BluDanuBlog

President announces National Export Initiative

Michael — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:30:54 +0000

In his State of the Union address to Congress today, President Obama set a national goal to “double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support 2 million jobs in America” through a new National Export Initiative. Details are scarce so far, but the White House blog says “the NEI includes the creation of the President’s Export Promotion Cabinet and an enhancement of funding for key export promotion programs.” The focus on small business is encouraging, and we look forward to learning more about the substance of the initiative.

Renewable energy legislation database for EU countries

Michael — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:58:25 +0000

The European Union’s international database on renewable energy legislation now provides information for all 27 EU countries, according to a press release from the German environment ministry picked up by Photon International. Using the database is free of charge, and all country profiles are available in German and English.

K.I.S.S.

Michael — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:50:24 +0000

Keep it simple, smarty!
The new Come Clean Report from KRC Research and Weber Shandwick identifies insufficient and complicated information from vendors as the main reasons European companies are not following through on cleantech purchasing policies. Somebody’s leaving a lot of money on the table, folks. The Cleantech Group has more info here.

Shipping rates to rise

Michael — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:10:43 +0000

Purchasing.com reports that container shipping lines in the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA) cartel are planning rate increases from $120 to $200 per 20-foot container on US-to-Asia routes effective September 1. The move is an attempt to claw back recent rate declines in response to falling demand due to the global recession.

EU Commission proposes visa-free entry for Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia

Michael — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:32:41 +0000

The EU Commission plans to remove visa requirements for citizens of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia pending approval by the EU Ministers of the Interior, says Die Presse. Travel restrictions within Europe, with the cost and time required for business travelers to secure multiple visas, have been a significant drag on these countries’ economies. Bosnia-Hercegovina and Albania have not yet met various security requirements for removal of visa restrictions, according to Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot.

Solar not yet dead in Texas

Michael — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:10:39 +0000

No thanks to the Lege.
It’s not exactly a mega-project, but Renewable Energy Focus is reporting that Tessera Solar has signed a power purchase agreement with CPS Energy and will build a 27MW solar project in West Texas. The project will use 1,080 SunCatcher mirror dishes driving Stirling engines, with the first units expected to come online by the end of 2010.

BusinessWeek: Attracting International Clients to Your Website

Michael — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:34:31 +0000

BusinessWeek’s Karen Klein offers a few tips on working with international clients through your company’s website: be sensitive to cultural nuance; prepare, and prepare your customers, ahead of time to deal with shipping and customs issues; start by addressing other English-speaking markets, and when you’re ready to publish multilingual web content, back it up with multilingual sales and service staff. (Thanks to Laurel Delaney for the link!)

Many small businesses fall into exporting “accidentally” when orders from overseas customers start to trickle in through their website. Maximize your company’s potential by managing it as a global business from day one. Your business is already global, whether you know it yet or not!

More mixed messages from Czechs on Lisbon Treaty

Michael — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:34:42 +0000

Hardly an hour after the Czech Senate’s approval of the Lisbon Treaty for reform of the European Union institutions Wednesday, President VÃ¡clav Klaus declared the treaty “dead” and refused to sign it, according to newspaper MladÃ¡ fronta Dnes. A group of the treaty’s defeated Senate opponents intend to ask for a review by the Constitutional Court. Klaus has long been known as a fierce critic of the treaty.

Danish firm bullish on wind

Michael — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:37:55 +0000

The latest annual World Market Update from Danish wind energy consultants BTM Consult ApS reports 42% growth in wind turbine capacity from 2007 to 2008, for a cumulative worldwide total of 122,000 MW. The report predicts 8.6% growth for the sector in 2009 despite the ongoing economic crisis, rising to an average of 15.7% annually through 2013. Wind power currently provides 1.3% of the world’s electricity. This figure is predicted to rise to 8% by 2018.

German company building “hybrid” power plant: electricity and hydrogen from wind

Michael — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:33:20 +0000

Germany’s Enertrag AG has begun work in Dauerthal, northeast of Berlin near the Polish border, on a “hybrid” wind power plant that will produce electricity and hydrogen. With a total generating capacity of 6 MW, the plant will supply the grid and use any excess power for hydrolysis to produce hydrogen for fuel and energy storage. The facility will also feature a combined heat and power plant fueled by biogas and hydrogen produced on-site. The plant is scheduled to come on-line in 2010.

Spanish PV market shows signs of recovery

Michael — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:34:27 +0000

The Spanish Ministry of Industry reports that approvals for new solar photovoltaic projects rose in Q2/2009 after having dropped sharply in the first quarter. The total capacity of newly approved projects is 130 MW, up from 88.7 MW for Q1.

The legislation governing Spain’s feed-in tariff system provides for adjustments based on quarterly approvals of rooftop and stand-alone installations. Since new approvals in the latter category amounted to 95 MW, slightly above the adjustment threshold of 94.5 MW, the new tariff for stand-alone PV installations will drop from 30.7 eurocents to 29.9 cents per kWh.

European Parliament: All new buildings from 2019 to consume net zero energy

Michael — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:21:41 +0000

The European Parliament has amended the 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive to require that all buildings built after 2018 produce as much energy as they consume on-site, averaged over the course of the year, through enhanced efficiency and use of technology such as solar panels and heat pumps.

The amendment, which must be implemented in national law by member state legislatures, also calls for increased financial support for energy efficiency measures and sets standards to upgrade the energy performance of existing buildings.

$1bn Chinese manufacturing investment in Texas

Michael — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:26:42 +0000

Will Chinese workers soon be complaining that all the good manufacturing jobs are being outsourced to Texas? The state Comptroller’s office is reporting on a $1 billion pipe manufacturing facility to be built by a Chinese company on the Texas coast:

TPCO America Corp. (TPCO), a subsidiary of China-based Tianjin Pipe (Group) Corp., will build the plant near Gregory in San Patricio County. This will be the largest single manufacturing investment made by a Chinese company in the United States. The facility could create as many as 600 jobs and have an estimated $2.7 billion economic impact in 10 years.

The plant will produce pipe for the oil and gas industry and is scheduled to begin producing in two and a half years.

(And a shout-out goes to trade development goddess Jen Martinez for tweeting the story.)

Biomass tapped as top renewable energy contender in Czech Republic

Michael — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:44:45 +0000

A February 2009 U.S. Commercial Service Industry Sector Analysis (register to download) taps biomass as the renewable energy source with the greatest potential in the Czech Republic. The country currently gets 5.6% of its energy from renewable sources (official target for 2020: 13%), mostly hydroelectric with relatively little growth potential. Although solar photovoltaic saw strong expansion in 2008, the report does not consider solar a high-potential sector due to expiring subsidies. Wind is also experiencing strong growth, with a number of major projects in the pipeline.

German Energy Conservation Ordinance will boost distributed solar

Michael — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:24:22 +0000

Germany’s new Energy Conservation Ordinance (EnEV), which takes effect this October, permits energy generated on-site from renewable sources to be offset against a building’s energy consumption for code compliance purposes. The new regulation is expected to further boost interest in rooftop solar installations, already widespread thanks to Germany’s feed-in tariff system, especially in combination with new subsidies in the Renewable Energy Law. Critics maintain that the changes will promote electric heating systems and heat pumps at the expense of conservation, thus inadvertently leading to even higher electric power consumption in winter.
The new EnEV is based on comparison of a building’s energy consumption to a “reference building” with specified insulation values and equipment including a solar thermal hot-water system.
Although the website of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs does have an English section, information on the new conservation standards is only available in German so far.