London, U.K. — As The New Economy announces the winners of the Cleantech and New Energy Awards, governments and organisations have made it clear that energy providers’ strategies are still fundamental to the future of business development.

The two-day blackout experienced across two thirds of India in July illustrated that the nation’s power demands rest on a knife edge. In a country whose cities use an estimated 40 percent of electricity on air conditioning to make working life tolerable, intelligent solutions are clearly required to utilise available energy to maximum efficiency. And India is far from the only country in this situation.

With the need for a smarter use of resources to meet ever-growing demands, the Cleantech and New Energy Awards 2012 offer commendation to the companies and projects whose work is pioneering new ways of generating energy and efficiency in energy usage. Their ingenuity in the field offers a brighter prospect for the use.

The award winners represent a large spectrum of intelligent ideas for the creation and saving of energy and resources. From better ways to preserve water to creating power via hydroelectricity, The New Economy has evaluated the projects that will serve and impact on the way of life well into the next century. The winners represent the companies who are delivering progress in this area while considering our relationship with the environment at the same time.

The Clean Tech and New Energy Awards 2012 also celebrate the companies who have pursued new thinking for existing technologies. Focusing on efficiency, these winners have demonstrated their excellence through projects such as achieving greater power generation from wind turbines and developing higher-yielding and less costly solar panels.

The New Economy presents these well-earned accolades and offers its warmest congratulations to all winners and looks forward to a brighter future they offer us.

The full announcement of The Clean Tech and New Energy Awards 2012, along with articles on some of the winning technologies, can be found in the Autumn edition of The New Economy in shops now. To see a full listing of award winners please visit their site.

World News Media is a leading publisher of quality financial and business magazines, enjoying a global distribution network that includes subscriber lists of the most prominent and senior decision-makers around the world, as well as comprehensive airport, hotel and conference site distribution.

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Oakland, U.S.A. – On September 4, 2012, Leading clean-tech entrepreneur Danny Kennedy debuts his book, “Rooftop Revolution: How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy – and Our Planet – from Dirty Energy” to boldly debunk the many myths surrounding the solar industry and unveil simple ways that the public and policymakers alike can engage in generating positive change.

With a foreword by the former supreme commander of NATO and former U.S. presidential candidate, General Wesley Clark, the book uses objective research and Kennedy’s front-line experience to lay out the win-win proposition of solar energy for the American economy.

As of September 4, 2012, the book is available widely in both electronic and print versions and via Kindle, and more information is available at www.rooftoprevolutionbook.com.

Amidst the political energy policy debate, the 1-year anniversary of the Solyndra bankruptcy and threatening blackouts in parts of the nation, Kennedy – a life-long activist turned successful clean tech business entrepreneur recently profiled in The New York Times Magazine - tackles the industry’s toughest criticisms and makes the case for his solar focused, clean energy revolution.

“Rooftop Revolution” boldly contends that the economic, security and environmental imperatives for solar power are so strong that the time is now for businesspeople, policymakers and homeowners to come together to combat “King CONG” – the monolithic dirty energy lobby of “Coal, Oil, Nuclear and Gas”. To this end, at the end of every chapter, Kennedy equips readers with a practical guide to becoming “Rooftop Revolutionaries” – active advocates to bring about a 21^st century economy.

“Solar energy isn’t a left or right issue: it’s an economic one, and it should be a central part of the election cycle dialogue on how to fix our economy.  There is in fact a clear economic imperative for clean energy now, and despite myths and misperceptions,  solar power is already at work creating jobs, saving American households on their utility costs and securing both our workforce and our borders from the ills of dirty energy,” says Kennedy.

“The sun’s reliability coupled with recent manufacturing efficiencies in our industry, make solar energy a more affordable, cleaner and safer way to power our lives. It’s not the energy source of the future, it’s the energy source of now.”

Throughout “Rooftop Revolution”, Kennedy cites key statistics, including:

• The solar industry creates jobs –  domestic jobs at a rate 10 times faster than the rest of the economy (2011 National Solar Census).
• Solar energy saves people money – By 2015, the Department of Energy estimates that two-thirds of U.S. homes will save money using solar.
• The steep drop of in solar panel prices (50 percent since 2010), has benefitted American homeowners.
• Smart money continues to flow in to the solar industry. Global investment in renewable energy was$260 billion in 2011 (up from $243 in 2010) – and half of it went to solar.

“Dependent on millions of barrels of imported fuel for decades, the U.S. has squandered its lives, treasure and legacy in grasping for foreign-sourced petroleum, while sitting on the most abundant energy resources and intellectual capital in the world,” said General Wesley Clark.

“Today, the opportunity presents itself in the solar industry to reverse these decades of failure, create millions of new jobs, and put America on top of the world energy markets. But there are formidable political, regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles to this vision. And these, too, are part of Danny’s story.”

A life-long clean energy advocate, Kennedy has worked on climate and energy issues for more than two decades.  He was named 2011 “Innovator of the Year” by PBS for providing a high-impact and commercially-viable solution that responds to the world’s environmental challenges.

