2015-01-02 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Wednesday, December 24:

• Reactor operators at Vermont Yankee are getting ready for the nuclear plant’s final shutdown next Monday. Their preparation includes training on a control room simulator at the company’s corporate offices in Brattleboro. The simulator is an exact replica of the control room at the Vernon plant. [Vermont Public Radio]
• Going solar, according to new research by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, might be a more beneficial economic energy choice in states one does not expect to see at the top of the list. Hawaii and California do top the list, but the number three state is not very sunny at all; it is Connecticut. [CleanTechnica]
• A series of studies from government research agencies and industry in the last few years have found that anywhere from 5% to 20% of today’s natural gas demand could be met with renewable natural gas, also known as bio-methane. It is produced in bio-digesters, from landfills, and through other carbon-neutral methods. [Energy Collective]

Thursday, December 25:

• The Indian cabinet has now officially cleared the way for setting up of 25 Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects across India. Each of these projects will have a capacity of 500 MW or more, totaling 20 GW. They are scheduled to be set up by 2019 and will receive a Central Government financial support of $649 million. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, December 26:

• The US EPA has a formula to evaluate nuclear power in its carbon reduction plan. It says 5.8% of existing nuclear capacity was at risk of being shut for financial reasons, and thus for states with nuclear reactors, keeping them running would earn a credit of 5.8% toward that state’s carbon reduction goal. [New York Times]
• The 10th edition of the Climate Change Performance Index has good and bad news. The index compares the 58 top carbon-emitting nations. It reveals that global carbon emissions have reached a new peak. However, the index indicates that countries have recently developed a new readiness to take action on climate change. [Triple Pundit]

Saturday, December 27:

• ERCOT, which manages 90% of Texas’ electric grid, took another look at the impact of seven EPA clean air safeguards on the electric grid. They now say that once power companies comply with EPA’s other clean air protections, the proposed Clean Power Plan’s requirements could be met by closing a single coal-fired plant. [Energy Collective]
• One misperception in San Francisco is that, due to the fog, the solar power potential for the city is not good, but this is not true. San Francisco’s solar radiation is 93% of San Diego’s, and cooler temperatures make photovoltaics more efficient, because PV systems operate more efficiently at lower temperatures. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, December 28:

• The Windham Solid Waste Management District says it has 11 proposals to build a solar array on a closed landfill in Brattleboro, Vermont. Four of the proposals are from Vermont companies. The system being considered will have a capacity of 5 MW. It will provide revenue for the district and its 19 member towns. [Press Herald]
• Elon Musk announced that Tesla will relaunch its Roadster model. The new model will have a new battery pack, increasing the distance the car can travel. According to the company, the new battery pack will allow the car to travel about 400 miles with a single charge compared to 245 miles with the current model. [Uncover Michigan]

Monday, December 29:

• The New York Public Service Commission approved Con Ed’s Brooklyn-Queens Demand Management Program. The plan calls for replacing about $1 billion to upgrade two substations, which the utility says it would need to do by 2018, with less expensive distributed alternatives. [Energy Collective]

Tuesday, December 30:

• “Five energy surprises for 2015: The possible and the improbable” Predictions: Oil and gas production both going into decline, oil going below $30 per barrel, a breakthrough in solar thermal, an international agreement calling for binding GHG emissions limits, and oil at over $100 per barrel by the end of the year. [Resilience]
• 2014 saw new records for German renewables, which produced 25.8% of the year’s power. Wind power hit a new record peak of 29.7 GW on December 12. Coal-fired power in Germany during 2014 was 10% less than in 2013. Gas-fired power plants dropped to 9.7% while nuclear energy’s share increased by half a percent to 15.9%. [Energy Matters]
• The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant stopped sending electricity to the grid Monday after producing total of 171 billion kWh over its 42-year lifetime. The shutdown came just after noon as the plant completed its 30th operating cycle when workers inserted control rods into the reactor core and stopped the nuclear reaction process. [Washington Times]

