Energy Week #408: 3/4/2021

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 #408: 3/4/2021

Thursday, February 25

Paris, Texas (Courtesy of the National Weather Service)

¶ “From Ignorance To Greed To Ideology To Propaganda: The Failures Of Texas’ Grid” • There were a number of failures in Texas last week that were much bigger issues than renewable energy. The grid failures were predictable and avoidable. The state, utilities, and most municipalities all failed the citizens and businesses of Texas. [CleanTechnica]

Sequoia National Forest (Suresh Ramamoorthy, Unsplash)

¶ “Coal Projected To Exit US Electricity By 2033. Trump Might Have Killed It” • The biggest problem for coal is economics. It shouldn’t be surprising that Bloomberg and Morgan Stanley project that coal is on its way out, and will be gone from the US market by 2033. And Trump’s help for coal was not enough to counter his help for natural gas. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “DHL Teams With Volvo Trucks To Speed Up Transition To Fossil-Free Trucking” • If there is any question that trucking is turning to electric drive systems, DHL Freight and Volvo Trucks are showing the answer. They have partnered to speed up the introduction of heavy duty electric trucks to be used for regional transport throughout Sweden. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, February 26

Wind turbines (Thomas Richter, Unsplash)

¶ “How The Race For Renewable Energy Is Reshaping Global Politics” • Andrew Forrest, chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, searched the world for five months to find sites for hydropower and geothermal energy. The experience told him that in fifteen years, energy will be completely changed. And that will change politics globally. [InsideClimate News]

Demolition of Navajo Generating Station (Alan Stark, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “A Clean Energy Milestone: Renewables Pulled Ahead Of Coal In 2020” • The ongoing rise of wind and solar power, combined with the steady performance of hydroelectric power, was enough for renewable energy sources to surge ahead of coal, according to 2020 figures released this week by the US Energy Information Administration. [InsideClimate News]

British gas electric van (Image courtesy of Vauxhall)

¶ “UK’s Largest Commercial EV Order Yet – British Gas Orders 2,000 Electric Vans” • British Gas, the largest energy and home services company in the UK, put in an order for 2,000 electric vans, which it says is a record number. The company has a fleet of 12,000 vehicles, and it intends to have every single one of its vehicles electric by 2025. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, February 27

Salvaged jalopy (Image courtesy of Salon Privé)

¶ “InstaVolt Teams Up With Everrati To Give Iconic Cars An Electric Future” • InstaVolt and Everrati are teaming up on work on the world’s most iconic and classic cars. Everrati reengineers classic cars into zero-emissions vehicles and then restores them. The cars get state-of-the-art electric drivetrains, electric power units, and battery packs. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla (Matt Henry, Unsplash)

¶ “EVs Are Already At Price Parity, But The Electric CARS Act Would Make Them Irresistible” • Bloomberg Green contributor Nathaniel Bullard makes the case that EVs are already at price parity with conventional cars because inexpensive new cars have pretty much vanished. Now, congress is looking at legislation that will give EVs a clear advantage. [CleanTechnica]

Pump jack (Jeff W, Unsplash)

¶ “Oil Is Up Nearly 70% Since The Election, A Record In The Modern Era” • The oil market is starting the Biden era with a bang, and Covid-weary Americans returning to the roads this spring and summer will be greeted with higher prices at the pump. Since the election, US oil prices are up sharply to $63.50 at Thursday’s close, a rise of 69%. [CNN]

Sunday, February 28

Earth (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, public domain)

¶ “Environmental Collapse: It’s Time Economists Put The Planet On Their Balance Sheets” • A ‘ground-sparing’ economic report on biodiversity indicates that economic practice has to change because the world is finite. Climate change results from a larger issue, the threat to our life support systems from the plunder and demise of our natural environment. [RenewEconomy]

Drought monitor (David Miskus, NOAA, NWS, NCEP, CPC US)

