Energy Week #430: 8/5/2021

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 #430: 8/5/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, July 29

Electrical generation by source (EIA image)

Minute 2
¶ “Renewables Became Second Most Prevalent US Electricity Source In 2020” • In 2020, renewable energy sources generated a record 834 TWh of electricity, or about 21% of all US electricity. Only natural gas (1,617 TWh) produced more. Renewable sources surpassed both nuclear (790 TWh) and coal (774 TWh) for the first time on record. [CleanTechnica]

Fishing near floating wind turbines (Equinor image)

Minute 5
¶ “Hywind Scotland To Trial Safe Fishing Around Floating Wind” • Equinor and Scottish Government Directorate Marine Scotland are working to better understand how fishers can safely operate around and within floating offshore wind farms. A survey to be taken at Hywind Scotland in 2022 will test three kinds of fishing gear: creels, fishtraps, and jigging lines. [reNEWS]

Wyoming wind farm (Yeon Choi, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “Why Is A Big Oil Company Investing Huge Amounts Of Money In Wyoming Wind?” • TransWest Express announced that it has almost all of the partnerships, permits, and permissions it needs to begin seeking customers for a 732-mile high voltage power line to carry 20,000 GWh per year of wind energy from Wyoming to southern California. [The Guardian]

Friday, July 30

Wind turbines (Peter Franken, Unsplash)

Minute 11
¶ “US Renewable Energy Tops 170 GW” • A record 26 GW of clean energy projects came online in the US last year, bringing the total to over 170 GW, according to a new report from the American Clean Power Association. Combined wind, solar, and battery storage power represent 78% of new power installations in 2020, the report said. [reNEWS]

Wall Street (Aditya Vyas, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “SEC Chair Gensler Says Investors Want Mandatory Disclosure On Climate Risks” • Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said he wants mandatory disclosure on climate risks, and he wants the agency to develop a rule by the end of the year. His comments came because of requests by a large number of investors. [CNBC]

Offshore wind farm (SSE Renewables image)

Minute 16
¶ “Renewables Dominate UK Power Generation In 2020” • Renewables provided a record 43% of the UK’s electricity in 2020, up from 37% in 2019, according to UK Government statistics. Last year’s increased wind generation meant that for the first time ever, renewable energy sources generated more electricity than fossil fuels. [reNEWS]

Saturday, July 31

Wind turbines (Dan Meyers, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Duke Energy Aims For 16,000 MW Of Renewables By 2025” • Duke Energy announced that it owns, operates, or purchases more than 10,000 MW of solar and wind energy throughout the US from its regulated and nonregulated businesses. Duke Energy has set a goal of reaching 16,000 MW of renewables by 2025 and 47,000 MW by 2050. [GreentechLead]

Tesla Megapack

Minute 22
¶ “Tesla Megapack Battery Caught On Fire During Neoen’s Testing, No One Injured” • For the first time, a Tesla Megapack caught on fire. It was at the Victoria Big Battery in Moorabool, Victoria. News7 Melbourne shared images of one Megapack battery unit that was ablaze. It looks like two battery units were affected. The fire’s cause is still unknown. [CleanTechnica]

Pipeline (Darya Jum, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “TC Energy To Use Green Power To Run North American Energy Pipelines” • TC Energy Corp could spend billions of dollars on its plans to lower emissions by switching to renewable energy to run its huge network of US and Canadian oil and gas pipelines. Based in Calgary, TC Energy operates nearly 100,000 kilometres (62,140 miles) of pipelines. [Reuters]

Sunday, August 1

Stanford University (Y S, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Stanford University Creates New School For Study Of Climate And Sustainability” • Stanford University announced that it was forming a new school focused on climate and sustainability. The school, which will absorb several of the university’s existing units and departments and add others in time, will begin operations in the fall of 2022. [Forbes]

Tesla Model Y (Tyler Casey, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Tesla Model 3 And Model Y Take #1 And #2 In World Record Month For Electric Vehicle Sales!” • Last month, global plugin vehicle registrations were up an impressive 153% compared to June 2020, scoring a record 583,000 units (or 8.7% share of the overall auto market). That does not count the 700,000-plus hybrids registered. [CleanTechnica]

Solar PV (Biel Morro, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “50% Cheaper To Generate From Renewable Energy, According To New Analysis” • According to analysis by energy think tank Ember, the cost of electricity from a power plant using fossil fuels is about twice the cost of electricity from a renewable energy source. And the cost of energy from fossil fuels is rising as renewables get cheaper. [Texas News Today]

Monday, August 2

So much water, but is it safe? (Silas Baisch, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Finding Answers To The World’s Drinking Water Crisis” • We are facing a water crisis. Climate change, overpopulation, and global conflict are just some of the factors devastating the water supply in many areas around the world. It means that two billion people – one-quarter of the human population – are without access to safe drinking water. [BBC]

Colorado (Katie Moum, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Social Cost Of Methane Changes The Equation For Colorado Utility Policy” • As a growing list of states pass laws aimed at curbing carbon emissions, Colorado has widened its scope, taking the seminal step of requiring state officials to consider the social cost of methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, in regulatory decisions. [Energy News Network]

