obama.Most firms and exchanges that were set up have closed down.EU carbon credit prices are touching new lows as the apathy towards global warming keep growing.It will only take a massive crisis to wake everyone.Lets hope its not too late.

Curtains Fall on only US Carbon Trading Chicago Climate Exchange on Republican Ascendancy

Chicago Climate Exchange the only USA Exchange to allow trading of Carbon Emission Credits has been shut down by its owner ICE.While I am no fan of Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade Policy as it gives rise to Frauds and  Misplaced Incentives,the mechanism is one of the popular subsidy tools in combating Global Climate Change.Note Carbon Cap and Trading was on the Policy Agenda of the Obama Administration,however a deadlock in the Senate prevented any move in 2010.The US has been a huge laggard in the global warming fight and  with the Republican Ascendancy following the MidTerm Polls,things are  set to stay the same.Despite the BP Oil Spill and Record Global Temperatures,US remains blind to its climate obligations.With US reluctance,the Climate Change has been in Cold Storage with little progress  expected in Cancun Meet.

Kyocera Solar Panels – Review of PV Module Sale Prices for Homes

4 Jul, 2011
Solar Energy,Solar Panels
Kyocera Solar Panels

source:Kyocera

Solar Modules or Solar Panels as they are popularly known as have grown at an astounding rate in recent years as increasing scale and improving technology has made their costs fall at a very steep rate.Solar Panels are now available from hundreds of different manufacturers using different technologies like crystalline Silicon,CIGs and Cd-Te.Solar Panels are sold by hundreds of companies around the world  ranging from small to very large and comes in various shapes and sizes as well.Besides this solar panels are also made of very different materials for example silicon solar panels and thin film solar panels..The cost of the solar panel can also vary a lot depending on the retailer,size of the solar panel,technology and the brand.This makes buying solar panels a confusing problem though most residential and commercial buyers are not involved leaving the decision to the solar installer/EPC company.The advent of Chinese solar panels has made the Western and European solar panel companies lost marketshare rapidly.In fact most of the European companies are shutting factories to open plant in Asia where the costs are much lower.Japanese solar companies however continue to keep their manufacturing in developed countries as they get a premium for their solar panels which are considered of superior quality.

Kyocera is one of the oldest solar panel manufacturers and is second only to Sharp amongst the Japanese companies.It  also manufactures industrial ceramics, telecommunications equipment, office document imaging equipment, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools, and components for medical and dental implant systems.Kyocera Solar Corp. in Japan was founded in 1996, and Kyocera Solar, Inc. in the U.S. in 1999.The company has production bases in Japan, Mexico, Europe and China and is planning a factory in California as well.The company plans to reach 1000 MW of production by 2013.

Kyocera Panel Prices (Premium Pricing)

Kyocera Panels are retailing at decent retailers for around $1.8-2.5/Watt which is a significant premium to good quality Chinese solar panels which can be bought at around $1.5/watt.The Kyocera 135 Watt Panels cost around $300 which makes it a costly solar panel to buy given that you can buy the cheapest solar panel at $1/watt if you buy in large bulks of 5000 solar panels.Note you can buy 230 Watt Trina Solar Panels for $360 in Retail which implies a price of only $1.5/watt.You can even buy the other Japanese and European solar panels for $1.5-2.5/Watt depending on the technology and the brand of the solar panel.

Kyocera Solar Modules Review

Kyocera sells Three  series of solar panels for residential market.

1) P Series of Solar Panels

The Kyocera KD F Series of Modules come in 135 Watts to 240 Watts range and each cell around 4 watts of power generation capability.Kyocera Kd modules utilize a larger, more powerful, high efficiency 156mm x 156mm solar cell
Kyocera gives a  standard 20 year power output warranty and 5 year workmanship warranty.It has UL and IEC Certificaitons.

2) F Series of Solar Panels

The Kyocera KD P Series of Modules come in 135 Watts to 315 Watts range and each cell around 4 watts of power generation capability.Kyocera KD modules utilize a larger, more powerful, high efficiency 156mm x 156mm solar cell
Kyocera gives a  standard 20 year power output warranty and 5 year workmanship warranty.It has UL and IEC Certificaitons.It also qualifies for “Buy American” since its made in San Diego.

