2018-05-03 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, April 26: 

Wind power

• “Low Production Cost of Renewable Energy Will Drive Coal Production out of Business” • In last eight years, utility-scale solar costs have plummeted by 86% and wind energy prices have declined by 67%. Industry leaders expect significant decline in coal-fired and oil-fired generation, as solar power and storage grow. [Industry Leaders Magazine]
• “Falling Grid-Scale Storage Prices Create ‘Watershed Moment'” • Energy storage has grown to the point where it can be used in place of new generating plants powered by new natural gas. Even some existing gas facilities may be replaced by renewables coupled with energy storage. We are on the brink of a watershed moment. [CleanTechnica]

US energy flow in 2017

• Americans used more solar and wind energy in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Overall, energy consumption by the residential and commercial sectors dropped a bit. Energy from both natural gas and coal declined. [Tech Xplore]

Friday, April 27:

• “China Leading The Way To Electric Car Future: BYD, BMW Highlight Beijing Auto Show” • There was a time when the world flocked to Detroit every January for what is grandly known as the North American International Auto Show, but today, if you want to know what’s hot in the world of automobiles, you go to Beijing to find out. [CleanTechnica]

Block Island wind farm (Photo: David L. Ryan | The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

• “The value of offshore wind energy: What the US is missing out on” • The only offshore wind farm in the US is small, with five turbines. It is a 30-MW installation off the coast of Rhode Island switched on in 2016. By comparison, Europe now has 15,780 MW of offshore wind, according to Wind Europe, 526 times the US capacity. [Ars Technica]
• Massachusetts offshore wind development could be worth $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion to the US state over the next 10 years, a report from Bristol Community College, UMass Dartmouth, and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy said. It said deployment of 1.6 GW of offshore wind capacity could create between 2270 and 3170 jobs. [reNews]

Saturday, April 28:

Clean power (Photo: Karsten Wurth)

• “Earth to Pruitt: Americans Say Keep Clean Power Plan – Again” • One thing echoing through the halls of Capitol Hill is that Scott Pruitt is far out of touch with both the public he is supposed to protect and the mission of the EPA. That is clear in his remorseless defense of efforts to dismantle the Clean Power Plan. [Natural Resources Defense Council]
• North Korea has hailed its summit with the South as “new milestone” in the history of the two countries after the two leaders pledged to pursue a permanent peace and rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons. The official KCNA news agency said the meeting opened the way “for national reconciliation and unity, peace and prosperity.” [The Guardian]
• With the dust settling from President Trump’s PV tariff, it looks like we have a winner: First Solar hopes to open a 1.2-GW factory in Ohio to make thin-film solar PVs. “Roll” is the key word here. The film PV can be made with low cost, fully automated, high output roll-to-roll systems. In other words, most jobs go to robots. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, April 29:

Roi-Namur Atoll (Peter Swarzenski, US Geological Survey)

• More than a thousand low-lying tropical islands are at risk of becoming “uninhabitable” before the middle of the century because of rising sea levels, according to startling new research. As seas rise, increasingly large waves that crash farther onto the shore will contaminate water supplies. This endangers key US military assets. [The Guam Daily Post]
• All villages in India have been electrified, data on a government website shows. Three years ago, 18,452 villages had no access to power. Apart from those classified as grazing reserves, all that are inhabited now have power. A village is said to be electrified if at least 10% of its households, as well as public places, have access to power. [Scroll.in]
• As the ice sheets of the world melt, an enormous amount of pressure will be lifted off of the continental crusts that play host to them, as well as the surrounding oceanic basins. Something similar is broadly true, but to a much lesser degree, of the world’s remaining large glaciers. With changes in pressure, there will be seismic activity. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, April 30:

Duke Energy solar farm (David Boraks | WFAE)

• Duke Energy’s annual sustainability report says it expanded renewable energy generation by about 19% in 2017. According to the report, Duke added 1,000 MW of renewable energy last year. That included not only solar and wind farms, but also biomass, a relatively new source of energy produced from natural sources like animal waste. [WFAE]
• A new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates the rooftops of low-to-moderate income households could potentially accommodate 320 GW of PV installations. The report determined that single-family, owner-occupied rooftops collectively held the greatest opportunities for PV installations. [National Mortgage Professional Magazine]
• Hitachi wants to sell more than half its stake in its Horizon Nuclear Power subsidiary, which is slated to build 5.4 GW of installed capacity at sites in Anglesey and Gloucestershire. If no agreement that would reduce Hitachi’s share to below 50% can be found, Hitachi plans to withdraw from both of the nuclear plant projects. [GCR]

