At the end of 2012 we published our most read stories of the calendar year. It was a popular item, so weāve decided to do it for the 2012/13 fiscal year too.
Itās a compendium of the stories that you found most interesting and/or most important. So from that point of view it is a useful retrospective. The most popular stories cover the major themes of the past 12 months – the debate about wind energy, the plunging cost of solar, the emergence of battery storage, the fascination with electric vehicles, challenges to incumbent electricity business models, the decline of fossil fuels, and the changing dynamics of climate policies.
There will be some crossover between the two lists, because some of the stories that made the list for calendar 2012 were published in the second half of the year, so they perform strongly in this list too.
We’re doing this also to recognise the fact that some of our audience, which continues to grow rapidly, may have missed these earlier stories.
Since the launch of RenewEconomy 17 month ago, half a million different visitors have come to the site, including 69,000 unique visitors in the last month. The second million page views came in less than half the time of the first. We’re now well into our third million.
So this list is a bit of a recap for those who may have visited the site for the first time just recently. We hope you find it useful.
More wind energy myths debunked: Madigan claims put to the test: Mike Barnard’s step by step demolition of some of the absurd myths about wind energy perpetuated by Senator John Madigan.
Renewables now cheaper than coal and gas in Australia: Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s landmark assessment of the cost of new generation in Australia, which showed that wind is already cheaper than new coal and gas.
UBS: Boom in unsubsidised solar PV flags energy revolution:Ā Our exclusive on the analysis by the UBS energy team on the likely impact of the solar PV revolution on energy markets and on generators and utilities.
Graph of the Day: How green is your country?: A graph from the Energy Collective showing the levels ofĀ renewable energy in the electricity systems of countries across the globe. Some surprising results.
Worldās biggest coal company turns to solar ā to save energy costs: How Coal India has decided to power some of its operations with solar because it’s cheaper than using coal.
Citigroup: How solar module prices could fall to 25c/watt: Another exclusive report, this time from the Citigroup energy team with predictions of how solar module prices will continue their dramatic fall in manufacturing costs.
How battery storage will change household energy market: Our report on analysis by Gordon Weiss of Energetics on how battery storage will offer new options for households, and lead to a major change in the household market.
Iceland: A 100% renewables example in the modern era: Paul Gipe’s analysis of the make-up of Iceland’s renewables-only grid and what can be learned by other countries.
Fossil fuels put on notice ā the party is about to end: Our reports on the prescient analysis by Deutsche Bank and S&P on the changing dynamics of the coal market in China and internationally, and the implications for listed company valuations.
Victory at hand for the climate movement?Ā Paul Gilding’s fascinating (and controversial) assessment of the dramatically changing dynamics of the policies surrounding climate change around the world.
And here is the next 10 most popular stories:
Qld solar PV households face dramatic tariff changes
Age of renewables: Why shale gas wonāt kill wind or solar
100 pct renewables: it may be closer than we think
100% renewables for Australia ā not so costly after all
Macquarie says rooftop solar juggernaut is unstoppable
Australiaās first utility-scale solar farm officially opened in WA
HSBC: World is hurtling towards Peak Planet
Solar insights: Australiaās top 20 solar companies