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Energy Week #440: 10/14/2021
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, October 7
Home (Scott Webb, Unsplash)
Minute 2
¶ “How To Bring More Clean Energy Into Our Homes” • What if you could help combat climate change from your home without lifting a finger, and reduce your climate emissions to zero? RMI released a blueprint for how regulators, policymakers, utilities, and solutions providers can support every American in bringing clean energy home. [CleanTechnica]
Solar plus storage hybrid system (Wärtsilä image)
Minute 5
¶ “Accelerate Renewables To Reduce Power Costs” • The Front-Loading Net Zero report says that electricity production costs could be reduced by up to 50% by 2050 if countries and states adopt 100% renewable systems faster than currently planned. The renewable energy would be mainly wind and solar photovoltaic, backed up by energy storage systems. [reNews]
NY 32 near Westerlo, New York (Daniel Case, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 8
¶ “Westerlo Passes Renewable-Energy Laws” • In New York state, the Westerlo Town Board unanimously passed three renewable energy laws, two weeks after it approved the town’s first codified comprehensive plan. The laws cover windpower, solar facilities, and grid-scale battery systems. The state’s goal is 100% renewable energy by 2040. [The Altamont Enterprise]
Friday, October 8
Flow batteries (Image courtesy of ESS Inc)
Minute 11
¶ “First ESS Iron Flow Battery To Go Online This Month” • Iron flow batteries use three of the most abundant elements on Earth: iron, salt, and water, but their technology is new. ESS, based in Oregon, has products ready to go and has signed a deal with SB Energy, a division of SoftBank, to provide 2 GWh of its iron flow batteries between now and 2026. [CleanTechnica]
Oil rig (Worksite Ltd, Unsplash)
Minute 13
¶ “Hundreds Of Scientists Tell Biden: Halt Development Of Fossil Fuels Now” • More than 330 US research scientists sent a letter to President Biden urging him to use executive authority to stop all new fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency, actions they say are necessary to avoid the worst damages of the climate crisis. [Food & Water Watch]
Tangled lines in Puerto Rico (Lorie Shaull, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 16
¶ “Puerto Rico’s Power Grid In ‘Critical Condition’: Officials Fear Complete Collapse” • Puerto Rico is in the process of declaring a state of emergency due to the “critical condition” of its generating power plants. The declaration would help speed up “the acquisition of essential goods and services required to fix their generation units.” [NBC News]
Saturday, October 9
Jubilation (Mert Guller, Unsplash)
Minute 19
¶ “Clean Environment Is A Human Right, UN Council Agrees” • The UN’s main human rights body voted to recognize the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right. The the clean-environment resolution was passed with a vote of 43-0 while four member states – China, India, Japan and Russia – abstained. [The Guardian]
New York City – lots of lights (NASA image, Unsplash)
Minute 22
¶ “The Energy Crisis Couldn’t Have Come At A Worse Time For Climate” • Chinese officials are ordering coal plants to ramp up production greatly. The EU is facing a revolt over its ambitious Green Deal on climate. US President Joe Biden is petitioning OPEC nations to boost oil production. Clearly, energy is taking priority over climate. [CNN]
Arctic (Mike Dunn, NOAA)
Minute 24
¶ “IN: Arctic Experts And Scientists – OUT: Unqualified Political Operatives” • The Arctic region is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet. The way the previous administration approach dealt with this to purge Arctic experts and deny the climate crisis. But recently, the Biden administration has taken important steps to repair the damage. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, October 10
Forest (Dan Stark, Unsplash)
Minute 27
¶ “Critical Protections Restored For NEPA, The USA’s Bedrock Environmental Law” • The Biden administration restored some critical protections to the National Environmental Policy Act, our nation’s bedrock environmental law, which had been eliminated by the previous administration. The rule puts the focus back on public, rather than corporate, interest. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla Giga Berlin (Screenshot from Tesla YouTube video)
Minute 30
¶ “Elon Musk At Giga Berlin: ‘Tesla’s Mission Is To Accelerate The World To Sustainable Energy'” • Tesla, which started out as an automotive company that was mocked and jeered at by legacy auto, officially opened its factory in Berlin today. So Tesla, now the leader of the automotive industry, opened its newest factory in the heart territory of legacy auto. [CleanTechnica]
