Energy Week #452: 1/6/2022

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 #452: 1/6/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, December 30

City of Kodiak (Wanetta Ayers, released into the public domain)

Minute 2 
¶ “67°F Day In Kodiak, Alaska, Sets New Statewide Temperature Record” • On Sunday, the Kodiak Tide Gauge station recorded an amazing 67°F, a new statewide temperature record for December. The Kodiak Airport recorded 65°F, breaking their record for the month by 9°F. One climatologist said, “I would not have thought such a thing possible.” [CNN]

Asparagopsis taxiformis (João D’Andretta, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 5
¶ “Feeding This Seaweed To Cows Can Eliminate Their Methane Emissions” • In a single year, a cow can emit as much greenhouse gas as a small car, but the amount can be reduced by adding seaweed to the diet. Rob Kinley, chief scientist at Futurefeed, found that the red algae Asparagopsis can practically eliminate methane emissions from livestock. [CleanTechnica]

Wild Coast, South Africa (Jon Rawlinson, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 8
¶ “South African Court Halts Shell’s Oil Exploration In Whale Breeding Grounds” • A South African court has stopped Shell’s seismic testing for oil and gas along the nation’s eastern coastline, the BBC has reported, adding that this is pending a final ruling. Now This News has shared that the Wild Coast is also an area where whales breed. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, December 31

Meryl Streep in trailer (Netflix via YouTube)

Minute 11
¶ “Our Completely Impartial, Unbiased Review Of ‘Don’t Look Up'” • “Don’t Look Up” is a satirical movie that skewers climate deniers. The movie is simplistic in the extreme. Some will love it, and some will hate it. But one NASA scientist said it is “the most accurate film about society’s terrifying non-response to climate breakdown I’ve seen.” [CleanTechnica]

Wildfire (Evan Wise, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Colorado Wildfires: Tens Of Thousands Evacuated As Blazes Spread” • Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated and hundreds of homes have been destroyed as wildfires spread through Colorado. The fast-moving fires are burning in Boulder County, north of Denver, and officials say deaths and injuries are likely as the blazes spread further. [BBC]

Capitol building (Harold Mendoza, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Implementing The Clean Energy Investments In Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” • Those following US Congressional climate policy in the US are seeing 2021 end after setbacks to the Build Back Better Act in its current form, as Senate Democrats have been unable to find sufficient votes for passage. But its provisions are necessary for US climate policy. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, January 1

Vermont Yankee in a former time (NRC, Entergy Nuclear)

Minute 19
¶ “Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Committee Drafting Advisory Opinion On Nuclear Waste Policy” • The DOE is taking suggestions on how to site facilities for temporary, consolidated storage of spent nuclear fuel based on local consent. A Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel committee is drafting an advisory opinion. [WAMC]

Tesla Model Y (Kevauto, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 22
¶ “The Top Electric Vehicles In World During Record Sales Month” • Global plugin vehicle registrations were up 72% in November 2021 from November 2020. There were 721,000 registrations (11.5% share of the overall auto market), establishing a new global record for PEV sales. Internal combustion vehicles may already be past their peak. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore wind turbines (Mary Ray, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Scotland Missed 100% Clean Electricity Consumption In 2020 By Only 1.4%” •In 2011, Scotland set a target of reaching 100% clean electricity consumption in 2020. And last year, the country almost reached its target. Of gross electricity consumption, 98.6% came from renewables, the Scottish government’s December energy statement says. [Electrek]

Sunday, January 2

Happisburgh and eroding cliffs (Jim Whiteside, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 27
¶ “Sands Of Time Are Slipping Away For England’s Crumbling Coasts Amid Climate Crisis” • Norfolk is a real-time lesson in how weather and sea can drastically alter a landscape. One man said, “You hear about erosion, but you don’t know what it means, what it involves, until you witness it. And it’s a shock to see the physical transformation.” [The Guardian]

Airplane at a small Danish airport (Peter Bakema, Gnu license)

Minute 30
¶ “Denmark To Make Domestic Flights Fossil Fuel Free By 2030” • Denmark’s government announced a goal to make domestic flights fossil fuel free by 2030. In her New Year’s address, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she wants to “make flying green.” However she acknowledged that the solutions to reach her target were not yet in place. [BBC]

Mack Trucks electric garbage truck (Courtesy of Mack Trucks)