¶ “Texas Shows Us Our Water Future With Climate Change: It Ain’t Pretty” • Earlier this week, 1 in 22 Americans didn’t have water or was on a boil water alert. Texas did not suffer alone, as people in Oklahoma and Louisiana also lost water. Sadly, the storm was just a glimpse of how climate change will impact our water supplies. [CleanTechnica]

Bill Gates and his new book (provided by Gates Notes)

¶ “Bill Gates Is Wrong About Nuclear Power” • In his new book, Bill Gates argues that nuclear power is needed to respond to climate disaster because it’s the only emissions-free source of energy that can be supplied around the clock. He fails to see that the paradigm it fits in is obsolete, it is not needed, and it still has unsolved waste issues. [The Hankyoreh]

Monday, March 1

Projected price decline (ARK Investment Management image)

¶ “Will Tesla Hit Elon’s 20 Million Vehicles Per Year By 2030 Target?” • One of the bolder targets announced by Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year was to reach a 20 million-vehicle-per-year production capacity before 2030. He projected 30 million EVs sold annually by all companies in six to seven years. Are those goals really possible? [CleanTechnica]

Atlantic Ocean (Jacob Buller, Unsplash)

¶ “Atlantic Ocean Circulation Weakest In A Millennium” • The Atlantic Ocean circulation underpinning the Gulf Stream is weaker than at any point in the last 1,000 years largely due to climate change, and that could cause disastrous sea level rise along the US Eastern Seaboard, new research published in the journal Nature Geoscience says. [CleanTechnica]

Community solar array in Indiana (Robford15, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Community Microgrids – ‘Cornerstone Of Future Energy Operations'” • A full description of microgrids would go beyond their use for energy resilience to make them the “cornerstone of future energy operations.” The Solar Energy Technologies Office announced in 2020 it would award $34 million for integration projects, including community microgrids. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, March 2

Wind farm (Carl Jorgensen, Unsplash)

¶ “100% Renewable Energy Could Power The World By 2030, Experts Say” • Electricity from solar, wind, and water could power the entire world in less than 10 years, leading energy experts say. Renewable energy could also be the sole energy source for the world’s heating, cooling, transport, and industries by 2035. [Yahoo News Canada]

Zero-emission ship (Photo courtesy of Yara)

¶ “Yara Kickstarts Green Ammonia Industry With Green Hydrogen” • Just a couple of months ago, the US DOE was pushing for green hydrogen with a venture aimed at teasing farmers into the market. Now, the global firm Yara has a green ammonia project in Norway that is similar, but different, and much, much, much bigger. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm in South Australia (ScottDavis, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “Against The Odds, South Australia Is A Renewable Energy Powerhouse. How Did They Do It?” • Less than two decades ago, all of South Australia’s electricity came from fossil fuels. Last year, renewables provided 60% of the state’s electricity. The progress came as national climate policy was all but paralyzed. So how did it happen? [RenewEconomy]

Wednesday, March 3

Concrete truck (Courtesy of Wilsonville Concrete)

¶ “Low Carbon Concrete – Starting From The Ground Up” • Of all global CO₂ emissions, 8 to 11% come from the manufacture of concrete. Several companies use CO₂ or reduce CO₂ emissions in their products in different ways to produce “green” concrete products that range from somewhat lower carbon, to zero carbon and carbon negative. [CleanTechnica]

Volkswagen ID.3 ad (Courtesy of Volkswagen)

¶ “Volkswagen Uses Pollution-Absorbing Paint To Advertise ID.3 In UK” • Volkswagen ID.3 EVs are manufactured using 100% renewable electricity. Volkswagen plans to recycle the batteries in its EVs. Now, its large outdoor ads for the ID.3 use a special paint called Airlite to paint the exterior walls of buildings in London. Airlite absorbs several pollutants. [CleanTechnica]

John Kerry at briefing (White House photo)

¶ “John Kerry Has A Warning For Big Oil” • John Kerry had some tough talk for the leaders of Big Oil. The message: embrace clean energy or get left behind. “You don’t want to be sitting there with a lot of stranded assets. You’re gonna wind up on the wrong side of this battle,” Kerry said at the energy conference CERAWeek by IHS Markit. [CNN]

