2017-06-01 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, May 25:

• The Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2017 report from the International Renewable Energy Agency showed that 9.8 million people work in renewable energy worldwide. Solar PVs provide jobs to 3.1 million people globally. The solar and wind employment sectors have more than doubled over the past four years. [pv magazine]

Pumping jack operated by Bashneft

• Oil could converge to about $15 per barrel by the early 2040s when electric vehicles are expected to take a larger share, implying fossil fuels’ much shorter life span as the main fuel for transportation, according to an International Monetary Fund research paper. Renewable technology seems to have reached tipping point due to massive investments. [Gulf Times]
• For the third year in a row, Three Mile Island failed to secure a crucial contract to sell its electricity, increasing the possibility that the plant will soon close. Exelon will decide by September whether to shut the plant down ahead of schedule. Another Exelon nuclear plant, Quad Cities, in Illinois, also failed to secure a contract. [York Daily Record/Sunday News]

Friday, May 26:

A possible pattern of contamination from a hypothetical fire in a high-density spent-fuel pool at the Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant (Image: Michael Schoeppner, Princeton University, Program on Science and Global Security)

• In an article in Science, researchers from Princeton University and the Union of Concerned Scientists found that a reliance on “faulty analysis” by US nuclear experts could result in a catastrophic fire that has the potential to force some 8 million people to relocate, and result in a staggering $2 trillion (£1.5 trillion) in damages. [Wired.co.uk]
• Pope Francis put climate change on the agenda of his first meeting with President Trump, and the subject is likely to come up again and again in the president’s encounters with other world leaders in the coming days. Mr Trump told his Vatican hosts that he would make a final decision after he returned to the United States. [The New York Times]
• The transformation of India’s electricity market continues to deliver, as shown this month by the cancellation of 13.7 GW of proposed coal-fired power plants, an admission that 8.6 GW of operating coal is already non-viable, and the parallel move of ever-decreasing solar costs helped along by the country’s record low solar tariffs. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, May 27:

IEA WEO predictions versus reality

• “Soaring growth of solar power demonstrated in one chart” • Auke Hoekstra at the Technical University of Eindhoven, in The Netherlands, looked at successive revisions of predictions by the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook for solar adoption, measured in GW of capacity added per year. It seems they always get it wrong. [Green Car Reports]
• The City of Portland, Oregon, and Multnomah County have locked in a commitment to obtaining 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035 as the latest #CommitTo100 city to join the pledge. The City of Portland was the first US city to adopt a carbon reduction strategy way back before it was cool in 1993. [CleanTechnica]

Cross-border wind project in Baja California (Credit: Martin Lemus, Fotografia Lemus)

• A vice president with Sempra Energy, one of the nation’s largest utilities, made a stunning admission to a roomful of gas and oil executives this week: there is no technical impediment to California getting all of its energy from renewables – now. All power could come from sources like wind, solar and hydro without reliance on fossil fuels. [KPBS]

Sunday, May 28:

Mount Pinatubo erupting (United States Geological Survey image)

• Faced with rising temperatures and a dearth of American leadership, scientists are investigating geoengineering ,  which would involve deliberate, large-scale interventions to cool the Earth’s climate. It can take many forms. Solar geoengineering is the most risky and controversial. One way to do it is to emulate the effects of volcanoes. [CleanTechnica]
• With climate change, increases in average annual temperatures that may seem small create conditions that dramatically elevate the risk and severity of forest fires, particularly in the American West. Long fire seasons, dry conditions, infestations killing vegetation, and lightning combine to produce dangerous conditions for fires. [CleanTechnica]

Scarlet tanager (Jim McCormac, for the Dispatch)

• Because the land is warming and a food supply is emerging earlier, some familiar bird species arrive from migrations too late to find enough food for their chicks. That’s the conclusion of a recent study of changes in spring “green-up” dates across North America and the arrival dates of spring migratory bird species in those areas. [The Columbus Dispatch]

Monday, May 29:

• 314 Action is a new organization working to promote pro-science issues in government and help science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professionals increase their numbers in politics. So far, 5,000 scientists across the country have responded and said they are willing to run for office, exceeding all expectations. [Voice of America]

Bloomberg Center (Photo: Vincent Tullo)

