2016-11-03 Energy Week

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, October 27:

Wildlife populations down by nearly 60% since 1970 (Photo by Roger Leguen / WWF)

• Global wildlife populations have fallen by 58% since 1970, a report by the Zoological Society of London and WWF says. The Living Planet assessment, suggests that if the trend continues that decline could reach two-thirds among vertebrates by 2020. Habitat loss, wildlife trade, pollution, and climate change are among causes. [BBC]
• The Hungarian utility MVM and Munich-based clean-tech startup Electrochaea GmbH are building the world’s first grid-scale power-to-gas plant together in Hungary. The unit will have a power consumption of up to 10 MW of stranded electricity from renewable sources, and will make methane from carbon dioxide. [portfolio.hu]
• Massachusetts state and federal officials released two marine wildlife studies on endangered whale, turtle, and bird species to inform offshore wind permitting processes. They found no significant conflicts between wildlife and offshore wind development in federally designated areas south of Martha’s Vineyard. [AltEnergyMag]

Friday, October 28:

Wind turbines in France (photo by Fr.Latreille, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

• French utility Engie announced it is now offering contracts for renewable electricity at no additional cost to new residential and small business customers. Engie aims to sign up one million new contracts by the end of 2017, its CEO said in a press statement. At present, the company has three million electricity customers in France. [SeeNews Renewables]
• Southern Spain will be reduced to desert by the end of the century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, researchers have warned. With anything less than extremely ambitious and politically unlikely carbon emissions cuts, ecosystems in the Mediterranean will change dramatically. [malaysiandigest.com]

The Blayais nuclear power plant in France
(photo by Pierre-Alan Dorange, edited, CC BY-SA 3.0)

• “Guess Which Big EU Country Might Have Blackouts This Winter?” • At present, 21 of France’s 58 nuclear reactors are offline. The country’s power prices have skyrocketed, as have imports. Power from fossil fuel is increasing, and the country has now postponed its plans to implement a floor price on carbon. [RenewEconomy]

Saturday, October 29:

Rooftop solar system

• “7 Solutions to the Climate Crisis” • With the Paris Agreement becoming official on November 4, we finally have the framework to fight climate change. We have the tools and technology to shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy, affordably and effectively. In case you want proof, here are seven reasons to be hopeful. [EcoWatch]

1. Renewables are growing and getting cheaper
2. Cost of rooftop solar is competitive
3. Remarkable progress in energy storage
4. The electric grid is evolving
5. The electric vehicle market is booming
6. Transportation is more efficient and public transit is growing
7. Energy efficiency is improving and saving you money

• Exxon Mobil Corp warned it may be facing the biggest reserves revision in its history as production sank to a seven-year low and profit slid amid a prolonged slump in energy markets. About 4.6 billion barrels of reserves, mostly in the Canadian oil sands, may be in jeopardy if the average energy prices for 2016 persist. [Energy Voice]
• Danish energy giant DONG Energy has confirmed rumors that it is investigating the sale of its oil & gas business, and that JP Morgan has been contracted to conduct a preliminary market assessment. DONG had already divested itself of its Danish gas business and is has been concentrating on offshore wind power. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, October 30:

• According to a study from the American Lung Association in California, the unaccounted for health and societal costs of burning a gallon of gasoline total $1.30. This means that if these costs were to be accounted for in the price of gasoline, then pricing would be at least $1.30/gallon higher than it currently is. [CleanTechnica]
• Netherlands Railways announced that all electric trains on the Dutch network will operate exclusively using power from renewable sources with effect from January 1 2017, a year earlier than originally envisaged. The sector is purchasing 1.4 TWh per year, of which 1.2 TWh is used for traction. [International Railway Journal]

Monday, October 31:

• UNICEF is calling on world leaders to reduce air pollution, saying it leads to the deaths of more children yearly than malaria and HIV/AIDS combined. Around 600,000 children under age 5 die every year from diseases caused by or exacerbated by outdoor and indoor air pollution. Conditions are especially difficult in poor nations. [CNN]

Lifting ship Svanen at the Burbo Banks Offshore Windfarm (Photo by Ian Mantel, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