Wednesday, December 31:

• A new report from the consulting company Accenture, the Digitally Enabled Grid, clearly states that if the utilities wish to maintain a market share similar comparable to today’s, the companies will need to “fundamentally transform their business models.” Their revenues decline as $123 billion a year by 2025. [CleanTechnica]

Thursday, January 1:

• An “affordable” flow battery based on high-capacity organic electrolytes is currently under development by researchers at Ann Arbor–based Vinazene Inc, in partnership with Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center and its Chemistry Department. [CleanTechnica]
• New York’s residential kitchens and yards, supermarkets and restaurants (24,000 in New York City), 600 wastewater treatment plants, $3 billion food processing industry, farms, and many landfills make millions of tons of waste every year. It can all produce renewable natural gas. [Albany Times Union]

2014-12-23 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Thursday, December 18:

• The Australian Coalition government’s latest witch-hunt against wind energy has not produced a lot of fertile fodder for the anti-renewables brigade. In fact, after a month it has elicited a single contribution, from a pro-nuclear dooms-dayer who says nuclear energy will be helpful to keep us warm in the impending ice age. [RenewEconomy]
• Over the next two years, America will build roughly 13 GW of utility-scale solar PV plants, more the country’s cumulative solar capacity across all sectors reached at the end of 2013. Why? Utilities are now able to consistently buy solar electricity from large plants for between 4.5 cents and 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. [Energy Collective]
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Dec. 17 that hydraulic fracturing will be banned in New York, following the release of a long-anticipated study that concluded fracking could pose “significant public health risks.” 96% of all papers published on health impacts of fracking indicate potential risks or adverse health outcomes. [Wisconsin Gazette]
• The Senate voted 76-16 to extend the biodiesel and renewable energy production tax credits – as well as dozens of other tax breaks – in one of its final acts before adjourning Tuesday. The measure extends the tax breaks for a year – but retroactive to their expiration last January, so the clock runs out again on December 31. [Houston Chronicle]
• As flagship nuclear projects run into long delays and huge cost overruns, solar and wind power are falling in price. Renewables already supply twice as much power as nuclear, and are winning out just about everywhere. They now supply over 19% of global primary energy and 22% of global electricity. Nuclear is at 11% and falling. [The Ecologist]

Friday, December 19:

• In largely positive review of US energy policy, the International Energy Agency scolded the federal government for failing on consistent long-term policy support for energy with low carbon emissions, such as nuclear power and renewables. The IEA recommends a 5-year extension of the wind tax credit, gradually reduced to zero. [Forbes]
• The amount of clean power made in Scotland has matched that produced from fossil fuels for the first time, in a record year for renewables, ­according to the latest figures. Renewable sources accounted for 32% of all Scottish electricity  – equal to the output from oil, coal and gas. Nuclear power stations provided 34.9 per cent. [Scotsman]
• Two recent studies disproved the ideas that wind farms affect health and property values, and now a review by the British Trust for Ornithology and the University of Highlands and Islands’ Environmental Research Institute found that 99% of seabirds are likely to alter their flight paths to avoid collision with offshore wind turbines. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, December 20:

• In Scotland, developers have announced that construction work on the world’s largest tidal energy project is set to begin next month. The MeyGen project, a 269-turbine installation, is expected to power 175,000 homes. Atlantis has secured more than £51 million in funding for the first phase of the project. [stv.tv]
• India has offered to set up an insurance pool to indemnify global nuclear suppliers against liability in case of a nuclear accident in a bid to unblock billions of dollars held up by US investors over concerns of exposure to risk. Currently, nuclear equipment suppliers are liable for damages from an accident. [domain-B]
• Lincoln Electric System says it has agreed to buy additional supplies of wind energy. The customer-owned electric utility says it plans to buy 73 MW by 2016 from the Prairie Breeze II Wind Energy Center in northeastern Nebraska and 100 MW from the Buckeye Wind Energy Center in Kansas. It plans to add 5 MW of solar power by 2016. [Omaha World-Herald]
• A new analysis lays out several detailed “pathways” to a low-carbon future for the US, and offers practical guidance for policy makers. There are multiple ways we can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with known technologies and with an incremental cost equivalent of less than 1% of gross domestic product. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

