2013-12-19 Energy Week

12-13-2013

¶   With critical federal tax incentives set to expire on December 31, Environment New York, the National Wildlife Federation, and over 230 other organizations and elected officials urged the Obama administration to take action to facilitate the development of offshore wind power.[Long Island Exchange]

¶   A full-scale investigation is being launched into whether Britain’s deal with French nuclear giant EDF, backed with money from Chinese nuclear generators, to build new stations at Hinkley Point in the west of England, is illegal state aid.[eco-business.com]

¶   NIB and UPM-Kymmene Corp. have signed a €50 million loan agreement to construct the world’s first industrial biorefinery producing wood-based renewable diesel in Lappeenranta, Finland. [4-traders]

¶   China is looking to switch the emphasis of its booming domestic solar market towards the “distributed” market – essentially rooftop and small, local, plants – rather than large, utility-scale solar farms. [CleanTechnica]

12-14

¶   Solar panels were installed on more American residential rooftops in the third quarter of 2013 than any other quarter in history, pushing US installed solar capacity over the 10-gigawatt (GW) milestone and potentially ahead of Germany for the first time. [Energy Collective]

¶   Nobel laureate Dr. George Olah and Surya Prakash, director of the University of Southern California’s Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, hope to use solar power to create methanol efficiently from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, making it the alternative fuel of the future. [Green Car Reports]

¶   According to Nobel prize winner Carlo Rubbia, the sort of risk analyses that is used for nuclear power are simply insufficient. The analyses are based on probabilities. But Fukushima showed that these calculations simply don’t work in the real world. [Ars Technica]

12-15

¶   According to a new survey from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Consumers Union, 42% of current American drivers can use EVs with little change to driving habits or costly home charging infrastructure. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The average American family spends about $10,000 a year for transportation, according to Author Elly Blue’s new bookBikenomics. By biking, walking, and riding public transportation, a great deal of money could be saved by consumers. [CleanTechnica]

12-16

Japan is incapable of safely decommissioning the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant alone and must stitch together an international team for the massive undertaking, experts say, but has made only halting progress in that direction. [The Recorder]

12-17

¶   Siemens will supply 448 wind turbines — its largest onshore order even — to Billionaire Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy in the US. Each of the wind turbines supplied by Siemens has a nominal rating of 2.3 MW, making the total slightly more than 1020 MW. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Vermont’s Department of Public Service has unveiled a progress report on the “Total Energy Study” that will, by sometime next summer, lay out a road map for supplying the state’s energy needs with solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable technologies. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   A new report from the Australian Energy Market Operator forecasts 100% of new power in Australia will be generated from renewable energy sources through 2020, with wind power providing 84%, followed by solar, at 13%, and biomass at 3%. [PennEnergy]

¶   In China, the growth of its electric power system is now being powered more by renewables than by fossil fuels and nuclear combined. Wind and solar are growing at a great rate, while nuclear is barely moving. [Business Spectator]

12-18

¶   The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that the facility, the Omaha Public Power District’s Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, is safe to restart. Fort Calhoun, which is on the Missouri River about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been closed since April 2011. [New York Times]

¶   Several Michigan Republican leaders have formed a conservative group aimed at promoting renewable energy. The Michigan Conservative Energy Forum will push the state to reduce its dependence on coal and increase investment in renewables and efficiency. [MLive.com]

¶   The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said on Wednesday that it will decommission two reactors at the troubled site that escaped major physical damage from the 2011 tsunami. [Independent Online]

¶   NOAA reported that last month set a heat record as the warmest November on record, across Earth, since record-keeping began in 1880. They said it was the 345th straight month with above-average temperatures. [Huffington Post]

12-19

¶   Solar Frontier, a Japan-based thin-film solar technology company, has reportedly broken the CZTS (copper, zinc, tin, and sulfur or selenium) solar cell efficiency record, in partnership with IBM and TOK. The efficiency record of 12.6% was set on a solar cell of 0.42 square centimeters. [CleanTechnica]

¶   After six years on the drawing board, a Perth-based company has finally started building the world’s first wave energy farm off the West Australian coast. Carnegie Energy is building the plant five kilometres off Rockingham and will supply electricity and desalinated water. [ABC Online]

¶   The United States Enrichment Corporation, the leading US nuclear fuel supplier, plans to file for bankruptcy in the first quarter 2014 in order to restructure. The company will repay convertible bonds in October 2014 with $530 million raised from new equity and debt. [RT.com]

2013-12-12 Energy Week

12-6

¶   UniStar Nuclear Energy is completely withdrawing its application to build a third nuclear power plant at Nine Mile Point on Lake Ontario. The company told the NRC that the reason was because Nine Mile Point 3 was not selected for federal loan guarantees.

¶   Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) took to Washington’s streets on Thursday to push for the reform of a government biofuel program. The EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard increases the price of corn, Welch says, which has impacts on food and energy prices across the country.

