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Energy Week #402: 1/21/2021
Thursday, January 14
Gov Cuomo speaking (Darren McGee, Gov Cuomo’s Office)
¶ “New York Governor Outlines Major Renewable Energy Plans” • New York Gov Andrew M Cuomo unveiled a host of initiatives to add renewable energy, build transmission, and boost the clean energy economy. He said the green energy program create more than 50,000 jobs, and spur $29 billion in private investment all across the state. [pv magazine USA]
Offshore wind farm (Nicholas Doherty, Unsplash)
¶ “Equinor And BP To Deliver 2.5-G W Offshore Wind Power To New York State” • Equinor and partner BP have been selected to provide close to 2.5 GW of offshore wind power to the state of New York, in the latest renewables solicitation. Equinor and BP will develop 1,260-MW Empire Wind 2 project and the 1,230-MW Beacon Wind 1 project. [Power Technology]
San Francisco during the wildfires (Patrick Perkins, Unsplash)
¶ “Top Scientists Warn Of ‘Ghastly Future’ For Planet As Leaders Underestimate Ecological Threats” • A team of seventeen leading scientists cautioned that the future of the planet is “more dire and dangerous than is generally understood.” They warned that unless world leaders face up to the challenge and act urgently our survival is threatened. [CNN]
Friday, January 15
Colorado charging station (Image by Jessica Russo, NRDC)
¶ “Colorado Approves $110 Million Transportation Electrification Plan” • Xcel Energy will deploy about 20,000 charging stations for EVs at residential, commercial, and public sites in Colorado, under a $110 million plan approved by the Colorado PUC. At least $20 million is to be invested to promote EV adoption in low-income areas. [CleanTechnica]
Polluting factory (Patrick Hendry, Unsplash)
¶ “The Trump Administration Is Launching One Last Assault On Climate Science” • President Donald Trump’s term in office will be remembered for many disastrous moments, but one of the most consequential might be its systematic degradation of environmental protections. His administration seems intent on doing more damage as he leaves office. [AOL]
Solar array in rough waters (Moss Maritime image)
¶ “Equinor To Pilot Floating Solar Off Norway” • Equinor is working with Moss Maritime to start testing floating solar in the ocean off the island of Froya, off Trondheim in Norway. The partnership will build the floating solar pilot plant in the late summer of 2021, making it the first of its kind to be situated in rough waters. [reNEWS]
Saturday, January 16
Forest (Jay Mantri, Unsplash)
¶ “Cutting Emissions To Zero CAN Halt Climate Change In Our Lifetimes” • Buried under doomsday predictions on climate change, there is newer information from Michael Mann, the distinguished climate scientist. It turns out that if we cut to zero emissions, he tells us, the warming would continue, but only for a few years. [CleanTechnica]
Moynahan Trail Hall (Courtesy of Gov Andrew Cuomo via Flickr)
¶ “New York’s $306 Billion 2021 Infrastructure Plan – Largest In Nation” • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his state’s 2021 infrastructure plan. It is the largest such plan in the nation, with an expected cost of $306 billion. It includes a lot of support for climate-friendly transportation solutions. Here is a quick look focusing on them. [CleanTechnica]
Pagurus on water (Courtesy of Lazzarini Design)
Just for fun: Pagurus on land (Courtesy of Lazzarini Design)
¶ “Solar-Powered Amphibious Catamaran Concept Is A Literal Land Yacht” • No, you haven’t wandered into The Onion. This is CleanTechnica, and this is a real design put forward by an Italian design house, Lazzarini, which sometimes has fun with designs. It showed the Pagurus, an 82-ft. solar-powered “amphibious” catamaran, set to cruise on land. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, January 17
Cypress 6.0 wind turbine (GE Renewable Energy image)
¶ “More Than 8,000 GE Renewable Energy Onshore Wind Turbines” • In November, GE passed a milestone. Over 8,000 GE Renewable Energy onshore wind turbines stand in 23 US states and 10 other countries. The 2-MW turbines alone have 20 GW of installed capacity worldwide, enough to power the equivalent of 12.9 million homes around the world. [REVE]
Fire in Portugal, stoked by unseasonal heat (UN via Twitter)
¶ “Worried About Earth’s Future? Well, The Outlook Is Worse Than Even Scientists Can Grasp” • A research paper published this week reviews over 150 studies to produce a stark summary of the state of the natural world. It says that future environmental conditions will be far more dangerous than experts currently believe. [Red, Green, and Blue]
