Energy Week #447: 12/2/2021

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 #447: 12/2/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Wednesday, November 24

Wattle Point wind farm (ScottDavis, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 2
¶ “Power Producers Had To Pay To Send Electricity Into South Australia Grid” • Big plants in SA had to pay to operate when the state “became the first gigawatt scale grid in the world to reach zero operational demand when the combined output of rooftop solar and other small non-scheduled generators exceeded all the local customer load requirements.” [CleanTechnica]

Tank farm at McMurdo Station, Antarctica (NOAA image)

Minute 5
¶ “Biden Announces Release Of Oil Reserves, But Says Gas Prices Will Not Drop Overnight” • President Joe Biden announced the release of emergency oil reserves to combat high energy prices, though it will take weeks to affect the price, he said. The DOE will release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the White House said. [CNN]

Old Crow, Yukon (Murray Dewing, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 8
¶ “The Silent Strength Of Indigenous Renewable Energy Micro-Grids” • For the first time since the 1970s, silence descended on the tiny, isolated village of Old Crow in Canada’s Arctic in August. The incessant drone of a diesel generator was silenced for the first time in decades as the nation brought its micro-grid online, powered by solar energy. [Yahoo News Canada]

Thursday, November 25

Block Island Wind Farm (US DOE image)

Minute 11
¶ “Federal Officials Green-Light Wind Farm Off Coast Of Rhode Island In Quest To Expand Renewable Energy” • Federal officials are green-lighting plans for a wind farm off the Rhode Island coast as the Biden administration aims to grow renewable energy capacity. The South Fork wind farm will provide enough power for 70,000 homes on Long Island. [CNN]

Whitehouse (Srikanta H U, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “White House Creates New Climate-Focused Division Within Office Of Science And Technology Policy” • Underscoring its commitment to tackling the climate crisis, the White House announced it has created a new climate-focused division within its Office of Science and Technology Policy and tapped Stanford professor Sally Benson to lead it. [CNN]

Low water level at Lake Powell (Scotwriter21, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 16
¶ “San Francisco Declares A Water Shortage Emergency And Urges Residents To Cut Usage” • California has had a rough year, suffering through high temperatures and low precipitation, both driven by the climate crisis. Because of this, San Francisco has declared a water shortage emergency and is calling for a 10% reduction across its regional system. [CNN]

Friday, November 26

Hedgerow (Tony Hand, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Britain’s Ancient Fortresses For Nature” • Though made by man, hedgerows form a vital reservoir of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes where many species might otherwise struggle to survive. By nurturing pollinating insects, they can enhance the yield of crops. And they do it all while pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. [BBC]

Natural gas plant (Loïc Manegarium, Pexels)

Minute 22
¶ “German Government Deal: 2030 Coal Phaseout, But Plenty Of Questions Remain” • An accelerated 2030 coal phaseout is inevitable for Germany to meet the EU’s environmental, energy, and climate targets, and Paris Agreement goals. Also, coal profits have collapesed, coal is uneconomic, and subsidizing it would be an intolerable waste of public money. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, November 27

Spirit of Innovation (Courtesy of Rolls-Royce Aerospace)

Minute 24
¶ “Rolls-Royce Sets Electric Airplane Speed Record” • After years of work on a battery-electric airplane Rolls-Royce Aerospace put Spirit of Innovation to its first extended flight in November, with a goal to exceed 300 mph (483 km/h). It hit 387.4 mph and set records for speed and rate of climb. RR sent the records data to the certifying authority. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore wind turbines (Tho-Ge, Pixabay)

Minute 27
¶ “Interior Department Approves Second Major Offshore Wind Project In US Federal Waters” • The Biden-Harris administration has a goal to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030. As part of that, the Interior Department announced that it approved the construction and operations of the South Fork Wind project off Rhode Island. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Beijing (zhang kaiyv, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “China Adviser Says Energy Crisis Won’t Stall Climate Action” • China’s energy crisis won’t derail plans to make progress on curbing greenhouse gas emissions in the next few years, a top researcher involved in drafting proposals said. The 2025 energy blueprint will be centered on prioritizing renewables and energy efficiency, he said. [JWN Energy]