Wind turbine in Ohio (Fogonthedowns, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 40
¶ “DeWine Says Ohio Wants To Be A Leader In Renewable Energy” • A recent bill empowered local county commissioners in Ohio to kill wind or solar projects early in development. Gov Mike DeWine, who signed the bill that adds more hurdles to developing such projects, says he hopes Ohio will still become a leader in renewable energy. [Ohio News Time]

Tuesday, August 3

Wind turbines in Iowa (Voice of America, public domain)

Minute 43
¶ “Report Finds Nearly 58% Of Electricity In Iowa Last Year From Renewable Sources” • A report from the American Clean Power Association shows Iowa leads the nation in the percentage of electricity generated by renewable sources. Nearly 58% of the electricity generated in Iowa in 2020 came from wind turbines and solar panels. [Radio Iowa]

Howe Ridge Fire, Glacier National Park (Photo courtesy of NPS)

Minute 46
¶ “‘It’s Biblical’ – Climate Fueled Destruction Circles The Globe” • The drought, heat, and fires in the Western US and the heavy rain and flooding seen elsewhere in the country are parts of a pattern that is seen worldwide. Wildfires are hitting Italy, Greece, and Turkey, while monsoon rains are causing flooding in India. “Welcome to global warming!” [CleanTechnica]

Napili Bay on Maui (Andrew Bain, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “NREL Software Is Assisting Maui In 100% Solar And Wind Operations Goal” • Maui will not wait for 2045 to meet Hawaii’s clean energy goals. The world’s first interconnected grid system to run with 100% wind and solar PV power on an instantaneous basis is likely to be built on Maui. It is have over 175 MW of new solar-storage hybrid plants by 2024. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, August 4

Washington, DC (Jorge Alcala, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “The US Infrastructure Bill: Is Half A Loaf Better Than None?” • President Biden proposed spending $15 billion to install 500,000 EV charging points. In the draft infrastructure bill, that proposal has been cut in half. With similar cuts elsewhere in the bill, the odds are stacked against doing the hard work that will be needed to address climate change effectively. [CleanTechnica]

DHL Alice electric cargo plane (Image courtesy of DHL)

Minute 54
¶ “DHL Express Is Buying Electric Cargo Planes From Eviation” • DHL Express, the world’s leading express service provider, has agreed to purchase 12 Alice electric cargo planes from Eviation for use in the US. They will be the world’s first electric air freight network. Eviation expects to deliver the electric aircraft to DHL Express in 2024. [CleanTechnica]

Wildfire in Boulder County (Malachi Brooks, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Sue The Bastards! Boulder County Wants Exxon And Suncor To Pay For Climate Related Losses” • Boulder County brought suit in Colorado state court against ExxonMobil and Suncor, a Canadian company with its US headquarters in the state. The suit seeks to require the two companies to pay their fair share to deal with the problems they created. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59:

Finis

Notes:

Energy Week #430: 8/5/2021

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 #429: 7/29/2021

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.

Minute 0: Energy Week #429: 7/29/2021

Thursday, July 22

New York City (Johannes Hurtig, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Western Wildfire Smoke Is Contributing To New York City’s Worst Air Quality In 15 Years” • Extreme heat and dry conditions are fueling raging wildfires in the western US, charring over a million acres, causing evacuations and creating smoky conditions visible from space. Smoke stretched all the way to the East Coast, making air bad in New York City. [CNN]

Birds fly over the Salton Sea (Janet Harvey, Heidelberg University via NREL)

Minute 5 

¶ “Using Direct Lithium Extraction To Secure US Supplies” • NREL is researching is direct lithium extraction, which extracts lithium from underground brine. It is an emerging geothermal technology that could potentially deliver 10 times the current US lithium demand from California’s known geothermal area in the Salton Sea alone. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm (Nathan Gonthier, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “Renewable Energy Generation At Record Highs As Gas Slumps” • Renewables jumped up almost 20% in the National Energy Market in the first half of 2021, with New South Wales and Western Australia taking the largest increases at 35% and 41% respectively. But of the market’s 33 large gas power stations, 29 operated at less than 20% capacity. [Mozo]

Friday, July 23

Forest fire (luke flynt, Unsplash)

Minute 11
¶ “Bootleg Fire Is Burning Up Carbon Offsets • Oregon’s largest wildfire so far this season, the Bootleg Fire, has burned nearly 400,000 acres spreading approximately four square miles a day across the southern parts of the state. At the time of this report, the flames spread through one fifth of forests set aside for carbon offsets in the immediate area. [CNN]

Great Wall (Violette Filippini, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “China Aims To Install Over 30 GW Of New Energy Storage By 2025” • China aims to install more than 30 GW of new energy storage capacity by 2025, its state planner said, as part of efforts to boost renewable power consumption while ensuring stable operation of the electric grid system. The plan includes several storage technologies, but not pumped hydro. [Reuters]

Mercedes-EQ, EQS 580 4MATIC (Mercedes image)