Byblos, Lebanon (Nate Hovee, Pexels)
Minute 32
¶ “Lebanon Left Without Power As Grid Shuts Down” • Lebanon is without electricity, and the country is in darkness in the midst of a severe economic crisis. The grid is no longer working at all. A government official told Reuters news agency that the country’s two largest power stations, Deir Ammar and Zahrani, had shut down because of a fuel shortage. [BBC]
Monday, October 11
Tesla Model 3 (Tesla image)
Minute 35
¶ “Tesla Model 3 Outsells Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, And Mercedes C-Class In Germany!” • It has to be a shock to Audi, BMW, and Mercedes, the proud triumvirate of premium German auto manufacturers, to learn that the Tesla Model 3 outsold all of their midsize, combustion-engined offerings combined in Germany this September. [CleanTechnica]
Flooded Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, 2011 (Army Corps of Engineers)
Minute 38
¶ “Report Finds 25% Of All Critical Infrastructure In The US Is At Risk Of Failure Due To Flooding” • As a massive investment to repair roads and adapt to climate change faces an uncertain fate in Congress, a report finds much of the country’s infrastructure is already at risk of being shut down by flooding. As the planet heats up, the threat is expected to grow. [CNN]
Oil platform (NASA image, public domain)
Minute 40
¶ “Our Ocean Is Stressed Enough: Give It A Break From Drilling” • On top of record-breaking heat, record-breaking wildfires, and record-breaking drought, 144,000 gallons of oil spilled last weekend in Southern California. It is the latest in a string of disasters reminding us that our addiction to fossil fuels has devastating consequences. [CleanTechnica]
Tuesday, October 12
Smaller version of GE Haliade-X turbine (GE image)
Minute 43
¶ “GE Renewable Energy Receives Turbine Supply Order For Vineyard Wind Offshore Wind Farm” • GE Renewable Energy announced that it received an order from Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, for 62 13-MW Haliade-X turbines for Vineyard Wind 1, the first utility-scale US offshore wind farm. [Evwind]
Glacier in Argentina (NOAA, Unsplash)
Minute 46
¶ “Climate Crisis Is ‘Single Biggest Health Threat Facing Humanity,’ WHO Says, Calling On World Leaders To Act” • The World Health Organization, in a special report, is calling for governments and policymakers to “act with urgency” on the climate and health crises. The report says climate change is the “single biggest health threat facing humanity.” [CNN]
Electric tuck (Image courtesy of Renault Trucks)
Minute 48
¶ “Europe’s Policymakers Lag Behind Truckmakers On CO₂ Emissions” • EU policymakers are lagging behind truckmakers when it comes to CO₂ emissions, a study shows. Improvements in aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, as well as flexibilities in the regulations, mean trucks can already achieve the EU’s 2025 CO₂ reduction target rather easily. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, October 13
Groundbreaking (Courtesy of Middlebury College)
Minute 51
¶ “Solar Project Brings Middlebury College Closer To 100% Renewable Energy Goal” • Senator Patrick Leahy joined leaders from Middlebury College, Encore Renewable Energy, Green Mountain Power, the state of Vermont, and Middlebury to break ground on a 5-MW solar project to provide 30% of the electricity the College needs. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
Weather disaster (Yevhen Buzuk, Unsplash)
Minute 54
¶ “In The US, 18 Weather And Climate Disasters This Year Have Killed Over 500 People And Cost Over $100 Billion” • Weather and climate disasters have taken 538 lives so far this year and cost over $100 billion, according to NOAA. The US averaged seven billion dollar disasters from 1980-2020, but during the last five years, that average number has risen to 16. [CNN]
Offshore wind farm (Nicholas Doherty, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “New Report: Private Sector Investment In US Offshore Wind Will Soar To $109 Billion By 2030” • New peer-reviewed projections show investment by the US offshore wind industry will total $109 billion within 10 years. That figure represents a 40% increase from an earlier estimate that was calculated just two years ago. [CleanTechnica]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #440: 10/14/2021
George Harvey, blogger, author, and journalist for Green Energy Times and CleanTechnica, computer engineer
Tom Finnell, electrical engineer, transmission grid expert, world traveler, philanthropist, and philosopher
Energy, Renewable Energy, Wind Power, Solar, Batteries, Nuclear, Coal, Oil, Gas, Climate Change
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 