2018-04-05 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, March 29:  

Raspberry Pi (Sven.petersen, Wikimedia Commons)

• “Trump Is Already Losing The Trade War” • Donald Trump has failed to understand one essential point about a trade war. To win it, you need friends. In that ignorance, he antagonizes customers at the very time strong Chinese competition is courting them. And he is pushing obsolete technology while the competition sells better things cheaper. [CleanTechnica]
• Even if Maine converted all activities currently powered by gasoline, natural gas and other fossil fuels (like transportation and home heating) to electricity, the energy provided by offshore wind turbines could still produce 13.7 times as much power as the state would use, according to a report released by Environment Maine. [Environment Maine]

Renewable energy

• The cost of wind and solar energy continued to drop in 2017, falling another 18% across the globe, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The report also highlights the falling cost and growing uptake of battery storage, which is now encroaching on the flexibility and peaking revenues enjoyed by those fossil fuel plants. [RenewEconomy]

Friday, March 30:  

• FirstEnergy Corp said that it will shut down two nuclear plants in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania within the next three years. The utility said it plans to close its Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Toledo in 2020. The following year, it will shut down the Perry plant near Cleveland and its Beaver Valley nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. [Huntington Herald Dispatch]

Chinese nuclear plant

• “As China’s nuclear power industry flounders, should India and Pakistan take note?” • As countries around the world abandoned nuclear power, China had bucked the trend, embracing nuclear power as a reliable and cheap energy source that would help reduce air pollution. Now nuclear development in China is floundering. [Scroll.in]
• According to data released by the federal government agencies, more than 93% of the power generation capacity added in India between October and December 2017 was renewable. This marks a continuation in the trend seen in the third quarter last year when just over 92% of the power generation capacity added in India was renewable. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, March 31:

Coal plant (Public domain)

• Ohio-based utility giant FirstEnergy wants the DOE to bail out its uneconomic coal and nuclear plants, along with all other ailing plants in the 13-state PJM Interconnection region. They claimed plant closings would threaten grid resilience. Federal regulators and many, many experts agree there is no imminent threat to the electric grid. [Environmental Defense Fund]
• DTE Energy Co is proposing new wind and solar projects in Michigan that would double the utility’s renewable energy capacity. The plan includes $1.7 billion in investments and would increase DTE’s renewable energy capacity by 2022 from 1,000 MW to 2,000 MW. That is enough clean energy to power over 800,000 homes. [ABC 12 News]
• A central Texas town that already uses 100% renewable energy is working out a plan to generate more electricity locally so it can stop buying power to meet demand. The city of Georgetown wants to start paying property owners to let the city-owned utility install solar panels on their roofs and feed the energy into the grid. [Big Country Homepage]

Sunday, April 1:

Rooftop solar (Pixabay image)

• According to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, China invested $133 billion in renewable energy last year. Over half of that was in solar energy. The new solar capacity of 53 GW in 2017 is more than half of the world installations. With its policy of growth, China has clearly replaced Germany and Europe today as a leader in renewable energy. [Devdiscourse]
• A power generator that pleaded for the Trump administration’s help in bailing out struggling coal and nuclear plants has filed for bankruptcy. FirstEnergy Solutions Corp, its subsidiaries and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co filed for Chapter 11 protection in Federal Court in Akron, Ohio, according to a March 31 press release. [Bloomberg]
• “US Energy Providers Reach for Electric Cars to Increase Flatlining Energy Needs” • Electricity demand is not growing in the US, and utility providers are challenged by falling costs of renewable energy. Some utility companies are teaming up with automakers to offer customer rebates. Can EVs possibly save the grid utilities? [The Drive]

Monday, April 2:

