Plummeting Prices Set to Triple Renewables by 2030

The price of solar energy fell 75% between 2008 and 2011. China's decision to subsidize the factory expansions of its solar companies helped cut the cost of panels in half since 2010, while the price of wind turbines tumbled by about a quarter since 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a new wind farm built in Australia would generate electricity for between A$80 and $113 per MWh, whereas new coal plants would cost A$176/MWh (with the carbon tax) and A$126 without (reported in New Scientist).

Bloomberg New Energy Finance project that annual spending on clean-energy projects may rise to $630 billion at the end of the next decade from $190 billion last year. The result will be renewable energy projects including wind, solar, hydro and biomass accounting for 70 percent of new power generation capacity between 2012 and 2030. By 2030, renewables will account for half of the generation capacity worldwide, up from 28 percent last year.

Google Powers Up Solar Investment in South Africa

Google has just announced its first renewables investment in Africa: a $12 million USD (103 million Rand) investment in the Jasper Power Project, a 96 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Upon completion, Jasper will be one of the largest solar installations on the continent, capable of generating enough electricity to power 30,000 South African homes. 

According to Rick Needham, Google's Director of Energy & Sustainability, the investment meets their dual criteria of making financial sense and having transformative potential. The project will contribute to the South African government's  Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP) ambitious goal of generating 18 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030 (that is equivalent to 40% of the entire grid's generation today).

Google has committed more than $1 billion to renewable energy investments. Needham says 'we continue to search for new opportunities. Our search has brought us from the U.S. to Europe and now to Africa. We're excited to see where else it might lead.'

Mobile Phones Help Save Children in the Niger Delta

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is rich in oil but poor in infrastructure due to its history of strife. Before  the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) set out to make HIV/AIDS care accessible in the region, only a handful of hospitals were providing HIV services to the tens of thousands requiring it.

With funding from the National Dutch Postcode Lottery, CHAI has been working to increase access to HIV/AIDS services for children through early infant diagnosis (EID) programs which could potentially avert up to 50 percent of deaths. CHAI's work has resulted in a 350 percent increase in pediatric testing and an 80 percent return of patients who were previously not returning for treatment. 

Because of CHAI's introduction of SMS technologies, which enable test results to be sent to labs and even patients via SMS "text" messaging, EID test turnaround times have been substantially reduced from 63 to 42 days – allowing children to begin lifesaving treatment three weeks earlier than previously possible. As a result of this work, 70 percent more children are now on treatment in the region.

For more information, visit CHAI

The $300 House Project

The $300 House was first described in a Harvard Business Review blog post by Vijay Govindarajan and Christian Sarkar. It started with five simple questions:

1. How can organic, self-built slums be turned into livable housing?
   
2. What might a house-for-the-poor look like?
   
3. How can world-class engineering and design capabilities be utilized to solve the problem?
   
4. What reverse-innovation lessons might be learned by the participants in such a project?
   
5. How could the poor afford to buy this house?
   

Initially, they just wanted to put the concept out there, but now, due to the tremendous response, they've decided to see how far they can go toward making this idea a reality. To find out more, go to http://www.300house.com/

Turning Plastic into Above-Ground Mines

There's about 265 million tons of plastic consumed every year around the world. There are 240,000 plastic bags consumed around the world every ten seconds. There are one million plastic cups consumed on U.S. air flights every six hours.Compared to steel, plastics on a price per weight basis is three to four times more valuable than steel. and we consume, around the world, more plastics, on a volume basis, than steel, each and every year. 

Yet we recycle under 10% of plastics, compared with over 90% of steel. The reason is that plastics are difficult to separate after disposal. Now, finally, MBA Polymers has cracked the code. With plants in China, Vienna and the UK, a revolution is underway. Their proprietary processes require less than 20% of the energy needed to produce virgin from petrochemicals, saving enormous amounts of greenhouse gases.