Visitors Please Note: This blog is maintained to assist in developing a TV show, Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell. The post is put up in incomplete form, and is updated with news until it is completed, usually on Wednesday. The source is geoharvey.wordpress.com.
Within a few days of the last update, the show may be seen, along with older shows, at this link on the BCTV website: Energy Week Series.
Thursday, September 1:
Flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene in Quechee, Vermont. Photo by Stephen Flanders. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
- The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research released a study on hurricane losses. The researchers concluded that not only will the financial damages from hurricanes increase dramatically by the end of the century, but that the rate of economic growth won’t keep pace with hurricane-caused financial losses. [CleanTechnica]
- A Maine-based company appears to have found a formula to win local backing in Vermont for often controversial solar-energy projects: careful siting, a dose of patience and a willingness to alter plans to overcome objections. Ranger Solar has won outright support in three towns for arrays that average 100 acres apiece. [Seven Days]
The luxurious nation of Costa Rica is setting an example. Photo by Wha’ppen Costa Rica.
- Costa Rica has gone 113 days without using fossil fuels to keep the lights on. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been keeping tabs on Costa Rica, because in 2015, 99% of its electrical energy was derived from renewable energy sources. Nevertheless, there is a certain symbolism to getting all your energy from renewables. [ZME Science]
Friday, September 2:
- Average power supply delivered to the UK grid was the lowest on record in August. The increase in embedded generation capacity and improved energy efficiency measures combined to cut the amount of demand the transmission system was required to meet. [Argus Media]
An 11.5-MW solar array in India. Photo by Citizenmj. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
- Construction on one of India’s largest, if not the largest, solar park is expected to being soon. The Minister for Energy in the southern state of Karnataka told media outlets that construction on the proposed 5-GW Pavagada solar park will begin there soon. [CleanTechnica]
NREL renewables modeling.
- The National Renewable Energy Laboratory used detailed software and a supercomputer to model how much solar and wind power the eastern United States’ power grid could accommodate. It said it could have a 30% penetration of wind and solar by the year 2026. [Energy Matters]
Saturday, September 3:
- A joint commitment from China and the US, the world’s super-polluters, expected to be announced later on Saturday, is a big step towards turning the Paris climate agreement into reality. The deal will take legal force when it is ratified by 55 signatories producing 55% of global emissions. [BBC]
- Solar plus storage may be cheaper than grid prices within one year for some Australian households. A study suggest that the standard tariff offered to households in West Australia will be more expensive than rooftop solar and battery storage at some time in 2017. [RenewEconomy]
The eastern US has experienced colder days, while there were extremely warm days in the West. Stock image
- Over recent decades, the US has seen a dramatic rise in the number of extreme winter temperature events at opposite ends of the country. According to a new study, the ‘warm West, cold East’ temperature gap is growing, and is likely driven greenhouse gas emissions. [Daily Mail]
Sunday, September 4:
Why stop at coal. We could bring back manual typewriters! Slide rules! Whale oil for Lamps!
Photo Credit: Max Goldberg/Flickr CC
- Opinion: “Trump’s Fossil-Fueled Ambitions Are Totally Out of Step With Economic Trends” • Considering how much he brags about his business acumen, shouldn’t Donald Trump do a better job of keeping up with economic trends? Instead of looking to the future, Trump is wallowing in nostalgia for coal mining. [AlterNet]
- Siemens Energy announced its Hutchinson, Kansas, plant is filling an order from Apex Clean Energy for 64 wind turbines for Grant Plains Wind in Oklahoma. Officials expect the 147-MW project to be operational this year. This will bring Siemens’ completed orders for Apex Clean Energy in Oklahoma to 600 MW for the year. [Hutchinson News]
- The Oklahoma Corporation Commission told operators to shut down 35 disposal wells that may have played a role in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook at least six states Saturday, the state’s governor said. She said the directive is mandatory, and added that the EPA is investigating the earthquake as well. [CNN]
Monday, September 5:
Solar power can help water crop fields and augment farm incomes by feeding the surplus power generated into the grid. Photo: Bloomberg
- India has set an ambitious target of achieving 100,000 MW of solar power capacity by 2022 as well as doubling farm incomes. Both these targets can be a game changer for rural India if implemented in unison, suggests a recent study by the International Council for Research in International Economic Relations. [Livemint]
RedT battery storage at Power Networks Development Centre (RedT)
- UK energy storage manufacturer RedT has completed testing of a 75-kW/1.68-MWh vanadium redox flow battery system to be installed on the Scottish island of Gigha. The London company will install by the end of the year seven 15-kW/240-kWh vanadium redox flow batteries to remove constraints on the island’s 1MW wind farm. [reNews]
- Western communities are facing effects of a warming climate with slower and earlier snowmelt, reducing stream flows and possibly the amount of water reaching reservoirs used for drinking water and agriculture, a recent study says. Counterintuitively, as the climate warms, there is actually a slower snowmelt. [Growing Produce]
Tuesday, September 6:
Solar canopy under construction over parking. Daily Collegian Archives.
- A solar energy initiative by the University of Massachusetts will have 15,576 solar panels newly installed this year, with an aim to save $6.2 million in a span of 20 years. There will be eight solar panel installations, with six of them placed on rooftops and the other two placed above parking lots. [The Massachusetts Daily Collegian]
- The town of New Paltz, New York, has proposed a nested microgrid project, a $12 million system to maintain critical energy supplies. Within the microgrid are 10 independent zones, or nodes, each with its own energy resources to serve one or more of the critical facilities within its geographic footprint. [Microgrid Knowledge]
- The price of oil jumped after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to discuss ways to stabilize the oil market. The announcement was made by the countries’ energy ministers, Alexander Novak and Khalid al-Falih. The price of Brent crude initially jumped by 5%, but then it fell back to stand 1.6% higher at $47.56 per barrel. [BBC]
Wednesday, September 7:
- The G20 meeting in China may have been notable for the decision by both China and the US to ratify the Paris climate treaty. But the G20 nations are still taking little action on ending fossil fuel subsidies, despite agreeing to the move in 2009 to end what has been described as the “dumbest policy” in the world. [CleanTechnica]
Cedar Point wind farm Colorado (Enbridge)
- Canadian renewable energy producer and pipeline operator Enbridge agreed to acquire Houston-based Spectra Energy in a $28 billion all-stock deal, to create the largest energy infrastructure company in North America. Low oil prices have forced companies, including even pipeline operators, to consider mergers to cut costs. [reNews]
- Massachusetts has signed a letter of intent with Dong, Deepwater Wind and OffshoreMW to lease a marine terminal as a base for offshore wind projects. The developers will lease the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging and deployment location, paying $5.7 million annually under a two-year commitment. [reNews]
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 