Solar array in China

• JinkoSolar Holdings, the world’s largest solar panel maker, is thought to ship a little over 20% of its product to the US. Now that the US is imposing tariffs on Chinese solar products, Jinko plans to sell products elsewhere. It expects production to increase by about 30% this year to 13,500 MW for sales in emerging markets. [Nikkei Asian Review]
• “National flood insurance is underwater because of outdated science” • The National Flood Insurance Program, which is run by FEMA, is struggling because it is trapped in a downward spiral of ballooning claims without the resources to cover them. And the Senate is failing to hammer out reforms that address the changing math of flood risk. [Salon]
• Hawaii, with its population of nearly 1.5 million, had less than 7,000 electric vehicles registered across the state in January. But the Hawaiian Electric Co believes that number will explode to more than 430,000 EVs on Oahu alone by 2045, according to Brennon Morioka, the utility’s general manager for electrification of transportation. [Honolulu Civil Beat]

Tuesday, April 3:

• Danish wind energy company Vestas announced or confirmed four separate North American wind turbine orders totaling 598 MW. Two of the orders were for the 2-MW wind turbines and two for its 3.45-MW turbines optimised to 3.6 MW. The four orders highlight Vestas’ continued dominance in North America across its supply line. [CleanTechnica]

Vestas wind turbine

• A report from ACS Central Science describes a new material that can remove heavy metals and provide clean drinking water in seconds. It is a metal-polymer sponge-like material that can sweep up lead and mercury pollutants from any source of water with extreme efficiency, and can even be cleaned and reused over and over again. [CleanTechnica]
• EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he is scrapping former President Barack Obama’s fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas rules for cars and light trucks. Pruitt said rules that set a 54-mpg standard by 2025, up from the current 38.3 mpg, were “not appropriate” in light of recent automobile sales data and should be revised. [Washington Examiner]

Wednesday, April 4:

Hydroponic system on a rooftop

• France’s famously beautiful capital is not a place you’d expect to find chickens, beehives, and rows of neatly planted cabbages, but urban farming is flourishing in Paris. The city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, wanted to make Paris a greener city with green spaces. The plan is to cover a third of those green spaces with urban farms. [CNN]
• “Is America’s Vaunted Electricity Supply System on Course for Rocks and Shoals?” • Several recent announcements show a slowly developing crisis in the American electricity supply system. Operators of a number of coal-burning, nuclear, and even gas-powered generating plants said they are planning to retire them. [Energy Collective]

Wind turbines

• Portugal has produced so much renewable electricity that it has outstripped the entire country’s consumption for the month of March. The national grid operator, REN, has announced that renewables generated 4,812 GWh over the course of the month, compared to a demand from mainland Portugal that reached 4,647 GWh. [Climate Action Programme]

2018-03-29 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, March 22:

Offshore wind farm (Shutterstock image)

• The UK offshore wind industry committed to working with the Government on a “transformative” sector deal that could spur £48 billion in new investments in the country’s infrastructure and increase offshore wind capacity to 30 GW by 2030. The deal is expected to reduce costs for electricity by 9% while more than doubling industry employment. [CleanTechnica]
• Microsoft announced what it calls “the single largest corporate purchase of solar energy ever in the United States,” buying 315 MW from two new solar projects in Virginia as part of its ongoing renewable energy efforts. The power will come from 750,000 solar panels spread across 2,000 acres at the Pleinmont I and II projects. [GeekWire]
• The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved unanimously a $1.6 billion plan to build two massive wind farms along the Texas-New Mexico border. The vote is a key step needed for Xcel Energy to move forward with its plans. Texas regulators are expected to act on the proposal in the coming weeks. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Friday,  March 23:

Cape Town at sunset (Shutterstock image)

• Global energy demand increased by 2.1% in 2017 at more than twice the previous year’s rate. At the same time, carbon emissions increased for the first time since 2014, jumping by 1.4%. These are the two key messages from the International Energy Agency’s newest resource, the Global Energy and CO2 Status Report, 2017. [CleanTechnica]
• Congress passed a $1.3 trillion federal spending bill after Republicans, in order to get needed Democratic support, agreed to remove provisions that would have gutted environmental and campaign finance laws. EPA funding was not reduced, and the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy saw an increase. [InsideClimate News]
• Environment Massachusetts says the state has the potential to generate more offshore wind energy than any other on the East Coast. They released a report that said if wind turbines were placed in every suitable location off the coast of Massachusetts, they could generate nearly 20 times more electricity than the state used in 2016. [Rhode Island Public Radio]

Saturday,  March 24:

Specimens (Frans Lanting, National Geographic Creative)

• The Earth’s life support system is failing. Nearly everywhere, the various forms of non-human life are in decline, according to a series of landmark international reports. This ongoing decline endangers economies, livelihoods, food security, and the quality of life of people everywhere. Nevertheless, there are reasons to hope, the reports say. [National Geographic]
• San Francisco and Oakland sued five major oil companies, claiming they kept secret for decades their knowledge that their operations were causing global warming. Lawyers for Chevron say they will not contest that climate change is real and accept findings reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [CleanTechnica]

The University of Hawaii (Image via UH)

• Rod Cushing, of Johnson Controls in North America, said that the University of Hawaii Maui College would most likely be the first campus to supply 100% of its energy requirements. This is sixteen years earlier than expected. The college plans to achieve this through use of “on-site photovoltaic systems coupled with battery storage.” [Study Breaks]

Sunday,  March 25:

Covered bridge over the Ashuelot River (Photo: John Phelan, Wikimedia Commons)

• “Watching Nature Collapse” • I remember walking out the door of my grandmother’s house in New Hampshire in 1959. Three stretches of telephone lines across the street were covered by resting barn swallows, sitting about five inches apart. When I moved out of that house in 2004, there were no barn swallows left. [CleanTechnica]
• “Why Going Green is Big Business” • Bankers, insurers, and others whose job it is to assess and manage risk are increasingly aware of the threat that climate change may pose to assets. Indeed, big companies without environmental, social, and governance may find themselves liable for lack of “fiduciary responsibility.” [PlanetSave.com]

“Printed on the circuit board of a car in Deep space” (Image via Elon Musk)

• “Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster In Space … Because It’s Fun” • After last month’s jaw-dropping spectacle from SpaceX, many are asking: What’s the real reason Elon Musk chose to send a Tesla Roadster, set up to blast David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” at top volume from its speakers. into outer space on his almighty Falcon Heavy rocket? [CleanTechnica]

Monday,  March 26:

• BP has released its most recent outlook study, BP’s 2018 Technology Outlook. It shows that renewable energy is cost-competitive with fossil fuels, even without subsidies. The same report suggests that technology alone won’t be enough to curtail climate change; policy changes, including carbon taxes, are also necessary. [Engineering.com]

Offshore oil platform

• Geopolitical risks are weighing on oil prices as Saudi Arabia and Iran jockey for influence in the Middle East. These concerns escalated just over a week ago when Saudi Arabia’s young Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country would acquire nuclear weapons if Iran developed them. Higher oil prices could bring an offshore oil boom. [OilPrice.com]
• “Farming the Earth to Death” • Pollution from Big Ag farms doesn’t produce dramatic photos like goo-covered seagulls or river otters. That makes it all the worse. The invisibility of the poisons already dumped into our environment by industrial farming cloaks the damage. And ethanol is the worst. It is just renewable pollution. [Omaha Reader]

Tuesday,  March 27:

• “You should be scared if you own natural gas stocks” • CNBC’s Jim Cramer has noticed a new group becoming “hated” on Wall Street: the natural gas cohort. And when he dug deeper, he realized that the weakness went beyond gas as a commodity. Companies that produce natural gas or even use it to produce electricity show the same weakness. [CNBC]

Coal-burning power plant (Reuters image)

• Britain has cut its power station carbon emissions by a quarter in only 12 months according to data by Imperial College London. A study in the journal Nature Energy, said that if the other main coal-consuming countries mirrored Britain’s approach, it would reduce global emissions by roughly a gigatonne, or 3% every year. [Telegraph.co.uk]
• The Town of Hartford, Vermont, commissioned two rooftop solar projects on Town buildings in February. Norwich Solar Technologies of White River Junction installed a 98-kW DC, net-metered solar PV system on the roof of the town’s Wastewater Treatment Plant as well as a 37-kW DC system on the Public Works building. [Vermont Biz]

Wednesday,  March 28:

Transmission lines (Image: Oran Viriyincy | Flickr)