Sunday, December 21:

• Global funds for India’s aggressive plan to install “ultra mega solar power plants” have begun to flow with the World Bank ready to support a 750-MW power plant. This is 200 MW more than the capacity of the largest PV plant in the world. The project would require a total investment of about $1.3 billion. [CleanTechnica]
• TEPCO finished on Saturday removing all nuclear fuel assemblies from the cooling pool at the No. 4 reactor building at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. TEPCO started the fuel removal work at the No. 4 reactor building in November 2013. Last month, it finished transferring spent fuel assemblies. [The Japan News]
• Britain’s nuclear power stations are under threat from attacks by drones, it has been claimed. A London-based nuclear expert investigated the issue after a spate of mysterious and illegal flights by small unmanned vehicles over more than a dozen power stations in France. He warned that British nuclear plants were equally vulnerable. [Daily Mail]

Monday, December 22:

• Southern California Edison retired its San Onofre nuclear reactors and will retire natural gas units with environmentally troublesome cooling systems, so it invited proposals for power storage and new gas-fired power plants. Storage won in a surprising number of cases. Demand response proposals also did well. [New York Times]
• Solar and wind power projects are much less financially risky than other power projects, since cost overruns tend to be way lower, especially when compared to nuclear or hydropower plants, which have rather insane cost overruns. Aside from these, there are many economic reasons to favor power from the sun or wind. [CleanTechnica]
• The US Department of Commerce announced its final findings in the 3-year long trade war between the US and China. Additional tariffs will be imposed on modules from China and Taiwan. Although this is good news for SolarWorld and other American solar PV manufacturers, some in the US solar industry are not celebrating. [AltEnergy Stocks]

Tuesday, December 23:

• The current 45% drop in oil prices will only have a modest impact on renewables in many key markets, although the implications will vary significantly by geography and technology, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. They point out that a decline in fracking will likely make renewables even more competitive. [Business Green]
• US corporates are stepping up to do their part on climate change. As the costs of wind and solar energy continue to fall, corporate purchasing of clean energy is reaching new heights in 2014, creating a virtuous cycle where demand drives scale, which lowers prices, which then spurs more demand. And there are other improvements. [The Guardian]

 

2014-12-18 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Thursday, December 11:

• Opinion: “No, cheap oil will not kill solar power” Solar energy investors seem to fear that cheap oil will erase demand for alternative energy. But it won’t, say industry analysts. Oil dominates energy demand in transportation fuels, but solar power customers are primarily of two types: public electric utilities and large corporations, neither of which use oil to generate electricity. [CNBC]
• The U.S. is producing the most oil in 31 years, economic growth is picking up and crude prices are plunging. Nevertheless, American use of petroleum is waning. Greater efficiency is part of the cause. Another part is greater use of renewable resources. Another part is increased urbanization, particularly among younger people. [Bloomberg]
• 

  Two AllSun Trackers manufactured by AllEarth Renewables at a home in Alburgh. AllEarth Renewables photo

  Vermont will not meet its renewable energy goals unless policy changes are made, according to a report by the Shumlin administration.The Total Energy Study, prepared by the Department of Public Service, makes it clear that new policies are needed if the state wants to meet its goal of 90% renewable energy consumption by 2050. [vtdigger.org]

• The US DOE has issued the Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects loan guarantee solicitation of $12.5 billion to support innovative nuclear energy projects. The DOE’s Loan Programs Office also includes the $8 billion Advanced Fossil Energy Projects Solicitation, the $4 billion Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects Solicitation, and the $16 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program. [PennEnergy]

Friday, December 12:

• The wind resource in the Great Plains states is so extraordinary that some wind energy professionals call the region the “Saudi Arabia of wind.”  Texas alone could provide sufficient electric power for the needs of the entire country, but the largest loads are on the East Coast, and transmission system upgrades are needed to move the power. [CleanTechnica]
• If India proceeds to build all proposed coal-fired power plants, the country may face a quarter million deaths every single year, according to the latest report from India-based Conservation Action Trust and Urban Emissions. A year ago, they found the death toll from coal emissions had already reached 80,000-115,000 per year. [Energy Collective]
• Exelon says the EPA was “well within” its legal authority to require existing plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. An Exelon senior vice president said the Clean Power Plan was “legally and scientifically required.” She also called for more credit for nuclear plants. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

Saturday, December 13:

• Oil markets slid to new lows after the International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for demand growth in 2015, the latest sign of continuing oversupply. Falling oil prices may boost economic growth, but they could threaten the economic health of oil producers and lead to lower investment in expensive drilling projects. [Wall Street Journal]
• Salt River Project, an Arizona utility, is proposing higher charges for customers who have their own solar PVs. The company suggests changing the rate structure so such customers pay about $50 more a month, which SRP officials say is necessary to cover their use of the power grid when the sun is not shining. [azcentral.com]
• Nebraska’s wind energy industry has immediate potential for even short-term expansion. An official report released by the Nebraska Power Review Board found that Nebraska’s existing transmission infrastructure has room for at least 2,000 MW of additional renewable generating resources. [McCook Daily Gazette]

Sunday, December 14:

• A new experimental “smart town” based especially around the technologies of solar energy and battery storage is being developed in Japan by Panasonic Corporation and others. The new 1000-household-strong town recently had its grand opening, with the first residents moving in earlier this year in the spring. [CleanTechnica]
• The well-regarded CEO of Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, recently made the rather notable comment that one of the main reasons his company was pursuing the adoption of electric vehicles aggressively was because of climate change. Ghosn called to climate change an “unprecedented humanitarian challenge.” [CleanTechnica]
• Thanks especially to the plummeting costs of solar and wind power, states can cost-effectively cut much more carbon than the EPA originally proposed this June. Wind and solar costs are now a mind-blowing 46% lower than the EPA estimated last summer. As a result, an additional 14 million-plus homes could be given clean power. [Energy Collective]

Monday, December 15:

• United Nations climate talks in Lima concluded last night with an agreement that plots a path towards next year’s global negotiations in Paris, but without mentioning energy or renewable power. The agreement was widely criticised by campaigners for failing to commit to action on climate change. [reNews]
• UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei says OPEC will not cut its output or hold an emergency meeting even if oil prices fall as low as $40 a barrel. Some oil ministers have said that the organization has no fear of oil prices falling to that level amid a price war with Russia and high-cost US shale producers. [Press TV]
• Innovations already at work in some modern buildings provide a networked ecosystem of “intelligent” building equipment and devices. Beyond the “Wow!” factor and the large-scale benefits to our planet, green and smart building technologies are changing the way we live and work, creating business in the process. [TechCrunch]

Tuesday, December 16:

• A study has found that switching to driving EVs that use electricity made from renewable energy can actually push down death rates due to air pollution by as much as 70%. The study also shows that EVs powered by coal-based electricity could increase the number of resulting deaths due to air pollution by 80% or more. [Zee News]
• The American Public Transportation Association has just released its December Transit Savings Report, which shows that “individuals who ride public transportation instead of driving can also save, on average, more than $797 per month. This month the average annual savings for public transit riders is $9,569.” [CleanTechnica]
• The nuclear expansion project at Plant Vogtle near Augusta appears headed for further delay, which could result in higher electric bills for ratepayers. The state’s independent construction monitor, William Jacobs, said last month he expects the two new reactors to take longer to build than Georgia Power’s current projections. [WABE 90.1 FM]

Wednesday, December 17:

• The head of one of Australia’s biggest electricity networks says he sees a long-term future for neither large, centralized electricity generators, nor big electricity retailers. He says the generators will be made redundant by the increased use of localized, mostly renewable generation, and the retailers won’t be needed any more. [CleanTechnica]
• Japan’s nuclear regulator gave safety clearance to two more reactors Wednesday, raising the prospect that Japan could have four units back online next year to help power the nation’s economy. The approval comes three days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s pronuclear party won decisively in a general election. [Wall Street Journal]
• The city of Austin raised its solar power goal from 200 MW by 2020 to 950 MW by 2025. 200 MW of this solar power will be operating within Austin’s city limits and 750 MW will be utility-scale solar. For the 200 MW within city limits, half has to be from customers, meaning residents or building owners with their own solar power PV systems. [CleanTechnica]

2014-12-10 Energy Week

Please note that this post is being developed.

Thursday, December 4:

¶   This year is on track to be one of the hottest, if not the hottest, year on record, a UN agency reported Wednesday. The head of the World Meteorological Organization pointed out that provisional information for 2014 means that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century, adding “There is no standstill in global warming.” [CNN]

¶   Toshiba Corporation announced the development of a new technology that uses solar energy to generate carbon compounds from CO₂ and water, and to deliver a viable chemical feedstock or fuel with potential for use in industry. Toshiba introduced the technology at the 2014 International Conference on Artificial Photosynthesis. [PressReleaseNetwork.com]

¶   A recent Pembina Institute fact sheet discusses how wind energy is subsidizing Albertan ratepayers. During 2013, the average price for wind energy was 5.5¢ in Alberta, lower than hydro (9.8¢), natural gas (8.3¢), coal (7.7¢), and peaker (21.4¢). Generators usually prefer natural gas to wind because the profit margin is bigger and revenues are more certain. [CleanTechnica]

¶   US lawmakers today voted to reinstate renewable energy tax credits through the end of 2014, rather than a multi-year extension as the wind power sector and others had urged. The production tax credit expired in 2013. The House voted 378-46 in favor of the one-year extenders package and sent the legislation to the US Senate. [reNews]

Friday, December 5:

¶   PV arrays coupled with battery storage systems are becoming the “new normal” in Australia’s wide-open spaces. The number of installations continue to increase as governments and businesses begin to realize the new reality of off or edge-of-grid solar plus storage affordability. A key to change is increasing familiarity with the technology. [RenewEconomy]

¶   China State Grid Corp will spend about 400 billion yuan ($65 billion) this year on its electricity networks as the nation, which last month reached a deal with the US to curtail fossil fuels, copes with an unprecedented influx of clean energy and higher demand. Spending will need to be maintained at current levels for the next five years. [Businessweek]

¶   The USDA’s Rural Utility Service’s Energy Efficiency & Conservation Loan Program allows rural utilities to borrow money at low rates – 30 years at 3.3% – for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements at their facilities or properties owned by the customers it serves. Utilities may re-loan the money at a slightly higher rate. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, December 6:

¶   Conventional natural gas is still a fossil fuel with significant carbon emissions that need to be contained. However, there is renewable natural gas, which can be blended into the natural gas supply. There is a wide variety of technologies and feedstocks that can be used to produce renewable natural gas at competitive costs. [Breaking Energy]

¶   Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley assembly plant in Dublin, Va., is now carbon neutral thanks to a switch to renewable fuels to produce power. The assembly plant uses landfill gas to generate electric power and replaces fossil fuels that produced over 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide last year. [Truckinginfo]

¶   Elon Musk’s so-called gigafactory may soon become an existential threat to the 100-year-old utility business model. The facility will also churn out stationary battery packs that can be paired with rooftop solar panels to store power. Already, a second company led by Musk, SolarCity Corp, is packaging solar panels and batteries. [Businessweek]

Sunday, December 7:

¶   “Energy coming out of the woodwork” Biomass power plants pay taxes and provide jobs all across Maine. So the folk in Maine should understand EPA analysis, that biomass is “likely to have minimal or no net atmospheric contributions of biogenic CO2 emissions, or even reduce such impacts, when compared with an alternate fate of disposal.” [Press Herald]