Minute 32
¶ “New York Adopts ACT Rule Bringing Clean Trucks To The State” • New York is closing out 2021 with a big climate and clean air win, becoming the fifth state in the country to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks rule. Adoption of the ACT rule ensures that over $19 billion in net societal benefits will come to New Yorkers through 2050. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, January 3

Impossible™ burger (Image provided by Impossible™)

Minute 35
¶ “Prediction For 2022: Plant-Based Foods Will Surge” • A whole new range of consumers has discovered plant-based items, and selections can be appealing. So, let’s make a prediction for 2022: Plant-based foods will not only transcend their current path leading to mainstream acceptance – they’ll become preferred, for lots of reasons. [CleanTechnica]

Central nuclear Vandellòs II (Jorge Franganillo, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 38
¶ “Spain Rejects EU’s ‘Green’ Label For Nuclear And Natural Gas Energy” • The Spanish government has rejected the European Commission’s plans to include nuclear energy and natural gas in the EU’s classification table of green energies. Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, said the plan is a “step backwards.” [The Local – Spain’s]

Tesla Gigafactory 1 (Smnt, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 40
¶ “Tesla Delivered Over 300,000 EVs In Q4 2021 And Almost A Million In 2021” • Tesla announced another record quarter for vehicle deliveries, for a record-breaking year. In Q4 of 2021, Tesla delivered 308,000 vehicles, putting its total deliveries for 2021 at 936,000. And its two new gigafactories in Berlin and Austin aren’t even online yet. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, January 4

Tiny House (New Frontier Design image)

Minute 43
¶ “Why The Tiny House Is Perfect For Now” • The tiny house movement found its moment. The idea is that having less space and stuff can create room in our lives for more important things, and it has appeal. The roots of the tiny house movement can be traced to Henry David Thoreau, and its fans champion the dwellings’ green credentials. [BBC]

Wildfire (National Park Service, public domain)

Minute 46
¶ “Fire And Ice: The Puzzling Link Between Western Wildfires And Arctic Sea Ice” • A study describes a link between dwindling sea ice and worsening wildfires. As the Arctic continues warming, it can sharpen the contrast between the two distantly connected systems, altering the jet stream, and exacerbating conditions in a fire-ravaged region. [CleanTechnica]

Gillig electric bus (Courtesy of Gillig)

Minute 48
¶ “Florida Transit Agency Buys 60 Electric Buses” • A Florida transit agency, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority of Pinellas County, recently ordered 60 full-electric buses. Pinellas County includes St Petersburg. The 60 electric buses will be delivered over the next 5 years, though 24 of them will be delivered before the end of this year. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, January 5

Ford F-150 Lightning in “Antimatter Blue” (Ford image)

Minute 51
¶ “Ford Increases F-150 Lightning Production Target From 80,000 To 150,000/Year!” • First, Ford’s production target for the F-150 Lightning was 40,000. Then 80,000. Now, Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted that with strong customer demand for the F-150 Lightning, the target was raised significantly once again, this time to 150,000 sales a year! [CleanTechnica]

Fengning Pumped Storage Power Station (SGCC image)

Minute 54
¶ “Largest Pumped-Hydro Facility In World Turns On In China” • The State Grid Corporation of China, the largest grid operator and power utility in China, has put the largest pumped-hydro facility in the world into commission. It’s a 3.6-GW, 6,612-GWh system in the Hebei province. It is the Fengning Pumped Storage Power Station. [CleanTechnica]

Port of Newcastle (Lynda Hinton, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “World’s Largest Coal Port To Be 100% Powered By Renewable Energy” • The world’s largest coal port announced it will now be powered 100% by renewable energy. Its CEO also said, “We get 84 cents a tonne for coal shipped through our port. We get between $6 and $8 for every other product. You can see where I’d rather have my money.” [The Guardian]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #452: 1/6/2022

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 #451: 12/30/2021

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 #451: 12/30/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, December 23

Wind turbine construction (Ørsted image)

Minute 2 
¶ “World’s Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Starts Producing Power” • The Hornsea 2 wind power plant, located off the UK’s east coast, has started delivering electricity to the mainland. When it is fully operational, the facility will have a capacity of 1.3 GW. Together with Hornsea 1, currently the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, the figure will be 2.5 GW. [Balkan Green Energy News]

Solar array (European Energy image)