Sunday, November 28

Oil rig (Arvind Vallabh, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Interior Department Report Finds Significant Shortcomings In Oil And Gas Leasing Programs” • The Department of the Interior released a report on federal oil and gas leasing and permitting practices, after a review of onshore and offshore oil and gas programs. The report identifies significant shortcomings that should be addressed. [CleanTechnica]

Victoria Big Battery with Tesla Megapacks (Courtesy of Neoen)

Minute 35
¶ “Hydro Versus Batteries: Tasmania Pushes Its Undersea Cable Plan” • Tasmania has an abundance of hydroelectric power, quite a bit more than it needs. It would very much like to sell some of its excess electricity to the rest of Australia. But there’s a flaw in the Hydro Tasmania plan. The proposed Marinus Link would be up against big batteries. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, November 29

Drilling rig ready to be towed to sea (Maria Lupan, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “US Seeks To Boost Oil Royalties To Account For Climate Change” • The Biden administration issued a long-awaited blueprint for overhauling oil and gas development on federal lands. The Interior Department report recommends higher fees and more limits on federal oil and gas leasing to better account for climate change. [World Oil]

Solar farm (Zbynek Burival, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “TotalEnergies Launches Its Largest Solar Power Plant In France” • TotalEnergies has launched its largest PV solar power plant in France, with a capacity of 55 MW. The solar farm is northeast of Gien (Loiret) and has 126,000 PV panels spread out over 75 hectares (185 acres). The plant will produce around 64 GWh per year. [MarketWatch]

Tuesday, November 30

Stormy weather (Neenu Vimalkumar, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Tropical Cyclones In Asia Could Have Double The Destructive Power By The End Of Century, Study Finds” • Tropical cyclones in Asia could grow to have double the destructive power by the end of the century, according to research based on data from 1979 to 2016. Scientists say the human-made climate crisis has already made them stronger. [CNN]

Schematic of the project (Kyocera image)

Minute 46
¶ “Japanese Island Will Reduce Power Sector Emissions To ‘Virtually Zero’ With Renewable Microgrid” • A tiny island in southern Japan, surrounded by a coral reef, will be able to use renewable energy as its main source of power, thanks to a microgrid with battery technology at its heart. CO₂ emissions will be “virtually zero.” [Energy Storage News]

Nissan ambition (Image courtesy of Nissan)

Minute 48
¶ “Nissan Will Invest $18 Billion To Bring New EVs (And More Hybrids) To Market” • Nissan announced it has a new plan for its EVs. It is going to invest $18 billion over the next five years to bring out more electrified models. It says it will introduce fifteen battery EVs and eight models that feature the company’s ePower hybrid technology by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, December 1

Tanker sitting immobile (Shaah Shahidh, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “Amazon, Walmart And The World’s Biggest Retailers Are Making Port Congestion And Pollution Worse, New Report Finds” • The supply chain is facing major blockages. Container ships are heaping pollution into communities near the congested ports. The biggest offenders are, unsurprisingly, the world’s biggest retailers, a report says. [CNN]

Topaz Solar 1 (Sarah Swenty, USFWS, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 54
¶ “Renewables Are Being Installed At Top Speed – But Still Far Too Slow To Fix The Planet, Energy Watchdog Says” • The growth of renewable energy is set to hit an all-time record this year, but is still falling “well short” of what is necessary to reduce planet-warming emissions in the way that is needed, according to the International Energy Agency. [CNN]

Lake Champlain (Chris Jones, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Contracts Approved For Transmission Lines To Bring Renewable Power Into New York City” • A New York State agency approved two contracts to deliver solar, wind, and hydropower into New York City via new transmission lines. Now, the New York Public Service Commission is considering approval, subject to a public comment period. [S&P Global]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #447: 12/2/2021