¶   While such technologies as batteries, pumped-hydro, and flywheels have their merits, none is able to offer seasonal deep storage at the terawatt scale. Power-to-Gas is an elegant innovation that simply takes excess renewable electricity to create renewable hydrogen and methane for injection into natural gas pipelines or use in transportation. [Energy Collective]

¶   Things are really cooking up in congress over the war on wind energy’s production tax credit. In the latest twist, a coalition of US Governors has waded into the fray with a letter to House leadership, citing a drop — yes, a drop — in electricity prices over the past five years, in states that have been producing more wind energy. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, December 8:

¶   2014 is currently on track to be hottest year on record, according to new reports from both the World Meteorological Organization and the UK’s Met Office Wednesday. Similarly, NOAA reported two weeks ago that 2014 is all but certain to be the hottest year on record. The last time a record was set was 2010. The time before that was 2005. [Energy Collective]

¶   The European Environment Agency published a report recently stating that air pollution cost the EU up to $235 billion for the year 2012. Most of this air pollution is generated by coal-fired power plants. (In the US, the cost of coal-based pollution has been estimated to be $500 billion, but that goes beyond air pollution.) [CleanTechnica]

¶   November was a “big month” for Scottish wind power, according to new figures. Scottish wind turbines produced enough electricity to power 2.6 million homes for the month, equivalent to 107% of households, while eleven days in November saw wind power generate enough electricity to supply every home in the country. [Deadline News]

Tuesday, December 9:

¶    Ceres, a nonprofit promoting investor support for efforts on climate change, has sent a letter endorsed by 223 companies to President Obama, in support of EPA’s controversial proposed standard for existing power plants to limit carbon dioxide emissions. Combined assets of the companies is $10 trillion. [National Legal and Policy Center]

¶   Revenues from renewables for electric power generators jumped by 49% to $9.8 billion from 2007 to 2012, while revenues  from the fossil fuel sector fell by 6.7% according to the Census Bureau. But wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and solar accounted for just 8.2% of all industry revenues in 2012. [Electric Co-op Today]

¶   The Georgia Public Service Commission has warned for at least two years that Southern Co subsidiary Georgia Power is relying on an outdated project schedule for two new reactors at Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia that contains almost no detail after December 2015, even though construction will continue for several more years. [Access North Georgia]

¶   Right now only a couple of stations in Oklahoma and Texas are selling $2 gas. But the price of both oil and wholesale gas declined again Monday. Oil is already at a 5-year low, at less than $65 a barrel, and analysts think it could bottom out at $35 next year. Next year’s full-year average could be as low as $53, said Morgan Stanley analysts. [CNN]

Wednesday, December 10:

¶   Proponents of carbon capture and storage (CCS) say it is the only feasible way to mitigate climate change because coal and natural gas are cheap. A study has now revealed how much it CCS would cost. It would be $17.6 trillion for the initial investment, and CCS power plants will use 10% to 40% more energy than non-CCS ones. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Oil prices have plummeted in recent months, from $115 a barrel in June to less than $70. That dramatic shift could increase greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, as consumers take advantage of cheap fuel. It also gives policymakers a “golden opportunity” to scrap fossil fuel subsidies and bring in carbon pricing. [RTCC]

¶   The US installed 1,354 MW of solar PV in the third quarter of 2014, up 41% over the same period last year. The country’s cumulative solar PV capacity is now 16.1 GW. The US residential segment exceeded 300 MW for the first time for the quarter, with more than half coming online without any state incentives to help it along. [CleanTechnica]

¶  Mary Powell, President & CEO of Green Mountain Power, Vermont’s largest utility, was just named Power-Gen 2014 Woman of the Year. Judges selected Powell because of how she has advanced the power generation industry, the positive impact she has made on her community, and her leadership. [Marketwired]