Energy Week #408: 3/4/2021

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 #407: 2/25/2021

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 #407: 2/25/2021

Thursday, February 18

Temperature anomaly map (University of Maine)

¶ “World’s Upside Down Weather Causing Chaos” • A “wobble” in the weather has turned a chunk of the world’s climate upside down, leading to the bizarre situation where it is far colder in Texas than it is in Alaska. A temperature anomaly map from the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute vividly reveals the peculiar situation. [NEWS.com.au]

Volta Zero electric truck (Volta Trucks image)

¶ “Volta Trucks Picks Proterra For Batteries” • Volta Trucks, the new British commercial electric truck startup, has decided to get its vehicle batteries from Proterra, which just opened a next-gen battery production factory in California in December. The Volta Zero, designed for inner city freight distribution, will have a range of 125 miles. [CleanTechnica]

Frozen lake in Texas (©Luke Verboski via Twitter)

¶ “Texas: Grids, Blackouts, And Green New Deals” • The failure of the electricity grid in Texas and the blackouts in the Midwest, are more consequences of climate breakdown. The root problem is that the Arctic is growing warmer. As it does so, paradoxically, there is less of a barrier preventing very cold weather in the far north from moving south. [The Ecologist]

Friday, February 19

Nature (Lukasz Szmigiel, Unsplash)

¶ “A New UN Report Urges A Radical Shift In The Way We Think About Nature” • The UN released a report on the health of the planet that proposes a radical shift in the way we think about it. The report, “Making Peace with Nature,” argues that amid our pursuit of wealth and security, humans must now learn to value the Earth’s basic “natural capital.” [CNN]

Cruise ship (Courtesy of Chantiers de l’Atlantique)

¶ “Eco-Friendly Cruise Ships To Be Powered By Sails” • French shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique is planning to construct cruise ships topped by striking 80 meter “eco-friendly” paneled sails, made of fiberglass and carbon. The Solid Sail/AeolDrive concept would reduce cruise emissions by up to 50%, according to the shipyard. [CNN]

Solar system (Chelsea, Unsplash)

¶ “Ignoring Pandemic, Americans Installed Record Amounts Of Solar And Wind Energy” • The US added a record amount of wind and solar energy in 2020 despite Covid-19, figures from BloombergNEF and Business Council for Sustainable Energy show. Wind and solar power installations soared 61% over 2019, with 33.6 GW added to the grid. [CBS News]

Saturday, February 20

Failed natural gas plant (Image courtesy of Entergy, cropped)

¶ “Texas’s Energy System Failed. Here’s How It Could Succeed” • What happened in Texas should be a wake-up call for our entire nation. What happened in February 2021 in the Lone Star State must spur elected officials, regulators and utility companies across the country to build a better and more resilient energy system. [Environment Maine]

Plugged gas well (Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association)

¶ “Abandoned Wells Are A Lingering Environmental Issue” • There are a huge number of abandoned oil and gas wells in the US. These wells, many of them uncapped, are potential sources of methane pollution. Pennsylvania has 300,000 to 760,000 of the abandoned wells, various estimates say, possibly 15% of the country’s total number. [Observer-Reporter]

Volta EV charging station (photo via Volta)

¶ “GM Banks On Free Electric Vehicle Charging Stations To Sell New Chevy Bolt EUVs” • Earlier this week, GM slapped images of its splashy new 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV onto the digital displays of hundreds of free electric vehicle charging stations across the US. With ads like this, GM might just make the EV experience feel as American as apple pie. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, February 21

Texas cold (Thomas Park, Unsplash)

¶ “Texas Weather: President Biden Declares Major Disaster” • President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in Texas, clearing the way for more federal funds to be spent on relief efforts there. Power is returning across Texas and temperatures are set to rise, but at least 14 million people still have difficulty accessing clean water. [BBC]

Manila (Aeron Oracion, Unsplash)