Tuesday, May 1:

Solar farm in California (Credit: 8minutenergy)

• The US has overtaken India in EY’s latest Renewable energy country attractiveness index, despite the US imposition of a 30% tariff on imports of cells and modules earlier this year. The American solar tariffs are mostly absorbed and wind projects are not subject to subsidy cuts under the recently passed US tax reform bill, said EY. [PV-Tech]
• China has maintained its leadership position in Ernst & Young’s latest Renewable energy country attractiveness index for the third year in a row. The US was in second place, despite solar tariffs. The third position was secured by Germany, with India dropping to the fourth place. The other country in the top five was Australia. [Renewables Now]
• Swedish energy group and burgeoning renewable energy leader Vattenfall has announced that it intends to offer British businesses the opportunity to secure corporate Power Purchase Agreements direct from its 165-MW South Kyle Wind Farm from as little as 1 MW in a move that could revolutionize the idea of corporate PPAs. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, May 2:

Renewable energy in the countryside (Shutterstock image)

• Nearly 7,000 independent renewable energy projects across the UK are now generating enough clean power to supply 8.4 million homes, according to SmartestEnergy’s latest annual report. It says that more than £227 million ($309 million) was invested in 400 independent renewable energy projects in the UK last year alone. [Energy Live News]
• Air temperature increases from climate change will make New Hampshire’s streams warmer, according to Dartmouth-led research published in Freshwater Biology. The study examined the warming of stream waters, which has implications for freshwater ecosystems, in which many species depend on cold water to survive. [Science Daily]

Flood on Kauai (Image: USCG Officer 3rd Class Brandon)

• The National Weather Service reported nearly 50 inches of rain fell in 24 hours on Kauai, the oldest and northernmost island in Hawaii. It is the most severe rain event in the history of the state. People should get used to it, says Chip Fletcher, a leading expert on the impact of climate change on the Pacific’s island communities. [CleanTechnica]

2018-04-26 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, April 19:

Living without power (Getty Images)

• On Monday, the Puerto Rican power utility boasted that it had restored electricity to 97% in the nearly seven months since Hurricane Maria. Two days later, the precarious electric grid collapsed as a result of a minor accident, plunging the entire island into a blackout. According to officials, the power should be restored in 24 to 36 hours. [The Guardian]
• Many Puerto Rican families staying on the mainland since Hurricane Maria were relying on FEMA to extend vouchers they depend on for housing until May 14. But on April 16, FEMA told evacuees the aid would be cut off by April 20. The fact that the FEMA has not restored utilities at their homes does not qualify them for help. [Orlando Weekly]
• In a walk-the-talk move, California Gov Brown now has a solar plus storage microgrid serving his new home, a ranch north of Sacramento. Like 1.4 billion others in the world, the isolated home had no access to an electric grid. The Brown Ranch microgrid has 48 solar panels and 10 SimpliPhi PHI 3.4 kWh, 48-V batteries. [Microgrid Knowledge]

Friday, April 20:

Boat in a wind farm (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg)

• No coal was used for power generation by stations in the UK during the 55 hours from 10:25 pm in London on Monday, April 16, until 5:10 am on Thursday, April 19, according to grid data compiled by Bloomberg. During the same time, wind turbines produced more power. Coal is increasingly losing out to power sources that are renewable. [Bloomberg]
• The Canada Green Building Council has announced the first building certified under their new Zero Carbon standard, an office building in Waterloo, Ontario. The building was built by the Cora Group and designed by Stantec. Waterloo is a hotbed of technology startups (it is where the Blackberry came from) and continues to thrive. [Treehugger]
• Two years ahead of schedule, Bowdoin College has achieved carbon neutrality. Onsite carbon emissions were reduced by 29%, with remaining emissions offset with renewable energy credits from wind farms. Bowdoin also announced a renewable energy project partnership that will result in the largest solar array in the state of Maine. [Bowdoin]

Saturday, April 21:

Shams 1 (Masdar | Handout via Thomson Reuters Zawya)