• A 100-MW offshore wind power pilot project will likely be installed in ocean off Gujarat in about three years, according to an expert in renewable energy at DNV GL, which has a 30-consultant team in India and has been in the Indian market in 1989. He spoke on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week. [Millennium Post]
• Over 10,000 New York City residents are using solar power to reduce their electric bills, but hardly any of them are poor. This is mostly because poor people do not have roofs they can put solar panels on. Consolidated Edison is offering use of its own rooftops to help solve that problem for at least some low-income customers. [New York Times]

Tuesday, November 1:

• A report from Navigant Research on the global market for residential distributed energy resources predicts that annual revenue for the market is set to increase from about $19.7 billion in 2016 to $92.7 billion in 2025, growing at an annual growth rate of 18.8%, and bringing the sector’s total revenue up to $423 billion. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. (Photo/China Daily)

• Iberdrola Renewables is offering residents of two Vermont communities direct payments if a windfarm is built in them. The payments are estimated at $1,162 per year for full-time adult residents of Windham and $428 for Grafton residents. The Vermont attorney general’s office has found nothing improper with the proposal. [PennEnergy]
• Opinion: “Solutions needed for fossil fuel problems” •  People are dying because of fossil fuels, another child every 52 seconds, another person every 10 seconds, and Vermonters pay $480 per person per year for medical problems from vehicle emissions. But we argue about installing wind power. [Brattleboro Reformer]

Wednesday, November 2:

• An energy conservation and distributed generation project will enable the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia to become the Navy’s first Net Zero Energy base. The project will meet energy demands from renewable sources, thanks to a $170 million, 23-year contract from an Exelon subsidiary. [Facility Executive Magazine]

Dakota Access Pipeline protest

• Dozens of demonstrators aiming to raise awareness of the ongoing pipeline protest in North Dakota disrupted the morning commute at New York’s Grand Central Terminal. After that, they marched on the offices of major US banks to protest pipeline funding. They carried signs reading, “Water is life” and, “Respect the Earth.” [CNN]
• The city of San Bernardino and Hydrogenics Corporation are partnering to build North America’s largest 100% renewable hydrogen plant in Palm Springs, California. The 2.5-MW zero impact production hydrogen facility will use Hydrogenics’ technology to convert wind and solar energy into renewable hydrogen. [gasworld]

 

 

2016-10-27 Energy Week

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, October 20:

Desert wind and solar energy (iStock image)

• As the western Energy Imbalance Market continues to yield proven benefits, the California Independent System Operator and El Centro Nacional de Control de Energia have announced that the Mexican electric system operator has agreed to explore participation of its Baja California Norte grid in the real-time market. [North American Windpower]
• Scientists have accidentally discovered a way to reverse the combustion process, turning carbon dioxide back into the fuel ethanol. Because the materials used are relatively cheap, they believe the process could be used in industrial processes, for example to store excess electricity generated by wind and solar power. [The Independent]
• The US opened its first new nuclear power plant in 20 years amid growing uncertainty for the industry and the need for regulatory changes at both the state and federal level. The TVA declared the $4.7 billion Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant open for business, a project that has been decades in the making. [Washington Examiner]

Friday, October 21:

Wind turbines at Dong Energy’s Burbo Bank (Photograph: DONG Energy)

• As costs on offshore wind keep dropping, installations increase. Last year, almost every third new wind turbine went up offshore. That growth has helped boost the share of wind energy in the European Union’s electricity supply from 2% in the year 2000 to 12% today, according to WindEurope, a business advocacy group. [The Guardian]
• Next Kraftwerke is delivering the Next Box to connect to its Virtual Power Plant in Northern Europe. The VPP is a distributed network of medium and small power-producing and power-consuming units, provided with Internet of Things connectivity to allow them to talk with and respond to the Next Kraftwerke control center. [CleanTechnica]
• Michigan’s overall cost of compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan could be relatively low, according to two recent reports. Under the lowest-cost scenarios, a compliance plan in Michigan was projected to cost even less than a plan that did not factor in any CPP requirements at all. [The Peninsula]

Saturday, October 22:

Electric work in Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti

• A year ago, no one living in Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, had electricity. By the spring of 2016, the town had a brand new grid, and it will soon run completely on solar and wind energy. Sigora International plans to get electricity to 300,000 people in Haiti by the end of 2017. By the end of 2018, they hope to reach a million people. [Co.Exist]
• The Dutch cabinet is prepared to help energy company Delta overcome its financial problems but not by putting money into the Borssele nuclear power plant. Closing the nuclear power plant is not an option because of the €1.3 billion price ticket, but keeping the plant open would only be profitable if electricity prices double. [DutchNews.nl]

Bloomberg New Energy Finance oil crash chart

• A Fitch Ratings and Bloomberg both warn of a meltdown in the oil industry. The Fitch report warns that this could begin in 2023, based on “an acceleration of the electrification of transport infrastructure,” which it says “would be resoundingly negative for the oil sector’s credit profile.” Bloomberg says it might be as late as 2028. [Gas 2.0]
• According to a World Bank report, the cost of climate change mitigation could be reduced 32% by 2030, by increasing global cooperation through carbon trading. There are 40 national jurisdictions and over 20 cities, states, and regions, that are already putting a price on carbon, covering 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, October 23:

India One Solar Thermal Power Plant (Brahma Kumaris via Flickr)

• “India’s Solar Power Is Set to Outshine Coal” • India wants to provide its entire population with electricity and lift millions out of poverty, but in order to prevent the world overheating it also needs to switch away from fossil fuels. Different analysts disagree on the future of Indian power generation, but solar power costs are dropping. [Truthdig]

Daniel Marsula / Post-Gazette

• “Coal will not recover” • As recently as 10 years ago, coal provided half of America’s electric power needs. Today that number is closer to 30% and falling. Coal is not likely to fade entirely from the scene any time soon, but informed analysts see its share of the US energy mix dropping to less than 20% in the near future. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Monday, October 24:

Grande Prairie wind farm (Megan Farmer / The World Herald)

• With the Omaha Public Power District’s closure of its Fort Calhoun nuclear plant clearing the way, renewable generation will fill the void left by the 478-MW plant. OPPD will virtually double the portion of renewable energy it receives by the time the new year rolls around, as newly built sources come online. [Omaha World-Herald]
• A Chicago green-energy developer is proposing the largest infusion of renewable power yet for Long Island, a mix of wind and solar sources in disparate locations as far away as North Carolina and West Virginia. Invenergy already has LIPA approval for a large commercial solar array in Shoreham, New York. [Newsday]

Tuesday, October 25:

Alaskan seal (NOAA image)

• In a groundbreaking precedent that will likely be felt for decades to come, a federal appeals court in the US has ruled that a species can be listed as “threatened” based on climate change projections. The decision reinstates Endangered Species Act protections for the bearded seals, but it also sets an important precedent. [Gizmodo India]
• According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, 10% of the 600 million people living off-grid in Africa now use solar energy to power their homes. The decreasing prices of home solar systems in Africa have made this possible, as the cost for solar has dropped below the cost of diesel and kerosene. [Climate Action Programme]

Air sampling station at Mauna Loa observatory (NOAA photo)

• While human emissions of CO2 remained fairly static between 2014 and 2015, the onset of strong El Niño weather phenomena caused a spike in levels of the gas in the atmosphere. The spike results from drought conditions in tropical regions produced by El Niño, which meant that vegetation was less able to absorb the CO2. [BBC]

Wednesday, October 26:

Autumn Morning at Mohonk Preserve (photo by Kate Schoonmaker)

• New York’s largest nonprofit nature preserve is growing greener thanks to a new partnership with electricity provider Green Mountain Energy Company. The 8,000-acre Mohonk Preserve in Gardiner, NY has signed an agreement with Green Mountain to provide clean electricity to power the site’s facilities. [3BL Media]
• The Prince of Wales is joining an Anglo-French government initiative to improve the condition of global soils. Ministers from both governments are meeting the prince to discuss how to improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming. Ministers will debate how to store more carbon in soils. [BBC]

Guilford solar array

• VSECU, a member-owned cooperative and not for profit credit union for everybody in Vermont, is going solar. VSECU entered into an innovative partnership with Soveren Solar, through which the credit union will purchase the solar net metering credits produced by a 500-kW solar array to offset its GMP power bill. [Vermont Biz]

2016-10-20 Energy Week

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, October 13:

Wyoming coal plant (Photo by Greg Goebel from Loveland CO, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

• Despite the relatively slow uptake of renewable energy in the United States, replacement of fossil fuels with renewables is starting to have tangible results on emissions. According to the DOE’s Energy Information Administration in the first six months of 2016 fell to the lowest level for any first half of a year since 1991. [pv magazine USA]
• A huge 15 GW of embedded power generation capacity is awaiting direct connection to four of the six distribution networks across England, Scotland and Wales, figures gathered by ICIS show. The capacity bypasses the transmission network, depressing demand. It is a mix of renewable, thermal, and storage units. [ICIS]
• Northern Power Systems Corp, a next generation renewable energy technology company based in Barre, Vermont, confirms the continued performance of its remote fleet with turbines performing through both Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean, as well as Typhoon Chaba in the Jeju region of South Korea. [Your Renewable News]

Friday, October 14:

Tidal turbine (Scotrenewables image)

• The world’s most powerful tidal turbine, developed and built by Scotrenewables Tidal Power Limited, has been installed on its moorings for the first time. The 2-MW SR2000 tidal turbine was towed to the European Marine Energy Centre Orkney site, where it was installed for commissioning and testing. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
• Energy Management Inc’s Cape Wind has dropped a court appeal, another setback in its long-running fight to build a 468-MW wind farm off the US east coast. The developer had asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court to reverse an Energy Facilities Siting Board decision denying an extension of transmission line permits. [reNews]

Sandstone rendering (SolarReserve image)

• The 110-MW Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant is the first utility-scale CSP of its kind on American soil, and the developer, California-based energy firm SolarReserve, now says they plan to build 10 more just like it elsewhere in the sunny desert state. The overall project, Sandstone, would power a million US homes. [Inhabitat]

Saturday, October 15:

• The European Union has just approved regulations requiring that an electric car charger be included in every new and renovated home and all apartment buildings starting in 2019. Why is that important? Because charging infrastructure is vital to convincing mainstream buyers to switch to an electric car. [CleanTechnica]

US Secretary of State John Kerry urging an ambitious deal

• More than 150 countries have reached a deal described as “monumental” to phase out gases that are making global warming worse. Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) are widely used in fridges, air conditioning and aerosol sprays. Delegates meeting in Rwanda accepted a complex amendment to the Montreal Protocol. [BBC]
• The Conservation Law Foundation filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for endangering Massachusetts communities through activities at the Everett petroleum storage terminal. It is the first NGO lawsuit in the nation to take a petroleum company to task for its decades-long campaign to discredit climate science. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, October 16:

Flooding in Iowa (Rachel Mummey / The Register)

• Iowa is seeing heavier rains and more flooding as climate change takes its toll, yet the state has little idea how much it would cost to protect its homes, schools, factories and other infrastructure, let alone how to pay for it. Iowa communities have $1.4 billion in plans for flood protection, but it is not enough. [DesMoinesRegister.com]
• According to a new study in the journal Science Advances, a geothermal hotspot softened the mantle rock beneath Greenland in a way that ultimately distorted their calculations for ice loss in the Greenland ice sheet. This caused them to underestimate the melting by about 20 gigatons (20 billion metric tons) per year. [Net Newsledger]

Monday, October 17:

HY4 hydrogen fuel cell aircraft

• The HY4, the world’s first four-seater hydrogen fuel cell plane, took off for the first time at the Stuttgart airport in Germany. The plane was developed by researchers from the German Aerospace Center with help from Hydrogenics, Pipistrel, H2FLY, the University of Ulm and Stuttgart Airport. [Composites Manufacturing Magazine]
• With a capacity factor of 51.9%, the 2,000-MW Sandstone Energy facility is equivalent to a 1.15 GW Nuclear Power plant. Over a 25-year lifetime, it will produce 227 billion kWh. At an expected cost of $5 billion, with a 30% federal tax credit, the system can be expected to generate electricity at a cost of 2.8¢/kWh. [Electrek]
• Natural gas generators are a dominant source of power, especially for peak electricity demand periods in New England, but natural gas supply methods haven’t kept up. As a result, most of the region is vulnerable to volatile electricity prices, said Tom Dunn, CEO of VELCO, which manages transmission lines for utilities. [vtdigger.org]