Minute 5
¶ “European Energy Connects Danish PV To Grid” • European Energy has grid-connected a solar farm in northern Denmark. The 21.6-MW plant is at the tip of Northern Jutland, near the town of Aalbaek in Frederikshavn Municipality. The solar park has replaced crops that would have ultimately end up in biomass furnaces as so-called sustainable biomass. [reNews]

Solar array (Enel Green Power image)

Minute 8
¶ “Enel builds solar apiary at La Loma” • Enel Green Power has completed construction of an apiary as part of a 187-MW (DC) solar project it is constructing in Columbia. Enel is aiming to promote the coexistence of bees, community, and clean energy in the same space, contributing to sustainable development. So far, 15 hives have been built. [reNews]

Friday, December 24

Traditional house in Sumba (monica renata, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Power Wells For Remote Villages In Indonesia” • Substation33 is the training arm for YFF, an NGO. To address the reliance of people in isolated villages on kerosene and difficulty finding electricity to power cell phones, they developed the Power Well, a solar cell and a battery built into a bucket. Now they are installing Power Wells in Indonesia. [CleanTechnica]

Future battery site (Follash, placed into the public domain)

Minute 13
¶ “New Zealand Gets Its First Big Battery” • On a freezing cold night in New Zealand, fossil fuel generators couldn’t crank up fast enough and the grid failed. The event inspired a move towards big batteries. Meridian will build the first of these on the southern part of the northern island to support both north and south island grids. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines (Jem Sanchez, Pexels)

Minute 16
¶ “Renewables Became Second-Most Prevalent Electricity Source In 2020 – Analysis” • In 2020, renewable energy sources (wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) generated a record 834 billion kWh of electricity, or about 21% of all the electricity generated in the US. Only natural gas, at 1,617 billion kWh, produced more. [Eurasia Review]

Saturday, December 25

Haliade X wind turbine (GE image)

Minute 19
¶ “Mitsubishi-Led Groups To Build 1.7 GW Of Offshore Wind In Japan” • The Japanese authorities have selected three offshore wind farms totaling over 1760 MW in Japan’s first auction for fixed bottom projects. Mitsubishi Corporation is involved in all of the projects. Turbine manufacturer GE which will supply 139 of its 12.6-MW turbines for them. [reNews]

Urban red-tailed hawk (Preston Keres, USDA, public domain)

Minute 22
¶ “New Yorkers And Wildlife Are Finding Solace In The City’s Parks” • New York City’s wildlife is thriving, and that’s thanks to devoted scientists and activists who spent decades bolstering robust wildlife habitats in the city’s five boroughs. New York is one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the country, but 14% of the city is parks. [CNN]

Tesla Model Y vehicles in China (Courtesy of Tesla)

Minute 24
¶ “Tesla Helped China Cut Carbon Emissions By 855,878 Tons From January To November 2021” • On Christmas Eve, Tesla China released its year-to-date new energy contribution report, Gasgoo reports. The report noted that Tesla helped China reduce carbon emission by 855,878 tons during the first eleven months of this year. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, December 26

Fire in Tasmania (Matt Palmer, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Earth Became A Less Hospitable Place In 2021” • Much of Earth got hotter in 2021, worldwide weather weirder, wildfires more devastating, the atmosphere more problematic, and soil less fertile. In arid expanses, animal and plant life became more precarious; forests diminished; the oceans warmed, rose, and got more acidic. [The Columbus Dispatch]

Wind turbines and transformer platform (Dionysos1970, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 30
¶ “US Federal Recommendations Support Monitoring For Offshore Wind” • Offshore wind energy is rapidly growing in the US. This is essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. But offshore wind must be environmentally sustainable. NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have made some recommendations about that. [CleanTechnica]

Australian outback (Jeremy Bezanger, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Can Australia Supply The World With Rare Earth Minerals?” • Australian governments (national and state) are seeking new revenue streams, as coal exports look like they are diminishing in the long term. Demand is increasing for rare earth elements as EVs take over the highways, and Australia has a lot to offer. But the resources have to be developed. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, December 27

Rooftop solar systems in Hawaii (Jeremy Bezanger, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Wind And Solar Provided 14% Of US Electricity Generation In October” • In October 2019, solar and wind power accounted together for 11.3% of US electricity generation. In October 2020, they accounted for 12.4% of US electricity. And just a couple of months ago, in October 2021, they accounted for 14% of US electricity. That is steady growth. [CleanTechnica]

Snow trouble (Truckee Meadows Fire Department via Twitter)