• The UAE was the second-largest investor in the renewable energy sector in the Middle East and Africa last year, investing $2.2 billion, up 2,815% over the previous year. The UAE recorded the second highest growth after Rwanda’s 8,665% as the African country invested $400 million in the renewable energy sector in 2017. [ZAWYA]
• Five New England liberal arts colleges have joined together to create a solar power facility that will offset 46,000 MWh of the total amount of electricity they use. The participating colleges are Bowdoin, Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, and Williams. The facility will be built in Farmington, Maine, and is expected to open in 2019. [MassLive.com]

Block Island Wind (Ionna22, CC-BY-SA)

• “Market forces are driving a clean energy revolution in the US” • Transforming US energy systems away from coal and toward clean energy was once a vision touted mainly by environmentalists. Now it is shared by market purists. Today, affordable renewable energy is driving coal production and coal-fired generation out of business. [Source]

Sunday, April 22:

Kopernik

• The nonprofit Kopernik runs its Wonder Women program in Eastern Indonesia to empower local women with the resources needed to start their own cleantech businesses. Kopernik trains local women on a variety of clean tech solutions including solar lanterns, water filters, and biomass stoves needing half the fuel of traditional fires. [CleanTechnica]
• “We can fix this: Don’t be dispirited by Big Oil’s power in the age of Trump – real climate change solutions are in reach” • How much time do we have? The scientists have long warned us that warming by 2° (3.6° F) would be reckless. We are far more than halfway there, but with clear and ambitious targets, we can limit warming. [New York Daily News]

Wind turbine off Aberdeen (TVP Film and Multimedia Ltd)

• The world’s most powerful wind turbine, which was installed in the sea off the coast of Aberdeen, is the first of eleven such beasts that will make up the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. The wind farm will cost £300 million to build. A single propeller rotation can reportedly power an average home for a whole day. [Wired.co.uk]

Monday, April 23:

• “Renewables Are Booming In Oil Country” • The rapid growth of the renewable energy sector has been astonishing. Both solar and wind continue to decline in operating costs, while increasing in energy efficiency. The combination is making it difficult for coal to recover and poses a challenge in what had been oil-dominant areas. [OilPrice.com]

Albany Wind Farm (Juan Alberto Garcia Rivera, CC BY 2.0)

• “How to unlock renewables? Cheaper, cleaner, better batteries” • Advances in energy storage technology have propelled an explosion in portable electronics and radically changed the way people live, work and communicate. Batteries can help to make clean energy-based power plants a viable alternative to thermal power stations. [eco-business.com]
• “America’s Smart Grid Dreams Fading Without Congressional Support” • The US Congress has not allocated funding explicitly for the Smart Grid since the Obama stimulus package in 2009. Without Congressional support, the grid could develop in slow and piecemeal fashion, putting it at increased risk of being made up of incompatible parts. [Forbes]

Tuesday, April 24:

• France is sitting on a tidal energy “goldmine” that could see as much as 2 GW of projects at Le Raz Blanchard off the Normandy coast by 2027, according to developer Atlantis. The company has submitted a strategic plan to the French government outlining how 1 GW of tidal power could be delivered by 2025 and 2 GW by 2027. [reNews]

Atlantis tidal turbine (Atlantis image)

• SoCalGas and Opus 12 announced a successful demonstration of a new process to convert unwanted carbon dioxide in raw biogas into methane via a single electrochemical step, Kallanish Energy reports. This represents a simpler method of converting excess renewable electricity into storable natural gas, according to the companies. [Kallanish Energy]
• The novel “supermaterial” graphene could hold the key to making one of the oldest building materials greener, scientific research suggests. Graphene has been incorporated into traditional concrete production by scientists at the University of Exeter to develop a composite stronger and more water-resistant than existing concrete. [The Guardian]

Wednesday, April 25:

Apple solar farm in China (Image via Apple)

• China’s National Energy Administration announced that the country installed an impressive 9.65 GW of new solar PV capacity in the first quarter of 2018, up 22% on the same period a year earlier and up on analysts’ projections. Last year, China installed a massive 52.83 GW worth of solar capacity in its own territory. [CleanTechnica] (The US installed 8.2 GW last year.)
• With the sharp decline in tariff bids of solar and wind energy projects in India, the country’s largest power generation company is now looking to replace some coal-based power supply with potentially cheaper renewable energy. NTPC Limited will call for bids to auction 2 GW of solar and wind energy capacity. [CleanTechnica]

Iowa wind farm (Photo: Carl Wycoff, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic)

• A total of 1,568 MW of large-scale wind and 565 MW of large-scale solar power capacity became operational in the US in January and February 2018, according to a report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The only other source that added some capacity in the period was natural gas, which added 40 MW. [Renewables Now]