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 #446: 11/24/2021

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 #446: 11/25/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, November 18

Future United Airlines electric airplane (United Airlines image)

Minute 2
¶ “UK-Led COP Aviation Declaration Too Weak To Clean Up Flying” • The UK-led international climate ambition declaration for aviation is too weak to reduce flying’s climate impact, says Transport & Environment. In relying on the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation, the signatories make the same mistakes as earlier efforts. [CleanTechnica]

Burnt forest (Brian Bell, UCI)

Minute 5
¶ “Fires In The Sierra Nevada Likely To Grow In Frequency” • Research from the University of California, Irvine says that by 2040, as humans continue to change the climate, fire-conducive heat waves will become so common that the number of blazes throughout the Sierra stands to increase about 50%. The study appears in the journal Science Advances. [UCI News]

Irish wind farm (RTG, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

Minute 8
¶ “Wind Energy Ireland Strives For A Reduction In Energy Prices” • Wind Energy Ireland, the representative body for Irish windpower, called for the reduction of renewable energy prices and overall electricity bills for ratepayers in Ireland. The leader of the organisation said that Ireland has some of the world’s best resources but high energy costs. [Energy Digital]

Friday, November 19

Double living bridge (Arshiya Urveeja Bose, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 11
¶ “The Ingenious Living Bridges Of India” • The Indian state of Meghalaya gets so much rain that modern bridges would wash away, but the living bridges stand up to the torrents. Indigenous groups in north-east India have crafted intricate bridges from living fig trees for centuries. Now this ancient skill is making its way to European cities. [CNN]

Installing solar panels (Ricardo Gomez Angel, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Entergy’s Big Bet On Renewables” • It doesn’t seem all that long ago when Entergy had grand plans for nuclear power. But the company is now all-in on renewable energy. The surprising thing is how fast renewables will grow. The company gets 1% of its energy from renewables now, but that figure will rise to 17% in three years and 33% in five. [starherald.net]

Bamboo growing (Eleonora Albasi, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Bamboo Has Been Used For Thousands Of Years In Asia. Now, It Could Help Solve Construction’s Sustainability Problem” • Strong and flexible, bamboo grows fast. While soft and hard woods can take between 40 and 150 years to mature, bamboo is ready to harvest in as little as three years. When treated and engineered, it can last for decades. [CNN]

Saturday, November 20

Ford F-150 Lightning (Courtesy of Ford Motor Company)

Minute 19
¶ “Ford Doubles EV Production Plans And GM Books 18,000 BrightDrop Order” • Ford CEO Jim Farley announced on Twitter that his company is doubling its EV production goal to 600,000 vehicles by 2023. General Motors is moving on its own plans to build BrightDrop battery electric delivery vans. It already has one order for 12,600 EV600 vans. [CleanTechnica]

Vestas wind turbines (Photo courtesy of Vestas)

Minute 22
¶ “Real-Life ‘Lego’ Wind Turbines Coming Soon To A Wind Farm Near You” • Denmark happens to be the home base of both the leading wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and the toymaker Lego. Vestas seems to be taking a page out of Lego’s modularity book to help accelerate the pace of manufacturing wind turbines and drop the costs, too. [CleanTechnica]

Screenshot from The Ocean Cleanup video

Minute 25
¶ “Beginning Of The End Of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch? (Video)” • The Ocean Cleanup achieved proof of technology at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and is ready to return to begin cleanup. In celebration of this milestone, a marine parade welcomed the offshore crew in Canada. The video captures just a bit of that celebration. [CleanTechnica]

US Capitol (US Government, public domain)

Minute 28
¶ “House Passes Build Back Better Act In US” • The House of Representatives has passed the Build Back Better Act, which includes support for clean energy and contains several provisions that directly impact the offshore wind industry. The legislation includes long-term clean energy tax credits. It is now going to the Senate for consideration. [reNews]

Sunday, November 21

No longer functional (Error 420, Unsplash)