Minute 16
¶ “Mercedes-Benz Prepares To Go All-Electric” • Mercedes-Benz provided visions of a future unlike what other auto makers see. They include a realization that the market can flip to 100% EVs before 2030, worldwide. If the market flips, Mercedes-Benz has to be ready. That means it has to be prepared to change to 100% EV production before 2030. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, July 24

Floating solar farm (Sembcorp Industries Ltd courtesy image)

Minute 19
¶ “World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm Proposed For Indonesia” • Sunseap Group is a solar energy developer in Singapore. Its chief executive told Reuters it plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farm in Indonesia, about 50 km from Singapore. The solar farm is expected to have a capacity of 2.2 GW and cost about $2 billion to construct. [CleanTechnica]

Renault EVs (Image courtesy of Renault)

Minute 22
¶ “UK County Identifies Simple Yet Brilliant Way To Get Butts In EV Seats” • The UK county of Kent is trialing a brilliant program, offering small businesses two-month trials of electric vans. Kent is starting with a fleet of 24 electric vans from Renault, twenty Kangoo E-Tech vans and four ZOE Vans (a version of Renault’s popular ZOE electric car). [CleanTechnica]

Sunset (James Lewis, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “NRDC Sues To Challenge Seismic Testing In The Gulf Of Mexico” • On January 19, just before President Biden took office, the National Marine Fisheries Service published a regulation allowing seismic oil and gas testing in the Gulf of Mexico, with minimal protection for marine mammals. The NRDC and its partner groups have filed a lawsuit. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, July 25

Forest (Matt Palmer, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “2021: The Year Climate Predictions Become Reality” • On the heels of jaw-dropping heat and flooding across three continents, nearly 200 nations will gather on Monday to validate a critical UN climate science report 100 days ahead of a political summit charged with keeping Earth liveable. The world isn’t the same as it was when the last report issued. [The ASEAN Post]

Smoke from a wildfire (Malachi Brooks, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “With Wildfires Blazing Across The West, More Counties Are Declaring States Of Emergency” • As dozens of wildfires burn across the West, officials declared additional states of emergency for counties in California and Nevada while the nation’s largest blaze in Oregon continued to swell. The Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon is 42% contained. [CNN]

Reactor control panel (Dan Meyers, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Nuclear Power’s Reliability Is Dropping As Extreme Weather Increases” • It’s increasingly clear that the existing power systems aren’t designed for a changing climate. Nuclear power plants are no exception. Analysis looking at a broad range of climate events shows that it’s not just hot weather that puts these plants at risk; it’s the full range of disturbances. [Ars Technica]

Monday, July 26

Damaged forest (Chris LeBoutillier, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “The Largest Fire In The US Continues To Defy Crews’ Efforts To Tame It. And The Weather Isn’t Helping” • Despite the efforts of firefighters battling the Bootleg Fire, the raging flames of the nation’s largest wildfire continued to spread in southern Oregon as officials declared weather warnings in the area. The fire is currently 46% contained. [CNN]

Imagine a car (Imagination promotion by Mercedes-Benz)

Minute 38
¶ “Mercedes Teases EQXX With 1,000 Kilometers Of Range” • A lot of talk today is about efficient powertrains for battery electric cars. Most new EVs have a range of about 250 miles. Some can go 300+ miles without charging. A few can even go 400 miles. But now Mercedes says it is workig on the EQXX, which might have a range of 1,000 km (621 miles). [CleanTechnica]

Transmission line (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Powering Rural Economic Development With Renewables” • Electric cooperatives loom large in conversations about the US energy system’s past, present, and future, despite the fact that they serve only 13% of US electricity load. Importantly, they may have difficulties replacing their aging coal fleets with less costly wind and solar projects. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, July 27

NextEra solar project (NextEra via Facebook)

Minute 43
¶ “Largest US Renewable Developer Plans Transmission, Solar Surge” • The world’s largest renewable developer is eyeing transmission project opportunities as the Biden administration focuses on adding large amounts of wind, solar, and storage to the nation’s grid in the coming decades. President Biden is pushing support for transmission lines. [E&E News]

Vermont Law School solar array (SayCheeeeeese, placed in the public domain)

Minute 46
¶ “This Vermont Utility Is Revolutionizing Its Power Grid To Fight Climate Change. Will The Rest Of The Country Follow Suit?” • Green Mountain Power CEO Mari McClure says the utility is transforming its grid. GMP is moving away from large generator plants and long transmission lines, and toward a more decentralized approach. [Time Magazine]

Tesla (Tesla image)

Minute 48
¶ “Tesla Profit Surge Driven By Record Car Deliveries” • Tesla has reported surging profits, despite shortages of semiconductor chips and congestion at ports hampering production. Sales rose to $12 billion in the three months to the end of June, up from $6 billion a year ago, when its US factory was shut down. A record 200,000 cars were delivered in the quarter. [BBC]

Wednesday, July 28

Pyrycumulus cloud, 2012 (JeremyaGreene, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 51
¶ “Super-Outbreaks Of Fire Thunderstorms Could Change Earth’s Climate, Australian And US Experts Warn” • Fire thunderstorms, which occur in pyrocumulonimbus clouds, not only create their own weather system but may also be powerful enough to actually change the climate, according to scientists from Australia and the US. [ABC]

