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Energy Week #443: 11/4/2021
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, October 28
Medicane near Sicily, 2005 (NOAA image)
Minute 2
¶ “Medicane Storm Tears Through Southern Italy, Flooding Streets And Leaving Two Dead” • A medicane – a hurricane-like storm that formed over the Mediterranean Sea – dumped one year’s worth of rain on the Linguaglossa region of Sicily in two days. The extraordinary wet weather is brought by climate change, along with periods of drought. [CNN]
Petrochemical plant (Malcolm Lightbody, Unsplash)
Minute 5
¶ “Fossil Fuel Executives Set To Testify At House Oversight Hearing On Climate Disinformation” • For the first time, the executives of major fossil fuel companies and industry groups will testify before a Congressional Committee about the spread of disinformation on the climate crisis and the role their organizations have played in it. [CNN]
Post Office in Hinsdale, NH, the oldest in continual use in the USA (Magicpiano, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 8
¶ “Hinsdale Solar Project Shines Light On Deficiencies In NH Renewable Policies” • By the middle of November, NextEra will present to New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee its plan for a 50-MW solar farm on property held by private landowners in the commercial/industrial district on both sides of Lipscombe Brook in Hinsdale. [Brattleboro Reformer]
Friday, October 29
Geothermal plant in Iceland (Gretar Ívarsson, public domain)
Minute 11
¶ “Some Good News: Ten Countries Generate Almost 100% Renewable Electricity” • Sometimes it’s good to notice the small victories and celebrate them, and find ways to learn from them. Today’s small victory is that there are already ten countries in the world whose electric power generation comes from 97 to 100% renewable energy sources. [CleanTechnica]
Coastal flooding (North Carolina DOT, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 13
¶ “Forecasters Predict One Of The Biggest Tidal Flood Events Of The Past Two Decades” • Over 20 million people are under alerts for coastal flooding, including the residents of Baltimore and Washington, DC, as a large and powerful low pressure system shifts from the central US toward the Northeast. Two to four feet of coastal flooding is likely. [CNN]
Pope Francis (Xonn, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 16
¶ “Pope Urges ‘Radical’ Climate Response In Exclusive BBC Message” • In a message recorded exclusively for the BBC, Pope Francis has called on world leaders meeting next week at the UN Climate conference in Glasgow to provide “effective responses” to the environment emergency and offer “concrete hope” to future generations. [BBC]
Saturday, October 30
Emissions (Kamran Ch, Unsplash)
Minute 19
¶ “Takeaways From The Big Oil Congressional Hearing” • Under withering questioning from Congress, oil executives bobbed and weaved, making no admission of guilt. But Thursday’s hearing marked the first time ever that the leaders of America’s biggest oil companies acknowledged, under oath, that their products are causing global warming. [Sierra Club]
Wind turbine (Karsten Würth, Unsplash)
Minute 22
¶ “After Touch-And-Go Negotiations, Climate Emerges As Big Winner In Biden’s Economic Framework” • As the dust settles on Democrats’ $1.75 trillion economic framework, climate has emerged as a big winner. The framework crafted by President Joe Biden and congressional leaders includes $555 billion for climate and clean energy provisions. [CNN]
Big Ben (Jurica Koletić, Unsplash)
Minute 24
¶ “UK Wants To Be The First Major Economy To Require Companies To Reveal Climate Risks” • The UK is pushing ahead with legislation that will make more than 1,300 of its largest companies to disclose climate risks. The UK government said it plans to be the first major economy to require corporations to report climate-related risks and opportunities. [CNN]
Sunday, October 31
Flooding in Washington, DC (National Weather Service image)
Minute 27
¶ “After Widespread Flooding, No Relief Yet For The DC Metro Area As 14 Million People Remain Under Alerts” • Heavy flooding inundated communities across the Maryland-Virginia area on Friday, with forecasters expecting the rain to continue. Nearly 14 million people were under a coastal flooding warning Saturday, the National Weather Service said. [CNN]
Oil rig with oil spill (Arvind Vallabh, Unsplash)
Minute 30
¶ “Here To Stay Or Gone In 30 Years? Inside The Fight Over The Future Of The Oil Industry” • Oil is back above $80 per barrel, but production has been on the decline since the turn of the century. Even without a need to stop use of fossil fuels, the oil industry cannot last forever. The companies extracting oil and gas want to explore for more anyway. [CNN]
