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 #377: 6/25/2020
Thursday, June 18
Solar farm in California (8minute Solar Energy image)
¶ “8minute Solar Nabs Its First Supply Deal With California Community-Choice Aggregators” • Developer 8minute Solar Energy said it had signed power-purchase agreements with two Northern California community-choice aggregators for a 250-MW solar project located in the state, including 150-MWh of energy storage. [Greentech Media]
Wind turbines (Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica)
¶ “Goldman Sachs Sees $16 Trillion Investment In Renewables By 2030” • Goldman Sachs analysts issued a research note for investors saying investments in renewable energy are set to overtake those in oil and gas for the first time next year. They think the clean energy field will be a $16 trillion opportunity for investment between now and 2030. [CleanTechnica]
Shellfish (D Trozzo | Alamy Stock Photo)
¶ “Farmed Shellfish Is Not Immune To Climate Change” • Some farmed seafood products, especially shellfish, do not tax the environment and can help feed a growing population without taking a heavy environmental toll. According to a study, climate change and ocean acidification could disrupt global shellfish aquaculture in just a few decades. [Hakai Magazine]
Friday, June 19
SNCF Voyageurs train (SNCF image)
¶ “RES Seals Green PPA With French Rail Operator” • RES has signed a long-term power purchase agreement to supply almost 40 MW of green electricity to the energy arm of French rail operator SNCF Voyageurs. The deal with SNCF Energie is for between 15 and 20 years. It will enable the construction and operation of solar power plants from 2021. [reNEWS]
Installing solar panels (Joe Raedle | Getty Images)
¶ “Global Renewable Energy Growth Equals Coal for First Time Ever, BP Report Says” • Renewable energy sources experienced record growth in 2019, matching that of coal for the first time ever, according to an annual report from oil company BP. The “Statistical Review of World Energy” tracks energy growth, usage and trends. [The Weather Channel]
Wind turbines (Anna Jiménez Calaf | Unsplash)
¶ “Renewables Surge While Coal Power Fizzles” • This year, for the first time, renewable sources will provide more electricity than coal, the Energy Information Administration says. The EIA predicts that electricity from coal generation will drop by 25%, while electricity produced from renewables is expected to grow by 11%. [Santa Barbara Independent]
Saturday, June 20
X-57 (Image: NASA Langley | Advanced Concepts Lab, AMA, Inc)
¶ “Little NASA Electric Airplane Soon Coming To Life” • NASA’s first piloted experimental plane in two decades is the all-electric X-57. It has twelve “high-lift motors and propellers” along its wings and a larger motor with a five-foot propeller at each wing tip to capture energy that would otherwise be lost to wingtip vortices. [CleanTechnica]
Biogas facility in Thailand
¶ “CPF Promotes Biogas Production Across Its Farms And Processing Plants In Thailand” • Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC is working towards renewable energy consumption through biogas production at all pig farms in Thailand for long-term energy security as well as maximum energy efficiency under the Circular Economy concept. [The Pig Site]
Pumping oil, flaring gas (Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images)
¶ “Rig Count Falls For 15th-Straight Week To Another Record Low” • The US rig count fell for the 15th straight week to yet another record low as energy companies continue to shut down oil production. Energy companies are operating 266 drilling rigs nationally, down more than 60% since mid-March and more than 72% from a year ago. [Houston Chronicle]
Sunday, June 21
Hydrogen delivery in Mountain View, CA (Dicklyon, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “Stars Have Aligned For Hydrogen Economy” • Hydrogen, for use as a carbon free fuel and as energy storage for renewables, is attracting unprecedented interest. And all of the factors that are required for the construction of a hydrogen economy are falling into place, the expert panel assembled for the PE Live 7 webcast agreed last week. [Petroleum Economist]
Coal miner on break (AP photo)
¶ “Already Under Pressure, Virginia’s Coal Industry Sees Idled Mines And Furloughs Amid Covid-19 Pandemic” • Appalachian coal has declined for decades. Virginia had 10,662 coal mining jobs in 1990, and only 2,576 in 2019. With Covid-19, the Energy Information Administration forecast a 35% drop in Appalachian coal production this year. [Bristol Herald Courier]