Countryside near Chattanooga (David Sager, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Appalachia Poised To Be Part Of Shift To Clean Energy” • As federal policymakers design policies to transition and invest in a clean energy economy, it is imperative that Appalachia can rebuild and grow a 21st century sustainable economy that builds shared prosperity. The people of Appalachia need to be at the table, and not on the menu. [CleanTechnica]

Jeep Wrangler 4xe (Image courtesy of Jeep/Stellantis)

Minute 56
¶ “EV Transmissions Are Awesome!” • Upcoming full EV off-road vehicles are going to be awesome. The biggest advantage will be how controllable they are at low RPM. Instead of having to gas-brake-gas-brake over obstacles, you can just use the right amount of power to climb an obstacle smoothly. This advantage is greatly magnified by gear reduction. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes:

Energy Week #429: 7/29/2021

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 #428: 7/22/2021

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 #428: 7/22/2021

Minute 0: 

Thursday, July 15

Electric tugboat (Image courtesy of Crowley)

Minute 2
¶ “Meet eWolf, The Little Zero-Emission, Diesel-Killing Tugboat Taking On Big Oil” • Leading US maritime firm Crowley has just announced it will build a tugboat named eWolf, which will be the first all-electric, zero-emission tugboat to ply the waters of the US. It is just one of three new diesel-reducing moves introduced by Crowley this year. [CleanTechnica]

DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm (TechCrunch, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 5
¶ “Energy Department Seeks To Cut Cost Of Energy Storage, Boost Renewables” • The DOE is trying to decrease the cost of energy storage by 90% within a decade in an attempt to boost clean energy use. “We’re going to bring hundreds of gigawatts of clean energy onto the grid over the next few years,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. [The Hill]

Wind turbines (RawFilm, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “EU Unveils Ambitious Climate Package As It Cools On Fossil Fuels” • Last month, the EU enshrined in law its target to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, but now it has unveiled an aggressive 10-step program, titled “Fit for 55.” It is a roadmap for how the EU will achieve the reduction, and it looks to be fundamentally transformative. [CNN]

Friday, July 16

Sunrise in Australia (pexels & pixabay, free to use, CC0)

Minute 11
¶ “Protecting The Next Generation” • Climate change has been ignored in the Australian media (controlled by Rupert Murdoch) until recently. Now it is being mentioned, but highlighting the danger and provoking fear. Our young may be bombarded by horrific scenes of heatwaves, fires, and floods. That is something we have to be careful about. [CleanTechnica]

After a wildfire (Chris LeBoutillier, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Wildfires Have Scorched Almost 1 Million Acres Across 12 States” • About 1 million acres have been scorched in 71 large fires or complexes across 12 states, the National Interagency Fire Center said on its website. In Oregon, the massive Bootleg Fire – the country’s largest wildfire – has already charred more than 220,000 acres. [CNN]

Schuld, before the flood (Ramessos, released into the public domain)

Minute 16
¶ “At Least 80 Dead And Hundreds Unaccounted For In German Floods” • At least 80 people have died and hundreds more are unaccounted for in Germany after some of the worst flooding in decades. Record rainfall in western Europe caused rivers to burst their banks, devastating the region. Political leaders have blamed the flooding on climate change. [BBC]

Saturday, July 17

Maersk Pelican, with wind-assisted ship propulsion (Wikipedia)

Minute 19
¶ “Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion Can Transform Marine Transport” • Answering the call for a greening of the shipping sector, a new generation of engineers and entrepreneurs is working on feasibility of several efficient wind-assisted ship propulsion devices and the full integration with vessel trading operation and financing models. [CleanTechnica]

Damage from flooding (Rhein-Erft District Bereg Köln)

Minute 22
¶ “Record Rainfall Leaves Over 120 Dead In Western Europe, Devastating Parts Of Germany” • Catastrophic flooding has killed more than 120 people in western Europe, with hundreds more missing, authorities said. Large-scale rescue efforts continue amid rising water, landslides, and power outages. Entire villages are underwater in Germany and Belgium. [CNN]

Monsoon clouds (Chaz McGregor, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Drought In The Southwest Could Be Making Monsoon Flooding Worse” • Monsoon rains brought extreme flash floods to the Southwest this week, with scenes of vehicles bobbing down neighborhood roads like rafts on class three rapids. Experts say the historic Western drought is to blame, making the soil less like a sponge and more like pavement. [CNN]

Sunday, July 18

Storm damage (EU image)

Minute 27
¶ “Scientists Predict More Extreme Weather Events In Future” • Over 100 people are dead and many more are reported missing after deadly floods swept large parts of western Germany. Such devastating floods have not been seen in decades. Meteorologists warn, however, that extreme weather events are likely to become much more familiar in future. [DW]

Eviation Alice electric plane (Image courtesy of Eviation)

