WCA November 2014

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Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2014
From the Americas
Perceived roadblocks for suppliers include tighter
regulations and more electronics and technology in
vehicles.
Despite these factors – and the necessity for the auto
industry to deal with potentially disruptive forces such
as automated vehicles and new players like Google,
competing for talent – Mr Andrea saw suppliers as more
optimistic about the ensuing 12 months than they were
at the same point in 2013.
 A report on earnings from Nissan Motor Co for the
quarter ended 30th June – the first of the Japanese
automaker’s fiscal year – reflected particularly strong
sales growth in the USA and China, up 14.1 per cent and
21.1 per cent, respectively.
The strong showing in these key markets drove
company revenue up 10.4 per cent to $24.1 billion and
net income higher by 36.7 per cent to $1.1 billion.
But Nissan may have hit its outside limit in the USA
where, according to the World Bank, car ownership
is nearly 800 per 1,000 people – close to complete
saturation. Growth prospects are much greater in China,
the world’s largest car market, where ownership is less
than 100 cars per 1,000 of the population.
Energy
Technically and economically feasible
now: conversion of California’s energy
infrastructure to one powered by
renewables
“I believe that, with these plans, the people and political
leaders of California and New York can chart a new way
forward for our country and for the world.”
The plans cited by Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology
and environmental biology at Cornell University (Ithaca,
New York), are being developed for all 50 states of the
USA with the intention of promoting a nationwide shift
away from fossil fuels toward energy from wind, water and
sunlight.
The first to be published charts a way for California to
supply all of its transportation, electric power, industrial,
and heating and cooling needs with inexpensive and reliable
renewable energy by mid-century.
As reviewed by Rob Jordan in R&D magazine, a study
published by Stanford University (Palo Alto, California) and
co-authored by Dr Howarth and others presented a scenario
whereby the Golden State’s power demands of 2050 would
be met from a mix of sources including:
• 25,000 onshore 5-megawatt wind turbines
• 1,200 100-megawatt concentrated solar plants
• 15 million 5-kilowatt residential rooftop photovoltaic
systems
• 72 100-megawatt geothermal plants
• 5,000 0.75-megawatt wave devices
• 3,400 1-megawatt tidal turbines
The researchers, led by Mark Z Jacobson, a Stanford
professor of civil and environmental engineering, also found
that the decrease in emissions attendant on the switch
from fossil fuels to renewable energy would reduce
California’s climate change-related costs – eg for coastal
erosion and extreme weather damage – by about $48 billion
per year. (“Study Shows How to Power California with Wind,
Water and Sun,” 25th July)
To co-author Mark Delucchi of the University of California,
Davis, the most interesting finding was that the plan
will reduce social costs related to air pollution and
climate change by about $150 billion per year in 2050 –
‘and that these savings will pay for all new energy
generation in only seven years.’
For his part, co-author Anthony Ingraffea, of Cornell,
stressed that the technologies needed for a quick transition
to an across-the-board, renewables-based statewide
energy system are available today. He summed up the
stark choice facing both California and New York: “Double
down on 20th Century fossil fuels or accelerate toward
a clean, green energy future.”
 A current renewable energy initiative is the re-purposing
of the former Bethlehem Steel plant at Lackawanna,
New York. BQ Energy, of Poughkeepsie, which is also
responsible for a local wind farm, has announced plans
to commence installation of 13,000 solar panels on the
historic site before the end of the year.
During World War II, Bethlehem Lackawanna was the
largest steelmaking operation in the world, with 20,000
workers producing steel plate for ships, tanks and other
military material.
“[The solar project] shows that we’re heading in a
new direction,” Fred Heinle, the town’s director of
development, told CBS-TV (14th August). “We’re taking
our rust belt image and we’re creating a new, green,
sustainable, resilient community here in Lackawanna.”
Solar redux: After a prolonged slump,
American solar panel manufacturers get a
boost from US trade pressure on China
Finding that Chinese solar companies had dumped their
products on the American market, the United States
Commerce Department at midyear imposed duties on those
imports ranging from 10.74 per cent to 55.49 per cent.
The action followed quickly on a separate ruling by
Commerce that Chinese solar panel manufacturers had
benefited from unfair government subsidies, and imposed
duties of about 19 per cent to 35 per cent.
As noted by Diane Cardwell and Keith Bradsher of the New
York Times, the two rulings – while preliminary – had the
effect of reshaping the industry, lifting manufacturers based
outside China while also raising prices of solar panels for
developers. (“Solar Industry Is Rebalanced by US Pressure
on China,” 25 th July)
The bracing effect of the higher tariffs was quickly evident,
running panel prices up by about ten per cent in the interval