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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 #374: 6/4/2020
Thursday, May 28
The Icebergs, Frederic Edwin Church (Dallas Museum of Art)
¶ “The Climate Change Clues Hidden In Art History” • As scientists, policy-makers, and members of the public attempt to make sense of the climate crisis, art historians are finding clues about how our relationship with nature has changed, about past and present societies’ ideas of climate, and even about the physical changes of our planet. [BBC]
Coal loading facility (Richard Hamilton Smith | Getty Images)
¶ “Coal’s Decline Continues With Thirteen Plant Closures Announced In 2020” • Power companies have announced plans to close thirteen coal plants this year, according to an E&E News review of federal data and companies’ closure plans. Two other plants will be converted to natural gas. Burning coal is no longer economically sound. [Scientific American]
Wind farm (Image: blog.ucsusa.org, via Twitter)
¶ “Renewables Crushing Coal – Won 100 Days Already In 2020” • The US has seen year-to-date performance for renewables that is dramatically above any previous year’s. Renewables are on a streak going on right now, overtaking coal for production of electricity on a daily basis for 100 days so far this year, and for 60 days in a row. [CleanTechnica]
Friday, May 29
e5 tanker (Courtesy of Asahi Tanker | e5 Consortium)
¶ “Consortium Created To Promote Zero-Emission Electric Vessels” • Seven Japanese companies have joined forces to launch a zero-emission electric vessel consortium, the e5 Consortium. Three of them, Asahi Tanker, Exeno Yamamizu Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, recently built the world’s first electric ocean vessel, the e5 tanker. [CleanTechnica] (Largest supertankers are 500,000 tons or larger, 1000 times the size of this ship.)
View from research ship Agulhas II (Julian Dowdeswell)
¶ “Antarctic Ice Sheets Capable Of Much Faster Melting Than We Thought” • Antarctic ice sheets retreated at speeds of up to 50 meters (164 feet) a day at the end of the last Ice Age, researchers have found. They warn that we could soon see similar levels of ice retreat, should climate change carry on weakening ice shelves in coming decades. [CNN]
Solaris Urbino 18 electric bus in Cracow (Solaris courtesy image)
¶ “City of Cracow Orders 50 Electric Buses” • In Poland, the city of Cracow has decided to order 50 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses to help clean up its air and help stop global warming. The new 50 buses will be added to an existing fleet of 28 Solaris electric buses. The order, including 50 bus charging stations, is to be delivered this year. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm (DPA | Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
¶ “Just How Good An Investment Is Renewable Energy? New Study Reveals All” • Renewable energy investments deliver massively better returns than fossil fuels in the US, the UK and Europe, according to analysis. Despite this, the total volume of investment is still nowhere near what will be required to mitigate climate change. [Forbes]
Saturday, May 30
Electric Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (magniX image)
¶ “The World’s ‘Largest All-Electric Commercial Aircraft’ Has Completed Its First Flight” • The “largest all-electric commercial aircraft” completed its maiden flight. The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan was flown at Moses Lake, Washington, and used a 750-horsepower all-electric motor developed by magniX, a company based in Redmond. [CNBC]
Wind turbines
¶ “EIA: US Renewable Energy Consumption Surpasses Coal For The First Time In Over 130 Years” • In 2019, US annual energy consumption from renewable sources exceeded consumption of energy from coal for the first time since before 1885, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Energy Review. [Power Engineering Magazine]
Solar panels
¶ “This Huge Natural Gas Company Looks To Power Operations With Solar Energy” • US natural gas processing and transmission firm Williams is looking to develop solar installations on land it owns close to its existing facilities to power its operations with electricity from solar energy. Williams owns and operates about 30,000 miles of pipelines. [OilPrice.com]
Sunday, May 31
Bug hotel at an Audi site (James B via Twitter)
¶ “Audi’s New ‘Mission:Zero’ – Protecting Natural Habitats & Biodiversity” • Audi has been a member of the “Biodiversity in Good Company” initiative for five years. Volkswagen Group has numerous projects to preserve biodiversity at Audi sites. The Audi Environmental Foundation has plans to expand that commitment to benefit biodiversity. [CleanTechnica]