3) Off Grid Solar Panels

In this segment the company sells the KYOCERA—KD100-36 Series Solar Panels which has 36 Cells and 100 Watts rating.

The popular Kyocera Panels are

  • Kyocera 50 watt solar panel 251
  • Kyocera kc130tm 130 Watt Solar Panel
  • Kyocera kd205gx lp Solar Panel

Solar Panel Reviews of Different Brands

Sunpower Solar Panels

Sharp Solar Panels

Sanyo Solar Panels

First Solar Solar Panels

Bosch Solar Panels

BP Solar Panels

What are the Different Types of Solar Panels

Size

Solar Panels come in all sorts of sizes,colours and power.Solar Panels of 20-40 Watts are typically used for applications like a Solar Lamp,Lantern and products using small amounts of power.For Putting Solar Panels on the Roof for Generation of Electricity,sizes vary from 150 Watts to 300 Watts.

Type and Color

There are also 2 different types of Crystalline Silicon Panels – a) Monocrystalline b) Multicrystalline Panels.In general Monocrystalline Panels give higher amounts of power and cost more.Solar Panels generally come in blue color though black color can also be found.

Thin Film Panels

Thin Film Panels are generally used for Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) applications where the Panels are integrated as a part of the Building Structure.This is in not prevalent in India as of now but will become quite pervasive in the future.

Solar Panel Efficiency Technology and Range

Solar Panel Efficiency can be as low as 7% for amorphous silicon technology to as high as 18% for mono-crystalline silicon technology.Note some of the solar panels used in spacecraft have cells which have conversion factors ranging as high as 40% but those are niche applications.Solar Panels made by First Solar using the Cadmium Tellurium Technology are in the range of 11-12% while the CIGs technology which is being used to make solar panels by a number of companies like Miasole,Solyndra,TSMC and other have the range between 10-13% currently.Note Solar Panel Efficiencies are constantly increasing for all technologies each year.


CERC to increase Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) frequency compliance to facilitate lumpy REC Trading

31 May, 2011
Green Investing

Central Energy Regulatory Commission (CERC),India’s Electricity Regulator is planning to increase the frequency of compliance of the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for states from an annual affair to a bi or quad annual affair.Note Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Trading in India started in 2011 to facilitate the development of the Renewable Energy Industry in India.According to the RPO,a certain percentage of a state’s electricity generation must come from clean energy sources.States and utilities which can’t meet their  renewable energy requirements can buy REC from Indian Energy Exchanges to meet their needs.Power Exchanges in India have already set the ball rolling in terms of trading in RECs.

However the trading has been lacklustre as there is no urgency for states to buy REC until the end of the fiscal year in March when they have to meet their compliance numbers.This has led to low illiquid trading of Renewable Energy Certificate which has made price discovery difficult.Also it acts as a major problem for green energy producers as they can’t get remunerative prices as the market does not exist in a proper form.Note the REC Trading in India only takes place on the last Wednesday of each month.Non-Solar and Solar RECs are the two types of REC being traded.Note CERC seems to be proactive in developing the market which is essential if it wants to meet its own target of 15% of generation of electricity from renewable energy.

States may have to buy renewable power more often

The Central Energy Regulatory Commission (CERC) proposes to spread the renewable power purchase obligation of states staggered over one year and at specified intervals.The proposal comes as a move to make renewable power trading on the exchanges more vibrant and gain volumes. Officials explained that states have to take five per cent of their entire annual power requirement from renewable resources, a mandatory obligation, called as renewable power purchase obligation (RPO).

He further aid this was no way for any market to develop. “It is not only detrimental to the market and price discovery but also for the renewable energy generators who could not even recover cost this way.Thus, the proposal envisages making the five per cent RPO staggered twice or four times annually. “It is proposed to make it mandatory for the states to meet a certain percentage of their entire five per cent RPO biannually or four times a year. Discussions are underway with various stakeholders right now,” said an official.Besides, CERC has also decided to audit the price discovery mechanism being used at the country’s two power exchanges — Indian Energy Exchange and Power Exchange of India.