¶ “Philippine DOE Requires Solar And Renewable Energy Technologies In Buildings” • Solar photovoltaic and renewable energy technologies are now required in new and existing Philippine buildings after the country’s Department of Energy issued a policy on the adoption of the guidelines of energy conservation. [Inquirer.net]

Increases in battery capacity (Image courtesy S&P Global)

¶ “Texas To Add 35 GW Of Wind And Solar In Next 3 Years, Boosting Grid Resilience” • A majority of the Texas power plants that failed were thermal. Some wind turbines not equipped for cold also failed, but others produced more than expected. In the next three years, 35 GW of wind turbines and 26 GW of batteries are set to be added to the Texas grid. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, February 22

Ice crystals (Aaron Burden, Unsplash)

¶ “Republicans Eye Federal Funds To Help Pay Exorbitant Energy Bills In Texas” • Reportedly, some Texans whose power stayed now face enormous bills, as private companies capitalize. The New York Times reported that one man in the Dallas suburbs faced an electricity bill for nearly $17,000, 70 times his usual bill for all utilities combined. [The Guardian]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (nrkbeta, Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Texas GOP Attacks AOC With False Claims … For Trying To Help Texans, Americans, And The World” • Texas’ GOP Chair, Allen West, rather than working to help Texans in a time of dire need, decided to switch the issue. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised $2 million for Texans, so he attacked her and clean energy with falsehoods. [CleanTechnica]

Deep freeze (Hunter Gascon, Unsplash)

¶ “Texas Gov’t Just “Decided 60% Of The Population Wouldn’t Get Power For A Few Days”” • It’s been a crazy week of snow, ice, rolling blackouts, and sadness all across the South, but especially in Texas. The government of Texas looks like it mismanaged the grid completely. It even looks like it is intentionally freezing the state’s poor. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, February 23

Flood (SC National Guard, public domain)

¶ “Flood Risk Is Growing For US Homeowners Due To Climate Change. Current Insurance Rates Greatly Underestimate The Threat, A Report Finds” • A report finds that homes covered by the National Flood Insurance Program face losses each year dwarf the costs of their NFIP premiums. The premiums cover only about a fifth of the average cost. [CNN]

Port of Esbjerg, the plant site (Port of Esbjerg image)

¶ “CIP Unveils Plans For Esbjerg Green Ammonia Plant” • Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners unveiled plans to build Europe’s largest power-to-x facility in Denmark to use offshore windpower to make green ammonia. CIP said the plant will have a 1 GW electrolyzer and that the ammonia will be used as both as agricultural fertiliser and as fuel. [reNEWS]

Power plant (Andreas Felske, Unsplash)

¶ “US Coal Capacity Factor Dropped From 67.1% In 2010 To 47.5% In 2019” • CleanTechnica has documented the significant drop in coal power capacity across the country in recent years. But it is important to note that the coal capacity that still remains online is being put to use less and less. It is an interesting trend as we watch the decline of coal. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, February 24

Wind turbine blade (Acroterion, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Wind Turbine Blades Can Be Recycled” • The wind industry has one of the lowest composite waste rates. Over 85% of the turbine can be recycled, and composite blades are a small part of the overall materials. Despite how little of the negative impact the blades is, the wind industry is taking the problem on with a project called DecomBlades. [CleanTechnica]

Dallas (Matthew T Rader, CC-BY-SA)

¶ “Regulators Examine Texas Energy Market After Natural Gas Prices Soared 10,000%” • Federal regulators are looking closely at the Texas energy market after natural gas prices rose by up to 10,000% during last week’s deep freeze. They warn that extreme weather will play havoc with energy sources, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, and wind. [CNN]

Battery pack (Xerotech image)

¶ “Modular Battery System From Xerotech Could Electrify The Construction Equipment Market” • Combining seven variants of modules with a choice of battery cell chemistry, a new “turnkey” modular battery system by Xerotech promises to revolutionize the construction equipment market by offering manufacturers a battery pack for just about everything! [CleanTechnica]

Energy Week #407: 2/25/2021

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 #406: 2/18/2021

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 #406: 2/18/2021

Thursday, February 11 

Perth, Western Australia (Fadzai Saungweme, Unsplash)