Minute 38
¶ “US Snowstorms: California And Other Western States Battered” • Heavy storms have battered western regions of the US, leaving thousands without power. Almost 30 inches (76 cm) of snow fell in parts of northern California in 24 hours, causing blackouts and road closures, including a 70-mile (112 km) stretch of Interstate 80 into Nevada. [BBC]

Grid with storage (Wikichesterdit, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 40
¶ “Australia Announces $100 Million Funding For Grid-Scale Battery Storage Projects” • The Australian Renewable Energy Agency announced a $100 million competitive funding round for grid-scale batteries with advanced inverters to support the grid. The funding program will provide for energy storage projects 70 MW or larger. [Mercom India]

Tuesday, December 28

Lüderitz, Namibia (SkyPixels, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 43
¶ “The African Nation Aiming To Be A Hydrogen Superpower” • Lüderitz is a town in southern Namibia. It has seen boom times based on diamonds and fishing. Now, a green hydrogen project has been proposed to be “the third revolution of Lüderitz.” The project could ultimately produce around 300,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. [BBC]

Robotic weeding (Federal Office of Agriculture and Food and Fraunhofer)

Minute 46
¶ “Autonomous Robot Killing Weeds Is More Eco-Friendly Than Herbicides” • A German consortium is developing AMU-Bot, a robot that will solve the problem of weeding without manual work or spraying with herbicides. Funding is from the German Federal Office of Agriculture and Food. The Fraunhofer Institute is coordinating the project. [CleanTechnica]

Solar system and railroad (Courtesy of TÜV Rheinland)

Minute 48
¶ “Railroads And Solar Power: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” • Renewable energy has been quietly seeping into the US railroad industry, but the pace has been achingly slow. Things could pick up if a new solar power research project in Germany pans out. It aims to leverage the built environment of railroads for direct electrification. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, December 29

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (Ralf1969, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 51
¶ “A Ukraine Invasion Could Go Nuclear: Fifteen Reactors Would Be In War Zone” • As Russia’s buildup on the Ukrainian border continues, few observers note that an invasion of Ukraine could put nuclear reactors on the front line of military conflict. But a full-scale, no-holds-barred conventional warfare could spark a catastrophic reactor failure. [Forbes]

Hyundai Seven (Hyundai image)

Minute 54
¶ “Reports Claim Hyundai Has Halted Internal Combustion Development” • There is no confirmation from Hyundai yet, but Korean Economic Daily and Business Korea both report that Hyundai Motor Group has closed its internal combustion engine development office and shifted all its attention to developing powertrains for electric cars. [CleanTechnica]

Deep snow (Patrick T’Kindt, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Nearly 17 Feet Of Snow In California’s Sierra Nevada Is Crushing Records. It’s Still Not Enough” • As of Tuesday, more than 202 inches of snow – nearly 17 feet (5.2 meters) – had fallen so far this month at the UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, at Donner Pass. It’s enough to break records, but not enough to end the drought. [CNN]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #451: 12/30/2021

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 #450: 12/23/2021

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 #450: 12/23/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, December 16

Recovering waste building materials (Rotor image)

Minute 2
¶ “The Buildings Made From Rubbish” • Roughly half of the raw materials we extract go into the built environment. Construction creates an estimated third of the world’s overall waste, and at least 40% of the world’s CO₂ emissions. “Why don’t we re-use what we’ve already extracted, rather than gouging the planet for ever more raw materials?” [BBC]

Anjali Sharma (Supplied image)

Minute 5
¶ “The Teenagers And The Nun Trying To Stop An Australian Coal Mine” • Eight teenagers and an elderly nun in Australia won a climate case in a historic judgement. Their case has now been appealed by the country’s government. If the final verdict swings in their favour, it will have ramifications not just for Australian law but for climate cases world-wide. [BBC]

Solar array in Israel (EDF Renewables Israel)

Minute 8
¶ “‘Gas Can Wait,’ Says Energy Minister, Rejecting Panel’s Call For Further Exploration” • Israeli Energy minister Karine Elharrar announced that “gas can wait” and that she will not accept the recommendations of Ehud Adiri, the former ministry director-general, to continue exploring for natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea. [The Times of Israel]

Friday, December 17 

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol (IEA image)