• When Cornell University competed in 2011 to develop an applied science and engineering campus in New York City, part of its pitch was that it would construct an academic building that would be close to net zero for energy. It won. Now, with work well underway, the Bloomberg Center building is expected to be finished by September. [New York Times]
• A growing number of large Michigan businesses that want their electricity to come from renewable sources. Consumers Energy responded by filing a “Voluntary Large Customer Renewable Energy Pilot Program” with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The program is available to customers with a load of at least 1 MW. [MiBiz]

Tuesday, May 30:

Changes in coal demand by state

• While America’s slashed its coal-fired electricity generation by more than a third between 2006 and 2016, Nebraska raised its coal-fired power output by 6%, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. This was because coal-burning plants opened in 2009 and 2011, and the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant closed. [Bloomberg]
• In January, Taiwan’s parliament voted to phase out nuclear energy, which filled 14% of its power in 2015, by 2025. Now, global renewable energy companies are rushing to set up offshore wind farms, and investment applications filed with the government so far reached around NT$1.8 trillion (US$59.5 billion). [Nikkei Asian Review]

Wednesday, May 31:

Broadway Heights, San Diego

• Solar power is affordable for low income Americans. In one predominantly African-American neighborhood in San Diego, nearly half of the 192 homes have rooftop solar panels, and residents talk about what they can now afford. They were paying $200 and $300 a month in electric bills. Now they’re paying zero to $50. [Union of Concerned Scientists]
• Xcel Energy cut carbon emissions 30% in 2016 while expanding its renewable energy portfolio. The company’s corporate responsibility report highlights Xcel’s transitions to cleaner energy sources and other benefits to the communities it serves, including energy efficiency programs, economic development, and energy assistance. [Electric Light & Power]
• The Three Mile Island nuclear plant, which experienced a partial reactor meltdown in 1979, spawning nationwide protests, will shut in 2019. Exelon Corp, which owns the facility, said the low cost of natural gas extraction had made nuclear-generated electricity unprofitable. Since 2013, six US nuclear plants have closed before their licences expired. [BBC]

Brayton Point Power Station (Benjamin Storrow | E&E News)

• The Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, is extinguishing its boilers for the final time. When it does, coal will have all but disappeared from this six-state region of New England, with its 14 million people. Two small and seldom-used coal plants in New Hampshire will be all that remains of a once-mighty industry. [E&E News]

2017-05-25 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, May 18:

The Everglades National Park is in Carlos Curbelo’s district. (National Park Service photo, Wikimedia Commons)

• “The first GOP member of Congress to say ‘impeachment’ after Trump’s latest scandal is a climate hawk.” • Representative Carlos Curbelo’s district in low-lying South Florida is especially vulnerable to rising seas and climate change. He has bucked his party to become one of the most vocal proponents for climate action in Congress. [Grist]
• Among thousands of delegates meeting in Bonn to develop the rule book for the Paris deal, the Climate Vulnerable Forum, representing 48 countries, said the deal was crucial to their survival. In a swipe at President Donald Trump’s oft-used phrase, they said that “no country would be great again” without swift action. [BBC]

Desert wind farm (Photo: Steve Boland | flickr | cc)

• The Trump administration is weighing huge cuts to the budget of the DOE’s renewable energy and energy efficiency program. It has a proposal to slash it by 70%, from $2,073 million in 2017 to a proposed $636 million for 2018. That’s according to a draft 2018 budget proposal obtained by the news and information company Axios. [Common Dreams]

Friday, May 19:

• One of the world’s most beloved toy makers, the LEGO Group, announced that it had reached its 100% renewable energy goal three years ahead of schedule thanks to the completion and commissioning of the 258-MW Burbo Bank Extension Offshore Wind Farm. LEGO has not stopped, as it still has solar panels going up in China. [CleanTechnica]

Green Antarctica (Photo: Matt Amesbury)

• Researchers in Antarctica have discovered rapidly growing banks of mosses on the ice continent’s northern peninsula, providing striking evidence of climate change in the coldest and most remote parts of the planet. Because of the warming of the last 50 years, they found two species of mosses growing at an accelerated pace. [ScienceAlert]
• A planned coal-fired 4,000-MW ultra-mega power project plant in India has been scrapped because the government wants to focus on green energy. Gujarati state officials had planned it, but the government decided the state was already sufficiently supplied with energy and focusing on renewables was a better longer term strategy. [malaysiandigest.com]

Saturday, May 20:

Dutch offshore wind farm (Credit: AP | Peter Dejong, File)