Minute 31
¶ “Senior Pentagon Official Warns The US Military Is ‘Not Ready’ For Climate Change” • A senior Pentagon official warned the US military is “not ready” to handle climate change, a security issue that touches nearly every aspect of planning at the Pentagon. It is not just about ice melting and seas rising. It is about trade routes, supply chains, and much more. [CNN]

Interconnections Seam Study (NREL image)

Minute 33
¶ “Macrogrid Study: Big Value In Connecting America’s Eastern And Western Power Grids” • In the US, the eastern grid has a generating capacity of 700,000 MW and the western has 250,000 MW. They have transmission lines to share 1,320 MW, which is not all that much. Better lines to share power would benefit both of them, a study says. [EurekAlert!]

Tesla (Michael Förtsch, Unsplash)

Minute 36
¶ “Revisiting Elon Musk’s 2018 Predictions On Tesla’s Market Cap” • Remember the compensation plan that Tesla unveiled back in 2018? At the time, the New York Times called it “perhaps the most radical in corporate history,” and its “experts” called “laughably impossible. It was based on the company being worth $1 trillion by 2028. [CleanTechnica] (Heh!)

Monday, November 22

Sunrise (Dawid Zawiła, Unsplash)

Minute 39
¶ “Can The Sun’s Eleven-Year Cycle Explain Global Warming?” • Climate sceptics have long argued that solar activity can explain global warming. The finding of a controversial near 11-year cycle in solar activity prompted comparison with a similarly long cycle related to climate change. A study published in Climate Dynamics found they do not match. [SciTechDaily]

Oil rig (Photo courtesy of Pixabay/Pexels, CC0)

Minute 41
¶ “Comic Relief Department: Shell CEO Says The Best Way To Finance Clean Energy Is To Consume More Oil” • Climate scientists agree that we have to stop burning fossil fuels very soon, to avoid climate catastrophy. Not slightly reduce it – end it. Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell, says the best way to finance that is by buying oil. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm (Anastasia Palagutina, Unsplash)

Minute 45
¶ “‘Greenflation’ A Risk For Renewable Energy, But Long-Term Viability Intact” • Rising prices of commodities needed for renewable energy will increase the costs of setting up new green power projects, but his will be balanced by better access to funds and economies of scale, a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development officer said. [Yahoo Finance]

Tuesday, November 23

Wind turbines in Mexico (Presidencia de la República Mexicana, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 48
¶ “Without Support For Renewable Energy General Motors Won’t Invest In Mexico” • General Motors CEO in Mexico, Francisco Garza, said that GM and other companies won’t invest in Mexico in the short and medium term without a legal and structural framework that supports the production of renewable energy. [Mexico News Daily]

Millstone nuclear plant in Connecticut (JJBers, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 51
¶ “Biden’s Infrastructure Act Bets Big On Three Types Of ‘Green’ Energy Tech” • A report from Princeton University’s ZERO Lab shows that by itself, the signed infrastructure package won’t do much to bring down the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The package backs hydrogen (in ways mostly not ‘green’), carbon capture, and nuclear power. [Popular Science]

Flood in Australia (Advanstra, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 53
¶ “Australia Declares La Niña Weather Event Has Begun” • A La Niña event has developed for the second year in a row, Australia said. This means there is a greater risk of floods and cyclones. Last time the La Niña contributed to “once in a century” rains in parts of Australia, but the phenomenon has significant weather effects across the world. [BBC]

Wind turbines (Pexels, CC0)

Minute 56
¶ “Outlook On The Renewable Energy Infrastructure” • The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies is inevitable for the energy sector, but it looks to be similar territory for investors in the long term. Current contracts for renewable energy are structured almost identically to those in the current energy infrastructure industry. [Nasdaq]

Wednesday, November 24

Energy Week has to be recorded a day early for Thanksgiving, so Wednesday’s news will be covered next week.