2018-04-19 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, April 12:

Offshore wind farm (reNews image)

• Shell vowed to invest up to $2 billion every year to 2020 in its new energies division, which is tasked with growing the energy giant’s renewables business. Much of the cash will be spent on renewable power generation, Shell said. It is targeting markets in North America, Europe, and countries with “fast-growing” renewables sectors. [reNews]
• “Solar and wind plus storage to increasingly replace gas plants” • For some years it has been obvious that increasing deployment of solar and wind is cutting into the market share of coal and nuclear power plants in the US and Europe. One industry pundit went so far as to call anyone who might build a combined cycle gas plant “crazy.” [pv magazine USA]

Gulf Stream cooling (Levke Caesar | Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research)

• The Atlantic Ocean circulation that carries warmth into the Northern Hemisphere’s high latitudes is slowing down because of climate change, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature. This suggests that one of the most feared consequences of climate change, affecting the Gulf Stream, is already coming to pass. [ScienceAlert]

Friday, April 13:

• Germany’s Federal Network Agency reports that in a 200-MW joint auction for solar and wind power, no bid for a wind project was successful and solar projects won 32 contracts. Heads of industry associations for both technologies said they considered the joint auction experiment unsuccessful because it was so one-sided. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore wind power (reNews image)

• Wind power helped renewable energy sources generate a record 25 TWh of electricity in the UK in the first quarter of 2018, according to analysts EnAppSys. Wind generated 15.8 TWh during the quarter. Renewables overall accounted for 29% of UK electricity generation in the period, behind natural gas with a 37.3% share. [reNews]
• Due to their high cost relative to other generating options, no new nuclear power units will be built in the US, William Von Hoene, Exelon’s senior vice president and chief strategy officer, told the US Energy Association’s annual meeting in Washington, DC. He said, “They are too expensive to construct, relative to the world in which we now live.” [Platts]

Saturday, April 14:

Fusion experiment at MIT (Bob Mumgaard | Plasma Science and Fusion Center | Handout via Reuters)

• Italian energy group Eni is considering stepping up its nuclear fusion investment. Nuclear fusion is a technology considered so uncertain that Eni remains the only global oil company prepared to bet on it. This happens just as the falling cost of solar and wind power and a shift to electric vehicles raise doubts over long-term demand for oil. [Reuters]
• Ireland’s power system is the first in the world capable of delivering 65% of all electricity from variable sources including wind. EirGrid said it had achieved “record levels” of variable renewable energy after successful completion of a five-month trial. It said the all-island power system was the first in the world to reach this level. [Independent.ie]

Oak Creek Plant (JanetandPhil CC-BY-NC-ND)

• Wisconsin’s largest coal-fired power plant, We Energies’ Oak Creek generating facility on the Lake Michigan shoreline south of Milwaukee, burns about 12,000 tons of coal each day. As it arrives by the trainload and sits in large piles, black coal dust blows into nearby neighborhoods. There is concern among residents. [Wisconsin Public Radio News]

Sunday, April 15:

• “China’s bold energy vision” • The boldest plan to achieve the targets set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement comes from China. China’s Global Energy Interconnection offers a vision of how to achieve this energy transformation that is breathtaking. It moves electricity from where renewable resources are abundant to where it is needed. [Gulf Times]

Protesting kids holding banner (Credit: Our Children’s Trust)

• A trial date of October 29 has been set for a landmark lawsuit brought by a group of young Americans. Juliana v. United States was filed in 2015 on behalf of 21 young plaintiffs who allege their constitutional and public trust rights are being violated by the government’s creation of a national energy system that causes climate change. [DeSmog]
• According to a study published this month in the journal Nature Geoscience, Antarctica’s frozen underbelly is melting and receding at a rate around five times faster than normal. In the centuries following an ice age, glacier grounding lines should retreat about 82 feet per year, but the ice is retreating at speeds up to 600 feet annually. [KIRO Seattle]

Monday, April 16:

Turbines off Block Island, (Photo: RI Department of Energy)

• Two more Massachusetts offshore wind energy leases are moving toward auction by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, as southern New England and Mid-Atlantic states are hastening their own planning for wind power. The two lease tracts totaling 390,000 acres are located south of Martha’s Vineyard. [WorkBoat]
• “‘It’s The Gulf Stream, Stupid!’ Climate Scientists Warn Tipping Point Is Near.” • Take away the heat of the Gulf Stream and Europe becomes up to 10º C cooler in winter, parts of Africa become more arid, and sea level rise along the eastern seaboard of the United States increases. Flow in the Gulf Stream is down 15% since 1950. [CleanTechnica]