• “Offshore wind won a German power auction without needing any subsidies” • The price of offshore wind power has been dropping so quickly that it threatens to upend the electricity industry around the world. Choosing free zero-pollution power over costly dirty power isn’t a tough choice for utilities or most countries. [ThinkProgress]
• The Global Seed Vault, which was built under a deep mountain in Arctic Svalbard to secure a million packets of the world’s most precious seeds from all natural and man-made calamities, has been flooded by melting permafrost. The seeds are safe, for the time being, but scientists are alarmed. No one envisioned that this would happen. [International Business Times UK]
• President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget request would slash EPA spending by almost a third, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by CNN. The budget blueprint, which the White House plans to submit to Congress next week, would cut the EPA’s total budget by more than 30% and its operational budget by 35% from current levels. [CNN]

Sunday, May 21:

Pen y Cymoedd wind project near Swansea (Photo: Vattenfall)

• The Upper Afan Valley near Swansea is already home to the biggest windfarm in England and Wales, but in July work will begin there on one of the UK’s largest battery storage schemes. Co-locating the plant with the windfarm reduced needs for power lines, so it was about £5 million cheaper than building it on a standalone site. [The Guardian]
• A study by scientists at the NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, predicts the warming of the Gulf of Maine will cause a dramatic contraction of suitably cool habitat for a range of key commercial fish species there. The species negatively affected include cod, haddock, redfish, plaice and pollock. [Press Herald]

Sugar River and Mt Ascutney (Photo: TrunkJunk, Wikimedia Commons)

• Sugar River Power, a small power producer, has restored a hydro dam in Claremont, New Hampshire. The company bought the dam in January. When the twin turbines of the hydroelectric plan operate at full capacity, they are capable of generating 1.35 MW of power, enough to power 1,300 homes, one of the company’s owners said. [Valley News]

Monday, May 22:

• Swiss voters have backed the government’s plan to provide billions of dollars in subsidies for renewable energy, ban new nuclear plants and help bail out struggling utilities in a binding referendum. Provisional final figures showed support at 58.2% under the Swiss system of direct democracy, which gives voters final say on major policy issues. [Newshub]

The fastest growing renewable energy source (Thinkstock image)

• Scottish Power won the right to build two offshore wind farms in the US, which it says could eventually power 400,000 homes. The two sites combined are more than double the size of the energy giant’s operations in the UK. One farm, off the coast of Massachusetts, is expected to be complete in 2022 and the other, off North Carolina, in 2025. [BBC]

Tuesday, May 23:

• “Congress vs. Trump: Are the President’s Anti-Science Budget Priorities Headed for Another Defeat?” • The president is expected to release his full fiscal year 2018 budget this week, without any surprises. It will likely track the earlier “skinny budget” pretty closely, which means it’s going nowhere in Congress. [Union of Concerned Scientists]

Wind turbine above a corn field (Image: Pixabay)

• DTE Energy plans to build an additional 6 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2050 in Michigan, on top of the 1 GW it has built since 2009. The company also plans to invest in grid modernization as part of plans to cut its carbon dioxide emissions 80% by 2050. DTE’s chairman said the utility’s transformation is already underway. [reNews]
• “India-China climate hope” • India’s and China’s pledged actions to curb their greenhouse gas emissions are likely to overcompensate by 2030 the impacts of US President Donald Trump’s policies that appear set to flatten America’s emissions, according to European researchers at the Climate Action Tracker. [Calcutta Telegraph]
• Global production of the four most important staple crops in the world – maize/corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans – will be reduced by around 23% by the 2050s as a result of worsening anthropogenic climate change, according to new research published in the journal Economics of Disasters and Climate Change. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, May 24:

Solar plus storage

• Tucson Electric Power signed a power purchase agreement for a system with 100 MW of PVs and 30-MW, 120-MWh of storage. Exact prices are confidential, but a release pegged the PPA for the solar portion of the project at below $0.03/kWh. Both solar and storage are to be developed by an affiliate of NextEra Energy. [Utility Dive]
• FPL is the nation’s third-largest electric utility. It boasts a typical household bill 25% below the national average and is closing coal plants to keep its rates going down. In a filing to the Florida Public Service Commission to close its St Johns River Power Park coal plant, the company detailed exactly why coal is not coming back. [CleanTechnica]

Screen shot (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment)