Toshiba acquiring,investing in Green Companies (Landis & Gyr,Unison) as Nuclear Energy faces Fukushima Winter

31 May, 2011
Japan,Nuclear Energy,Renewable Energy,Smart Grid,Solar Energy,Solar EPC,Solar Panels,Wind Energy

Japanese Nuclear Giant Toshiba which is the second largest seller of complex nuclear equipment globally is looking to shift its focus towards Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.The company is already facing delays in shipping nuclear reactors to customers as the Fukushima Disaster makes governments around the world rethink their nuclear power ambitions.The Nuclear Energy Disadvantages are winning over the Advantages currently in public sentiment.Toshiba which acquired US Westinghouse has a target of selling 39 nuclear reactors which is getting delayed.With advanced nuclear power countries like Germany,Switzerland and Japan killing nuclear energy,the going looks tough for Toshiba.The company was already facing tough competition from the GE-Hitachi and Areva as well as new players from South Korea and China in the nuclear equipment market.

Toshiba acquiring Green Companies

Nuclear Energy is facing slowdown even from countries like China which has the largest growth planned for nuclear energy .Even India is facing tough opposition in building new nuclear power plants (Jaitapur).With the winds clearly turning against nuclear energy which was already facing a slow death in developer countries,Toshiba has started to make acquisitions in the Clean Technology industry.The company has bought Landis&Gyr which is one of the biggest  global smart meter manufacturers.The company has also bought a stake in South Korean Wind Company Unison.

Toshiba Solar Plans

Toshiba the Japanese Giant known for its Global Leadership in Nuclear Power Equipment,Electronics and Memory Businesses has decided to become a big player in  the Solar EPC business as well.This strategy is quite different from the other global conglomerates entering the Solar Energy Field.It is already in the process of building a 10 MW plant in Bulgaria and plans to generate around  $2 Billion Dollars annually from US and Europe by 2015.

Competition in the Nuclear Equipment Market Increasing

The Nuclear Equipment Industry is seeing intensifying competition with the entry of the Chinese and the South Koreans.While Nuclear Energy Market in the Developed World has hit a Virtual Wall,the Emerging Markets are still growing strongly.China and India are the biggest growth markets with other smaller nascent markets like Vietnam,UAE,East Europe and others.The fight between the Great Powers like Russia,USA,Japan has intensified for a piece of this lucrative market.Russia state owned Rosatom is leaving no stone unturned to garner a bigger marketshare of the Nuclear Equipment Market.It is using its vertically integrated model right from supplying uranium raw material to waste disposal to penetrate European Markets.

Japanese Giant Companies already making huge investments into Green Energy

Most of the Japanese companies are making huge investments into the Green Energy Space.Here is a list of Japanese companies in Solar Energy.

1) Sharp - Sharp,the Japanese Zaibatsu known more for its Electronics Products is also the world’s No 1 Company in terms Solar Module Revenues.Sharp has been the solar world leader since the past 4-5 years despite stiff competition recently  from upcoming Chinese Crystalline Solar (c-Si) players and Thin Film Leader First Solar

Sharp’s c-Si division is not cost competitive with the Chinese and Taiwanese companies as its cost structure is almost 30-40% higher than the cheapest Chinese producers.Though the quality of Sharp’s crystalline silicon modules is considered much better,the cost difference has become too big in a rapidly commoditizing industry

While companies like Masdar are abandoning their Thin Film plans,Sharp has started shipping a-Si modules from its 1 GW capacity  plant in Sakai.With its established distribution strengths and technological abilities in LCD Technology,Sharp is one company that can survive the c-Si onslaught.

2) Sanyo-Panasonic  – Sanyo plans to invest more than  70% of its total investment over the next  3 years in its renewable energy and energy storage segments.Sanyo has never been as successful in the hyper competitive electronics market as other Japanese companies like Sony or Sharp.However its lithium batteries and solar panels possess cutting edge technology.Its solar panels with proprietary HIT technology rival the best  in terms of efficiency and quality.