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #446: 11/25/2021

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 #445: 11/18/2021

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 #445: 11/18/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, November 11

Salt Marsh (JD Doyle, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Coastal Saltmarsh ‘Engineered’ To Fight Climate Change” • Re-flooding coastal wetlands could provide an opportunity to “work with nature” and use sea level rise to fight climate change, scientists say. An ongoing study of a coastal marsh in Scotland that was was restored in 2018 has shown the potential to lock carbon emissions into mud. [BBC]

Graph of interruptions (Energy Information Administration)

Minute 5
¶ “US Electricity Customers Experienced Eight Hours Of Power Interruptions In 2020” • On average, US electricity customers had just over eight hours of electric power interruptions in 2020, the most since collecting electricity reliability data began in 2013. The high number is due to high numbers of major events. Other interruptions have held steady. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm (Mark König, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “Financial Markets May End Up Killing Off Fossil Fuels Before Governments Do” • An interesting email from Bloomberg Green discusses how the cost of capital is going up for fossil fuels and down for renewables. The concluding sentence goes like this: “Markets may end up killing off fossil fuels before governments do.” Why is that? Let’s dig into it. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, November 12

Ursula von der Leyen at COP26 (Dati Bendo, CC0 with attribution)

Minute 11
¶ “Draft Deal Calls For Stronger Carbon Cutting Targets By End Of 2022” • Countries are being urged to strengthen their carbon-cutting targets by the end of 2022 in a draft agreement published at the COP26 Glasgow climate summit. The document says vulnerable nations must get more help to cope with the deadly impacts of global warming. [BBC]

COP26 protest (Fraser Hamilton, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 13
¶ “Young People Call For Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty As Delegates Spar Over Coal, Oil, And Gas” • At the COP26 climate summit, a group of young climate activists gave delegates a sharp rebuke, demanding that a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty be put in place and calling out global leaders for their continued closeness to the coal, oil and gas industries. [CNN]

Wind farm in Northern Ireland (Giuseppe Milo, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 16
¶ “How Powering Northern Ireland Has Changed” • A new energy strategy for Northern Ireland is expected soon, but its electric power has already changed enormously over two decades. The country now gets 46.4% of its electricity from renewable sources, mostly from the wind. Developing additional technologies is important, and hydrogen is a place to start. [BBC]

Saturday, November 13

Cook Inlet (Paxson Woelber, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 19
¶ “Turning The Tide For Renewables In Alaska” • A highly energetic corner of the Pacific Ocean, Cook Inlet holds one of the greatest tidal resources on Earth. All that energy has the potential to reduce Alaska residents’ dependence on declining oil and gas production and provide excess renewable energy that could stimulate the Alaskan economy. [AltEnergyMag]

Farming (Image retrieved from NASA, open source)

Minute 22
¶ “Regenerative Agriculture: A Way To Sequester Carbon” • Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming that seeks to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of the farm by placing a heavy premium on soil health, with attention also paid to water management and fertilizer use. Such practices will help us fight the climate crisis. [CleanTechnica]

Goodbye Bikini Atol, Marshall Islands (Kurt Cotoaga, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “COP26 Goes Into Overtime As Deep Divisions Remain Over Key Issues Around Money And Markets” • Negotiations may run through the night Friday at COP26, as stark divisions remain on some key issues. A note from COP26 President Alok Sharma said a new draft of the agreement would likely be published at around 8:00 AM local time on Saturday. [CNN]

Sunday, November 14

Change in costs (NREL image)

Minute 27
¶ “Solar PV And PV+Storage Costs Keep Dropping, New NREL Reports Show” • The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released its annual cost breakdown of installed solar PV and battery storage systems. US Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmark: Q1 2021 details installed costs for PV systems as of the first quarter of 2021. [CleanTechnica]

Machinery in a German lignite mine (C M, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “COP26 Climate Deal Includes Historic Reference To Fossil Fuels But Doesn’t Meet The Urgency Of The Crisis” • Nearly 200 nations reached a climate agreement at COP26. It references the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis for the first time. India made an 11th-hour objection, however, that watered down the language about reducing the use of coal. [CNN]

