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Energy Week #401: 1/14/2021
Thursday, January 7
Wind farm (Matthew T Rader, Unsplash)
¶ “East Bay Community Energy Aims For 100% Clean Energy By 2030” • East Bay Community Energy committed to providing nearly 1.7 million local customers with 100% renewable energy in the next decade, 15 years ahead of California’s target date. EBCE is one of the largest US electricity providers to commit to 100% renewables in ten years. [Pleasanton Weekly]
Installing solar panels (DOE image)
¶ “States And Cities Are Driving Climate And Clean Energy Progress” • A third of the people in the US now live in states or cities that are committed to 100% clean electricity. And the role of states, cities, and communities as climate leaders will continue to be vital even as President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris take the helm. [CleanTechnica]
EMS cutaway (Photo courtesy of Urban Aeronautics)
¶ “CityHawk eVTOL Gets Off The Ground Following Initial Orders” • Israeli tech firm Urban Aeronautics has encouraging news. It said it received a pre-order for four of its innovative hydrogen fuel-cell powered eVTOL vehicles from Hatzolah Air, a company that specializes in developing helicopters and other aircraft for EMS applications. [CleanTechnica]
Friday, January 8
Tesla in space (SpaceX image, public domain)
¶ “Elon Musk Becomes World’s Richest Person As Wealth Tops $185 Billion” • Elon Musk became the world’s richest person, as his net worth rose past $185 billion. Musk was pushed into the top slot after Tesla’s hit a market value of $700 billion. That makes the car company worth more than Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, GM, and Ford combined. [BBC]
Flying-V design (TU Delft image)
¶ “Greener planes of the future … or just pretty plans?” • In traditional aircraft the fuselage is basically dead weight and needs big wings to keep it in the sky. But newer aircraft designs are being tested. In some, the whole airframe provides lift, so it can be lighter and smaller than current designs, but can potentially carry the same payload. [BBC]
Sea bird (Waldemar Brandt, Unsplash)
¶ “Vattenfall Makes Room For Seabirds Off Norfolk” • Swedish developer Vattenfall will use taller turbines than initially planned at its 1800-MW Norfolk Vanguard and 1800-MW Norfolk Boreas projects. After consultations with ornithologists, the developer raised clearance heights to 30 metres from 22 to place rotors above the flight paths of birds. [reNEWS]
Saturday, January 9
Birds (Photo by Barth Bailey on Unsplash)
¶ “Oil Lobby Cheers Trump Policy That Lets Oil Companies Kill Birds” • With just two weeks left in office, the lame duck Trump administration published a rule to allow industries to kill migrating birds so long as they don’t intentionally kill them. The rule is based on a legal opinion rejected and vacated by a federal judge last August. [CleanTechnica]
2020 (Copernicus Climate Change Service and ECMWF)
¶ “2020 Was Tied For The Hottest Year Ever Recorded – But The Disasters Fueled By Climate Change Set It Apart” • Data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service made it official that 2020 tied 2016 as the hottest year on record, but it was abundantly clear throughout 2020 that the world is already seeing worsening disasters from climate change. [CNN]
New York City (Photo by Josh jfisher on Unsplash)
¶ “Trump Admin Trying To Force Banks To Finance Fossil Fuel Projects” • Wall Street banks slammed a proposed rule that would force lenders to finance fossil fuel projects and other business they they deem to pose a reputational risk, Bloomberg reports. They question both its legal underpinnings and the fast-tracked process that created it. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, January 10
Tree swallow (Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL)
¶ “NREL And Project Partners Team-Up To Advance Species Conservation And Wind Energy Deployment” • The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Defenders of Wildlife have a nine-part webinar series to help familiarize stakeholders with the nuances of land-based wind energy development in the context of species conservation. [CleanTechnica]
GM “Everybody In” ad featuring Malcom Gladwell (GM image)
¶ “What Is GM’s New Logo And Ad Campaign Actually About?” • General Motors debuted its “Everybody In” marketing campaign and redesigned GM logo in a private briefing for automotive and advertising reporters. They want to convince stakeholders that the company is truly serious about accelerating mass adoption of electric vehicles. [CleanTechnica]