Kennedy founded the leading residential solar power company Sungevity in 2007 to create a more widely accessible way of going solar for American households. As president of the company, he oversees government relations and community engagement programs.

“Rooftop Revolution lays out, in clear and engaging language, how we got into the energy mess we’re in now and how we can get out – benefiting the planet, creating jobs and saving homeowners money,” saidAnnie Leonard, creator of the film and book “The Story of Stuff”.

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Discovery Bay, U.S.A. – Starting August, 1 the world’s most efficient solar lamp becomes available to the American public through several online resources. Largely unknown to many in this country until recently, the WakaWaka Solar Lamp makes its debut after a very successful Kickstarter promotion completed in February. Patented solar technology enables WakaWaka to produce over 16 hours of excellent reading light on less than a day solar charge.

What do President Clinton, Janet Jackson, Walmart, Amazon and the Masai people of Kenya have in common? They all love the WakaWaka Solar Lamp and the business model on which it is built. “Yes, the design is dramatic, the technology is patented and the charging time ratio of 8 hours sunlight versus 16 hours reading light is amazing, but even more powerful is the business model created to help bring light to the 1.5 Billion people in the world living in darkness,” says Eric Clare, CEO of Digital Concepts 2.0, the exclusive distributor for WakaWaka in the USA.

Off-Grid Solutions (OGS) headquartered in the Netherlands is the creator of WakaWaka. They set out to find a solution for roughly 20 percent of the world’s population who still depend on toxic, expensive and dangerous kerosene lamps. They came up with a hi-tech, hi quality product providing the light families need who live at the so-called economic ‘Base of the Pyramid’.

Americans demand quality, hi-tech products but also have a growing desire to make a meaningful impact on the world around them. This led to the idea of creating a cool, useful, best of breed solar lamp that could be fairly priced in the U.S. with profits enabling a subsidy for families living at the bottom of the pyramid. “We found a way to enable people to deliver support not charity, a leveling of the playing field, making safe light affordable for people living on less than $2/day,” stated Camille van Gestel, OGS business director.

The World Bank researched the impact of solar LED lighting on the pass rate for students. Two years after introduction of the solar lamps the pass rate improved from 57% to 100%.

WakaWaka is more than just an efficient solar lamp. It is a story; a solar lamp on a mission. Hopefully U.S. citizens will lead the way out of darkness, while enjoying the benefits of WakaWaka Solar Lamp in their own lives.

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With India’s highest solar radiation in western Rajasthan, half of India’s solar capacity in 2022 could come from this state, says Satya Kumar, managing director of Shri Shakti Alternative Energy.

The high radiation in combination with a large amount of sunny days in Rajasthan makes it by far the most popular location for projects under the National Solar Mission. The average tariff of all project bids under the second round of the National Solar Mission was as low as Rs.8.78/Kwh.

“The natural reaction of some investors to this outcome was that it’s too low. But if you analyse the conditions in Rajasthan, it will become clear that this tariff is viable,” says Kumar, who researched a case for a 10MW plant in Rajasthan. Shri Shakti Alernative Energy Ltd is developing the infrastructure for a 100MW private solar park being developed under an MoU with Government of Rajasthan.

“In western Rajasthan, a Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF) of 21 percent can be achieved,” Kumar further explains. “In Germany, the world solar capital, this is typically 13 percent. This means that a 1MW solar plant in western Rajasthan can produce 1.85 million units per year, compared to around 1.6 million units elsewhere in India.”

“The conditions in Rajasthan are so favourable, that it will be amongst the most logical places in the world to implement solar power,” says Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza, a Netherlands based information platform for international solar energy stakeholders.

Solarplaza is organizing the conference The Solar Future: India II on 29 February in Jaipur. “It’s only a matter of time for solar power to take off on a large scale in Rajasthan,” says Koot, explaining the choice of location.

Besides attention for the benefits of Rajasthan and other local developments, the conference will host internationally renowned speakers with an eye for global trends and inspirational future visions. This in combination with an informal networking atmosphere gives the event a unique character.

Speakers include Ravindra Raina, President of India operations, Astonfield; Ravi Khanna, CEO of Solar Power Business of Aditya Birla Group; Jigar Shah – CEO, Carbon War Room; Vishal Shah – Managing Director & Senior Analyst Alternative Energy Deutsche Bank; Ashok Bhalotra, Ambassador, KuiperCompagnons; Madan Mohan Vijayvergia – Director (Technical), Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation.

http://www.thesolarfuture.in

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The worldwide movement toward sustainability has made significant progress over the past half-dozen years as companies and cities have pursued strategies that balance future and current societal needs. Now, sustainable development is entering a new phase, characterized by greater alignment within and between the public and private sectors.

The road to sustainability has been plagued with roadblocks, including an unprecedented global financial crisis and attempts by entrenched business and political interests to deny climate science. Perhaps the greatest obstacle has been the lack of consistent and comparable standards for defining and measuring sustainability. Although these issues have yet to be fully resolved, many well-coordinated initiatives in recent years have pointed the way forward for companies and cities.

