South Korea president says to nurture solar, wind, nuclear power

S.Korea president says to nurture solar, wind, nuclear power - Reuters

SEOUL Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Korea, heavily dependent on energy imports, will strengthen its new and renewable energy sectors, President Lee Myung-bak said on Monday.

Asia's fourth-largest economy expects its new and renewable energy sectors to achieve exports of $40 billion in 2015, compared with $4.6 billion in 2009, with the government to set up four or five test beds for solar and wind power generation in 2011 with an investment of 20 billion won ($17.7 million).

"In the future, the solar power industry will be nurtured as the semiconductor industry was, and the wind power industry as shipbuilding was," Lee said in a New Year speech.

"By taking the opportunity to export to the United Arab Emirates, the government will actively nurture nuclear power as an export industry to cope with the era of climate change," he said, referring to an up to $40 billion nuclear deal awarded to a South Korean consortium in late 2009.

One of the world's fastest-growing carbon polluters, South Korea is seeking to shift from its dependence on fossil fuels, expanding investment in green resources.

In October last year, the government said it would spend 40 trillion won by 2015 in a combined push by the public and private sectors to boost renewable energy resources. (Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Obama Announces US$467M in Stimulus Funding for Geothermal and Solar Energy Projects

President Barack Obama announced that more than US $467 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act could be used to expand development, deployment and use of geothermal and solar energy throughout the United States.

The Recovery Act makes a US $350 million investment in geothermal technology. Recovery Act funding will support projects in four areas: geothermal demonstration projects; Enhanced Geothermal Systems or EGS research and development; innovative exploration techniques; and a National Geothermal Data System, Resource Assessment and Classification System..

Secretary Chu delivers addresses a Nobel Laureate Symposium on Energy and Climate Change at St. James Palace in London.
Geothermal demonstration projects will recieve $140 million. Enhanced Geothermal Systems Technology Research and Development will get $80 million. EGS makes use of available heat resources through engineered reservoirs, which can then be tapped to produce electricity. While the long-term goal of EGS is to generate cost competitive clean electricity, enabling research and development is needed to demonstrate the technology's readiness in the near-term.

Research into innovative exploration techniques will get $100 million. Finally, a National Geothermal Data System, Resource Assessment, and Classification System be see $30 million invested. DOE will support the development of a nationwide data system to make resource data available to academia, researchers, and the private sector. Finally, DOE will support the development of a geothermal resource classification system for use in determining site potential.

Solar energy will see a $117.6 million investment. Photovoltaic technology development will account for $51.5 million and another $40.5 million will be used for deployment. Projects in this area will focus on non-technical barriers to solar energy deployment, including grid connection, market barriers to solar energy adoption in cities, and the shortage of trained solar energy installers. Finally, CSP technology research and development will get $25.6 million. This work will focus on improving the reliability of concentrating solar power technologies and enhancing the capabilities of DOE National Laboratories to provide test and evaluation support to the solar industry.