2014-11-06 Energy Week

Friday, October 31 :

¶   Northern Power Systems of Barre, Vermont has commissioned four of its NPS 100 wind turbines as part of a South Korean island hybrid energy project. The 100 kW turbines are in a hybrid system with solar, storage, and diesel to provide power at $.25 per kWh, a substantial saving for customers. [AltEnergyMag]

¶   Earlier this year, the Denmark’s leadership announced that it planned to phase out coal by 2030 and run its economy entirely on renewable power by 2050. Soon after, the Danish government reported that wind was becoming far cheaper than fossil fuels. Now, it says it wants to kill coal in ten years, not fifteen. [Motherboard]

¶   The French Interior Minister said the government has begun investigating drones flying above as many as 10 French nuclear power plants this month. The French office of the environmental activist group Greenpeace has denied any connection to the drone flights and denounced the lack of security. [Ars Technica]

¶   During the eight-month period from January through August, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert generated 254,263 MWh of electricity, according to US Energy Information Administration data. That’s roughly 38% of the power output that had been anticipated. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   New Hampshire has approved Palmer Capital’s 14.25-MW Jericho Mountain wind project in Coos County. The state executive committee voted in favor of a $4 million bond to help finance the fully-permitted project, which will employ 5 GE 2.85-MW turbines. Jericho Mountain is expected to come online in 2015. [reNews]

Saturday, November 1:

¶   Australian households and businesses have installed more than 1 GW of rooftop solar since July, 2013, with the rate of installations growing in the last few months due to uncertainty about the future of the renewable energy target. Queensland the biggest market, followed by Victoria, NSW and South Australia. [CleanTechnica]

¶   More than 100 people rallied in support of a wind farm proposed off Long Island’s coast at a meeting of the Long Island Power Authority board. Ratepayers, community activists, labor and political leaders convened outside the utility’s headquarters, and once inside the building, they packed the conference room. [Long Island Press]

Sunday, November 2:

¶   The United Nations’ expert panel on climate science on Saturday finished a report on global warming that the UN’s environment agency said offers “conclusive evidence” that humans are altering the Earth’s climate system. The document is scheduled to be released on November 2. [Phys.Org]

¶   Plans for what will soon be the biggest municipal fleet of electrified vehicles in the nation were recently pushed through in the City of Indianapolis, through a new initiative dubbed the “Freedom Fleet.” The EV fleet of 425 EV or PHEV sedans is expected to be deployed in early 2016. Police will continue with gas-powered cars. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, November 3:

¶   When the European Commission came forward with its proposal for a 2030 energy and climate framework earlier this year, transportation was a missing piece. Transportation is responsible for around a quarter of EU CO2 emissions – a share that is increasing while CO2 emissions from other sectors are generally falling. [Business Green]

¶   Staff at South Africa’s Majuba electric station noticed a crack in a coal storage silo on Saturday afternoon. Forty minutes later, the structure collapsed, causing the station’s output to drop from 3,600 MW to 1,800. Now there are rolling blackouts in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth. [AllAfrica.com]

¶   A 750-mile interstate power line promises to deliver wind-generated electricity to Columbia, Missouri at nearly half the price the city now pays. Columbia would pay $20 to $30 less per megawatt-hour for electricity, according to Clean Line Energy Partners, the company behind the project. [Columbia Missourian]

Tuesday, November 4:

Picture: Ian Rutherford

¶   Scottish wind turbines generated an estimated 982,842 MWh of electricity last month – with environmental group WWF Scotland suggesting this was enough to power 3,045,000 homes, the equivalent of 126% of the electricity needs of every home in Scotland, based on analysis of data from WeatherEnergy. [Scotsman]

¶   The potential for saving electricity from used car batteries is growing steadily. The International Energy Agency estimates that there will be 4 million electric cars on the roads by 2015, rising to 20 million in 2020. An estimate of capacity could be 40 kWh, implying that used car batteries could provide storage capacity of 128 GWh by 2020. [Bellona]

¶   The Indian power sector is heading for a $1 billion, or Rs 6,000 crore, saving in coal transportation cost and earnings of another Rs 3,600 crore by additional generation as the government plans to tweak fuel supply arrangements to ensure that coal from each mine or port is shipped to closest plant. [Economic Times]