Unconvinced cows

• Scientists at Utrecht University have modeled a way to hit tough global climate targets without resorting to the extensive use of negative emissions technology. They found that by using more renewable power and reducing agriculture emissions the world can hit a 1.5° goal with less use of negative emissions technology. [www.businessgreen.com]

Tuesday, April 17:

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (Staff File Photo | Times Free Press)

• Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport may become the nation’s first airport to get 100% of its energy from solar power. Officials have agreed to move ahead with initial work on a third phase of its solar farm. The newest phase would help create enough electricity to pay the airport’s power bill, its chief executive said. [Chattanooga Times Free Press]
• A small island in the Pacific Ocean is the site of a discovery that could change Japan’s economic future. The island has large enough supplies of several rare earth minerals to supply current world demand for hundreds of years. Rare earth elements are used for numerous specialty products. Nearly all supplies had been coming from China. [CNN]

Wind farm (Photo: Shutterstock | Justin C. Hilts)

• Falling prices for solar and wind power is helping the Iowa utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway gain on its goal of generating 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, a company officer said. But a major force driving MidAmerican Energy’s renewable energy plans is its customers, who want more clean energy. [GreenBiz]

Wednesday, April 18:

• Green Mountain Power has done a lot to put distributed energy resources in the hands of its customers. But less than 3% of the Vermont utility’s customer base is currently using one of these offerings, a report from the Rocky Mountain Institute said. That adoption rate will have to grow tenfold or more to meet state clean energy goals. [Greentech Media]

Wind turbines (Fabrizio Bensch | Reuters file photo)

• In its quarterly Renewable Energy Index, Green Energy Markets said the amount of renewable energy generated in Australia is set to exceed the original Renewable Energy Target of 41,000 GWh in 2020. That target was scrapped in 2015 by the federal government, because it took the position that the goal was impossible. [ABC Online]
• Increasing the pace of global renewable energy adoption by at least a factor of six is critical for meeting energy-related emission reduction needs of the Paris Climate Agreement. However, it can still limit global temperature rise to 2° C, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s long-term renewable energy outlook. [ETEnergyworld.com]

2018-04-12 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, April 5:

Google data center in the Netherlands (Source: Google)

• Internet giant Google Inc announced it has achieved its goal of purchasing enough renewable energy electricity to “match” its entire consumption in 2017. The company purchased an amount of electricity from wind and solar parks that even exceeded the demand of its global operations, including offices and data centers. [Renewables Now]
• The EPA is pursuing a rollback of earlier plans (implemented under Obama’s presidency) to raise the new-vehicle fuel-efficiency standard to nearly 50 miles per gallon by 2025 (that would be a fleet-level requirement, not model level). In response to that, 11 US states have now revealed an intention to oppose the rollback. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbine (Getty Images)

• Solar and wind power were responsible for generating more energy than nuclear power in the UK in the fourth quarter of last year. Wind and solar combined created 18.33 TWh of power, while nuclear only produced 16.69 TWh. However, gas produced 36.12 TWh of power, and remains the UK’s highest source of electricity. [Energy Digital]

Friday, April 6:

• President Donald Trump said his administration is considering taking extraordinary steps to keep some money-losing power plants alive. FirstEnergy Solutions asked DOE head Rick Perry to exercise his Section 202 authority to declare a grid emergency and guarantee the profits of nuclear and coal-fired power plants in the eastern US. [Bloomberg]

Current world generation trends, extrapolated to 2032 (Andrew Blakers | Matthew Stocks, Author provided)

• “Solar PV and wind are on track to replace all coal, oil and gas within two decades” • Solar PV and wind power are getting cheaper and more abundant so rapidly that they are on track to entirely supplant fossil fuels worldwide within two decades. The political voices saying Australia needs new coal stations sound rather quaint. [The Conversation AU]
• The latest report by the Power Sector Carbon Index highlights how far carbon emissions from the power generation sector of the US economy have fallen. In 2005, generating a MWh of US electricity released 1,321 pounds of CO2. Today, the number is down to 967 pounds per MWh, down over 25%, according to the report. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, April 7:

Craig Station in northwest Colorado

• A cooperative serving four Western states could lose customers because of its dependence on coal. Colorado-based Tri-State Generation & Transmission boasts of having the most solar generation of any generation and transmission company in the US. But its coal-heavy portfolio is and issue with several of the 43 member cooperatives. [Energy News Network]
• Apple said it filed a statement objecting to the EPA’s repeal of the Clean Power Plan. Apple has invested heavily in renewable energy, which puts it, and the US, in a better position to compete with China in clean energy. The iPhone maker also pointed out that clean energy can help stabilize otherwise fluctuating fuel prices. [CNET]
• The Trump administration said it wants to sell leases for two large parcels off the Massachusetts coast for commercial wind energy projects. The proposed lease sale is “for commercial leasing for wind power on the outer continental shelf offshore Massachusetts.” The leases will be for an area covering nearly 390,000 acres. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Sunday, April 8:

The Heliotrope (Image by Andrewglaser, CC BY-SA 3.0)

• The term “PlusEnergy” was apparently first used by Rolf Disch back in 1994 when designing a private residence for himself now known as “The Heliotrope.” The idea is for a building to produce notably more electricity than it uses via renewable energy technology. It serves its own needs and also becomes a local power plant. [CleanTechnica]
• Scientists are finalizing plans to exploit the vast reservoir of warm water that fills disused mines and porous rock layers beneath Glasgow. They believe this subterranean store of naturally heated water could be used to warm homes. If the system proves successful, other cities and towns across Britain might use similar systems. [The Guardian]

BYD electric vehicles in Shenzhen

• BYD announced another expansion to its Lancaster, California, electric bus and battery module factory. The expansion will add 100,000 square feet (9290 square meters) to the facility when it comes online at the end of June. It will be used to store parts and components for BYD’s products, freeing up space in the plant for manufacturing. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, April 9:

Lower Granite Dam (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

• Four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state provide about 4% of the region’s electricity, but they have been responsible for declining salmon populations. The energy they produce could be replaced by a mix of other clean energy sources, such as a mix of wind and solar power, according to a recent study. [The Spokesman-Review]
• A new lawsuit was filed against the EPA by 14 states over the agency’s slow action issuing federal methane emissions standards, reports say. The new legal challenge comes about 9 months after a federal appeals court ruled the EPA is not legally able to freeze enforcement of its methane leak rules relating to oil and gas operations. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbine (© STV)

• Wind turbines in Scotland provided a 44% increase in power to the National Grid during the first quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017, environmental groups say. In January alone, renewable wind from onshore turbines over 5,353,997 MWh, enough power for the equivalent of more than five million homes. [STV News]

Tuesday, April 10:

• London-based market data company IHS Markit predicted that strong demand in China will push global solar PV demand to a record of 113 GW in 2018, and should even result in the fourth quarter yielding 34 GW of new PV installations, the largest quarter in history. It predicted new installations will grow by 19% in 2018. [CleanTechnica]
• Apple announced today that its global operations are now powered by 100% renewable energy after years of work in 43 countries around the world. Apple’s announcement means that all of its data centers, retail stores, offices and co-located facilities in 43 countries around the world are now 100% powered by renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]

Rooftop solar system at Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California

• An above-average storm season, with regard to the probability of major hurricanes striking the mainland, is facing the US this year, a report from meteorologists at Colorado State University says. The report states that the US Gulf Coast and the East Coast are facing 39% and 38% probabilities that major hurricanes will make landfall this year. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, April 11:

Installing the suction bucket jacket foundation (Vattenfall)

• The world’s most powerful wind turbine, the first of two 8.8-MW turbines, has been successfully installed at Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off the coast of North East Scotland, which is set to be a groundbreaking testbed for new offshore wind technologies. It is the first time a turbine this large was installed. [CleanTechnica]
• The UK’s National Grid, in its Summer Outlook report, revealed it is expecting summer demand for grid electricity to be dragged low due to the growing amounts of small scale renewable energy installed. The National Grid warns that inflexible generators, such as large gas and nuclear plants, may have to reduce their output. [pv magazine International]

Solar panels at sunset

• Gujarat’s Chief Minister approved setting up a 5000 MW capacity solar park at the Dholera Special Investment Region. It would be the largest such entity in the world after its completion. The proposed solar power generation project would be set up in 11,000 hectares of land with an investment of ₹25,000 crore ($3.76 billion). [ETEnergyworld.com]