Evidence of climate change (NOAA image)

Minute 32
¶ “What Is COP26 And What Has Been Agreed At Glasgow Climate Conference?” • Extreme weather events linked to climate change are intensifying. The past decade was the warmest on record and governments agree urgent collective action is needed. COP26 was the latest of a series of meetings on what to do about it. Here are some things agreed on. [BBC]

Monday, November 15

Demonstration (francis mckee, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 35
¶ “COP26 Ended With The Glasgow Climate Pact. Here’s Where It Succeeded And Failed” • Nearly 200 countries adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact at the COP26 talks, after wrangling nearly two weeks. The pact will not get us to the goal we need to reach, but in some important ways, the talks were successful in moving us forward. Here are some major points. [CNN]

Microburst (NOAA, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Climate Deal Sounds The Death Knell For Coal Power – PM” • The Glasgow climate deal is a “game-changing agreement” which sounds “the death knell for coal power,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. Although countries only agreed to “phase down” rather than “phase out” coal, a change India insisted on, he said this was a fantastic achievement. [BBC]

Growing produce under solar panels (Kirk Siegler, NPR)

Minute 40
¶ “This Colorado ‘Solar Garden’ Is Literally A Farm Under Solar Panels” • A Colorado solar garden is also growing vegetables, with help from researchers at nearby Colorado State University and the National Renewable Energy Lab. They had been studying how to turn all the otherwise unused land beneath solar panels into a place to grow food. [WPRL]

Tuesday, November 16

Battery electric freight locomotive (Courtesy of Wabtec Corporation)

Minute 43
¶ “Electrification Of Rail Freight Industry Takes One (Just One) Giant Step Forward” • Everybody knows that transportation by rail freight is fuel efficient. The missing link for sustainability is full electrification. Now we can see some hope in the form of a 100% electric locomotive soon to ply the rails for the Canadian railway company CN. [CleanTechnica]

Charging an electric car (myenergi, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “Ford And Purdue University Created A Cable That Fully Charges An EV In 5 Minutes” • Ford has teamed up with Purdue University to build a prototype of a cable that could fully charge an EV’s battery in just five minutes without overheating. It could help overcome one of the last major obstacles standing in the way of EVs achieving mass acceptance. [Yahoo]

Solar array on the former Jericho landfill (Encore Renewable Energy)

Minute 48
¶ “Jericho’s Two New Solar Plants Will Generate Enough Power For 7,800 Vermont Homes” • Two utility-sized solar plants have come online in Jericho, Vermont, topping a former gravel pit and a closed-down landfill. They are expected to generate enough electricity for 7,800 homes, according to their developer, Encore Renewable Energy. [Burlington Free Press]

Wednesday, November 17

Lazard’s LCOE chart (Lazard image, cropped)

Minute 51
¶ “Utility-Scale Solar Reaches LCOE Range Of 2.8¢ To 4.1¢ Per kWh In The USA (Record Low)” • Utility-scale solar has reached another record low in Levelized Cost of Energy, at 2.8¢/kWh to 4.1¢/kWh, according to Lazard’s latest LCOE report, version 15.0. Lazard found that renewables are increasingly outcompeting other forms of energy. [CleanTechnica]

San Onofre nuclear plant (awnisALAN, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 54
¶ “Nuclear Power Won’t Save the World. It Won’t Even Help” • Putting money into nuclear power goes beyond being a huge waste. It detracts from the vital issue of dealing with climate change now by making money unavailable for dealing with the problem using less expensive, more flexible energy that can be built much more quickly. [Green Energy Times]

Pipeline (Mike Benna, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Germany Suspends Approval For Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline” • Germany suspended its approval process for the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which would double its reliance on Russian gas following growing geopolitical pressure to scrap the project. It is a big setback to Kremlin-backed Gazprom’s plans to extend Russian gas dominance. [The Guardian]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #445: 11/18/2021