Wednesday, November 5:

¶   The cost estimates for solar PV used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its latest report fail to take into account most recent cost reductions for the technology, reports Helle Abelvik-Lawson, and exaggerate financing costs. The result is to understate the importance of PV in a low carbon future. [The Ecologist]

¶   TEPCO completed the removal of 1,331 spent fuel rods from the upper levels of the badly damaged reactor No. 4 building at Fukushima Daiichi on Wednesday. The No. 4 building was a source of concern during the disaster because of fears it would collapse in another earthquake, leading to exposure of the spent fuel. [AsiaOne]

¶   According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), no new coal-fired plants came to service in the first 6 months of 2014, and only two small units are projected to come on line by the end of the year. The prospects for more coal-fired plants in the future look dismal for several reasons. [RenewEconomy]

Thursday, November 6: 

¶   On Tuesday night in the US, Republicans – and particularly those who reject climate science and despite renewable energy, won big in the US Congressional elections. This is not good news for climate. The Senate is now in the hands of a group of people who make pro-coal Australian politicians look moderate. [RenewEconomy]

A plume of exhaust extends from the Mitchell Power Station, a coal-fired power plant built along the Monongahela River, 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, on Sept. 24, 2013 in New Eagle, Pa.(Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

¶   Environmental groups lost big in the elections, but there was one surprising winner: The Northeast’s multi-state carbon-trading plan. Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Wolf, the sole bright spot for Democrats on the state level, has promised to move Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. [National Journal]

¶   The sulfur levels in marine bunker fuel are as high is 100 to 3,500 times what is permitted in diesel fuel for road traffic in China. As a result, one container ship cruising along the coast of China emits as much diesel pollution as 500,000 new Chinese trucks in a single day. [Energy Collective]

2014-10-30 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Friday, October 24:

¶   European leaders agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 40% by 2030, in a move that could pave the way for a global treaty on tackling climate change next year. The wording means that the target could be raised to 50% in the event an ambitious emissions reduction deal is agreed in Paris next year. [Business Green]

¶   Japan warned that a volcano in southern Japan located roughly 64 km (40 miles) from the Sendai nuclear plant was showing signs of increased activity that could possibly lead to a small-scale eruption and warned people to stay away from the summit. The government is trying to get the Sendai plant restarted soon. [www.worldbulletin.net]

¶   Since Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, darkening swaths of the nation’s most densely populated state for days, a microgrid at Princeton University has emerged as a national example of how to keep power running for residents, emergency workers and crucial facilities when the next disaster strikes. [Princeton University]

Saturday, October 25:

¶   Rick Piltz passed away. He was a prominent whistleblower during the George W. Bush administration, leaking internal documents, showing that the administration was actively obscuring climate science. A White House staffer later admitted to editing reports to downplay effects of climate change. [Scientific American]

¶   Nuclear power generation will account for less than 30% of all electricity generated in Japan, according to the newly appointed economy minister. This is the first time a minister has referred to a specific rate for electricity generated at nuclear power plants since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. [The Japan News]

¶   The Ford Focus Electric 2015 edition is getting a significant price cut of about $6000, down to $29,995, according to recent reports – thus finally putting it on competitive terms with the market leader, the Nissan LEAF. This is actually the second price cut for the Ford Focus Electric, which debuted at $39,995 four years ago. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, October 26:

¶   Masao Uchibori, the only party-candidate running, won the Fukushima gubernatorial election, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun. While all six candidates aimed to decommission the all remaining nuclear reactors in the prefecture, Uchibori was the only one to back restarting other Japanese nuclear reactors. [The Japan News]

¶   According to data published by the China Coal Resource, China’s coal use has dropped this year by 1.28%, a downward trend started in the second quarter of 2014 and continued in the third. This, despite the fact that electricity consumption has actually increased by 4% over the year to date. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Australian Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says the government hasn’t walked away from a 20% renewable energy target, but a drop in power consumption has required a “recalibration”. The government wants to adjust the RET to a “real 20%”, in effect slashing it from 41,000 GWh to about 27,000 GWh. [Yahoo!7 News]