Fracking job in process
¶ “Study: Air Pollution From Fracking Linked To Deaths In PA” • A study found a correlation between shale gas extraction with particulate matter pollution and mortality in areas where active fracking wells are sited. Researchers used NASA satellite data to pinpoint daily levels of particulate matter pollution from wells in Pennsylvania. [Binghamton University]
Monday, June 22
Rooftop solar power (Image courtesy Edison International)
¶ “Your Home Battery Can Be Part Of A Virtual Power Plant In California” • With solar power and batteries your house stays alive with power, even if the grid goes down, but there are other advantages of such systems. Sunrun and Southern California Edison are partnering to create one of the country’s largest virtual power plants. [CleanTechnica]
Benban solar plant in Egypt (Amr Abdallah Dalsh, Reuters)
¶ “Africa50 Joins Investors To Power The World’s Largest Solar Park” • Thirty international infrastructure developers are to invest in Egypt’s 1.5-GW Benban solar park, which will be the largest in the world upon completion. The 37-square-kilometer solar park will have over seven million PV panels, with funding of $4 billion. [ESI Africa]
Dutch wind farm (Shutterstock photo)
¶ “Dutch Do Danish Deal To Hit Clean Power Target” • The Netherlands agreed to pay Denmark €100 million as part of a deal to allow the Dutch government to declare at least 8 TWh of Danish surplus renewable power on its books, in an effort to meet its EU target. The Netherlands is one of the worst countries for hitting benchmarks for 2020. [EURACTIV]
Tuesday, June 23
Siberian heat (Climate Reanalyzer | Universty of Maine, Climate Change Institute)
¶ “Off-The-Charts Warm: Siberian Town Hits 100 Degrees” • A Siberian town, nestled about 6 miles within the Arctic Circle, recorded a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C), likely setting a new record for the hottest temperature recorded that far north. The milestone comes as Siberia has experienced unusually warm conditions since the start of 2020. [NBCNews.com]
Nodding donkies (Shutterstock image)
¶ “Taxpayers Are Footing The Bill For 100-Year Old Oil Wells” • Plugging old oil and gas wells may cost as much as ten times what the industry routinely estimates, according to a Carbon Tracker report. As oil and gas companies walk away from their “stranded liabilities,” state and local governments may be left to pick up the tab. [OilPrice.com] Thanks to Tad Montgomery
ABB solar power plant in Nevada
¶ “Nevada Plans To Adopt California’s Fuel Economy Standards” • Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has decided to side with California and Tesla, not Donald Trump and certain lagging automakers, on the need for cleaner cars. Governor Sisolak announced that Nevada would adopt California’s fuel economy regulations. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, June 24
Where it started: Apple I, Smithsonian Museum (Ed Uthman, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “Three Companies That Are Bigger Than The Entire Oil & Gas Industry” • The US oil and gas sector was once worth a combined $3 trillion; now there are three companies with higher valuations than the entire sector. It is worth note that all three – Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft – are tech giants with sizable clean energy investments. [OilPrice.com]
Simulated view of Icebreaker offshore wind farm (LEEDCo image)
¶ “Icebreaker Appeals Turbine Restrictions Decision” • The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation appealed a ruling made by the Ohio Power Siting Board on the Icebreaker offshore wind farm on Lake Erie. LEEDCo said the ruling may be “fatal” for the 21-MW project. The company asked the OPSB for a rehearing to reconsider the decision. [reNEWS]
Sunset at a coal plant (Flickr cc Tony Webster)
¶ “Global Demise Of Coal-Fired Generation Driven By Idle And Unprofitable Plants” • Baseload power just isn’t what it used to be. The demise of coal is now a global phenomenon that – rather like Covid-19 – is no respecter of borders or governments, with both China and the US grappling with the social and economic impacts of overcapacity. [pv magazine USA]
Energy Week #377: 6/25/2020
Energy, renewable energy, wind power, Solar, batteries, Nuclear, coal, oil, gas, Climate Change
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 