Oil-Rich Russia Works to Increase Renewable Energy

     The Energy Ministry of Russia has recently submitted a draft law to Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister of Russia, which is intended to support the deployment of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, wind power, and hydroelectric power. Russia, however, has failed to meet its renewable energy set goal for 2010, in which it was to obtain 1.5% of the country's electric demand from renewable power plants. In 2011, Russia even failed to reach yet 1%.
      Currently there has been no details concerning tariffs for specific technologies, but notably the new law promises a 14% return on investment. In addition, the electricity is said to be bought through power purchase agreements. If approved, this project would cost an amount of 85 billion rubles (approximately $2,716,396,000). This, in turn, is shown to the public as an incentive scheme that will prioritize projects that are in line with a local content requirement.
      Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the few of the largest petroleum exporters throughout the globe. They are each ones of the top 8 petroleum producers yet they acknowledge the environmental consequences of using petroleum, especially UAE whereas the nation aggressively pursues solar and wind energy. The possible reasons for why these petroleum-dependent nations are pursuing renewable energy is as follows: the consequences of climate change, air and water pollution are severe; and the less oil nations consume may lead to more demand in exports causing there to be an increase in foreign exchange revenue and massive petroleum-derived profits.
      This new plan's target goal is for Russia to obtain 2-2.5% of its electricity from renewable energy sources, or 6 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2020. It has also been claimed that the draft law has supposedly been approved by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev on April 25, 2013, but there has been no information regarding this announcement in the English media as of yet.

Solar "Power" Couple Wins Award

        Dr. Jianhua Zhao and Aihua Wang were joint recipients for an Advance Global Australian Award for contributions to the field of clean technology. The award ceremony, organized in partnership with the Australian Government and the Australian Financial Review, was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on March 21, 2013.
        The pair, who are the first Chinese-Australians ever to receive this award, also won a special Australia in the Asian Century Award for their contribution in the Asia region. Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, also made a video speech to them to endorsing the award. "Jianhua and Aihua were excellent students and staff members here at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and prolific researchers," says Scientia Professor Martin Green, Director of the AFC Photovoltaics Center of Excellence, and who nominated Dr. Zhao and Dr. Wang for the award. "They took us to the position where we can now make the most efficient cells in the world and nobody yet has been able to catch up. They are both well-respected internationally and have played an influential role in establishing China as a major producer of solar power and PV technology."
        In 1999, the pair developed the high efficiency crystallized Silicon PERL cell and set a new record, demonstrating 25% energy conversion efficiency, which remains the highest level achieved in the world so far.
       In 2004, Zhao co-founded the Chinese solar cell and manufacturing company China Sunergy, where he is now Chief Technology Officer and Director. Wang, who also completed her Ph.D. degree and worked at UNSW for more than a decade, is the company's Vice-President of research and development.
       The duo are now leading China Sunergy's participation in an 863 program, a National High Technology Research and Development Program in China that supports and encourages the development and commercialization of solar cells with a high efficiency rate (over 20%) and a low production cost.

Source : UNSW