Joe Biden (David Lienemann, US Government photo, public domain)
¶ “Biden Says His Advisers Will Lead With ‘Science And Truth'” • President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his slate of scientific advisers with the promise that they would summon “science and truth” to combat the coronavirus pandemic, climate crisis and other challenges. “Science is discovery. It’s not fiction,” Biden said. “It’s also about hope.” [Daily Herald]
Monday, January 18
Artist’s concept of floating system (Acciona image)
¶ “Acciona Leads Spanish Floating Green Hydrogen Study” • Acciona is to coordinate a project to design and validate Spain’s first offshore plant for generating, storing, and distributing green hydrogen. The OceanH2 project will study several scenarios for implementation, including use of floating wind and solar, for offshore hybrid power generation. [reNEWS]
Peel Renewable Energy solar farm (PRE image)
¶ “The Solar Allure Of WA’s New-Model Business Park” • Peel Renewable Energy is about to energize a 1.2-MW solar farm in Western Australia. It has a fresh approach to industrial-estate development based on a phased microgrid. The infrastructure is small, while the renewably powered microgrid grows to meet the needs of incoming businesses. [pv magazine Australia]
Southern US at night (NASA image)
¶ “Weird Asymmetry: Nights Warming Faster Than Days Across Much Of The Planet” • University of Exeter scientists studied warming from 1983 to 2017 and found that days and nights have not warmed at the same rate. Areas where night-time warming is greater are about twice as large as those where days have been warming faster. [SciTechDaily]
Tuesday, January 19
Electric school buses (Lion Electric image)
¶ “Miami-Dade Starts Transition To Electric School Bus Fleet” • Miami-Dade County Public Schools have decided to convert its fleet from diesel buses into an electric fleet. Holly Thorpe, a middle school student, had used her science fair project to show the school board that diesel buses had levels of CO₂ in them that are ten times the EPA limit. [CleanTechnica]
Stop the Keystone XL pipeline rally in 2011 (Bill McKibben, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Keystone Pipeline: Biden ‘To Cancel It On His First Day'” • US President-elect Joe Biden is to cancel the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline on his first day in office, North American media report. The pipeline is projected to carry oil nearly 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the Canadian province of Alberta down to Nebraska, to join an existing pipeline. [BBC]
GE Haliade-X turbine (GE image)
¶ “GE Renewable Energy Finalizes Contracts For 1.1-GW Ocean Wind Energy Offshore Project In New Jersey” • GE Renewable Energy will supply Haliade-X wind turbines for Ørsted’s Ocean Wind offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey. It could be the state’s first project to feature the 13-MW variant of GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X platform. [REVE]
Wednesday, January 20
2-MW demonstration project (Ørsted image)
¶ “Ørsted To Press Ahead With Green Hydrogen Pilot” • Ørsted has taken final investment decision on the Danish demonstration project H2RES, which will use offshore wind energy to produce renewable hydrogen. The project is expected to produce its first hydrogen in late 2021 and will be Ørsted’s first renewable hydrogen project in operation. [reNEWS]
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant (NRC image)
¶ “What’s Next For Vermont Yankee Property?” • A new land inventory report offers a series of possibilities for the site of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to eventually be used for industry, recreation, preserving habitat, and recognizing the Abenaki relationship to the banks of the Connecticut River, past and present. [Commons]
Hydrogen electrolyser in Fukushima Prefecture (NEDO image)
¶ “McKinsey: Continuous Fall In Battery Prices Is Enabling The Rapid Rise Of Renewable Energy” • Renewable energy uptake and the falling costs of battery energy storage are “inexorably linked” as the global economy faces a crucial decade ahead in its urgent need to decarbonise, according to work by McKinsey & Company. [Energy Storage News]
Energy Week #402: 1/21/2021
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 