Greenland ice (William Bossen, Unsplash)
Minute 32
¶ “COP26 Climate Summit: Experts Warn Leaders 1.5°C Is ‘real Science’, Not A Political Number” • Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, leading climate scientists warned that the 1.5°C temperature limit politicians will talk about is a vital physical threshold for the planet’s climate and not an arbitrary political construct that can be haggled over. [Republic World]
Monday, November 1
Tornado (Nikolas Noonan, Unsplash)
Minute 35
¶ “Climate Change: Extreme Weather Events Are ‘The New Norm'” • Extreme weather events are now the new normal, says the World Meteorological Organisation. The State of the Climate report for 2021 highlights a world that is “changing before our eyes.” The report says the world is entering “uncharted territory,” with increasing impacts across the planet. [BBC]
Heads of G20 nations (Government of Brazil, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 38
¶ “G20 Agrees On Key Climate Goals Around Global Warming Limits And Coal Financing, But Lacks Firm Commitments” • The G20’s leaders’ summit ended with an agreement on climate that commits its member nations to end coal financing by the end of the year and to aim to contain global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. [CNN]
Cars ready for shipment (Volkswagen image)
Minute 40
¶ “Proposed US EV Incentives Have Created A Storm Of International Outrage” • The current EV rebate proposal (which has not passed either of the houses of Congress) would make the rebate higher for an EV made in America by American workers, and higher still if those workers are part of a labor union. Other countries are not happy. [CleanTechnica]
Tuesday, November 2
Wind turbine (Lanma726, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 43
¶ “Renewable Energy Could Drive Healthcare Costs WAY Down, According to Experts” • Researchers from Columbia and Duke Universities have looked at the implementation of renewable energy sources as a way of driving down medical costs. Their findings suggest that the positive effects of moving away from fossil fuels are almost immediate. [Tech Times]
Deforestation (Maksim Shutov, Unsplash)
Minute 46
¶ “Over 100 World Leaders Will Agree To End Deforestation By 2030 At COP26” • More than 100 world leaders representing more than 85% of the planet’s forests will commit to ending and reversing deforestation and land degradation by 2030, a British government statement says. It would be the first substantial deal of the COP26 climate talks. [CNN]
Lion Electric school bus (Crenaissanceman, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 48
¶ “Student Transportation Of Canada Orders 1000 Electric School Buses From Lion Electric” • Student Transportation of Canada placed a conditional order for 1000 electric school buses from Lion Electric, based in Quebec. STC is a subsidiary of Student Transportation of America, a North American leader in student transportation. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, November 3
Duane Arnold plant, now closed (NextEra Energy Resources)
Minute 51
¶ “Large Solar, Storage Project Planned At Former Nuclear Power Site” • Alliant Energy announced a plan for a solar energy and storage facility at the site of the former Duane Arnold nuclear power plant near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The project when complete would position Alliant as the largest combined solar and storage operator in the state. [POWER Magazine]
Coal-burning Arnot Power Station (Gerhard Roux, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 54
¶ “US, UK And EU Will Help Fund South Africa’s Coal Phaseout, Offering A Model For The Developing World” • The US, UK, EU, France, and Germany will help fund South Africa’s move away from coal. The effort could serve as a model for other nations. The mood at COP26 had been low after the G20 leaders’ summit failed to put an end date on the use of coal. [CNN]
Liquefied natural gas tanker (kees torn, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 56
¶ “Biden Announces New Methane Rules And Launches Global Pledge To Reduce Planet-Warming Emissions” • President Joe Biden targeted planet-warming methane emissions from the UN climate summit. He announced strong new regulations from the EPA and launched a Global Methane Pledge, in partnership with the EU. It has been signed by about 100 countries. [CNN]
Minute 59:
Finis
Notes: Energy Week #443: 11/4/2021
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 with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 