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Le photovoltaïque va dépasser pour la 1re fois les 40 GW en 2014 dans le monde

LeMoniteur.fr, 2 janvier 2014

Les installations de panneaux photovoltaïques dans le monde vont poursuivre une croissance à deux chiffres en 2014, après une année 2013 meilleure que prévue grâce au Japon notamment, selon les prévisions annuelles du cabinet spécialisé IHS.

Selon ce dernier, les nouvelles capacités de production d’électricité photovoltaïque atteindront un nouveau record compris entre 40 et 45 GX l’an prochain. En 2013, le marché a dépassé les 35 GW, soit un nouveau sommet après 31,2 GW en 2012 et 27,5 GW en 2011, souligne IHS.

Et contrairement à ses prévisions de l’an dernier, le marché en valeur ne s’est pas contracté comme en 2012, progressant au contraire de 7 % à 83 milliards de dollars. L’explication, qui est aussi un des enjeux principaux de 2014, vient d’un pays: le Japon, deuxième marché national dans le monde en 2013 derrière la Chine, explique IHS. Quelque 6,3 GW de panneaux solaires ont été installés en 2013 au Japon, un marché tiré par l’arrêt des réacteurs nucléaires dans l’archipel après la catastrophe de Fukushima.

L’an prochain, ce chiffre devrait grimper à 7,2 GW, même si IHS avertit toutefois d’un risque d’explosion de la bulle du photovoltaïque nippon, du fait du récent demi-tour du gouvernement japonais, qui a réduit drastiquement ses engagements en matière de CO2. La Chine, premier marché au monde, devrait-elle poursuivre sa course en avant dans le solaire en installant 9,3 GW, contre 8,6 GW, mais rester donc en dessous de l’objectif officiel des 12 GW pour 2014. Le marché américain, le troisième au monde, devrait également croître lui aussi, à 6,4 GW contre 5,5 GW en 2013.

À l’inverse, l’Allemagne, jadis un leader mondial, restera à une terne 4e place et son marché se réduira de nouveau après des baisses drastiques de ses tarifs de soutien, note IHS, qui prédit 3,7 GW en 2014 après 3,8 GW en 2013. Le pays européen où la croissance du solaire devrait être la plus forte serait, selon ses prévisions, le Royaume-Uni, qui passerait de 1,3 GW en 2013 à 1,7 GW, prenant à l’Italie la cinquième place mondiale.

Le marché français afficherait lui une légère progression à 0,8 GW, et remonterait au 8e rang mondial. Dans les autres tendances, IHS souligne à la fois l’essor du stockage d’électricité photovoltaïque (qui devrait quadrupler à 753 MW en 2014), la stabilisation des marges des grands fabricants chinois de panneaux, qui se sont améliorées ces derniers mois, et l’émergence du marché sud-américain, qui devrait quintupler à 1,4 GW l’an prochain.

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Capitol Hill’s Northwest School unveils new gymnasium +theater +cafeteria +sports field above E Pike

by jseattle, Capital Hill Seattl Blog, January 7, 2014

Rooftop Sports Field Photo: CHS Source: www.capitolhillseattle.com

Rooftop Sports Field
Photo: CHS
Source: www.capitolhillseattle.com

There is a new sports field at the unlikely location of E Pike and Bellevue. Look up.

Monday morning, the 6th through 12th graders at Capitol Hill’s Northwest School explored their new 38,300 square-foot facility at 401 E Pike that somehow houses “a league-size Gymnasium, 175-seat Black Box Theatre, two-tiered Dining Room, and a 6,000 square foot Rooftop Sports Field.”

“We used every inch from basement to roof,” Head of School Mike McGill told CHS as he watched students take their first kicks on the new rooftop turf and cork pellet field.

500 students currently attend classes at Northwest including 50 in the school’s international boarding program, the only one of its kind in Seattle.

The $19 million project designed by Mithun is one of a wave of big-money construction projects planned and underway for the doing very well, thank you roster of private schools on Capitol Hill. The Northwest project broke ground in September 2012 and was completed ahead of schedule and slightly under budget thanks to incentives for contractor Exxel Pacific to bring the job in on time.

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Angel city brewery raising rooftop hops for special brew

The garden atop Angel City Brewery Photo: Ray Narkevicius Source: www.laweekly.com

The garden atop Angel City Brewery
Photo: Ray Narkevicius
Source: www.laweekly.com

by SEAN J. MILLER, LA Weekly, January 7, 2014

Angel City Brewery is taking the farm-to-table concept to new heights with a rooftop hops garden whose harvest has yielded a unique brew only available in downtown L.A.