Minute 30
¶ “Eviation Rolls Out 100% Electric Airplane Alice’s Production Version” • A production version of Eviation’s Alice electric plane has been finalized. Eviation is approaching the runway! Its first flight is planned for this year, and the goal remains to deliver the first customer planes in 2022. Electric planes can cut the cost of flying planes by 90%. [CleanTechnica]

American Airlines jet (Ross Sokolovski, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “American Airlines Commits To Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets By 2035” • American Airlines announced that it is the first North American carrier to seek validation from the Science Based Targets initiative, a collaboration that includes CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute, and the World Wide Fund for Nature. [Simple Flying]

Monday, July 19

Hyundai Kona (Ed Harvey, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Tesla Model 3 Is The Number 1 Electric Car In Germany In June” • The German plugin vehicle market scored over 64,000 registrations last month, with sales rising fast. Plug-in hybrid car sales were up 191%, year over year, to 31,314. Battery electric vehicle sales were up 312% YOY to 33,420 cars. Last month’s plugin share ended at 24%. [CleanTechnica]

Spirit of Innovation and Jaguar I PACE 5 (Rolls Royce image)

Minute 38
¶ “Rolls-Royce Attempting 100% Electric Aircraft Speed Record, Jaguar I-PACE Offering Ground Support” • Rolls-Royce has been a familiar name in the very early electric aircraft market. Its fully electric aircraft, Spirit of Innovation, is about to attempt a new top speed record for an electric aircraft. It is aiming to fly at over 300 mph (480 km/h). [CleanTechnica]

Rotor installation (GWEC image)

Minute 40
¶ “G20 Urged To ‘Get Serious About Renewables'” • Officers from companies in the wind industry, including Ørsted, Siemens Gamesa, and Vestas called on G20 members to show leadership in the climate crisis by raising national ambitions and urgently laying out concrete plans for increased wind energy production to replace fossil fuels. [reNEWS]

Tuesday, July 20

Wind turbines (Anna Jiménez Calaf, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Solar And Wind Provide 99.9% Of New US Power Capacity In April, 93.9% In May” • Solar power and wind power continue to dominate new power capacity additions in the US. Almost 100% of new power capacity additions in April came from solar and wind, and 94% of new power capacity additions in May came from solar and wind. [CleanTechnica]

Toyota bZ4X (JustAnotherCarDesigner, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 46
¶ “Toyota And Panasonic Joint Venture Plans To Cut Battery Costs By 50%” • In 2020, Toyota and Panasonic formed a joint venture called Prime Planet Energy & Solutions to manufacture advanced lithium-ion batteries. PPES said in a recent statement it expects to lower the cost of batteries by 50% by the end of next year, according to Inside EVs. [CleanTechnica]

Heart ES-19 (Courtesy of Heart Aerospace)

Minute 48
¶ “United Invests In Swedish Electric Airplane Startup” • Swedish electric airplane startup Heart Aerospace says its ES-19 will be ready to begin commercial service on flights of 250 miles or less by 2026. Unites Airlines agreed to buy 100 ES-19 electric aircraft from Heart and anticipates having them in passenger service use before the end of the decade. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, July 21

Sunset (Irina Iriser, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “Wildfire Smoke From The West’s Massive Blazes Stretches All The Way To The East Coast” • The huge Bootleg Fire in Oregon has scorched an area larger than Los Angeles, and it’s only 30% contained. It’s just one of the many blazes raging in the West. Eighty wildfires are considered large, and the effects of the fires stretch all the way to the East Coast. [CNN]

Flood in the UK (Chris Gallagher, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Scientists Are Worried By How Fast The Climate Crisis Has Amplified Extreme Weather” • Until recently, climate change had been talked about as a future threat. Its frontlines were portrayed as remote places like the Arctic, where polar bears are running out of sea ice to hunt from. But in the past month, it’s been the developed world on the frontline. [CNN]

Wind turbines (Jason Blackeye, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Renewable Projects Could Help G20 Find 22% Of 2030 Targets” • According to strategy consultancy EY-Parthenon, around 13,000 renewable energy projects in nearly 50 countries are waiting for finance. If these projects were to be carried to fruition, they could provide massive reductions in pollution, and create millions of jobs. [Consultancy.uk]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes:

Energy Week #428: 7/22/2021

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 #427: 7/15/2021

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.

Minute 0: Energy Week #427: 7/15/2021

Thursday, July 8

Renewable transport in Yackandandah (Phillip Flores, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Solar+Battery Project Has Victorian Town On Target For 100% Renewables” • Yackandandah, a small town in northeast Victoria, is one step closer to being powered by 100% renewable energy with the state’s first behind-the-meter, community-owned solar PV and battery energy storage system added to the community’s power generating strategy. [pv magazine Australia]

Lytton, BC, after the fire (CBC image)

Minute 5
¶ “US-Canada Heatwave ‘Virtually Impossible’ Without Global Warming” • The searing heat that built up western Canada and the US in June was “virtually impossible” without climate change, say scientists. An international team of 27 climate researchers who are part of the World Weather Attribution network did the study, which has not been peer reviewed yet. [BBC]

Offshore wind turbines (GE Renewable Energy image)