Monday, October 27:

¶   The risk of severe winters in Europe and northern Asia has been dubled by global warming, according to new research. The counter-intuitive finding is the result of climate change melting the Arctic ice cap and causing new wind patterns that push freezing air and snow southwards. [The Guardian]

¶   Solar giant SunEdison made several announcements last week in relation to major solar energy projects in California, as it completes major phases of project development. To date, the company has completed 382 projects in California in total, adding more than 489 MW of solar capacity in the state. [Energy Matters]

Tuesday, October 28:

¶   The states of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont and the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota filed separate appeals to challenge the NRC’s review on nuclear storage. They contend that federal officials did not conduct a thorough analysis of the long-term risks of dry-cask storage. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

¶   New data highlights the catastrophe of the Australian Coalition government’s campaign against renewable energy. In a period when possibly 1,000 MW of solar projects should have been commissioned, just 10 MW of solar projects have been committed in 2014, almost one third of them on IKEA’s rooftops. [RenewEconomy]

¶   A town in southwest Japan became the first to approve the restart of a nuclear power station on October 28, one step in Japan’s fraught process of reviving an industry left idled by the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011. Satsuma-sendai, a town of 100,000, has long relied on the Sendai nuclear power plant for government subsidies and jobs. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   A new Alevo factory in Concord, North Carolina will produce shipping containers loaded with Alevo batteries to provide 2 MW of power (1 MWh of energy) to be attached to grids at strategic locations. These units will also provide a range of services to deliver efficiencies and eliminate waste. [Renewable Energy Focus]

Wednesday, October 29:

¶   “Every­thing is im­pos­sible until it is done,” says an official of the German region of Rhein-Hunsruck. The district uses wind, sol­ar, bio­mass and hy­dro sup­ply 177% of its elec­tri­city, and sells the sur­plus. C02 emis­sions have fall­en by 64% since 1990 and the economy has $50 million per year more than it had. [Edmonton Journal]

¶   The results of India’s latest solar auction are in, and it is bad news for developers of Australian coal projects – solar PV is cheaper for Indian users than the electricity price needed to pay for imports of coal from Australia. The low bids were below $0.09/kWh, at a price at which coal imports are not economically viable. [RenewEconomy]

¶   China is on course this year to build four times the total wind power installed in all of Denmark as developers push to build the turbines ahead of cuts to incentives originally designed to spur the industry. The nation may add as much as 20 gigawatts of wind power in 2014 and maintain that pace next year. [Businessweek]

¶   Europe is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24% by 2020 from 1990 levels, four percentage points higher than its goal, the European Environment Agency reported. The bloc was also on its way to meet the target of having renewable sources account for at least 20% of energy needs by 2020. [Channel News Asia]

Thursday, October 30:

¶   “Wind Power Is Cheaper, More Reliable, Than Natural Gas” There is a lesson to be learned from the debate in Australia and the analysis it produces: Not only is traditional fossil generation intermittent – and dangerously so – but the intermittency of some renewables is simply not a problem. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Germany is considering removing some of its coal plant capacity as part of a raft of new policies to help meet greenhouse gas emissions goals. On 3 December, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet is to decide on a programme that is likely to include steps to boost energy efficiency and possibly reduce coal generation. [EurActiv]

¶   Rooftop solar PV systems have reached grid parity – which means it costs the same or less than getting electricity from the power grid – in 10 US states. According to the latest report of the solar energy analyst at Deutsche Bank, by 2016, solar rooftop will reach grid parity in all 50 US states. [Treehugger]

2014-10-23 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Friday, October 17:

¶   Italian utility Enel is considering phasing out 23 “obsolete” thermal power plants in Italy in the near future, accounting for 11 GW or 43% of the company’s existing thermal generation capacity. The decommissioning procedure for nine plants has already started, Starace added, listing units with a combined capacity of 2.2 GW. [ICIS]

¶   The UK’s National Audit Office has begun an investigation into the controversial subsidy regime for the planned new Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. The financial watchdog will be checking whether the guaranteed prices of £92 a megawatt hour – double the current cost of electricity – represented “value for money”. [The Guardian]