¶ “WA Liberals Target 100% Renewables By 2030 In Surprising Climate Plan” • In the upcoming elections in Western Australia, the Liberal Party is expected to lose badly. “We are in survival mode,” one party member told the ABC. So it seems the anti-climate-action attitude they have had isn’t particularly smart. A new party plan reflects that. [RenewEconomy]

You breathe what you burn (Daniel Moqvist, Unsplash)

¶ “Build Nothing New That Ultimately Leads To A Flame” • Bill McKibben: A couple of weeks ago, I said that the first principle of fighting the climate crisis was simple: stop lighting coal, oil, gas, and trees on fire, as soon as possible. Today, I offer a second ground rule, corollary to the first: definitely don’t build anything new that connects to a flame. [The New Yorker]

Wind turbines (Pixabay image)

¶ “California Surpasses Renewable Energy Goals Due To Local Demand” • A study from UCLA shows that the increased local demand for clean power enables the government to surpass its renewable power targets. The research finds that the community choice aggregators significantly impact energy procurement in California. [Los Hijos de la Malinche]

Friday, February 12

Wind turbines in Australia (Alex Eckermann, Unsplash)

¶ “Are Renewables The Cheapest New Source Of Power?” • After a politician said he thought renewable energy is the cheapest source for new power generation, AAP FactCheck took a look. It found that renewables are the cheapest form of new power generation, even when accounting for the cost of firming, based on available evidence. [Australian Associated Press]

ESS flow battery (ESS image)

¶ “ESS Makes 12+ Hour Flow Battery For Sustainable Energy Storage” • Flow batteries big advantages for stationary energy storage, but they have been costly. Energy Storage Systems has a technology that could change that. Its battery is based on an iron compound and ordinary salt, which makes it both low-cost and environmentally friendly. [CleanTechnica]

Temperate rainforest in December (John Haynes, CC BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Can Ireland Return To Its Former Wilderness?” • Once, 80% of all Irish land was covered by native trees, The figure now just 1%, as farmland dominates. Rewilding is the process of returning human-altered land to a more natural, ecologically-rich state. Rewilding could also act to counter climate change by building ecosystems that lock in carbon. [BBC]

Saturday, February 13

Vestas wind turbine (Vestas Image)

¶ “Vestas Unveils World’s Most Powerful Offshore Wind Turbine” • Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company, announced that it has developed a new offshore wind turbine designed specifically for use in typhoon-prone areas. The company’s V236-15.0 MW will produce 15 MW of electricity, the highest output of any wind turbine in the world. [CleanTechnica]

Highland cow (James Toose, Unsplash)

¶ “Sacred Cow Documentary Makes An Argument For Better Meat” • The documentary “Sacred Cow” explores the ways that ruminants and well-raised meat can play an important role in solving our climate crisis. The film argues that the real threat to our climate and health is industrially processed food, and cows can have important benefits. [CleanTechnica]

Cruachan Dam (Tom Parnell, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Utility-Scale Batteries And Pumped Storage Return About 80% Of The Electricity They Store” • In 2019, the US pumped-storage facilities operated with an average monthly round-trip efficiency of 79%, and the utility-scale battery fleet had an average monthly round-trip efficiency of 82%, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, February 14

Wind turbine (Jason Blackeye, Unsplash)

¶ “Brookfield Renewable Sees An Opportunity Worth Over $100 Trillion” • In Brookfield Renewables’ fourth-quarter conference call, CEO Connor Teskey spoke of reducing CO₂ emissions and a sustainable future,” he said. “Advancing the transition to a lower-carbon future will require substantial capital, in excess of $100 trillion over the next three decades.” [Motley Fool]

Asahi Tanker Co’s new e5 tanker (Photo courtesy of e5 Lab Inc)

¶ “World’s 1st Zero-Emission Tanker Project Will Use Corvus Energy Storage System” • Corvus Energy was selected to provide an energy storage system to Kawasaki Heavy Industries for the zero-emissions electric e5 tanker it is building. It will be the first battery-powered tanker in the world. It is under construction for Tokyo’s Asahi Tanker Co. [CleanTechnica]