Minute 8
¶ “Ørsted Announces Bid To Expand Skipjack Wind Farm” • Ørsted announced it had submitted a bid to the Maryland Public Service Commission to develop Skipjack Wind 2, a proposal that would include 760 MW of energy. The Danish multinational green energy company is already developing 12 General Electric Haliade-X 12-megawatt turbines off the coast of Ocean City, Md. [Delaware Business Times]

Friday, July 9

Block Island Wind Farm (Gary Norton, NREL)

Minute 11
¶ “Maine Bans Offshore Wind From State Waters” • Governor Janet Mills, who supports offshore windpower, signed a law to permanently bar offshore windpower from Maine waters in a compromise with lobstermen. The ban is the first of its kind in the US, where fishermen have been among the most strenuous objectors to the developing industry. [E&E News]

BMW engine (Julian Hochgesang, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Volkswagen And BMW Fined $1 Billion For Emissions Cartel” • The European Commission fined Volkswagen Group and BMW $1 billion for colluding with Daimler to avoid competition on nitrogen oxide cleaning technology. This delayed development of technology that could have reduced harmful emissions from their vehicles. [CNN]

Wind turbine (Vasilios Muselimis, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Wind, Solar Growth 50% Larger Than Anytime In History” • Wind and solar energy capacity increased by 238 GW in 2020, 50% more than at any time in history, according to a report from BP. The 2021 ‘BP Statistical Review of World Energy’ said that wind, solar, and hydroelectric generation all grew last year, even though overall energy demand fell. [reNEWS]

Saturday, July 10

Beirut (Piotr Chrobot, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Lebanon Struck By Power Cut As Major Plants Shut Down” • Both of Lebanon’s main power plants shut down when they ran out of fuel, plunging much of the country into a blackout. This is the latest in a crisis that has seen people receive just two hours of electricity a day. At the root of the problem is a lack of foreign currency to pay for imported fuel. [BBC]

Clearcut forest (roya ann miller, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “How The American South Is Paying The Price For Europe’s ‘Green Energy’” • In 2009, the EU pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions, urging its member states to shift from fossil fuels to renewables. It classified biomass as a renewable energy source, on par with wind and solar. This incentivized burning a lot of wood from America’s southern states. [CNN]

Arizona (Nick Fewings, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “The West Is Caught In A Vicious Climate Change Feedback Loop” • After climate change fueled a deadly heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in June, historic heat threatens records once again. As temperatures climb to the triple digits, the sun will bake out what little moisture there is in the ground, worsening the West’s unprecedented drought. [CNN]

Colorado River at Fort Collins (Stefan Rodriguez, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Last Month Was The Hottest June On Record For The Lower 48 States” • Heat that set records in the Southwest was followed by heat that smashed records in the Pacific Northwest. Those events converged to make last month the hottest June on record for the Lower 48 states, the NOAA reported. The previous hottest June was in 2016. [CNN]

Sunday, July 11

Death Valley (Julien Cavandoli, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “US Heatwave: California And Nevada Brace For Record-Breaking Temperatures” • Extreme heat is building in the West, with forecasts of record-breaking temperatures in California and Nevada. The new heatwave comes after the region experienced the hottest June on record. California’s Death Valley recorded a high of 54.4°C (130°F) on Friday. [BBC]

Coal-fired power plant (Sam LaRussa, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “President Says No More Coal Power” • President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has shot down the setting up of any coal power plants, saying he has vowed to shift Sri Lanka towards renewable energy and does not want to be a joke before the world. The decision puts a proposed 300-MW extension of the Norochcholai Lak Vijaya plant in jeopardy. [Sunday Times]

Monday, July 12

Solar array in Missouri (Lucia Bourgeois, US DOE)

Minute 35
¶ “Bill Helps Utilities Shutter Coal Plants And Transition To Renewable Power” • Missouri utilities will be able to shutter more coal plants, speeding a transition to renewable energy, under a bill signed by the governor. The bill allows utilities to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without a financial hit. [The Joplin Globe]

Air pollution (US National Park Service)

Minute 38
¶ “Biden’s Clean Energy Plan Would Cut Emissions And Save 317,000 Lives” • A Biden administration plan to force the rapid uptake of renewable energy would swiftly cut greenhouse gas emissions and save hundreds of thousands of lives, a report found. There is growing pressure on the White House to take major action on the climate crisis. [The Guardian]

California wildfire (Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue)

Minute 40
¶ “Wildfires Rage In Western States As Temperatures Soar” • In the West, wildfires are raging as a heatwave has brought record temperatures. Some Communities have been told to evacuate as firefighters struggle to battle the blazes in the extreme heat. Fires knocked out interstate power lines, and California residents were told to reduce power use. [BBC]

Tuesday, July 13

Chicago (Max Bender, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Climate Change Is Destabilizing The City Of Chicago. Who Knew?” • Chicago is a tribute to the indomitable human spirit that starts with the premise that people are smarter than nature. Where Chicago stands today was once a swamp. Today, climate change changes water levels so much that the city floods much more than if it were coastal. [CleanTechnica]