• “Study: Sea level rising 3x as fast since 1990 as figured before. Meanwhile, feds censor climate info.” • A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says sea level is rising three times as fast as it was before 1990. Trillions of dollars are at risk. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is censoring references to climate change. [Daily Kos]

2017-05-18 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, May 11:

Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire

• The town of Hanover, New Hampshire voted to establish a goal of transitioning to 100% clean and renewable energy by 2050. The article approved at town meeting sets a community-wide goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and a 2050 goal of transitioning heating and transportation to clean sources of energy. [EcoWatch]
• The 37 glaciers remaining at Glacier National Park are vanishing. In the past half century, some of the ice formations in Montana have lost 85% of their size, and the average shrinkage is 39%, a study released by the US Geological Survey and Portland State University says. One scientist said, “The glaciers will be gone in decades.” [CNN]

Gas being flared (Andrew Burton | Getty Images)

• Republicans’ bid to roll back an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions from drilling rigs on public lands narrowly lost in the Senate after three GOP senators voted against the repeal in a 49-51 vote. The rule limited the amount of methane that can be vented and burned from oil and gas extraction sites on federal lands. [Huffington Post]

Friday, May 12:

• President Donald Trump’s efforts to dilute US climate policies put Tillerson in an awkward position at a meeting of Arctic nations in Fairbanks. Tillerson signed an agreement recognizing the Paris climate accord, but he said Trump was not rushing to decide whether to leave or weaken US commitments to the pact. [Financial Express]

Offshore Wind in Denmark

• Maryland regulators approved plans for the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind projects. The Maryland Public Service Commission awarded renewable energy credits for two projects off Maryland’s Eastern Shore near Ocean City. The PSC says the decision allows US Wind and Skipjack Offshore Energy to build 368 MW of capacity. [PennEnergy]
• Each year the intelligence community puts together a “Worldwide Threat Assessment” report. This year’s report makes for particularly disquieting reading. While it focuses on the increasing danger that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program poses as well as cyberterrorism threats, one environmental concern stands out: climate change. [Yahoo News]

Saturday, May 13:

Needing to adapt to climate change

• “The Casual Gardener: Adapt your garden for a changing climate” • According to the RHS’s “Gardening in a Changing Climate” report, the lush, green, “quintessentially British” lawn could become a thing of the past. It also warns that pests and diseases not yet established in some areas could become commonplace. [the Irish News]
• Indian solar power tariffs dropped to a new low of ₹2.44 per unit (3.8¢/kWh) in an auction for the 500-MW Bhadla solar power park in Rajasthan. ACME Solar Holdings won the bid at ₹2.44 per unit for 200 MW, and SoftBank Energy, quoting ₹2.45 per unit, won the remaining 300 MW. Two days ago, the lowest bid was at ₹2.62 per unit. [Scroll.in]
• China will suspend approvals for new coal-fired power plants in 29 provinces to reduce overcapacity, the official China Securities Journal reported. The National Energy Administration put as many as 25 provinces on “red alert”, meaning that new projects would create severe overcapacity or environmental risks. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]

Sunday, May 14:

Tucson rooftop solar (Ron Medvescek | Arizona Daily Star)

• Last December, after years of legal wrangling, the Arizona Corporation Commission set a new solar policy phasing out net metering. Now, Tucson Electric Power Co proposed a rate structure for future customers with PVs that would cut credits for excess solar production and mandate time-of-use rates with new monthly charges. [Arizona Daily Star]
• Environment advocates said Philippine coal-fired projects under construction could cause 70,000 deaths per year by 2030. Residents of Ozamiz City protested the impending construction of a 300-MW coal-fired power plant, saying the it will also prevent people from enjoying clean and cheap energy from renewable resources. [Manila Bulletin]

Monday, May 15:

Professor Paul Dastoor and printed PVs (ABC News | Kerrin Thomas)

• Final trials of printed PVs on sheets of plastic are underway at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. Conventional printing technology is used to print electronic ink on clear plastic sheets. The finished product is very lightweight. Printed PVs are expected to be available commercially in about three years. [ABC Online]
• Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered a temporary shutdown of outdated coal-fired plants, aged 30 years or over, as part of an emergency measure to combat fine dust. Under the plans, 10 out of 59 coal-fired plants will stop operating for a month in June. He has also pledged to close nuclear plants and increase renewable generation. [The Korea Herald]

Battery storage (Horizon Power image)