In 2012, major trends shaping the sustainable development movement include:

Transparency – Buildings, companies and cities are measuring and disclosing energy usage, carbon emissions, and other information relating to sustainability. Commercial building owners do not always have a choice: Five major U.S. cities and two states have enacted energy performance measurement and disclosure policies to date, and nine more cities and states have bills under considerations to help tenants and investors make better informed decisions. Buildings in Europe are required to display energy performance certificates, and Australia is implementing similar requirements.

Corporations do not require legal mandates to encourage disclosure. In 2011, more than 3,000 companies voluntarily reported their carbon emissions, water management, and climate change policies to Carbon Disclosure Project in 2011, perhaps swayed by CDP’s 551 investor members, who use the information in deciding where to place more than $71 trillion in investment capital.

Transparency is also on the rise at the city level. CDP invited 58 cities worldwide to report sustainability related data for the first time in 2011.  Forty-two responded, with 38 of them making their responses public. This year, CDP Cities is expanding its request to 150 cities and continues to see a high response rate, as well as extraordinary awareness and commitment on climate change issues by city leaders.

Global Consistency – Deeper sustainability reporting by cities and multi-national corporations has intensified the need for consistent ways to measure the effectiveness of energy, water, and other sustainability strategies on a worldwide basis. Given the wide regional variation in environmental priorities around the world, the end goal may not be a single global standard, but a way to translate local government and business practices into a common global vocabulary for measuring effectiveness and recognizing achievement.

LEED, the building sustainability rating system originated in the U.S., is now frequently pursued in many countries with their own systems, as owners seek to attract international tenants. Energy Star, the U.S. EPA energy benchmarking standard, will soon be able to provide accurate ratings across North America, thanks to a new cooperative agreement with Canada.

In 2011, the International Organization for Standardization released the ISO 50001 standard for energy management systems, which includes specifications for measurement, documentation, and reporting on energy consumption.

Consistent measurement is important to corporations as they focus on sustainability, not only in their own operations, but increasingly throughout their supply chain as well. And while CDP Cities is not attempting to rank the sustainability of cities, it is developing a globally cohesive framework for understanding the effectiveness of sustainability strategies pursued by different cities.

Public/Private Collaboration – 2011 stood out as a year when government and business organizations explored their shared green goals and realized that public-private partnerships and collaborative initiatives are often the best way to overcome obstacles to sustainability. Some of these joint efforts will start to bear fruit in 2012.

A clear example is the December announcement of a $4 billion energy retrofit commitment by the U.S. federal government and 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents, and labor leaders. Called the Better Buildings Challenge, the eight-year initiative includes $2 billion in energy upgrades of federal buildings and another $2 billion of private capital to improve energy by 20 percent in buildings totaling 1.5 billion square feet.

The Better Buildings Challenge illustrates the alignment between business and government goals in seeking energy and carbon reduction. Achieving those goals also requires cooperation; for example, groups ranging from the World Economic Forum to Greenprint Foundation have called for changes to loan underwriting guidelines set by governmental bodies to facilitate financing of energy retrofits.

More directly, U.S. states have found they can increase renewable energy installations at buildings by offering incentives that would make solar power cost-effective for owners within a relatively short period.

As a firm that serves government and business entities, Jones Lang LaSalle sees tremendous untapped synergy between the two groups in achieving energy and sustainability goals, particularly in the area of public-private partnerships. As just one of many examples, airports and other government entities often have surplus land that is unsuitable for commercial property development, but could be leased to private companies for development as large solar energy installations;

Focus on Solar Energy – Speaking of solar power, 2011 was a breakthrough year for new installations in the U.S. and continued growth is seen for 2012, albeit at a slower pace.  More than 1 gigawatt of photovoltaic solar energy capacity was installed across the U.S. in the first three quarters of 2011, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. By comparison, 887 megawatts came online in all of 2010, which represented a doubling of the total installed base at the time.

Solar energy installations at commercial properties drove much of the market growth in 2011, but the pace of new installations dropped significantly in the third quarter, SEIA reported. The big story going into 2012 is the unprecedented rise in utility-based installations, which jumped by 325 percent from the second to the third quarter.

The strength of the solar market in 2012 and beyond will be affected by several variables, including basic supply and demand economics, technological improvements, and the amount and type of available incentives. It is clear, however, that interest in solar energy continues to grow as payback periods grow shorter and fossil fuel costs continue to rise.

2012: Taking Sustainability to the Next Level

The common theme to all these trends is of an industry poised to break through to the next level. The industry has moved swiftly through initial phases of understanding the basic costs and benefits, implementing low-cost initiatives, exploring more sophisticated strategies, and navigating around roadblocks.

Today, it is easier to see the opportunity for dynamic progress by cities, property owners and corporate tenants that have laid the groundwork for growth and success.

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