Minute 11
¶ “IEA Warns Coal Rebound Threatens Net Zero” • The amount of electricity generated worldwide from coal is surging towards a new annual record in 2021, threatening net-zero goals, according to the International Energy Agency. After falling in 2019 and 2020, global power generation from coal is expected to jump by 9% in 2021 to an all-time high. [reNews]

Renault Zoe (Vauxford, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 13
¶ “34% Plugin Vehicle Share In German Auto Market!” • The overall German car market is tanking (-32% year over year) and the perennial leader, the Volkswagen Golf, falling off a cliff (-70% YOY!). Amazingly, the two leading cars are both EVs, and both made outside Germany. And plugin sales are growing so fast that they have 34% of the market. [CleanTechnica]

Rooftop solar (Jeroen van de Water, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Green Energy Becomes Critical For Manufacturing” • Access to renewable energy is becoming a more important factor in manufacturing plant construction and expansion. It is a trend economic development experts say has legs. Traditional metrics of production costs still drive site selection, but access to clean power is moving up the list. [IndustryWeek]

Saturday, December 18

Offshore wind turbines (Pontificalibus, CC0, public domain)

Minute 19
¶ “Massachusetts Picks Both Bidders for Next Round of Offshore Wind” • Baker administration officials have announced awards for offshore wind development to Vineyard Wind I, a 1,200-MW proposal from Vineyard Wind, and a 400-MW proposal from Mayflower Wind. They were selected to jointly form the third wave of offshore wind power. [NBC Boston]

Jimmy Carter after graduation from Annapolis (Public domain)

Minute 22
¶ “Fact Check: Did Jimmy Carter Stop A Nuclear Reactor From Destroying Ottawa?” • Some social media users and accounts have been reminiscing about the time that a young Jimmy Carter purportedly helped avoid a major nuclear disaster after heading a clean up operation at a nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada. Spoiler: It’s true. [Newsweek]

GameChange Solar tracking (GameChange Solar image)

Minute 24
¶ “Koch Industries Invests $150 Million Into Tracking Company GameChange Solar, Pair To Explore Strategic Partnerships” • Koch Strategic Platforms, a subsidiary of Koch Investments Group, has made a $150 million investment in racking and tracking company GameChange Solar to support its strategic development goals. [PV Tech]

Sunday, December 19

Looking for water (Cynthia Mendoza, USDA, public domain)

Minute 27
¶ “The Warning Shot The US Is Ignoring: Climate Change Impacts On California Central Valley” • California’s Central Valley is expected to suffer many effects of climate change. This will affect the whole country, because what happens in the valley doesn’t stay in the valley. The Union of Concerned Scientists is devoting a blog series to the region. [CleanTechnica]

Nuclear plant (Nicolas Hippert, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Nuclear Energy Scares People. The Climate Crisis Is Giving It Another Chance” • Nuclear plants are notoriously expensive to build. Construction tends to run over budget and time, and wind and solar energy has typically come out cheaper. How to safely store the radioactive waste it produces is another headache. But some people demonstrate in favor of it. [CNN]

Proterra electric bus plant (Proterra image)

Minute 32
¶ “$5 Billion For Electric School Buses In US Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act” • The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, aka Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, includes $5 billion for EV charging, but – much less discussed – it also includes $5 billion for cleaner school buses, especially electric school buses! This is tranformative. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, December 20

School bus (Courtesy of SEA Electric)

Minute 35
¶ “SEA To Convert 10,000 US School Buses To Electricity” • SEA Electric, a provider of electric commercial vehicles originally from Australia and now based in Los Angeles, has stuck a deal with Midwest Transit Equipment to convert 10,000 existing school buses to electric vehicles over the next five years. Midwest will provide the buses. [CleanTechnica]

Solar array (Total image)

Minute 38
¶ “TotalEnergies To Develop 160 MW Of New Caledonia PV” • TotalEnergies is to develop solar farms in New Caledonia totaling 160 MW and 340 MWh of energy storage to supply electricity under a 25-year renewable power purchase agreement for the industrial operations of mining and metallurgy consortium Prony Resources New Caledonia. [reNews]

Arctic Ocean (NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio)

Minute 40
¶ “The Arctic Should Never Feel Like The Mediterranean” • A warming Arctic should alarm all of us. The BBC has reported that it’s been seeing Mediterranean-like temperatures in the summer. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization recently verified the record that was set on June 20, 2020, in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, December 21