Fireworks in Burlington (Kevin Davison, Unsplash)
¶ “What Would It Take To Run A City On 100% Clean Energy?” • Today, more than 170 US cities and towns have promised to shift their power supply from coal and natural gas to solar, wind, and hydropower. But can 100% renewable cities actually be 100% renewable? The reality is a bit complicated. And it reveals the challenges of decarbonization. [WIRED]
Monday, January 11
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Screenshot via Twitter)
¶ “Climate Action Hawk Arnold Schwarzenegger Brings Conan Sword Down Upon Trump Enablers” • Everyone is buzzing about a video Arnold Schwarzenegger circulated. In it, Schwarzenegger, a lifelong Republican, excoriates Trump and his enablers in Congress, identifying the insurrectionists and their supporters in Congress with the Nazis. [CleanTechnica]
Nuro self driving car (Nuro image)
¶ “Nuro Gets California’s First Autonomous Vehicle Permit, Ouster Going Public” • On Thursday, November 19, 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the ability to both launch robotaxi services and autonomous delivery services and to charge for them. The first company to get a permit to do so is Nuro. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla’s Hornsdale Power Reserve
¶ “Neoen Plans Massive 500-MW Big Battery West Of Sydney” • Australia’s largest battery storage project could be built just outside of Sydney. Planning documents submitted by renewable energy developer Neoen show that the company intends to kick-start the planning process for a 500-MW, 1,000-MWh big battery in New South Wales. [Renew Economy]
Tuesday, January 12
Expected new generating capacity (US EIA image)
¶ “Renewables account for most new US electricity generating capacity in 2021” • The US Energy Information Administration’s latest data shows developers and power plant owners plan for 39.7 GW of new capacity to start commercial operation in 2021. Of that, 39% will be solar, 31% wind, 16% natural gas, 11% batteries, and 3% will be nuclear. [US EIA]
Origin’s 2,880-MW coal power plant (CSIRO image)
¶ “Coal Power Plant Site In Australia Could Host 700-MW, 2,800-MWh Battery Energy Storage Project” • The integrated energy company Origin Energy Limited issued a call for qualified firms to supply and install a battery storage system of up to 700-MW, 2,800-MWh. It will be built at the site of a retiring coal-burner in New South Wales. [Energy Storage News]
Thirty storms of the 2020 Hurricane season (NOAA image)
¶ “Climate Change Has Cost The US Billions Of Dollars In Flood Damage, Study Finds” • Intensifying rainfall fueled by climate change has caused nearly $75 billion in flood damage in the US in the past three decades, Stanford University researchers confirmed in a study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [CNBC]
Wednesday, January 13
Emissions (Martin Sepion, Unsplash)
¶ “US Carbon Emissions Fell 10% In 2020, Because Of Covid-19. It’s Up To Biden To Stop Them From Bouncing Back” • US greenhouse gas emissions dropped a lot in 2020, helping the country meet one long-standing climate targets. But experts warn that unless climate action becomes a priority, emissions will bounce back quickly. [CNN]
Tesla (Charlie Deets, Unsplash)
¶ “Elon Musk Is Taking Tesla Beyond Other Automakers With Common Sense: Long-Term Thinking” • Elon Musk has worked tirelessly and methodically to reach goals he set a long time ago, a process that he knew would take years or decades. Tesla’s Master Plan is a three-part strategy to bring a mid-priced EV to the mass market. [CleanTechnica]
Stratosphere (NASA image)
¶ “Extreme Weather from the Stratosphere: Interview with ETH Climate Researcher Daniela Domeisen” • Daniela Domeisen has documented how the stratosphere influences extreme weather events. In an interview, she explains what the sheer range of these impacts implies for climate research and long-term weather forecasts. [CleanTechnica]
Energy Week #401: 1/14/2021
George Harvey, blogger, author, and journalist for Green Energy Times and CleanTechnica, computer engineer
Tom Finnell, electrical engineer, transmission grid expert, world traveler, philanthropist, and philosopher
Energy, renewable energy, wind power, Solar, batteries, Nuclear, coal, oil, gas, Climate Change
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 