Leonora, in Goldfields-Esperance (Bahnfrend, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 46
¶ “50-GW Renewable Energy Development Is Unveiled For Western Australia” • An international consortium unveiled plans for a 50-GW solar and wind project which could produce 3.5 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen or 20 million tonnes of green ammonia annually. The project is to be built in Western Australia’s Goldfields-Esperance region. [H2 View]

Bootleg Fire (Oregon Fire Marshall)

Minute 48
¶ “Western Wildfires Have Burned An Area 4 Times The Size Of NYC. Here Are Some Key Fires” • The National Interagency Fire Center says 55 large fires have burned over 768,000 acres across 12 states. The acreage, about 1,200 square miles, is about four times the area of New York City. So far this year, over 1.8 million acres have burned in 33,491 fires, the NIFC says. [CNN]

Wednesday, July 14

Airplane fighting a wildfire (Ben Kuo, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “Wildfires In California This Year Have Scorched 3 Times More Land Than In The Same Period Of Last Year” • California had its worst fire season in 2020, with around 4.1 million acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. So far this year, fires have burned 142,477 acres in the state, 103,588 more acres than in the same period last year. [CNN]

Main Street, Hanover (Ken_Gallager, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 54
¶ “Hanover OKs Power-Sourcing Plan And Keeps Town Manager” • In Hanover, New Hampshire, residents overwhelmingly voted, in a show of hands, to adopt a community power plan during Town Meeting. The plan gives municipal officials the ability to contract and bid for the energy needs of approximately 2,500 residential customers. [Valley News]

Fossil fuel (Chris LeBoutillier, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “World at Peak Fossil Fuel Generation As Emerging Markets Adopt Renewables: CEEW Report” • Electricity generation by fossil fuels has peaked worldwide as emerging markets turn to low-cost renewables, according to a report published by India’s Council on Energy, Environment, and Water and the financial think tank Carbon Tracker. [The Weather Channel]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #427: 7/15/2021

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 #426: 7/8/2021

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.

Minute 0: Energy Week #426: 7/8/2021

Thursday, July 1

Mt Jefferson, Oregon (Eric Muhr, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “US West Coast: Carbon Free By 2045 … Or Earlier” • HB 2021, Oregon’s “100% Clean Electricity” bill, which the legislature just approved and sent to Governor Brown for signing, puts Oregon on a path to zero greenhouse gas emissions in the grid by 2040. With commitments by California and Washington, it foresees a 100% clean west coast by 2045. [CleanTechnica]

Flaring gas in North Dakota (Joshua Doubek, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 5
¶ “Biden Signs Bill Repealing Trump-Era EPA Rule On Methane Emissions” • President Joe Biden signed a bill repealing a Trump-era rule that rolled back regulations on emissions of methane from the oil and gas industries. Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas that has allowed to escape from gas and oil wells and from pipelines. [CNN]

Minute 8
¶ “Potential Electricity Disruptions In The United States This Summer” • Parts of the United States are at elevated or high risk for electricity emergencies this summer, an assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation says. It notes that above-normal temperatures are expected for much of North America, increasing electricity demand. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, July 2

Meeting at the International Energy Administration (IEA image)

Minute 11
¶ “A Bombshell Report From Closely Followed International Energy Agency” • Climate and policy experts are singing praise of a study released by the International Energy Administration. “Quite amazing,” said one. “Heartening,” said another. And a third one said it is, “one of the most important climate analyses ever published.” [Yale Climate Connections]

Lytton welcome sign (Andybremner2012, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 13
¶ “Lytton, Heatwave Record Village In Canada, Overwhelmingly Burned In Wildfire” • A wildfire burned 90% of the village that recorded Canada’s highest ever temperature the day before, its MP says. Brad Vis said the fire had caused extensive damage to Lytton and to critical infrastructure around it. Jan Polderman, mayor of Lytton, said he expected that little will be left. [BBC]

California mountains (Quentin Burgess, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Water Is Disappearing In The West – And Not Just During The Summer” • One of the West’s largest and best water reservoirs is mountain snow. Mountain snowfalls normally stay frozen to late spring, and when the snow melts, the water runs into rivers and fills reservoirs, just in time for the summer heat. But now we are in a snow drought. [CNN]

Saturday, July 3

Grasshoppers (USDA image)

Minute 19
¶ “Cattle Are Competing Against Grasshoppers For Food In The West’s Historic Drought. The Bugs Are Winning” • Against the backdrop of unprecedented heat waves and deadly wildfires, the West’s historic drought has ranchers fighting another problem besides water shortages: A prolific hoard of grasshoppers is competing with cattle for food. [CNN]

Cow on the Kitzbüheler Horn (Alin Andersen, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Cows’ Stomachs Can Break Down Hard-To-Recycle Plastic, Study Finds” • Scientists of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, the Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology and the University of Innsbruck found that some common plastics could be broken down when exposed to gastric juices found in the stomach of a cow. [CNN]

Fire in the Gulf of Mexico (Screenshot from tweeted video)