Decline in the cost of solar PVs

¶ “Charts: A Decade Of Cost Declines For US Solar PV Systems” • The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory published its US Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmark: Q1 2020, documenting a decade of cost reductions in solar and battery storage installations across utility, commercial, and residential sectors. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, February 15

Offshore wind farm (Ørsted image)

¶ “Offshore Wind Adds 8 GW In ‘Stellar’ 2020” • Global offshore wind capacity installed in 2020 exceeded 8 GW, beating previous records, according to research from the Renewables Consulting Group. RCG’s database found the total capacity for offshore wind added last year reached 8,370 MW. The previous record of 6,438 MW was set in 2018. [reNEWS]

Wind turbines in South Africa (NJR ZA, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “South Africa To Launch Three Qualification Cycles For Production Of 6,800 MW Of Renewable Energy” • The South African government is to launch three qualification cycles for a total of 6,800 MW of renewable energy. The first is expected to start in February. It will seek proposals for 2,600 MW of solar and wind power. [Construction Review]

Wind turbine in Scotland (William Starkey, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “UK Renewable Energy Sets New Record In 2020” • Last year was a record year for renewable energy in the UK, at almost 42% of the country’s electricity, according to research conducted for Drax Electric Insights. Clean power generated for the first time more electricity than fossil fuels, which accounted for 39.6%, the research said. [reNEWS]

Tuesday, February 16

Winch Energy PV and battery system (Winch Energy image)

¶ “Winch Energy Raises Funds For PV Mini-Grids Rollout” • The off-grid utilities provider Winch Energy completed the funding for solar mini-grid projects in 49 villages in Uganda and Sierra Leone with a new PV mini-grid design. Portable batteries will also be provided so people outside of the mini-grid catchment area will have access to clean electricity. [reNEWS]

Palm trees and snow (Quietpeoplerock, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “US Oil Rises Above $60 As Texas Gets Pummeled With Ice And Snow” • A rare bout of winter weather in Texas helped move US oil above $60 a barrel for the first time since January 2020. Weather knocked power out in much of Texas, and oil refiner Motiva shut down its Port Arthur Manufacturing Complex, the largest American oil refinery. [CNN]

Wind turbines (Pradeep Ghildiyal, Unsplash)

¶ “77% To 80% Of New US Power Capacity Came From Solar And Wind In 2020” • According to new data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, solar power and wind power accounted for 77.1% of new utility-scale power capacity in the US in 2020. Adding in what CleanTechnica estimates for rooftop solar power capacity, that rises to 80.1%. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, February 17

Hydro dam (Pexels image)

¶ “As Vermont Nears 75% Renewable Power, Advocates Question If It’s Clean Enough” • On paper, Vermont has one of the cleanest electric grids in the country. About 66% of the state’s electricity came from renewables in 2019, the most recent year for which final numbers are available. And yet, there are questions about whether it is good enough. [Energy News Network]

Dallas, 2021 (Matthew T Rader, MatthewTRader.com, CC-BY-SA)

¶ “The Texas Power Disaster May Be The Strongest Case Yet For Renewable Energy” • During the ice storm, windpower met what is typically required of it at this time of year. The majority of the outages were at the portions of the Texas grid that rely on natural gas, coal, and nuclear, which make up more than two-thirds of power generation during winter. [MarketWatch]

Wind-powered ship (© Mauric, via NEOLINE media kit)

¶ “Michelin Picks French Startup NEOLINE To Offer Carbon-Free Shipping” • The Michelin Group recently signed a transport commitment with NEOLINE, a French startup that provides decarbonized shipping services. This new commitment reflects Michelin’s goal for doing its part to reduce CO₂ emissions from its logistic operations. [CleanTechnica]

Notes:

Energy Week #406: 2/18/2021

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 #405: 2/11/2021

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 #405: 2/11/2021

Thursday, February 4

Will Ferrell in GM ad (Photo courtesy of GM)