An artist’s impression of Hinkley Point C. The NAO move has pleased green groups which believe nuclear is getting preferential treatment over windfarms. Photograph: EDF/PA

¶   The Army is gaining ground on its goal of going fossil fuel-free at many of its installations, according to the recently released program summary for its Net Zero initiative. The report, which covers fiscal 2013, breaks down efforts at nine pilot installations in the program. [Defense Systems]

Saturday, October 18:

¶   Queensland network operator Ergon Energy wants to take some remote customers off-grid because of the cost of maintaining its sprawling grid network. New technology, such as solar and battery storage, costs so little it makes sense that some customers have stand-alone energy systems. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The NRC issued a much-delayed report on Thursday on Yucca Mountain’s suitability for vast shipments of spent nuclear fuel, saying it would be safe for storing nuclear waste. The 780-page staff report concluded the site “with reasonable expectation” could satisfy federal licensing requirements. [The Fiscal Times]

¶   Officials with the soon-to-close Vermont Yankee nuclear plant said Friday it could cost up to $1.24 billion to decommission the reactor, and that they currently have about half that much in a fund dedicated to paying for that work. The figure was contained in a “site assessment study.” [Washington Times]

¶   A prominent volcanologist disputed regulators’ conclusion that two nuclear reactors are safe from a volcanic eruption in the next few decades, saying such a prediction is impossible. He said a cauldron eruption at one of several volcanoes surrounding the Sendai could cause a nationwide disaster. [The Japan Times]

Mt Ontake, photo by KAMUI, from Wikimedia Commons.

Sunday, October 19:

¶   The International Energy Agency just released its second annual Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014 confirming energy efficiency’s place as the world’s “first fuel” and estimating the value of the energy efficiency market at between $310 and $360 billion and growing. [Energy Collective]

¶   India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has released revised guidelines for auction of solar photovoltaic power projects with a significant hike in overall capacity. The government plans to add 15 GW of solar power capacity by Q1 2019. The first of the auctions will involve 1,000 MW of capacity. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, October 20:

¶   “Is France’s Love Affair with Nuclear Over?” During the next 11 years, France will reduce the percentage of electricity coming from nuclear from 75% to 50%. To do that, estimates are that as many as 20 of France’s 58 reactors would have to be closed and replaced with efficiency and renewable sources of power. [OilPrice.com]

¶   Investors are seeking funding from the UK government for an ambitious plan to import solar energy generated in North Africa. The TuNur project aims to bring 2 GW of solar power, enough for 2.5 million UK homes, to the UK from Tunisia if the company wins a contract for difference. [BBC News]

An impression of what a large-scale concentrated solar power facility might look like in the Tunisian desert

¶   A recent Union of Concerned Scientists study found that America can nearly quadruple its renewable electricity in the next 15 years, reaching 23% by 2030. This comes in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal that America set a modest goal of 12% renewable energy by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, October 21:

¶   The hot summer was the third in which Southern California went without 2,200 MW from the San Onofre nuclear plant. Drought reduced the state’s hydroelectric output by another 1,628. Despite these events, California did not have any major outages, primarily because of its increased renewable capacity. [KCET]

¶   A report from the EU on power prices is only the latest of a number coming to the same conclusion. Along with three earlier reports, it proved that “wind energy is one of the lowest cost options for reducing carbon emissions,” with each focusing on a different attribute of wind energy’s performance. [CleanTechnica]

¶   A new, somewhat clever means of managing and improving the efficiency of the power grid was recently unveiled by a coalition of some of the world’s largest automakers. It is in fact simply a technology that allows for the direct communication of utility companies and plug-in electric vehicles, via the cloud. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Renewable energy lies at the heart of a dispute between Spain and France: Spanish wind turbines easily produce more power than is needed in the domestic market but that energy is wasted because there are few transmission lines to carry it across the border to France, but France wants to protect its nuclear reactors from competition. [Financial Times]

Wednesday, October 22:

¶   The Department of Defense released its 2014 Climate Change Adaption Roadmap, outlining how the military plans to adapt to climate change. For the first time, the Pentagon discusses climate change as an immediate risk – a factor to be incorporated into how the military operates today. [Energy Collective]