• California’s grid operator signed off on the state’s 2017-2018 Transmission Plan, which approved 17 new transmission projects combined at a cost of nearly $271 million. But 20 projects were canceled and 21 were revised due to energy efficiency and residential solar power altering local area load forecasts, saving about $2.6 billion. [pv magazine USA]
• Saudi Arabia and SoftBank Group Corp signed a memorandum of understanding to build a $200 billion solar power project that is two orders of magnitude larger than any project in history. At 200 GW, the Softbank project planned for the Saudi desert would be about 100 times larger than the next biggest proposed development. [Bloomberg]
• A solicitation by Xcel Energy for new generation in Colorado produced incredibly cheap prices for renewable power with batteries. After President Trump announced a tariff on imported solar panels, Xcel gave bidders an opportunity to refresh their bids. Xcel has reported on the updated bids. They show minimal changes. [Environmental Defense Fund]

2018-03-22 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, March 15:

Nanowood

• Researchers at the University of Maryland claim to have found a way to strip away lignin and hemicellulose from wood. They say that the result, which they call “nanowood” costs less and has insulating qualities that are superior to many insulation materials commonly used in building construction today. Nanowood is also stronger. [CleanTechnica]
• “Solar saves carbon faster and more effectively than nuclear power” • Renewable electricity, chiefly from wind and solar power, adds electricity generation and saves carbon faster than nuclear power does or ever has, according to a data-rich new study by Amory Lovins and three colleagues at Rocky Mountain Institute. [Solar Builder]
• US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke claimed the “carbon footprint on wind [energy] is significant.” But wind power’s carbon footprint is among the smallest of any energy source. The carbon footprints of coal and natural gas are close to 90 and 40 times larger, respectively, the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory says. [FactCheck.org]

Friday, March 16:

Storm at Lynn, Massachusetts

• Massachusetts Gov Charlie Baker released a $1.4 billion bond bill that would authorize spending on climate change preparedness and environmental protection. The bill provides $300 million to respond to the impacts of climate change, including $170 million to repair dams and sea walls and help coastal communities. [MassLive.com]
• The Southern Environmental Law Center and Environmental Defense Fund are suing the EPA for failing to release information about the Heartland Institute’s efforts to attack climate science. Officials at the Heartland Institute, a promoter of climate denial, publicly stated that EPA requested their assistance in a review of climate science. [Augusta Free Press]
• The New Hampshire Senate has passed a bill allowing larger businesses to get into net metering. The bill would increase five-fold the size of net metering systems, from 1 MW, perhaps a size for a midsize store or a town hall, to 5 MW, which might be used by facilities like those of BAE Systems or Foss Manufacturing. [New Hampshire Business Review]

Saturday, March 17:

Open pit mine in 2004 (Adam Amato | The Chronicle)

• The former site of a coal mine could be producing solar power by the end of 2020. Plans were unveiled by electricity provider TransAlta for a mine shut down in 2006. Reclamation work had begun the following year to restore it to forest and pasture land. But now, TransAlta believes it’s a prime location for a new solar project. [The Olympian]
• Some Rwandans in remote areas of the country have decided not to wait for the government to provide them with electricity. Instead, they invested in off-grid energy to change lives in their villages. One village will soon bid farewell to darkness, thanks to a hydropower project that was designed by a local entrepreneur and built by local people. [KT Press]

Solar panels in China

• Chinese suppliers of solar panels may be facing epic headwinds in the year ahead, as rising production capacity is set to coincide with growing trade protectionism in the US and India and a downturn in domestic demand. Chinese solar manufacturing supplied 55% to 83% of global demand for various solar products last year. [South China Morning Post]

Sunday, March 18:

• The conservative Liberal Party has won the election of South Australia state, ending the Australian Labor Party’s streak of 16 years in power in the state. Along with promises of tax cuts for small businesses, Marshall’s campaign promised to scaling back the Australian Labor Party approach to renewable energy which he described as reckless. [Xinhua]

Corsa Coal’s Acosta Deep Mine in Pennsylvania, with a US flag draped over the mud (Justin Merriman | Getty Images)