Tuesday, October 18:

• Energy companies are on the cusp of “an epic battle” with technology companies thanks to the inexorable rise of renewable energy and smart home systems, says Citigroup’s global head of energy strategy. He said the challenge to the conventional oil and gas business “is only going one way,” with market changes. [The Australian Financial Review]

Dafancheng Wind Power Plant (China Photos – Getty Images)

• China’s economy could grow six-fold by 2050 with renewable energy accounting for 69% of national electricity supply if it transforms its energy system and increases efficiency across all sectors. The report “Reinventing Fire: China” claims that CO2 emissions could go 42% below the 2010 level at the same time. [ChinaFile]
• France produced the most power from fossil fuels for the month of September in 32 years to help meet demand as nuclear generation dropped. Output from coal and gas plants more than doubled as EDF had to keep reactors offline for inspections to rule out potential anomalies on steam generators at 18 of its 58 units. [Bloomberg]

Wednesday, October 19:

Sundarbans mangroves, home to a quarter of all Bengal tigers (Photo: MN Gaurav / Commons)

• The UN’s world heritage body made an urgent intervention to stop the construction of a coal power station in Bangladesh. A fact-finding mission found that the proposed site of the plant, which is 65 km north of the Sundarbans world heritage area, would expose the downriver forests to pollution and acid rain. [Climate Home]
• South Burlington, Vermont is planning to put a solar array on top of an old landfill to get renewable energy and financial savings out of a piece of land that cannot be used for much else, officials said Tuesday. It is estimated that the project will save the municipal and school districts $5 million over its lifetime. [Vermont Public Radio]

Remote African hydro facility

• In remote rural areas in Africa, electrification through grid extensions is often not viable. The long distances involved and low electricity demand do not justify bringing the national grid to these places. Existing mini-grids based on diesel can be retrofitted to be powered by hybrid sets of renewables. [ESI Africa]

 

2016-10-13 Energy Week

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, October 6:

European Union ratifies the Paris Agreement, making it international law (audiovisual.europar.europa.eu)

• In Strasbourg, France, yesterday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the President of the UN’s climate group (COP 21), Ségolène Royal, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker witnessed the European parliament’s signed approval of the ratification of the Paris Agreement. [CleanTechnica]
• Opinion: “ExxonMobil Says Its Shale Oil Assets Are Not Threatened, While COP21 Paris Agreement Ratified: Something Has To Give” • The COP21 agreement is now law, and yet oil majors are still contending that the price of oil will recover. Peabody Energy has a similar view about its prospects for expanding production of coal. [Seeking Alpha]
• We may soon have gasoline from forest waste. This week, the US EPA proposed some biofuel rule changes that would enable producers to add willow trees and poplar trees to the renewable fuel mix. Only last month, researchers at Washington State University announced a process to extract high-purity lignin as a source material. [CleanTechnica]
• New analysis from Carbon Brief shows UK solar panels generated more electricity over the past six months than all the nation’s coal-fired power stations combined. Solar output over the period was equivalent to 5.2% of the UK’s overall electricity demand; nearly 10% than that of coal, which totalled 4.7% of demand. [Energy Matters]

Friday, October 7:

The kite to provide power (Kite Power Solutions Ltd)

• A commercial-scale, 500-kW kite-driven power station is set to be created in Scotland. The kites fly to heights of up to 450 meters in a figure-of-eight pattern, pulling tethers as they rise, which turn a turbine that produces electricity. Two kites work in tandem, one being blown upward as the other floats back down. [The Independent]
• Time is running out for those Ohio Republicans who want to change the state’s renewable energy standards, and a battle with Governor John Kasich could ensue. Legislation passed in 2014 put a two-year freeze on the standards while committee worked on modifications. Unchanged, the standards go back into effect at the beginning of 2017. [WCPO]

Saturday, October 8:

Coal power station (Credit: Flocko, via Wikimedia)