¶   A new report from the US DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley and National Renewable Energy Laboratories on the price impacts of its SunShot initiative has found the cost of solar energy in America fell by up to 19% in 2013, with utility-scale PV systems falling below $2 a watt – 59% below what modeled pricing predicted in 2010. [Energy Matters]

¶   The US wind industry saw installations surpass last year’s total last month, according to new data published this week. The American Wind Energy Association announced that the total for the first nine months of 2014 was 1,254 MW. The installations for 2014 have now exceeded the 1,088 MW installed during the whole of last year. [Business Green]

Thursday, October 23:

¶   Trash to fuel, the stuff of the 1980s sci-fi comedy movie trilogy “Back to the Future” is now a reality. The 2015 Bi-fuel Chevrolet Impala – not a tricked-out DeLorean – really can run on leftovers, table scraps and, oh yeah, grains from brewing beer, as Quasar Energy Group uses organic waste to produce biogas, which can fuel the car. [Florida Weekly]

¶   The US is reducing oil dependence, slowing the growth of electricity needs, and making energy services more affordable to all Americans – and our smarter use of energy is the single most important contributor to these positive trends, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council. [AltEnergyMag]

¶   Satellite observations of huge oil and gas basins in East Texas and North Dakota confirm staggering 9% and 10% leakage rates of heat-trapping methane. Scientists evaluating this put the use of fracked gas in perspective. In short, fracking speeds up human-caused climate change, thanks to methane leaks alone. [ThinkProgress]

 

2014-10-16 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Friday, October 10:

¶   Less than 4 GW of natural gas-fired power plants are being built in Western Europe, the lowest level in more than 10 years, according to the Platts Power in Europe Project Tracker. The Tracker which shows electric power generation capacity and construction in Europe. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]

¶   In line with a campaign promise by President Francois Hollande in 2012, the French parliament has voted to reduce the share of nuclear energy in electricity generation to 50% from the current level of 75% and has also adopted a program to drastically reduce energy consumption before 2050. [Kuwait News Agency]

¶   The Austrian government will challenge at the European Court of Justice the European Commission’s OK to use of billions of taxpayer pounds to back the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in the UK. Vienna believes the EC decision could pave the way for the construction of other new nuclear power stations closer to home. [Recharge]

Saturday, October 11:

¶   Since last summer there have been rumors that GM is building a $30,000 electric car with a driving range of 200 miles, and the Detroit Free Press reports that GM has confirmed the existence of this EV, minus any revealing details. Select investors and media were invited to check out several upcoming GM vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

¶   China has announced it will reintroduce import tariffs of 6% a tonne on thermal coal used to generate electricity and a 3% a tonne on metallurgical coal used to smelt iron. The tariffs are not new but a return to those that were in place when China first began to import significant quantities of coal. [CleanTechnica]

¶   ZooShare Biogas Cooperative Inc is building a 500-kW biogas plant conveniently located across from the Toronto Zoo. Scheduled to be operational by December 2015, the facility will produce renewable power for the Ontario grid, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 10,000 tonnes each year. [Canada NewsWire]

Sunday, October 12:

¶   “WSJ Gets it Wrong on ‘Why Peak Oil Predictions Haven’t Come True'” A wrong version of how our economy works has been handed down through the academic world, through our system of peer review, with each academic researcher following in the tracks of previous academic researchers. [Energy Collective]

¶    Just two weeks after the largest climate march in history, over 250 groups from nearly 40 countries urged United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to reject fracking as a part of the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative. This came on the eve of the Global Frackdown, a day of action to ban fracking on October 11th. [eNews Park Forest]

¶   Residents who live in Massachusetts towns that have municipal electric companies enjoy smaller monthly electric bills than customers who live in communities served by National Grid. The difference will grow even wider on the heels of a 37% rate increase by National Grid that will go into effect on November 1. [Worcester Telegram]

Monday, October 13:

¶   Norwegian energy firm Statnett has been granted a licence to allow it to start working with the UK to build the world’s longest sub-sea cable. The huge cable running under the sea will be able to carry 1,400 megawatts of electricity and is scheduled to be operational by 2020. [The Local.no]