• President Trump’s nominee for deputy administrator of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler, has spent much of his career working for less oversight from the agency. He is a longtime aide to Sen James Inhofe, known for his climate-denying antics on the Senate floor. After that job, Wheeler became a lobbyist for the fossil fuels industry. [89.3 KPCC]
• North Korea’s Foreign Minister went to Sweden, prompting speculations about a meeting between US President Trump and Mr Kim Jong-Un, leader of North Korea. Sweden is happy to help resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula arising from the North Korean construction of a nuclear reactor and pursuit of nuclear military power. [The Straits Times]

Monday, March 19:

BoxPower unit at the Nevada County Fairgrounds

• Worldwide, 1.2 billion people have little or no access to electricity. A man in Grass Valley, Nevada, is on a mission to help solve the energy poverty crisis. Angelo Campus is the CEO of BoxPower Inc, a startup company that provides off-grid communities with affordable microgrid systems in shipping containers. [The Union of Grass Valley]
• “GE Aims Coal-Killing Energy Storage Solution At Willing Customers” • The US DOE recently floated the idea of carving out a place for small coal power plants in the distributed energy landscape of the future, but it looks like the agency’s latest attempt to save coal is a day late and a dollar short. GE is pitching energy storage. [CleanTechnica]

Bradenstoke solar park (Photo courtesy of Shell)

• Shell is taking tentative steps away from the oil and gas sector, in which it has flourished for over a century, and toward more renewables. In an effort to move towards a less carbon-intensive energy system, Shell has been investing in biofuels, carbon capture and storage technologies, as well as green energies such as wind and solar. [Power Technology]

Tuesday, March 20:

Chinese destroyer Qingdao visiting Pearl Harbor (Photo: US Navy, Wikimedia Commons)

• “Don’t Bet On A Decline In Chinese Solar PV Production” • China’s the “One Belt One Road” initiative is promising $1.2 trillion for struggling economies worldwide. One of the goals of the program is to marginalize American world influence. The solar panels and other goods the US has subjected to a tariff are tools for the program. [CleanTechnica]
• “Solar Surprise: Small-Scale Solar A Better Deal Than Big” • For a Public Utilities Commission eyeing the least cost solar energy, the greatest benefit will be at a scale of less than about 10 MW to 20 MW. For a city or community looking to maximize the value of the citizens’ solar investment, smaller systems are best. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore windpower

• Bay State Wind signed a letter of intent to work with NEC Energy Solutions to develop energy storage system for its 800-MW offshore wind farm. Massachusetts-based NEC Energy Solutions will develop a 55-MW/111-MWh storage system to support the proposed offshore wind farm off the coast near Martha’s Vineyard. [CleanTechnology News]

Wednesday, March 21:

Benefits and challenges (Shutterstock image)

• The European Union’s scientific research centre has explored the idea of linking the power grids of Europe and China, in order to tap into the immense clean energy potential of the Middle Kingdom and the countries of Central Asia. A study by the EU’s Joint Research Centre into a super-grid link has mapped three potential routes. [EURACTIV]
• McDonald’s, one of the planet’s most recognizable companies, has become the first restaurant chain in the world to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Its goal is to reduce emissions by 36% at all McDonald’s restaurants and offices by 2030 from a 2015 baseline. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines in Colorado (Getty Images)

• US electric generation last year was down 1.5% from the year before, a drop of 105,000 GWh. But both coal and natural gas saw larger declines. Coal use was down by 2.5%, a smaller decline than it has seen recently. But coal’s decline will continue; no new coal plants were opened, and 6.3 GW of coal capacity were retired in 2017. [Ars Technica]

2018-03-15 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, March 8:

Normal high tides to be as high as today’s storm surges (Ryan McBride | AFP | Getty Images)

• A major report released this week by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration highlights a growing threat facing coastal communities in all parts of the United States. As sea levels rise due to global warming, the kind of flooding currently experienced only in storms will happen during normal high tides. [CNN]
• “China’s Power Move” • Over the past decade, Beijing has undeniably dealt a blow to the United States in the clean energy technology market. China is now the world’s dominant producer of solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries as it continues to capture strategic, advanced technology markets. Beijing has its eye on power lines next. [Scientific American]
• Groups of Republican college students, “Students For Carbon Dividends,” are organizing support for a plan put forth by James Baker, and George Schultz, Secretaries of State under George W. H. Bush and Ronald Reagan, respectively. The Baker/Schultz plan is simple. It would impose a tax of $40 a ton on all carbon emissions. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, March 9:

California pumpjacks (Arne Hückelheim, Wikimedia Commons)

• The US will supply much of the world’s additional oil for the next few years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. Over the next three years, the US will cover 80% of the world’s demand growth, the IEA says. Canada, Brazil, and Norway will cover the remainder, leaving no room for more OPEC supply. [CleanTechnica]
• Software Motor Company claims its switched reluctance motors will cut energy use by 20–50% compared to Nema Premium motors in the 1-5 hp (0.75-3.7 kW) range, and will typically pay for themselves within 6 to 36 months. SMC and the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Labs are presenting a webinar on March 12 2018. [CleanTechnica]
• The companies currently committed to the RE100 campaign will need to procure an estimated 172 TWh (172,000 GWh) more clean energy generation by 2030 to meet their renewable energy targets, according to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, “RE100 Signatories to Spur $94 billion Investment Opportunity.” [Windpower Engineering]
• David Blittersdorf, president and CEO of AllEarth Renewables, Inc, announced that the proposed Kidder Hill Community Wind installation in Lowell, Vermont has been suspended. Citing a turbulent climate for renewable wind energy in Vermont and the urgent need for renewables to be built, he said resources will go elsewhere. [AltEnergyMag]

Saturday, March 10:

Kudzu grows near a coal preparation plant in eastern Kentucky (Photo: Jeff Young | Ohio Valley ReSource)

• “Changing Course: Coal Country Students Working For A Power Switch” • Arlie Boggs Elementary sits between Kentucky’s two tallest mountains in a remote area that once had a booming coal economy. Ten years ago there were over a thousand coal miners employed here in Letcher county. Today, there are just 28. [Ohio Valley ReSource]
• Florida Power & Light Co has integrated a 40-MWh battery-storage system into its 74.5-MW Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in Charlotte County, Florida. FPL notes that this is the largest solar-plus-storage system in the US. The batteries will extend power delivery into evening hours and add power as needed to meet peak demand. [Solar Industry]

Wind farm in New York (Windtech, Wikimedia Commons)

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that 22 utility-scale solar farms, three wind farms and one hydro project were selected for contract awards at an average price of 2.117¢/kWh ($21.17/MWh) to help the state meet its clean energy goals. The renewable energy projects will collectively add over 1,380 MW of capacity. [Platts]

Sunday, March 11:

The Power of Nature (Zacarias Pereira da Mata | Shutterstock)

• “As The Climate Changes And The Earth Warms, Where’s The Safest Place On Earth To Live?” • From the most populous cities to the loneliest, isolated islets, everyone, everywhere will be affected in some way by climate change. Not everyone’s circumstances are equal, though, and climate change resilience varies widely from place to place. [IFLScience]
• French President Emmanuel Macron today said $1 trillion will be needed to achieve one TW of solar power capacity by 2030. Speaking alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the first conference of the International Solar Alliance, he mentioned the financing and regulation hurdles for achieving the target that need to be cleared. [Economic Times]
• Climate change is expected to drive demand for clean energy in the decades ahead, giving an edge to countries that invest in low-carbon technologies. President Trump is pushing to cut spending on clean energy research, undermining any hope for US competitiveness as the chief economic rivals aim to double public funding for the same. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, March 12:

Bearded seal in the Bering Sea (NOAA image)

• In a shocking melting event, half of the ice in the Bering Sea disappeared during a two-week period in February, according to Rick Thoman, a climate scientist with the National Weather Service in Alaska. Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist based in Alaska, posted “overall sea ice extent on February 20 was the lowest on record.” [DesMoinesRegister.com]
• Heads of the states from 23 nations hailed the efforts of the International Solar Alliance at its founding summit for providing a common platform to work for clean energy. They underlined the importance of clean energy, particularly for developing countries who want to save huge fuel costs and give the planet a cleaner future. [Economic Times]

Tuesday, March 13:

California solar array

• The three largest California electric utilities are well on their way to meeting the state’s mandate of sourcing 33% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. But they did not procure any new renewable energy capacity last year, and the California Public Utilities Commission has proposed they procure nearly none in 2018. [Inhabitat]
• “Clean Energy Is Key to New England’s Fuel Security” • ISO New England, which operates the New England power grid, filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, raising concerns that reliance on natural gas could undermine grid security due to potential wintertime shortfalls in gas supply. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

Liddell Power Station

• AGL, the biggest coal generator in Australia, says there will still be too much baseload power in New South Wales, even after the ageing Liddell coal plant is closed in 2022. AGL vowed to replace Liddell with a mixture of wind, solar, battery storage, demand management, a new generator, and an upgrade of the Bayswater coal-fired power station. [RenewEconomy]

Wednesday, March 14:

Indian tigress wearing a radio collar 

• About half of all plants and animals in 35 of the world’s most biodiverse places are at risk of extinction due to climate change, a report claims. The report was published the University of East Anglia, the James Cook University, and the WWF. It projected loss of nearly 80,000 plants and animals in 35 diverse and wildlife-rich areas. [CNN]
• An Australian first trial is taking wind farms from passive producers that sell all their output in a slab to more active participants in the energy market. Neoen Australia’s South Australian Hornsdale 2 wind farm carried out a trial that could see wind replace coal, gas, and even pumped hydro in providing energy stability. [The Sydney Morning Herald]

Arnold Schwarzenegger

• Arnold Schwarzenegger is steaming mad at oil companies. He plans to do something about their reprehensible, irresponsible behavior that has put billions of people at risk around the world. During an interview with Politico, he said he is personally going to take them to court “for knowingly killing people all over the world.” [CleanTechnica]

2018-03-08 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, March 1:

Snow in Rome (Alessandra Tarantino | AP)

• The sun has not shone on Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland’s northernmost point, since October 11. These should be among the coldest weeks of the year for the cape. But over the weekend, the weather station there recorded an air temperature of 43° F, more than 50° above normal for this time of year. Meanwhile, Europe is freezing cold. [The Atlantic]
• The CEO of Hydro-Québec said it has “received hundreds of applications” from cryptocurrency miners in the past few weeks, for a total of over 9,000 MW of energy. That is about one-quarter of the utility’s total generating capacity of 37,000 MW. Hydro-Québec said last month it was in talks with more than 30 such companies. [Montreal Gazette]

Bitcoin mining computer (Jacob Hannah | The New York Times)

• “Is Bitcoin a Waste of Electricity, or Something Worse?” • Money is supposed to be a means of buying things. Now, the nation’s hottest investment is buying money. And while Bitcoin mining may not be labor intensive, it diverts time, energy and capital from other, more productive activities that economists say could fuel faster growth. [New York Times]

Friday, March 2:

Artificial island in Bangladesh

• “Bending to the water’s will” • In flood-prone Bangladesh, resilience can mean letting water have its way. As climate change brings threats of rising seas and stronger storms, people who have spent years building barricades are considering what was once unthinkable: letting the water in and be resilient by bending, not resisting. [Science Magazine]
• “Trump’s attack on booming clean energy sector hurts American workers” • A rapidly growing US clean energy sector means good jobs across the country. The fastest growing jobs are in solar and wind power. But despite all the rhetoric about supporting American jobs, the Trump Administration keeps trying to downshift. [The Hill]

GE Haliade-X wind turbine (GE image)

• GE Renewable Energy has unveiled a 12-MW offshore wind turbine, named the Haliade-X, that it claims will produce 45% more power than any machine currently on the market. The direct drive machine will feature a 220-meter rotor with blades of 107 metres, made by LM Wind Power. It will offer a gross capacity factor of 63%. [reNews]

Saturday, March 3:

• The world’s largest solar park, set up at an investment of ₹16,500 crore ($2.48 billion) in Karnataka, was launched by the state’s Chief Minister. The 2,000 MW park, called “Shakti Sthala,” covers 13,000 acres spread over five villages and is a benchmark in the unique people’s participation in power model put on ground, according to officials. [NYOOOZ]