The craft brewery’s urban garden is a work in progress, but Dieter Foerstner, Angel City’s brewmaster, expects that by next fall patrons at the Angel City’s public house will be able to enjoy its (copyrighted) “rooftop” brew.

“We’ve played around with some cask beers — beers we’ve already had brewed — and we’ll pitch fresh hops into a cask, let it condition for a week or so and then turn around and sell them traditional-style,” Foerstner says. “By using those fresh hops, you get this really beautiful, almost resinous aroma and really great hops flavor.”

Some breweries use fresh hops in “harvest style” or “wet hop” beers, but those operations are generally located in rural areas, close to the source. For an urban brewery — particularly one located in the country’s second biggest city — growing your own is unique.

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Chatsworth’s rooftop additions take a beating at landmarks

by TOBIAS SALINGER, Curbed NY, January 8, 2014

Proposed Chatsworth addition elevation North Image: Montroy Andersen Demarco Source: www.nyc.com

Proposed Chatsworth addition elevation North
Image: Montroy Andersen Demarco
Source: www.nyc.gov

Developer HFZ Capital picked up the iconic Chatsworth apartments at 340 West 72nd Street for a cool $150 million in 2012 and announced plans for a penthouse addition in October. Yesterday, representatives for the developer shared with the Landmarks Preservation Commission the plans by Montroy Anderson Demarco for two new floors atop the main building of the 1904 Beaux Arts structure and one extra floor on its annex building next door. But the team pushing for the rooftop additions, an external facelift for the façade, 24 new windows, and extra entrances could only sit and watch in silence as a dozen community members and preservation advocates bashed the design and representatives for three elected officials registered their bosses’ disapproval. The commissioners pointed out that it’s even more difficult to get approval for work on an individually landmarked building. “That really says to me that we need to scrutinize any changes more carefully,” said Commissioner Elizabeth Ryan of that designation.

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Could a ‘green roof’ solve Brooklyn’s toxic waste woes?

by MARK SVENVOLD, Samsung Voice, Forbes, February 12, 2013

When Hurricane Sandy devastated New York in 2012, it created a uniquely nasty “perfect storm” in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. In the aftermath of the floods, rainwater overwhelmed the municipal water treatment systems, dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Gowanus Canal–already a federal Superfund toxic site.

For middle school teacher Lynn Shon, the problem hit home for several reasons. She’d already been investigating the phenomenon of water runoff with her science class at the Peter Rouget Middle School, (M.S. 88) in Park Slope, which borders Gowanus.

However, Shon had first heard about the issue two years ago as part of a curriculum development program at The Earth Institute at Columbia University. In urban areas, the asphalt and concrete that make up so much of these landscapes do not absorb water. During heavy rains, water runoff overwhelms municipal water treatment facilities; and when storms hit, these systems are forced to dump waste directly into rivers and streams like the Gowanus Canal.

The hazards of storm water runoff often go unnoticed, even in areas most affected by them. “I had no idea that the whole problem existed,” says Shon.

Wanting to explore the issue further, she entered her science class’s project in Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow contest, which challenges classrooms around the country to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to help solve environmental issues in communities.

As Shon’s class was working on a solution, the problem came right to their doorstep. Hurricane Sandy swamped the city’s water treatment systems. Sewage began pouring into the Gowanus Canal and surrounding rivers and beaches. “That storm really made the issue of sewage overflow relevant to our students,” says Shon.

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California installed more rooftop solar in 2013 than previous 30 years combined

by KILEY KROH, ThinkProgress, January 2, 2014

2013 was a banner year for clean energy and the U.S. solar industry was no exception. California, the nation’s solar standout, more than doubled its rooftop solar installations last year from 1,000 megawatts (MW) to 2,000 MW. To put this number in perspective, writes Bernadette Del Chiaro of the California Solar Energy Industries Association, it took California over 30 years to build the first 1,000 MW of rooftop solar.

“When utility-scale solar projects are added in, California’s total solar power picture well-exceeds 4,000 MW today — nearly twice as much installed capacity as exists at California’s last remaining nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon,” according to Del Chiaro.

And California isn’t alone in its rooftop solar surge. “About 200,000 U.S. homes and businesses added rooftop solar in the past two years alone — about 3 gigawatts of power and enough to replace four or five conventionally-sized coal plants,” Bloomberg reported.

As record numbers of homes and businesses decide to go solar, utility companies are growing increasingly uneasy about the threat it poses to their existing business model. If more customers install solar panels or adopt energy efficiency measures, a utility will sell fewer units of energy — especially during peak demand when energy costs are the highest. Therefore, utilities will increase their energy prices to cover costs such as grid maintenance and labor and as prices go up, more customers will look to energy efficiency and distributed energy resources to reduce their energy bills, perpetuating the cycle.

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