• If the European Union is to meet the terms laid out in the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 by 80-95% compared to 1990 levels, the Member States have to act fast, and act now, beginning the process of decarbonizing, according to a report just published by the European Environment Agency. [pv magazine]
• Residential prices for electricity have dropped this year for the first time since 2002, despite worries that shutting down coal-fired power plants and relying more on wind and solar would ruin the economy, according the Energy Information Administration. This it not what the defenders of burning coal said would happen. [Houston Chronicle]
  Coal conveyor belt (AP Photo / David J. Phillip)
• According to the team from the Solar Energy Institute of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, up to 1 MWh of energy can be stored in just one cubic meter of molten silicon. Silicon is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. The technology holds a promise for dealing with the intermittency of renewable power generation. [E&T magazine]

Sunday, October 9:

Wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alberta (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press)

• Alberta’s move to shift electricity production from coal plants to renewable energy will likely cost less than people expect, a specialist in the field says. The province plans by 2030 to phase out coal generation, which provides approximately 40% of the province’s power capacity, replacing it with renewables and natural gas. [Edmonton Journal]
• The CEO of Duke Energy recently said her company could stop generating electricity from coal between 2030 and 2040. Duke CEO Lynn Good said in an interview with Bloomberg that and the company’s current move away from coal will continue, no matter who occupies the White House at this time next year. [The Exponent Telegram]
• TEPCO is still struggling to put the Fukushima nuclear disaster behind it, admitting this week that paying for decommissioning the plant in one go risks leaving it insolvent. The Fukushima Disaster and the issues arising from it will ultimately cost more than ¥11 trillion ($106 billion), according to one recent academic study. [Gulf Times]

Monday, October 10:

The Stowe project is sited on an abandoned portion of the Town of Stowe gravel pit. (Encore photo)

• Encore Renewable Energy has commissioned of two separate 1.4-MW solar arrays for the Town of Stowe Electric Department and Village of Hyde Park Electric Department, respectively. The two projects were financed with low interest debt under the US Treasury Department’s Clean Renewable Energy Bonds program. [Vermont Biz]
• Clinton and Trump sparred over energy and climate for 243 seconds in the second presidential debate. The majority of Sunday’s presidential debate involved the two candidates trading blows on tax returns, Donald Trump’s so-called “locker room talk” about assaulting women, and Hillary Clinton’s email account. [Grist]
• Germany’s Bundesrat approved a resolution calling for a ban on new internal combustion engine cars by 2030. The Bundesrat is a deliberative body composed of representatives from all 16 German states. It is sometimes wrongly called the upper house of parliament, but legislation does go through it on its way to the Bundestag. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, October 11:

Sonoma U-3 geothermal power plant (Photo courtesy of Calpine Corporation)

• Taking a small step into the energy future, the City of Sonoma, California, voted last week to become the first jurisdiction in Sonoma County, and perhaps the North Bay, to adopt the zero-emissions EverGreen plan from Sonoma Clean Power. The optional premium plan uses 100% local renewable power sources. [Sonoma Index-Tribune]
• Russia has said it will support a proposal by Opec to freeze oil production in order to reverse the slump in global prices. The move lifted the price of oil, with Brent crude hitting a one-year high. In late afternoon Brent Crude oil was trading up by 2.5% at $53.21 a barrel, just off the $53.73 high hit earlier in the day on Monday. [BBC]

Costa Rican wind farm

• For almost 300 days, the country of Costa Rica has run on a combination of hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar energy. It has not used fossil fuels at all. No other country of its size or larger has come close to this. For example, Portugal was recently praised in the news for running on 100% renewables for 4 days. [Q Costa Rica News]

Wednesday, October 12:

• A study from the London School of Economics, examining 34 developed and developing countries for their carbon intensity, has found that low-carbon sectors are outpacing their less-productive, higher carbon-intensive sectors and the general economy in terms of growth, while increasing jobs and skill levels. [CleanTechnica]
• Queensland has three “credible” options to achieve a 50% renewable energy target by 2030, a panel of experts said. A draft report said “significant government policy action” would be needed for Australia’s biggest carbon polluting state to reach the target, but the impact on electricity prices would be “broadly cost neutral.” [The Guardian]
• Borrego Solar Systems has launched a new division focused on megawatt-scale energy storage solutions, both stand-alone and tied to solar installations. The new storage division will be based in Massachusetts and will serve customers nationally. Borrego will focus on long-duration energy storage for the power grid. [Utility Dive]