Downtown Los Angeles (Thomas Pintaric, Wikimedia Commons)

• Facing the risks of earthquakes, rising heat, and increasing energy demands, Los Angeles is kicking off a strategy to make itself more resilient, city officials said. The plans to strengthen infrastructure and promote renewable energy aim to combine preparations for earthquakes and wildfires with chronic stresses such as climate change. [Reuters]

Sunday, March 4:

• Scientists have found dramatically declining snowpack across the American West over the past six decades that will likely cause water shortages in the region that cannot be managed by building new reservoirs, according to a study led by researchers from Oregon State University and the University of California, Los Angeles. [The Register-Guard]
• Scientists have installed ocean acidity sensors in Alaska, in the Kachemak Bay. Ocean water acidification is due to high levels of carbon dioxide that are absorbed by the water and this leads to lowering the pH levels in addition to climate change. Lower pH levels of the seawater have been proved to negatively impact marine animals. [Health Thoroughfare]

Kachemak Bay

• More than $200 million worth of materials are expected to arrive in Puerto Rico this month to help the Army Corps of Engineers hit its goal of 95% power restoration goal by the end of the month. Over 7,000 poles and nearly 400 miles of conductor wire are expected in the next two weeks, the Corps district commander said. [CNN]

Monday, March 5:

• The first community solar garden on the Near North Side of Minneapolis will rise this spring on a church rooftop, thanks to a coalition of faith partners, clean-energy advocates, industry experts, job trainers, and community members. It will provide enough electricity for the church, a mosque, and 26 households. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

Unhappy Notre-Dame Gargoyle (Chosovi, Wikimedia Commons)

• “Notre-Dame: Cracks in the Cathedral” • The Catholic Church in France has launched an urgent appeal for funds to save the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Parts of the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece are starting to crumble, because of pollution that is eating the stone. There are fears the structure itself could become unstable. [BBC]
• Roving jellyfish and seaweed are unwanted guests at nuclear power stations. Now the marine algae have hit again, forcing one plant in Scotland to partially power down just as freezing temperatures were pushing up demand for electricity. During the cold weather, excessive amounts of seaweed shut one reactor at the Torness station down. [The Guardian]

Tuesday, March 6:

Kemper “clean coal” plant

• Opinion: “How Lies, Greed, & Mismanagement Blew Up The ‘Clean Coal’ Myth” • The clean coal and carbon capture process was promised to make electricity with the lowest carbon footprint of any fossil fuel. The problem is, they lied. Despite investments of hundreds of millions of dollars by the federal government, the technology does not work. [CleanTechnica]
• The Internal Revenue Service released a private letter ruling determining that a residential energy storage facility may qualify for federal solar tax credits, as it is charged completely by an onsite solar array. The ruling only applies to a single case, but it indicates how agency staff views application of tax law in a specific situation. [Utility Dive]
• There is only one member of Congress who currently holds a PhD in science, but Bill Foster (D-IL), a physicist who formerly worked at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, may soon have some company. More than 60 candidates running for federal office in 2018 have backgrounds in science and technology, according to HuffPost. [The Scientist]

Wednesday, March 7:

Michigan wind turbines (NOAA image)

• “Michigan farmers, residents praise wind power” • Research from the University of Michigan found that farmers with wind turbines on their property are more likely to pass their farm lands on to their children and twice as likely to continue investing in their homes and property as farmers lacking wind energy resources. [Yale Climate Connections]
• A federal judge in San Francisco ordered parties in a landmark global warming lawsuit to hold what may be the first-ever US court hearing on the climate science. The preceding, scheduled for March 21, will feature lawyers for Exxon, BP, Chevron, and other oil companies pitted against those for San Francisco and Oakland. [McClatchy Washington Bureau]

Proposed Crystal Brook wind farm (Source: Neoen)

• The South Australian government announced plans to help renewable energy developer Neoen build a 50-MW hydrogen “electrolyser.” It is to be powered by a new complex combining 300 MW of wind and solar with battery storage, enabling the manufacture of large quantities of “renewable hydrogen,” a green alternative to LNG. [RenewEconomy]