• Western Australia network operator Horizon Power announced plans to take more remote regional customers off grid, offering stand-alone solar plus battery storage systems and back-up diesel generators as a cheaper and more reliable alternative to poles and wires. Five test systems installed last year were successful. [One Step Off The Grid]

Tuesday, May 16:

 

North sea oil platform (Image: Berardo62, some rights reserved)

• Over 1400 oil and gas platforms in the North Sea might eventually be used to fight the problem they helped to create: unsustainable energy generation. Both fossil fuels and renewable companies are working on a system design that could make the platforms part of the energy revolution as hydrogen production and storage facilities. [CleanTechnica]
• Global solar investment is to be higher than coal, gas and nuclear combined in 2017, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan. Global Power Industry Outlook, 2017 examines power market trends, installed capacity, investment, and regional growth across coal-fired, gas-fired, nuclear, hydro, solar PV, wind, and biomass. [Your Renewable News]

Indian renewable energy (Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar | Mint)

• Thanks to strong government support, India has moved up to the second spot in the “Renewable energy country attractiveness index” 2017, according to a report released by Ernst & Young. The report released globally stated that China and India have surpassed the US, which has fallen to third place on Trump administration policy. [Livemint]

Wednesday, May 17:

Tesla Powerwall

• Tesla and Vermont’s Green Mountain Power are offering GMP customers a Powerwall battery for $15 a month for 10 years, or a one time charge of $1500. The normal price of a 10-kWh Powerwall with built-in inverter is $5,500, plus installation. The batteries will provide backup power to customers and balancing to the grid. [CleanTechnica]
• 8minutenergy Renewables, the largest independent solar power developer in the US, announced it has expanded into the energy storage market with a 1-GW project pipeline. The company has a storage leadership team with decades of experience building large energy storage, renewable energy, and transmission projects. [MilTech]

Offshore wind farm (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

• Scotland’s most senior judge has reversed a decision to halt construction of four giant offshore wind farms in the Forth and Tay, which could power 1.4 million homes and create thousands of jobs. Construction of the £2 billion 450-MW Neart Na Gaoithe scheme in the outer Forth estuary may soon begin, as it is already fully funded. [The Scotsman]

2017-05-11 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, May 4:

Indian Point nuclear plant

• “With Renewables Surging, Nuclear And Petroleum Battle Over Subsidies” • If the petroleum industry keeps fighting subsidies for nuclear power, the nuclear industry will go after petroleum-industry tax breaks, the president of the Nuclear Energy Institute said. He said if people compare nuclear subsidies with petroleum tax breaks, nuclear will fare well. [Forbes]
• “Carbon Capture And Storage: An Expensive Option For Reducing U.S. CO2 Emissions” • While many technologies can reduce power sector emissions, carbon capture and storage has gained support in Congress. Analysis shows coal with CCS will always need significant subsidies to complete economically with wind and solar. [Forbes]
• Legal issues are now the sticking point in discussions in the Trump administration over whether to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, according to a person close to the talks. The lawyers aren’t sure whether the US would expose itself legally if it remains in the Paris agreement, but decreases its carbon reduction goals. [CNN]

Friday, May 5:

Wind turbines in Sheffield (Toby Talbot | AP File)

• The Vermont Public Service Board held a series of meetings on proposed sound standards for wind turbines. The board released its draft version of the new rules in March, and its members held four meetings this week to hear from the public and from wind and sound experts as they get ready to finalize the sound standards. [Vermont Public Radio]
• The US has no plan yet for how to meet its 2020 climate target and has made no analysis of the impact of recent policy changes, according to an official submission to the UN. The US submission for the Multilateral Assessment, which was published this week, says “jobs, economic growth and energy independence” are its priority. [Carbon Brief]
• Utility-scale solar installations grew at an annualized rate of 72% from 2010 to 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration. Though the first utility-scale solar plants were installed in the mid-1980s, but more than half of all currently operating solar capacity came online over the last two years. [Power Engineering Magazine]

Saturday, May 6:

The Fort McMurray fire caused C$3.7 billion in damages. (Credit: Jonathen Hayward | The Canadian Press)