Vegetable plots occupy a secluded garden
¶ “New-Wave Urban Farming” • People continue to lose their jobs amid pandemic, raising concerns about whether farmers and growers in the production chain can still get their supplies to market. The question also arises as to whether consumers can afford to buy them. Some people have been developing ideas to address food security. [Bangkok Post]
Monday, June 1
Empire State Building (Image credit: esbnyc.com)
¶ “Empire State Building Reduces Carbon Emissions By 40% With Energy Saving Upgrades” • When it was built, during the depression, the Empire State Building projected a message of hope by keeping every room lit for all to see. Today, the energy retrofits the building has had reduce its emissions, enough to show a new hope for the future. [CleanTechnica]
Rooftop Solar system in Hawaii (Image: RevoluSun)
¶ “Cities ‘Could Generate Hundreds Of Times More Solar Power Than They Do Today’” • While applauding the rooftop solar progress of dozens of cities, a report from Environment Texas offers policy options for further progress. Per capita solar leaders are Honolulu, San Diego, Albuquerque, San Jose and Burlington, Vermont. [pv magazine USA]
Danish offshore wind farm (Image courtesy of Ørsted)
¶ “What Will Coronavirus Do To Renewable Energy?” • Before the Covid-19 pandemic, renewable energy was growing, but not fast enough to meet the Paris Agreement’s carbon reduction goals, let alone to deal with climate change. Now, the economic shock of Covid-19 is slowing the growth of renewables, at least temporarily. [Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]
Tuesday, June 2
May 30 SpaceX launch (Daniel Oberhaus, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “SpaceX Crew Dragon Gets To The ISS, But What About Doing It With Renewable Energy?” • SpaceX and NASA launched two astronauts to the ISS on the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Calculations show that we could turn water into rocket fuel sufficient for a Shuttle launch using a month’s wind power from a small wind farm at a cost of about $285,000. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm in France (Pascal Rossignol | Reuters)
¶ “Plunging Cost Of Wind And Solar Marks Turning Point In Energy Transition: IRENA” • Plunging costs of renewables mark a turning point in a global transition to low-carbon energy, as it is increasingly cheaper to build solar or wind farms than to run existing coal plants, a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows. [Reuters]
Natural gas pipeline (Portland Press Herald via Getty Image)
¶ “EPA Mounts A New Strike On States’ Rights, This Time To Boost Pipeline Companies” • As chaos grips the nation, the EPA is changing water permitting rules to make it harder for states to block construction of fossil fuel pipelines. The EPA’s new rule prohibits regulators from factoring in a project’s impacts on climate change. [Huffpost]
Wednesday, June 3
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani (Image: Life tech | Flickr)
¶ “Adani Chief Talks Solar And Hydrogen Storage Opportunity” • Covid-19 presents an opportunity to pause, rethink, and design a faster transition to a clean energy future, according to Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani. He pointed to a 99% drop in the cost of solar modules over a 40 year period, and said he expects the trend to continue. [pv magazine Australia]
Fully loaded oil tankers sitting idle (PO3 Aidan Cooney | USCG)
¶ “The Oil & Gas Industry Doesn’t Have A Bright Future” • The oil and gas industry has been in a recession, effectively since the global financial crisis 11 years ago. Each year, production volumes have increased by more than global demand, meaning that the market has been in decline, with lower prices for crude oil and natural gas the natural result. [CleanTechnica]
Solar and wind power in Lincolnshire (Paul Glendell | Alamy)
¶ “UK Electricity Coal Free For First Month Ever” • The UK’s electricity system had its “greenest” month ever and ran without coal-fired electricity for the full month of May. National Grid, the energy system operator, said the UK’s sunniest spring on record helped reduce the carbon intensity of the grid to its lowest level ever recorded. [The Guardian]
Energy Week #374: 6/4/2020
Energy, renewable energy, wind power, Solar, batteries, Nuclear, coal, oil, gas, Climate Change
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 