¶   President Obama has set all US government agencies a 20% renewable energy generation target by 2020. Agencies must draw not less than 10% of their electricity from renewables by 2015, 15% in 2016 and 2017, 17.5% in 2018 and 2019 and not less than 20% by 2020.

12-7

¶   Vermont-based municipal utility Burlington Electric Department (BED) has reached an agreement with renewable energy company First Wind to buy power from the planned 54 MW Hancock Wind project near Ellsworth, Maine.

¶   Burbank Water and Power, a municipal utility, aims to obtain 66% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025. To meet the state goal, BWP is building a single integrated system to manage forecasting, generation, voltage and switching to optimize available resources.

12-8

¶   The average price for a new car in November 2013 (in the US) was $32,769, according to Kelley Blue Book. After the federal tax rebate of $7,500 (yes, it makes complete sense to include this), almost every plug-in electric car on the market is actually cheaper than that.

¶   Chinese state news has announced that the country’s on-grid solar power capacity will reach 10 GW by the end of 2013, a 200% increase from a year ago, based on figures forecast by the National Energy Administration.

¶   Australia has passed through another significant solar milestone, reaching 3 GW of solar PV this month, as Queensland nudged the 1 GW mark and states such as South Australia reached household penetration rates of 25 per cent.

12-9

¶   Britain’s coal-fired power producer Drax opened its coal-to-biomass conversion plant as part of a £700 million project to clean up emissions from the country’s biggest coal power station. The plant will have three of the six generating units converted to burn biomass in place of coal.

12-10

¶   The price of new power purchase agreements for wind farms and new solar projects in the US continue to defy all expectations, making some energy experts wonder why anyone would contemplate a new fossil-fuel plant.

¶   ”Renewable Energy, an Aging Electricity Grid, and the Solutions that Matter” The grid is old. With or without renewables, we must spend money updating it. One way or the other, we need to make major upgrades to the way we generate, transport, and store electricity.

¶   The Union of Concerned Scientists released new findings on viability of US coal generators, showing nearly 59 GW of coal power capacity are not cost competitive when compared with natural gas, and more than 71 GW are uneconomic when compared with wind power.

¶   With coal plant retirement news from Maryland and Pennsylvania last week, one-third of all coal-fired power plants in the country are now scheduled for retirement, bringing the total up to 158 of the nation’s 523 coal-fired power plants.

12-11

¶   Duke’s Energy’s will have the Crystal River nuclear plant “placed in a safe, stable condition for 60 years until decommissioning work is completed in 2074,” according to a plan submitted to federal authorities for tearing down the troubled facility.

¶   Over the next two decades, natural gas and renewable energy, particularly wind and solar, will provide all new power generation for the primary electricity grid in Texas , a new study predicts.

¶   The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced that it will be introducing a new strategy to help countries switch from coal as a source of energy to cleaner, renewable technologies.

12-12

¶   So far, 10,752 Indian villages have been electrified using various renewable energy systems. Over 29 GW of renewable capacity has been installed in India, including nearly 20 GW of windpower, almost 4 GW each of small hydro and bio energy, and 2 GW of solar.

¶   No fewer than 98,000 Nigerian women die annually from smokes inhaled during cooking with firewood, an official of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Bahijjahtu Abubakar, has said.

¶   International environmental group Greenpeace is urging Filipinos to make the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies answerable for adverse climate change impacts causing extreme weather conditions such as super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

 

2013-12-05 Energy Week (two weeks)

11-22

¶   According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects, 694 MW of new renewable capacity was added in October, 99.3% of the total. Of new capacity, 72.1% was solar, 17.7% was biomass, and 9.4% was windpower. [Green Building Elements]

¶   Wind and solar were the fastest growing technologies for electricity generation in 2012, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Wind capacity grew 28% to 60 GW in 2012 and PVs were up 83% to 7.3 GW compared to 2011. [Denver Post]

¶   As House and Senate budget negotiators look for ways to lower deficits, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) today introduced legislation to eliminate tax loopholes and subsidies that support the oil, gas and coal industries. [vtdigger.org]

11-23

¶   Duke Energy has agreed to pay $1 million over the deaths of more than a dozen protected eagles and other birds at its wind farms. The 14 eagles are not of an endangered species, but are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. [The Hill]

¶   TEPCO has transported 22 fuel assemblies from the Unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan to the nearby common pool building at the power plant for safe storage. [Energy Business Review]

11-25

¶   The DOEs National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released its 128-page 2012 Renewable Energy Data Book, providing data on renewable energy. Renewable energy now supplies 12.4 % of US demand, and 23% worldwide (4,892 TWh). [Energy Matters]

¶   Nebraska is rated third among the states for its wind-energy potential. And yet a year ago, it ranked only 26th for its actual wind-energy production. Several people familiar with wind energy in Nebraska say this is because of one anti-wind, anti-solar person. [Midwest Energy News]