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 #444: 11/11/2021

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 #444: 11/11/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, November 4

Wind turbines (Dan Meyers, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Global Finance Pledge Could Mean $100 Trillion For The Climate” • Banks, insurers, pension funds, money managers, and others in finance signed up to tackle the climate crisis, swelling the ranks of a coalition led by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney. With a total $130 trillion in assets, the coalition has control of over 40% of global banking assets. [CNN]

Coal-burning power plant (Robert Linder, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “190 Nations And Organisations Pledge To Quit Coal” • Major coal users including Poland, Vietnam, and Chile committed to shift away from the fossil fuel, in pledges made at the COP26 climate summit, the UK government says. Some 190 nations and organisations vowed to quit coal. But Australia, India, China, and the US, did not sign up to the pledge. [BBC]

Solar plant in Australia (Jeremy Buckingham, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 8
¶ “Australian Fossil Fuel Projects Given $36.7 Billion In Foreign Public Financing Over A Decade” • Public financial institutions overseas, including export credit agencies, poured $36.7 billion into Australian fossil fuel projects over a decade, according to a report. That amount is eleven times as great as what was put into renewable energy. [The Guardian]

Friday, November 5

Healthy corals, Great Barrier Reef (Toby Hudson, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Will Survive If Warming Kept To 1.5°C, Study Finds” • A study by an Australian university focused on the Great Barrier Reef and global warming. If global warming is kept to 1.5°C, the mix of corals on the Barrier Reef will change but it could still thrive, according to the study’s lead author, Professor Terry Hughes. [CNN]

Solar farm (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Entergy Arkansas Cuts Plans For Natural Gas Plant, Seeks More Renewable Energy Resources” • Entergy Arkansas, a utility of Entergy Corp, released its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan. It doesn’t include plans to build a new natural gas-fired power plant that was included in the previous long-range plan, but it does look to add renewable energy resources. [KATV]

Wind turbines (Image courtesy of Opibus)

Minute 16
¶ “Renewables Provided 92.3% Of Kenya’s Electricity Generation In 2020!” • As the world races to decarbonize, Kenya’s electricity sector is well on the way to being powered by 100% renewables. And the country’s clean electricity puts Kenya in a very nice position to take a lead in the transition to electric mobility on the continent. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, November 6

Williamsburg Bridge (Zac Ong, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “US Lawmakers Approve $1 Trillion Infrastructure Spending Package” • The US Congress has passed a landmark $1 trillion (£741 billion) infrastructure spending package, delivering a major domestic win to President Joe Biden. The infrastructure package, billed as a “once-in-a-generation” measure, now heads to Mr Biden’s desk to be signed into law. [BBC]

Wind turbine (Sander Weeteling, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “New COP26 Pledges Could Limit Warming To 1.8°C” • An analysis from the International Energy Agency shows that new pledges announced at the COP26 climate conference could keep global warming below 2°C if they’re actually implemented. Based on the new pledges, countries could limit the Earth’s warming to 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels in 2100. [The Hill]

Solar array in Telangana (Thomas Lloyd Group, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 24
¶ “Want To Make Energy Cheap? Build Renewables Fast, Not Gradually” • At the UN climate summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to quintuple India’s current 100 GW of renewable capacity to 500 GW by 2030, more than India’s entire capacity today. He could do this because the faster we install renewables, the faster the price goes down. [Salon.com]

Sunday, November 7

Ford E-Transit (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Co)

Minute 27
¶ “Ford Slips EV Version Of Popular Transit Van Past Mustang Media Fuss” • Everybody is making a big fuss about Ford Motor Company’s EV version of its iconic Mustang line, but Ford has been working on an EV version of its super-popular Ford Transit van, too. The company has released a preproduction model to at least two leading customers. [CleanTechnica]

Tanker (Ian Simmonds, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “AXA Restricts Investment In And Insurance Of New Oil & Gas Projects” • How can you build it if you can’t insure it? It is getting harder and harder to insure those activities that are increasing the risk of climate events. AXA, multinational insurance firm based in France with roughly a trillion dollars worth of assets, is leading the way on decarbonizing risk. [CleanTechnica]