Minute 24
¶ “Fire Explodes In Gulf Of Mexico From Gas Pipeline Rupture” • “The Gulf of Mexico is … on fire because a pipeline ruptured,” Brian Kahn, the managing editor at Earther, tweeted. He shared a video that looked like it was CGI but wasn’t. Reuters reported that it was started from a gas leak from an underwater pipeline west of the Yucatan peninsula. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, July 4

Singing Carolina wren (Ryk Naves, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 27
¶ “Spending To Help Protect Florida Wildlife Routes, Some On First Coast, Gets DeSantis’ OK” • Work to protect remnants of undeveloped Old Florida got a big-dollar boost this week when Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation steering $400 million into land conservation. Most of its focus is on protecting wildlife migration routes. [Florida Times-Union]

Nighttime image of Texas cities from space (NASA image)

Minute 30
¶ “A $26 Billion Plan To Save The Houston Area From Rising Seas” • In 2014, the Army Corps of Engineers partnered with the state of Texas to study Ike Dike-like alternatives for Galveston Bay. With support from the state legislature, the Corps is getting ready to deliver their recommendations to the US Congress for funding approval in September. [Ars Technica]

Solar installer (Science in HD, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Renewable Energy To Spur Post-COVID Recovery, Create 43 Million Jobs By 2050: IRENA” • The latest analysis report that was released by the International Renewable Energy Agency showcases that the Agency’s 1.5°C pathway foresees the creation of up to 122 million energy-related jobs in 2050, more than double today’s 58 million. [MEP Middle East]

Monday, July 5

Autonomous Driving (Image courtesy of Faurecia)

Minute 35
¶ “France Is Preparing For The Arrival Of Autonomous Driving” • Europe is having a first as France makes preparations for the arrival of autonomous vehicles on its roads. For Europe, this will be a first for its road code and the code of transport. France is leading the way by establishing the regulatory framework for the inevitable: autonomous driving. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines (Thorsten Hack, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Green Dreams: Managing The Transition From Rust To Renewables” • Five years after the closure of South Australia’s last coal-fired generators, the Port Augusta region finds itself in the middle of a renewable energy boom. South Australia has a world-leading share of wind and solar, and that share is to jump even higher, as fossil fuel assets decline. [Renew Economy]

Cattle without enough to eat (Jo-Anne McArthur, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Sixty Years Of Climate Change Warnings: The Signs That Were Missed (And Ignored)” • In August 1974, the CIA produced a study on “climatological research as it pertains to intelligence problems.” “The climate change began in 1960,” the report’s first page informs us, “but no one, including the climatologists, recognised it.” [The Guardian]

Tuesday, July 6

Drought map released July 1 (droughtmonitor.unl.edu)

Minute 43
¶ “Florida Is Getting Ready For Tropical Storm Elsa As Drought And Heat Worsen In The West ” • Tropical storm Elsa will be headed to Florida after dumping up to a foot of rain on Cuba. Meanwhile, drought conditions and heat are only worsening in the West. Climatologists say that climate change is clearly a factor in the situation. [CNN]

Perovskite in the lab (Science in HD, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “Red Hot Perovskite Solar Cell Field Just Got Way Redder And Hotter” • Plenty of ink has been spilled on the perovskite solar cell topic of late, and for good reason. Synthetic perovksites are relatively cheap and easy to grow, and their superior optical qualities could be behind a new generation of low cost solar cells. And they’re getting better. [CleanTechnica]

Forest (Johannes Plenio, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Ten Years Of EU’s Failed Biofuels Policy Wiped Out Forests The Size Of The Netherlands” • Europe’s thirst for biodiesel has likely wiped out forests the size of the Netherlands since the introduction of the EU’s green fuels law in 2010, and has greater CO₂ emissions than the fossil diesel it replaces, a Transport & Environment study shows. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, July 7

Tanker (Image by Sekau67 from Pixabay)

Minute 51
¶ “No, A Tanker Full Of Fossil Fuels Isn’t ‘Carbon Neutral.’” That’s Not How It Works.” • Shell announced a special “carbon neutral” shipment of fracked gas to Europe. The gas is to be burned, and it will emit CO₂, but Shell and its gas supplier, Cheniere, seem to want the focus to be on shipping in a way that is carbon neutral. You can’t make this up. [CleanTechnica]

Geothermal heat from old mines in Spain (Hunosa image)

Minute 54
¶ “How Flooded Coal Mines Could Heat Homes” • A quarter of the UK’s homes sit above abandoned coal mines, long since flooded with water. Now, the mines are being put to a new, zero-carbon use. A heat pump can easily extract heat from the water, which comes up from the mine at 15°C (59°F), and deliver it to buildings that need it. [BBC]

Made Of Air plastic siding on a building (Made Of Air image)

Minute 56
¶ “Made Of Air, A Berlin Startup, Is Producing Carbon-Negative Thermoplastic From Farm Waste” • Made of Air, a startup based in Berlin, created a carbon-negative thermoplastic, using waste from forests and farms in the area around Berlin. They claim the material is 90% carbon and sequesters two tonnes of CO₂ for every tonne of plastic. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes:

Energy Week #426: 7/8/2021

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