¶   There have been several instances in recent months when wind energy has accounted for all, or nearly all, electricity demand in South Australia. Last Tuesday, however, set a new benchmark – the combination of wind energy and rooftop solar provided more than 100% of the state’s electricity needs, for a whole working day between 9:30am and 6pm. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, October 14:

¶   This past September was the warmest since records began in 1880, according to new data released by NASA this weekend. The announcement continues a trend of record or near-record breaking months, including last May and August. This means 2014 will become the warmest year on record. [Huffington Post]

¶   Onshore wind is cheaper than coal, gas or nuclear energy when the costs of ‘external’ factors like air quality, human toxicity and climate change are taken into account, according to an EU analysis. The report says that onshore wind costs roughly €105 per MW/h, while gas comes in at €164, coal at €233, and nuclear at €125. [The Guardian]

¶   Of the total €120 billion to €140 billion in energy subsidies handed out by the 28 EU member states in 2012, coal accounted for €10.1 billion, exactly the same amount as onshore wind, despite it being a markedly more mature industry and its central role in driving up greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. [Business Green]

¶   In the report, Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said uncertainty in climate change projections cannot be an “excuse for delaying action.” The 20-page report was released as Hagel attended a conference in Peru with his counterparts from North and South America. [International Business Times]

Wednesday, October 15:

¶   A new survey of Australian households conducted by Ernst & Young across regional and metro Victoria, NSW and Queensland found 9 out of 10 Australians have considered or would consider switching to solar power. The main motivation is cutting electricity bills, but environmental benefits have appeal too. [Treehugger]

¶   Just a few years ago, with prices of coal through the roof, it was cigars and caviar time for an industry who were proposing more new projects than you could point an activist at. A long and glorious future was expected, based on China’s insatiable demand for coal. Now, things have changed, and coal companies are in trouble. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Green Mountain Power today announced that it is once again sponsoring a program to help eight non-profits construct solar arrays. The Vermont Public Service Board approved a GMP proposal to award eight matching grants of up to $20,000 each to non-profit groups all across Vermont, and GMP is encouraging organizations to apply. [vtdigger.org]

Thursday, October 16:

¶   The price of oil has gone down because of high production levels from Saudi Arabia. In order to protect market share, the Saudi’s have decided to keep producing at current levels. While they are still making a good profit, US producers cannot break even with crude oil prices hovering around $80/bbl. [Resilience]

¶   In early March, when Russia first sent troops into Ukraine, oil was trading comfortably above $100 per barrel. Now, it is around $81, a three-year low. That’s tough for Russia since the country relies heavily on oil revenues to bankroll its budget – over half of the government’s revenues come from oil and gas. [CNN Money]

¶   US-based aerospace giant Lockheed Martin says it has devised a new type of miniature nuclear fusion power generator. In the announcement of October 15, the defence technology company said its new compact fusion reactor could be developed and deployed in as little as ten years. [The Australian]

¶   The renewable power that Vermont homeowners and businesses generate has more than doubled since 2012, according to a report by the Department of Public Service on the state’s net-metering program. This growth is expected to continue ahead of looming uncertainty over the federal solar tax credit for solar PVs. [Reformer]

2014-10-09 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Friday, October 3:

¶   Navigant Research says in a new report that between January 2013 and September 2014, 91 new grid-scale energy storage systems totaling 362.8 MW were announced or launched. Lithium-ion technology is most commonly used, but flywheels and flow batteries are emerging as storage options. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The US and India are committed to creating a binding climate deal next year, a joint statement from the two nations said. US president Barack Obama and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi held talks in Washington yesterday, at which they recognized the importance greenhouse gas emissions and improving resilience. [Argus Media]

¶   NJ Transit has received $1.3 billion in federal funds to improve the resilience of the state’s transportation system in the event of devastating future storms. The funds include $410 million to develop the NJ TransitGrid into a first-of-its-kind microgrid capable of keeping the power running when the electric grid goes down. [Energy Collective]

Saturday, October 4:

¶   Suggestions that the current Australian Renewable Energy Target of 41,000 GWh by 2020 is infeasible have been laughed off by global wind development company Windlab, who have released figures showing that not only is the target feasible, but could be met by existing approved wind energy that has simply yet to be constructed. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The cost of solar power plus battery storage is about to dip below the average electricity bill in Germany, according to new analysis by the global investment bank HSBC. The bank projects that the dropping prices of home solar and home battery storage is about to massively disrupt traditional power generation. [ThinkProgress]

¶   In his recent speech on climate change at the United Nations, President Obama stated: “Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution by more than any other nation on Earth.” According to data found in the BP Statistical Review, he is correct. [Canada Free Press]

¶   Renewables have been capturing a larger and larger portion of the total global energy infrastructure pie, while the portion nuclear energy has not just been stagnating but actually shrinking somewhat. More interestingly, solar and wind energy are each gaining fast on nuclear independently. [CleanTechnica]

¶   There is good news coming for nearly 25,000 Indian villages still passing nights under darkness due to unavailability of electricity. Instead of relying over power grids, these villages will get electricity by using novel clean energy solutions, achieving the dream illuminating rural areas without grid electricity. [Oneindia]

¶   New England has always endured high electricity costs, but this year’s 37% price surge reflects a relatively new problem: As many old coal-burning plants have retired, natural gas accounts for about half the region’s electricity generation. Utilities and customers  are both exposed to gas price spikes. [Boston Globe]

Monday, October 6:

¶   Younicos is a company that combines different kinds of battery systems with software to provide grid backup. A system of 2 GW, providing 1 hour of backup capacity, could replace all thermal power plants in Germany that are used for frequency regulation, providing for 60% renewables on the grid. [RenewEconomy]

¶   California just achieved a new record for utility-scale solar power generation. On September 29, 4.903 GW of electricity was generated by solar PV from utility-scale sources and concentrated solar power. About 2.8 GW of California’s solar capacity is not included in the data because it is not utility-scale. [Solar Love]

¶   You might not picture former Secretary of State George Shultz as someone who drives an electric car, or has solar panels on the roof of his home. But he does — and Shultz has become a vocal proponent of action to combat climate change. He brought that message to MIT in a talk on advocating further efforts. [Energy Collective]

Tuesday, October 7:

¶   At least 54 GW of US offshore wind energy generation capacity could be deployed by 2030, according to a new study funded by the DOE, which focused on helping DOE achieve two goals: reducing the cost of offshore wind energy and shortening the time required to deploy offshore wind generation capacity. [Triple Pundit]

¶   Two agencies in western Massachusetts, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and the Connecticut River Watershed Council, are intervening in a proposal to allow the Northfield Mountain hydroelectric station temporarily to boost output by pumping and releasing more river water at its mountaintop reservoir. [The Recorder]

Wednesday, October 8:

¶   Britain won EU approval for a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point on Wednesday, allowing the government to commit to 35 years of financial support for Europe’s biggest and most controversial infrastructure project. EU commissioners from at least five countries voiced opposition to the plan. [Financial Times]

¶   Offshore wind power is not usually associated with lower-cost energy, at least not in the public imagination. But it turns out that installing 54 GW of offshore wind power off America’s coasts can cut the cost of electricity in the US by an astounding $7.68 billion a year. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶   As the drought in California continues to strain the state’s hydropower resources, natural gas and renewables are locked in competition to determine which will capture the lion’s share of the lost hydropower capacity. Natural gas output has an inverse relationship with hydropower generation. [Platts]

Thursday, October 9:

¶   The US DOE has issued a Presidential Permit for the 1 GW Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission Project, which will deliver hydro generation from Quebec in Canada to New York City. The buried 333-mile HVDC line will run the length of Lake Champlain and through parts of the Hudson River. [reNews]

¶   Reports yesterday claim the government has ditched the Warburton review, which called for renewable projects to be scrapped or phased out. Talks between the government and Labor to save the target have begun after both sides agreed to exempt struggling aluminium smelters from the RET costs. [Warrnambool Standard]

¶   Less than five months since breaking ground on a new 2-MW solar project in Brattleboro, Vermont, Winstanley Enterprises was joined by development team members and supporters to officially mark the project’s completion. The system will produce 40% of Brattleboro’s immediate electrical needs on a clear afternoon. [AltEnergyMag]