Calving glacier (NOAA, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “What’s The Difference Between 1.5°C And 2°C Of Global Warming?” • Really, what is the difference between 1.5°C and 2°C of warming? “At 1.5°C, there’s a good chance we can prevent most of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheet from collapsing,” said climate scientist Michael Mann at Pennsylvania State University. At 2°C, we lose that chance. [Reuters]

Monday, November 8

Vail Resorts ski area (Vail Resorts image)

Minute 35
¶ “Vail Resorts Reaches 85% Renewable Energy Milestone” • Vail Resorts is prioritizing efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Earlier this Fall, Vail reported that its 34 North American mountain resorts had reached an 85% renewable electricity rate, a key milestone as the company aims to have a zero net operating footprint by the year 2030. [DCSki]

Oil & Gas industry (Patrick Hendry, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Fossil Fuel Industry Has Largest Delegation At Climate Summit” • Campaigners led by Global Witness assessed the participant list published by the UN at the start of this meeting. They found that 503 people with links to fossil fuel interests had been accredited for the climate summit. That is more than are associated with any single country. [BBC]

Gas burners (Kwon Junho, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Did You Turn Off The Gas?” • Carbon Tracker’s key findings should have investors in gas taking note. They found that 22% of European and around 31% of US gas-fired power generation capacity included in their model is unprofitable. And countries dependent on gas have found the volatile prices of 2021 damage their economies. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, November 9

ZeroAvia airplane (ZeroAvia via prnewswire.com)

Minute 43
¶ “$1 Billion Bet On Clean Technology That Is Not Supposed To Happen” • Three pie-in-the-sky areas of clean technology are sustainable aircraft fuel, hydrogen, and carbon capture. They are beginning to creep from the impossible to the possible. An EU investment fund of up to $1 billion has been set up to push all them into the realm of probability. [CleanTechnica]

Silicon Ranch 102.5-MW solar farm in Georgia (Silicon Ranch image)

Minute 46
¶ “RFP Alert: Georgia Power Seeks 1,030 MW Of Renewable Generation” • Georgia Power, a utility with more than 2.6 million customers, issued a request for proposals for 1030 MW of new renewable energy generating capacity. Applicable projects will be 3 MW or greater in size, and would reach in-service dates in 2023 and 2024. [pv magazine USA]

Climate protest (Mika Baumeister, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Obama Tells Young People To Stay Angry On Climate Fight” • Barack Obama has called on young people to “stay angry” in the fight against climate change at the COP26 summit. The former US president urged them to apply political pressure to make a change, but warned they would need to accept compromises along the way. [BBC]

Wednesday, November 10

Flamanville-3, years late, billions over budget (schoella, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 51
¶ “Investors Will Reject EU ‘Green’ Label For Gas And Nuclear” • The European Commission is currently considering including gas and nuclear in its ‘green’ labelling system. An international group of 60 investors representing around €9 trillion has warned against including gas and nuclear in the new European taxonomy [classification] on sustainable finance. [EUobserver]

GE gas turbine (Pro-Per Energy Services, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 54
¶ “GE Is Splitting Into Three Companies” • General Electric, founded by Thomas Edison in 1892, is breaking up. GE will be three separate companies for aviation, healthcare and energy, in 2023 and 2024. GE has struggled since it made a disastrous bet on building combustion gas turbines when the world was turning toward cleaner renewable energy solutions. [CNN]

Planned Kapolei energy storage project (Plus Power image)

Minute 56
¶ “Plus Power Lines Up Financing For 565-MWh Storage Project” • Energy storage developer Plus Power said it has funding for its 185-MW, 565-MWh Kapolei Energy Storage project, now under contract with Hawaiian Electric. It said the financing serves as a “strong signal” of capital market support for standalone energy storage projects. [pv magazine USA]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #444: 11/11/2021

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