¶ “GM Drops Funny, Fearless Electric Vehicle Ad On Superbowl Sunday” • It may seem like half the country got sucked into some crazy fear-based cult, but GM envisions another America. It’s funny, has fun friends, loves a challenge, loves the country to be the greatest. CleanTechnica got a sneak peak at GM’s 60-second EV ad for the Superbowl. [CleanTechnica]

Mining machine (Albert Hyseni, Unsplash)

¶ “Renewables Expected To Replace Coal By 2033, Says Morgan Stanley” • Global wealth management company Morgan Stanley projects coal-fired power generation is likely to disappear from the US power grid by 2033. It said renewable energy such as solar and wind power will provide about 39% of US electricity by 2030, and as much as 55% in 2035. [The Hill]

Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 (Volkswagen image and color scheme)

¶ “Germany Hits 21.7% Plugin Share In January – Up Over 3× Year-on-Year” • Germany, Europe’s largest auto market, hit a 21.7% plugin electric vehicle share in January, up over 3× from January 2021. Overall auto sales volumes were down 31% in January 2021, with petrol combustion vehicles dropping more than 50% in volume year-on-year. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, February 5

Proposed green energy hub (Vindo Consortium image)

¶ “Denmark Gives Nod To Offshore Energy Hub” • Denmark has reached a landmark agreement on the construction of an energy hub in the North Sea. It will further integrate European grids with more offshore wind that are planned for nearby waters. The energy hub will be an artificially constructed island 80 km off the coast of Jutland. [reNEWS]

Bernie Sanders at Council Bluffs, Iowa (Matt A J, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, And Blumenauer Unveil Bill Pushing Biden To Declare National Climate Emergency: ‘We Are Out Of Time'” • Three progressive lawmakers introduced legislation that would require President Joe Biden to declare a national climate emergency, arguing that the US is “out of time and excuses” to deal with the climate crisis. [CNN]

Posidonia oceanica (Nachosan, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Posidonia, The Mediterranean’s ‘Super Plant'” • The sea grass Posidonia oceanica is incredibly effective at filtering the water and producing oxygen. In fact, 1 square meter of Posidonia produces as much oxygen as 1 hectare (10,000 square meters) of Amazon rainforest. Despite attempts to protect it, Posidonia is in grave threat of disappearing in a few decades. [BBC]

Saturday, February 6

Offshore wind farm (Nicholas Doherty, Unsplash)

¶ “South Korea Unveils $43-Billion Plan For World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm” • South Korea unveiled a 48.5-trillion-won ($43.2-billion) plan to build the world’s largest wind power plant by 2030 as part of the country’s efforts to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Its 8.2 GW capacity is about the equal of 6 nuclear reactors, officials said. [Rappler]

Offshore wind connection (Illustration by Josh Bauer, NREL)

¶ “US Offshore Wind Potential Relies On Intelligent Grid Integration” • The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is planning for the technologies and strategies needed to integrate the offshore wind installations coming into the grid. It’s success with integration is steering efforts to deliver power efficiently and affordably from offshore plants. [CleanTechnica]

Ford Mustang Mach-E (Bram Van Oost, Unsplash)

¶ “Ford Pumps $29 Billion Into Electric Vehicle Plot After Splashy Mustang Mach-E Success” • Last year, Ford introduced an electric version of its iconic Mustang with great fanfare, and yesterday the company followed up with a new $29 billion plan to electrify and digitize its fleet. And if it wasn’t for that pesky semiconductor shortage … [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, February 7

What we leave behind (Chris LeBoutillier, Unsplash)

¶ “Warning to Energy Investors: Coal Is Dead and Oil Is Next” • Over the past two decades, coal has been shoved aside for natural gas and renewable energy plants that are more cost-effective and less polluting. Transportation markets are likely to be the next in line to be transformed, with electric vehicles offered by nearly every manufacturer in the industry. [Motley Fool]

