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.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.
Energy Week #373: 5/28/2020
Thursday, May 21
Sustainable London (EG Focus | Flickr)
¶ “Unilever, H&M Among 150 Companies Worth $2 Trillion Urging Net-Zero Pandemic Recovery” • In a CEO-led climate advocacy effort backed by the UN, 155 multinational companies with a combined market capitalisation of over $2.4 trillion signed a joint statement urging world governments to align recovery efforts with climate science. [Green Queen Media]
Australian wind turbines
¶ “Coalition Energy Roadmap For Gas Over Coal” • Australia’s government has highlighted gas as a crucial energy source to back up renewable power generation over the next decade. A long-awaited roadmap to meeting the country’s emission reduction commitments uses gas and pumped hydrogen to back up solar and wind capacity. [Forbes Advocate]
Wind turbines (reNEWS image)
¶ “UK Renewables Output Overtakes Fossil Fuels” • In the UK, renewables generated more than fossil fuels for the first quarter of 2020. In February, UK wind farms averaged a 50% capacity factor for onshore and 60% for offshore, Drax Electric Insights said. By contrast, gas had a capacity factor of 34%, coal had 17%, and nuclear had 59%. [reNEWS]
Friday, May 22
Svolt battery (Svolt courtesy image)
¶ “China’s Svolt Announces Cobalt-Free Battery Production Launch” • Svolt, a Chinese battery company founded in 2018, announced in 2019 that it would build a 24-GWh cobalt-free lithium-ion battery. It seems to have made good on its promise. Svolt says the technology will work in a car for 15 years or up to 1.2 million km (746,000 miles). [CleanTechnica]
Icebreaker wind farm in Lake Erie (LEEDCo image)
¶ “Turbine Restrictions May Be ‘Fatal’ To Icebreaker” • Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation, the developers the 21-MW Icebreaker offshore wind farm on Lake Erie, said it is stunned by the regulator’s approval of the project on condition that the six turbines are switched off from dusk to dawn for the most of the year. It may be fatal to the project. [reNEWS]
Tropical forest
¶ “Scientists Find Climate Change Tipping Point For Tropical Forests” • Tropical forests can still act as effective carbon sponges in a warmer world. A team of researchers coordinated by the University of Leeds found rainforests can continue to absorb huge volumes of carbon if global warming remains less than 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels. [The Irish News]
Saturday, May 23
King tide at Miami Beach, Florida (maxstrz, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “Miami’s Fight Against Rising Seas” • Just down the coast from Donald Trump’s weekend retreat, the residents and businesses of south Florida are experiencing regular episodes of water in the streets. In the battle against rising seas, the region is becoming ground zero. And it has more to lose than almost anywhere else in the world. [BBC]
Tree deaths linked to gas leaks (insideclimatenews.org via Twitter)
¶ “Natural Gas Leaks Deadly For Trees” • We have long known that drilling, gas extraction, and fracking are associated with huge amounts of water contamination, explosion hazards, and corruption of human health. But the situation is worse than that. Natural gas leaking from pipes is also deadly for the trees that line our city streets. [CleanTechnica]
Offshore windpower (Shaun Dakin | Unsplash)
¶ “Danish Consortium Eyes 10-GW Energy Island” • Danish pension funds PensionDanmark and PFA, energy company SEAS-NVE, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners formed a consortium to invest in an offshore wind energy island of up to 10 GW in the North Sea. The project, VindO, could include 25 traditional offshore wind farms. [reNEWS]
Sunday, May 24
World temperatures, Q1 2020 (Berkeley Earth image)
¶ “Siberia Is Experiencing Record Highs: 40°F Above Average” • Siberia is seeing record high temperatures that are nearly 40°F (22°C) above average. To put that in perspective, The Washington Post writes that some areas of Siberia are hotter than Washington, DC. Snow cover is disappearing, sea ice is melting, and really intense fires are raging. [CleanTechnica]
Navajo Generating Station (David Wallace | The Republic)
