The top ten clean energy and climate stories of 2012/13

At the end of 2012 we published our most read stories of the calendar year. It was a popular item, so weā€™ve decided to do it for the 2012/13 fiscal year too.

Itā€™s 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.

Worldā€™s 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 wonā€™t 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

Australiaā€™s first utility-scale solar farm officially opened in WA

HSBC: World is hurtling towards Peak Planet

Solar insights: Australiaā€™s top 20 solar companies

Want to save 70 million birds a year? Build more wind farms

Rooftop solar reshapes energy market in South Australia

Comments

6 responses to “The top ten clean energy and climate stories of 2012/13”

  1. Blair Donaldson Avatar

    It’s great to know the readership is growing so well. RenewEconomy is a great source of information so well done Giles and co-. Out of curiosity will you be doing a comparison of the policies of the various parties leading up to the coming election?

    1. Giles Avatar
      Giles

      Hi Blair

      We did publish one, but i think after the last week it’s terribly out of date. https://reneweconomy.wpengine.com/2013/where-the-major-parties-stand-on-clean-energy-and-climate-82709. Good point to update it though. We’re on the case.

      1. Blair Donaldson Avatar

        Thanks Giles. I’ve seen a number of reports about proposed changes regarding carbon tax/ETS etc but nothing very concrete. It would be good to have an update and clear comparison of what the various parties propose. Cheers..
        PS. Thanks for the link above

        1. Giles Avatar
          Giles

          We need to see what Rudd has to say. With the departure of the country independents, and a return to majority rule in the offing, I think the policies are best summed up as: Greens, whatever the science says; Labor, whatever the last focus groups says; Coalition, whatever sounds earnest but doesn’t result in any deployment. Excuse me for sounding cynical but I’m spending some time in California and the difference is enormous.

          1. Blair Donaldson Avatar

            It’s a real concern when politicians invoke conspiracy theories and delude themselves because of ideology rather than be guided by good science. I think your cynicism is justified. In any case, should the NLP win government, they will only be delaying the inevitable with their silly games, I just hope they are held accountable for their foolishness.

  2. Louise Avatar
    Louise

    Is 50% photovoltaic (PV) by 2028 plausible?
    Eduard Heindl

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