BrightDrop EV

¶ “GM’s Electric Vehicle Strategy Takes Shape, And It’s All About That Fleet” • Getting one person to buy your new EV is good, but it’s even better when that one person is a fleet manager who can put 12,600 into one order. That seems to be the business model General Motors had in mind for its new BrightDrop electric delivery van venture. [CleanTechnica]

First full-scale floating wind turbine (Lars Christopher, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Equinor: Floating Wind Turbines Buoy Hopes Of Expanding Renewable Energy” • Hywind Scotland, the first floating wind farm, was installed in 2017. It is operated by Norwegian oil giant Equinor ASA, which sees a future for floating wind turbines where the ocean is too deep for ordinary masts, such as Japan and the US West Coast. [marketscreener.com]

Monday, February 8

Wind turbine blades (LM Wind Power image)

¶ “GE Awarded DOE Grant To Research 3D Printing Of Wind Turbine Blades” • Three General Electric businesses working in the field of renewable energy, GE Research, GE Renewable Energy, and LM Wind Power, were recently selected by the US DOE to research the design and manufacture of 3D printed wind turbine blades. [Power Engineering International]

Perovskite Solar Cell (NREL image)

¶ “$4 Billion US Oil Company Banks On Perovskite Solar Cell Of The Future” • Hunt Consolidated is part of a $4 billion oil and gas empire and one of the largest privately held firms in the US. Despite its oil industry connections, Hunt has been working on a years-long perovskite solar cell venture. Now it looks like all that hard work may be about to pay off. [CleanTechnica]

Rounds Hall, Plymouth State University (MagicPiano, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Plymouth State University Offering Climate Studies Degree” • Plymouth State University started a bachelor’s degree program in climate studies, the first institution in New Hampshire to do so. Students, who are increasingly taking an active role in doing something about climate change and its effects, have few college programs offered to them. [WCAX]

Tuesday, February 9

Farming (Photo courtesy of Scott Goodwill, Unsplash)

¶ “Monoculture Could Worsen Vulnerability To Climate Change” • Roughly two-fifths of the planet’s iceless terrestrial area has turned to farming and forestry, reducing biodiversity. The conversion of biodiverse landscapes to single-species farms alters the water cycle and makes the world more susceptible to ecological instability. [Food Tank]

BrightCloud EV (Brightcloud image)

¶ “Nigerian Startup BrightCloud Automotive Hopes To Start Making Electric SUVs And Pickups In The Near Future” • Legacy automakers fail to see what may become an EV leapfrog event similar Africa’s experience with cell phones and financial tech. African companies, such as BrightCloud, see opportunities for local EV manufacture. [CleanTechnica]

Himalayas (swapnil vithaldas, Unsplash)

¶ “Sensitive Himalayan Glaciers And The Impact Of Their Rapid Shrinking Due To Climate Change” • Melting glaciers increase the risk of runoffs and floods, as we recently saw with the glacier disaster in Uttarakhand that claimed 26 lives and displaced many people. There 197 people still reported missing, and rescue operations are still underway. [The Weather Channel]

Wednesday, February 10

Pollution (Daniel Moqvist, Unsplash)

¶ “Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Causes Almost One In Five Deaths Globally Each Year” • Environmental Research published a study by researchers from Harvard University, in collaboration with three British Universities, that found exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel emissions accounted for 18% of all worldwide deaths in 2018. [CNN]

Citroën e-C4 (Courtesy of © Citroën)

¶ “£182 Million In London Congestion Charges And Fines In One Year” • Data obtained from Transport for London shows UK motorists were fined £130 million in fines for failing to pay the London Congestion Charge after they went into the city in non-electric cars over a 12 month period, and another £52 million in fees. One takeaway: Get an EV! [CleanTechnica]

Green building (New World Development Company)

¶ “The City Of Sustainable Skyscrapers” • Hong Kong’s 42,000 buildings – including about 8,000 high-rises, of which more than 1,500 are skyscrapers exceeding 100 m (328 ft) in height – consume up to 90% of the city’s electricity and contribute to 60% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. Now Hong Kong is aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. [BBC News]

Notes:

Energy Week #405: 2/11/2021

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