¶ “With The Navajo Generating Station Gone, We Need Help Luring Renewable Energy Investment To Our Land” • Navajo Generating Station closed last December, over twenty years early, because it was no longer economically viable for its corporate owners. Navajo Power can provide renewable energy and jobs, but it needs funding. [AZCentral.com]
Wireless charging (Momentum Dynamics courtesy image)
¶ “Electric Bus Fleet In Washington Has Completed 50 MWh Of Wireless Charging” • In 2018, electric buses started running on urban routes in Wenatchee, Washington. That may not sound groundbreaking, but Link Transit also chose wireless charging for those buses. The buses have now used 50 MWh of energy, charging wirelessly. [CleanTechnica]
Monday, May 25
Canola and wind turbines (Innogy image)
¶ “UK Power Emissions Fall To Record Low” • The UK power system’s carbon intensity fell to a record low on 23 May, pushed down bin increased solar and windpower, according to research by Drax Electric Insights. Average carbon intensity reached 61 grams of CO₂ per kWh, beating the previous record, 76 grams of CO₂ per kWh, set on 17 August last year. [reNEWS]
Nyngan solar farm
¶ “NSW Calls For Wind, Solar, Storage Ideas For First Renewable Zone In Central West” • The government of New South Wales issued a call for 3,000 MW or more of wind, solar, and storage project proposals to join the state’s first Renewable Energy Zone. The zone will be in the Central-West region, centered around the town of Dubbo. [RenewEconomy]
Disney World solar installation (Cynthia Shahan | CleanTechnica)
¶ “Why Are We Subsidizing Fossil Fuels? Seriously” • Supporting renewables can cut emissions and boost the economy, all while providing cost-competitive energy. The Trump Administration, however, continues propping up the fossil fuel industry, despite the sector’s real financial problems, which began long before the COVID-19 pandemic. [CleanTechnica]
Tuesday, May 26
Offshore Solution (Guardian Geomatics image)
¶ “Oz Crew To Survey Australia-Singapore Cable Route” • Sun Cable hired an Australian company to carry out initial surveys for a proposed cable to trasmit renewable energy from Australia to Singapore and Indonesia. Guardian Geomatics will start the preparatory work this month, and the vessel Offshore Solution is to deliver results later this year. [reNEWS]
Nanotech Energy research lab (Nanotech Energy image)
¶ “Nanotech Energy Claims Its Graphene Lithium Battery Will Charge 18 Times Faster Than Conventional Li-Ion Battery” • Investors have just pumped $27.5 million into Nanotech Energy, based in Los Angeles. Why? The company claims its graphene-based lithium batteries can charge 18 times as fast as the more conventional lithium-ion batteries. [CleanTechnica]
Assembling a rotor (AWEA image via Twitter)
¶ “US Wind Power Plants Show Little Decline With Age” • A report published in the journal Joule by researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory concludes that wind turbines in the US remain relatively efficient over a period of time. The report shows only a 13% drop in performance over 17 years of operation. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, May 27
Siemens Gamesa 14-MW turbine (Siemens Gamesa image)
¶ “Siemens Gamesa Lands 2.6-GW Dominion Deal With 14-MW Unit” • Siemens Gamesa has secured a second major order for its 14-MW turbine, from the 2640-MW Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. The exact number of units needed for the project is yet to be confirmed, as it will be based on site-specific conditions. [reNEWS]
Michael Moore (Vittorio Zunino Celotto | Getty Images)
¶ “Michael Moore Film Planet Of The Humans Removed From YouTube” • YouTube has taken down the documentary Planet of the Humans in response to a copyright infringement claim by a British environmental photographer. The movie, produced by Michael Moore, allegedly includes a clip that was used without the permission of its owner. [The Guardian]
Citroen Ami (Credit: Citroen)
¶ “KIA Says Micro-EV Could Replace Public Transportation” • Cities rely on buses, trams, and subways, but the coronavirus pandemic has caused many to rethink the whole idea of public transportation. KIA is looking at inexpensive, ultra-compact, short range electric cars, as be a viable alternative to public transportation, with the Citroen Ami as a model. [CleanTechnica]
Energy Week #373: 5/28/2020
Energy, renewable energy, wind power, Solar, batteries, Nuclear, coal, oil, gas, Climate Change
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 