Panasonic after acquiring Sanyo has completely changed its strategy to become a major Green Player targeting a Major Percentage of Sales in the future to come  from Green Products.Panasonic which is the world’s biggest Plasma TV producer is going to spend $1 Billion on Green Building investments.Panasonic will combine its Green Strengths with Sanyo’s to sell a complete Eco-Friendly Home complete with Solar Power,LED Lighting and Energy Storage and Efficiency capabilities.In Solar where Panasonic  is the No. 3 player in Japan behind Sharp and Kyocera ,it is speeding up the expansion of solar capacity.It will spend more than $500 million aiming to triple its energy solutions business in Europe to 800 Million Euros by 2016.

3) Kyocera – Kyocera is Japan’s second largest solar panel producing company.The company recently won a major contract to build a solar farm in Thailand.Unlike other companies it has been slow off the blocks and unless  it perks up its game,it is likey to become a even smaller company in the global scheme of things.

4) Mitsubishi – Mistubishi is another old time Japanese solar company which has a low profile solar module and system business.The company is known for its high quality panels and has a decent presence in USA and Japan.However like Kyocera it has not been aggressive enough leading to loss in marketshare.

5) Mitsui - Mitsui Engineering and Shipping,one of Japan’s huge zaibatsus is planning a foray into the solar energy market as well.The Company is being supported in its initiative by METI which will collaborate with the Tunisian government in setting up a combined gas solar hybrid plant.A 5 MW Solar CSP plant will be set up by 2013 to demonstrate the technology.The company also owns a solar system business in the US after acquiring Sunwize

6) Toshiba – Toshiba the Japanese Giant known for its Global Leadership in Nuclear Power Equipment,Electronics and Memory Businesses has decided to become a big player in  the Solar EPC business.This strategy is quite different from the other global conglomerates entering the Solar Energy Field.South Korean Players like Samsung,LG,Hanwha and Hyundai are all building Crystalline Silicon Modules.Toshiba wants to enter the Smart Grid business by leveraging its experiece of the Solar EPC business.It is already in the process of building a 10 MW plant in Bulgaria and plans to generate around  $2 Billion Dollars annually from US and Europe by 2015

7) Honda – Honda,the Japanese auto giant has also joined the Solar Energy Race by selling Thin Film Modules based on CIGs technology.Japan’s conglomerates like Sharp,Kyocera,Mitsubishi and Panasonic already have big solar manufacturing operations with Sharp being the largest Solar Company in the World.Honda which has a small presence in the Solar Energy through its subsidiary Honda Soltec is expanding its lines of modules for the domestic market.

8 ) Solar Frontier - Solar Frontier is a subsidiary of Showa Shell Sekiyu and is listed on the Japanese Stock Exchange.The Company has big plans for the Solar Energy Market planning to increase its capacity by more than 10 times in 2011 to around 1 Gw in total.All its 3 plants are located in Miyazaki in Japan and uses previous plasma plant of Hitachi.Solar Frontier claims 11.5% efficiency for its CIS modules which are expected to go upto 14% by 2014It has signed a distribution deal with GE to sells its Copper Indium Selenide (CIS) Panels in USA

Toshiba cautious on nuclear sales, eyes renewables

Toshiba Corp said it may not reach its target of 39 orders for nuclear reactors until 2-3 years later than expected, and that it would increase focus on renewables and smart grids as the crisis rumbles on at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.Orders for four AP1000 reactors in China are on target, but approval delays in the United States and other countries could delay by 2-3 years the firm’s goal to expand nuclear sales to 1 trillion yen ($12.2 billion) and 39 reactor orders by March 2016, Sasaki said.He added that the company’s direct checks with customers had not yet found any planning to change their orders.It now targets sales of 350 billion yen in solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and wind power technologies, 900 billion yen in smart grid products and 800 billion yen in low-power consumption motors, inverters and batteries.On Monday, Toshiba announced an alliance with South Korean wind power firm Unison Co. The Japanese firm will buy some 3 billion yen in Unison convertible bonds as the first step of the deal and the Nikkei newspaper reported it would raise its stake to about 30 percent in about a year.

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