• Decades of increasing temperatures in Alaska have lengthened the fire season and dried out vegetation, especially in the forest floor, and created conditions for busier fire season with bigger and more frequent wildfires, according to one study. Other studies say increased lightning strikes will bring more fires and that they will be bigger. [KUAC]
• “Missing EPA Webpage Could Be Violation of Federal Law” • When EPA’s climate change pages were shuttered for revisions reflecting the administration’s views, users are told they can check out a snapshot of the entire EPA site from the day before Trump took office. But in the archived snapshot, pages relating to climate change are missing. [Seeker]
• US EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said grid reliability is threatened by potential over-reliance on gas-fired electric generation. He said he believes we have a need for power plants to have fuel stockpiles (ie, coal) nearby in the event of supply disruptions. The US has lost 54 GW of coal capacity and added 34 GW of gas capacity since 2012. [Argus Media]

Sunday, May 7:

Gloucester, Massachusetts (Fletcher6, Wikimedia Commons)

• Some communities in Massachusetts are boosting their use of renewable energy, bypassing basic electric service to negotiate contracts with third-party generators. Two of the programs are running, and eight more are under development. Those 10 communities’ plans could result in 17 MW of new wind turbines. [Wicked Local Brewster]

Installing solar panels in Millvale, Pennsylvania (Reid Frazier | The Allegheny Front)

• The reality coal miners face is that coal jobs have shrunk by 40% since 2011. What is growing is the number of jobs in renewables. Solar power accounts for just under 1.5% [actually, well over 2% – ghh] of electricity in the US, and yet, according to the DOE, there are more than twice as many jobs in solar as in coal. [Tri States Public Radio]

Monday, May 8:

• The European Commission approved three schemes to support electricity generation from small-scale onshore wind, solar, and sewage gas installations in France. The schemes will enable France to develop over 17 GW of additional renewable energy over the next decade, including 15 GW of onshore wind power and 2.1 GW of solar. [Power Technology]

Arctic melt ponds (Photo courtesy of NOAA)

• “Trump failure to lead on climate doesn’t faze UN policymakers in Bonn” • Policymakers from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Bonn for talks aimed at fulfilling the Paris Agreement. They are unfazed by Trump’s threat to withdraw from the accord. It seems likely China would step into the leadership gap left by the US. [Mongabay.com]
• The Climate Solutions Caucus, is a place representatives concerned about climate change can meet to exchange ideas about how the federal government should respond to environmental challenges. We might assume that most of those people would be Democrats, but in fact half of the caucus members are Republicans. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, May 9:

• Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, pro-EU French presidential candidate, won two thirds of the vote in a run-off against the far right’s Marine Le Pen. He promised to promote international cooperation on climate change in his victory speech. He supports ending the use of coal, a carbon price, and trade sanctions on polluting countries. [Climate Home]

Antelopes in Wyoming (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

• The US added more than 11 GW of solar power last year, according to a report released by the Energy Information Administration. This means the US has nearly 50% more solar power than it did a year earlier. And the American Wind Energy Association says the wind industry had its best first quarter since 2009. [The Desert Sun]
• More than two hundred institutional investors worth the tidy sum of $15 trillion have just put the Trump Administration on notice that climate change has put their assets at risk. The notice comes in the form of a newly published letter to the G7 group of seven industrialized nations and the G20 group of 20 major economies. [CleanTechnica]
• The School for International Training, in Brattleboro, Vermont, received a $100,000 grant from Windham Regional Commission to install a solar energy system. Its benefits will include enhancing the curriculum at the SIT Graduate Institute. The project will be installed in partnership with Dynamic Organics, based in Putney, Vermont. [vtdigger.org]

Wednesday, May 10:

Casco Bay Lobster boat (KPWM Spotter, Wikimedia Commons)

• New restrictions are coming to Southern New England’s lobster fishery in an attempt to save their populations in the area. Numbers of lobsters have dwindled as climate changed has warmed waters. An arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to pursue new management measures to try to slow their decline. [The Providence Journal]
• Solar power tariff dropped to a record low of ₹2.62 per unit (4.05¢/kWh) in an auction for Bhadla solar park in Rajasthan. This price is lower than the average rate of power generated by the coal-fuelled power generation utility, NTPC Ltd, at ₹3.20 per unit. The price is considered a major milestone toward powering India. [Deccan Herald]

Distributed and remote off-grid solar plus storage growth

• Navigant Research published its latest Distributed Solar PV Plus Energy Storage Systems report this week. It says the global annual market for the deployment of distributed solar PV plus energy storage is expected to exceed $49 billion and reach 27.4 GW by 2026. The largest growth is expected to be in the Asia Pacific region. [CleanTechnica]