11-26

¶   US: Ecotech Institute has released its Clean Jobs Index, which shows more than one million job postings in the clean energy sector from July 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013. These numbers reveal a 54% increase and the rapid growth of the sector. [Fierce Energy]

¶   Bills pending in the Vermont state House and Senate would have Vermont’s public employee pension funds sell off their investments in any company which has as a principal business the extraction, production, or manufacture of fossil fuels. [Rutland Herald]

¶   The Tasmanian Government has released a climate change strategy aimed at 100% renewable power. The Climate Smart Tasmania plan includes energy reduction targets across government, land use, infrastructure, transport and waste systems. [Yahoo!7 News]

¶   ”As We Consume More Fossil Fuels, Air Quality Actually Improves” For the record, this is sort of thing supporters of fossil fuels want us to believe. Using flawed logic, progress we make in fighting pollution is cynically implicitly credited to the polluters. [Forbes]

11-27

¶   Renewable Energy Vermont, a trade group for the solar industry and other renewable technologies, has asked Governor Peter Shumlin to support the state’s net metering program. To avoid standstill, new goals are needed as old goals are met. [Clean Energy Authority]

¶   The president of Taiwan says safety at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was enhanced by a system that can destroy the plant to prevent radiation leak. The system would come into operation if a disaster were about to happen. [Taipei Times]

¶   Every source of electricity we have kills some number of birds. And while solar panels may fare better than anything else, it’s actually clear (and uplifting) that wind turbines fare better than nuclear or fossil-fueled power plants on this front. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Central America has launched a range of small clean energy projects to address climate change, high oil prices, and power for remote regions. Now, almost 65% of the electric power supplied to public utilities in the region is from renewable energy sources. [Reuters AlertNet]

¶   LEGO Group has this week published a new set of environmental goals as it seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of its supply chain and move towards sourcing 100 per cent of its power from renewable sources. [Business Green]

11-30

¶   BrightSource Energy, a US company specializing in solar thermal electricity generation, is about to inaugurate the largest solar power plant ever built. The new plant of Ivanpah will use 170,000 mirrors to concentrate sunlight on three towers. [Environmental Expert]

¶   A recent GE announcement noted that E.ON Climate & Renewables’ will “PowerUP” 469 of its GE 1.5-77 wind turbines with “Brilliant” technology. The goal is to boost wind turbine output by up to 5%, producing about 20% more profit per wind turbine. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The International Energy Agency now sees wind power supplying as much as 18% of global demand by 2050, much more than the 12% by 2050 share forecast in its previous edition of the “Technology Roadmap: Wind Energy,” published in 2009. [POWER magazine]

¶   Solar PVs are on the rise. Currently, the whole world has installed 130 GW of PVs, a huge increase over the 1.4 GW in the year 2000. But it’s Europe that has really embraced PVs, since they account for 80 GW of that power. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

12-2

¶   Tax breaks for wind-power producers are set to expire in a little more than a month, threatening hundreds of manufacturing and energy jobs in Iowa alone if nothing is done. Iowa, already gets 25% of its power from wind, but could be at 50% by 2017. [Quad City Times]

¶   The European Commission is close to concluding that Britain’s nuclear program at Hinkley Point breaches EU state aid rules and may have to be revised, a move that could lead to long delays and even cause the complex deal to unravel. [Telegraph.co.uk]

12-3

¶   Two new reports from the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory say financing, permitting, installation labor, and other “soft costs” make up 64% of the total price of residential solar power systems. [Denver Business Journal]

12-4

¶   Ontario will defer construction of two new nuclear power reactors; back away from plans to refurbish operating units at Darlington and Bruce Power’s Bruce A site; and may order the shutdown of OPG’s six-unit Pickering plant prior to the units’ scheduled 2020 closing date. [PennEnergy]

¶   A six-mile-long U-shaped seawall costing £756 million is planned to run from Swansea docks to near the site of Swansea University’s new Fabian Way campus. The firm behind it says the scheme could generate 420,000 MWh of energy per year – enough to supply 121,000 homes. [BBC News]

¶   The financial world’s concerns with the ‘carbon bubble’ just became about as concrete as they can get. Bloomberg LP unveiled a new tool that helps investment managers quantify the risks climate change can pose to their portfolios. [Business Spectator]

12-5

¶   An alliance of corporations and conservative activists is mobilising to penalize homeowners who install their own solar panels – casting them as “freeriders” – in a sweeping new offensive against renewable energy, the Guardian has learned. [Raw Story]

¶   After suffering a power outage at last year’s game, the NFL looked for new ways to provide power for the 2014 Super Bowl. Energy company PSEG announced they partner with the NFL Environmental Program in order to provide renewable energy for Super Bowl XLVIII. [GetSolar.com]

¶   If the marginal cost of solar and wind energy is close enough to zero (because there is no fuel cost), then the energy price in a 100 per cent wind and solar market is going to be zero – at least in the current market structure. But who would invest? [RenewEconomy]