Joe Manchin (MDGovpics, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 43
¶ “Democrats Scramble To Salvage Climate Provisions After Manchin Sinks Build Back Better” • With Senator Joe Manchin confirming he’s a “no” on President Joe Biden’s social spending package, the fate of the bill’s $550 bill worth of climate and energy provisions – and the President’s climate agenda – are now on the line. [CNN]

Electric vehicle charging (Mike, Pexels)

Minute 46
¶ “Thirteen New Electric Vehicle Battery Factories Planned In USA Within Next Five Years” • In addition to EV battery plants now operating in the US, thirteen have been announced that are expected to be operational within five years. Of the thirteen planned plants, eight are joint ventures between automakers and battery manufacturers. [CleanTechnica]

Traffic in New York City (Gautam Krishnan, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Biden Raises Fuel-Economy Standards To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions” • The EPA will issue a final rule to raise mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of 40 mpg by 2026. This is 25% higher than a rule finalized by the Trump administration last year and 5% higher than an EPA proposal in August. [WKYC]

Wednesday, December 22 

Sago Mine entrance (MSHA, public doman)

Minute 51
¶ “Coal Miners Want Joe Manchin To Reverse Opposition To Build Back Better” • Senator Joe Manchin is facing calls from a powerful group close to his heart to reconsider his opposition to the Build Back Better Act: Coal miners. America’s largest coal mining union praised the legislation’s provisions and pushed Manchin to take a do-over. [CNN]

Heliostats (Courtesy of NREL and the Heliostat Consortium)

Minute 54
¶ “High-Tech Mirrors Used In Solar Power Plants Get New International Consortium” • The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, joined by Sandia National Laboratories and the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute, announced the launch of the Heliostat Consortium, an international effort to drive down the cost of heliostats. [CleanTechnica]

Tree and Spanish moss (Dawn McDonald, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Plants Responding To More CO₂ In Atmosphere With More Photosynthesis – But Not Matching CO₂ Increase” • Research from Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley shows more photosynthesis by plants in response to increased atmospheric CO₂, SciTechDaily reported. That’s great, but it isn’t close to removing the amount of CO₂ that needs to be drawn down. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #450: 12/23/2021

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 #449: 12/16/2021

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 #449: 12/16/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, November 

Mount Semeru before the eruption (Wendy Winarno, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Heavy Rain Triggered Indonesia’s Volcano Eruption. This Could Happen More” • Indonesians are used to dealing with natural disasters. But Mount Semeru’s eruption on the island of Java was different. Days of heavy rain had gradually eroded its lava dome, which acts as a plug. Scientists say the rain and the eruption are connected. [CNN]

Container ship (Borderpolar Photographer, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “Solar Ammonia In A Climate Crisis: Almost Certainly The Most Affordable Of All Low-Carbon Shipping Fuels” • Shipping has a relatively small portion of total GHG emissions, but it will be hard to eliminate because large ships have long lifetimes and need a high specific energy storage medium. Green ammonia may be a fuel for that job. [CleanTechnica]

Power lines at Grand Coulee Dam (Varistor60, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 8
¶ “Grid Stability And 100% Renewables” • Research by Stanford University’s Mark Jacobson addresses doubts about grid stability in a world powered 100% by renewable energy. The study models 100% wind, water, and solar powered grids in the US, finding no risk of blackouts in any region. It also sees broad benefits in cost reduction, job creation, and land use. [PV Magazine]

Friday, November 

Baobab trees in Madagascar (gemmmm, Unsplash)

Minute 11
¶ “Madagascar Food Crisis: How A Woman Helped Save Her Village From Starvation” • People are starving in the drought in southern Madagascar. But those who live in one village have enough food. One woman, with the help of a local charity, the Agro-ecological Centre of the South, has been teaching about the farming techniques to use in drought. [BBC]

EEI national charging coalition map (Image from EEI)

Minute 13
¶ “52 Utility Companies Plus TVA Form EV Charging Coalition” • According to the Edison Electric Institute, 51 investor-owned utilities, one electric co-op, and the TVA have banded together to form the National Electric Highway Association, whose goal is to provide EV fast charging ports along major US travel corridors by the end of 2023. [CleanTechnica]

Kia EV6 (Image courtesy of Kia)

Minute 16
¶ “Hyundai Ioniq 5 And Kia EV6 Both Get 300+ Mile EPA Range Rating” • The EPA released its range ratings for all three versions of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6. Both cars are expected to go on sale in the US soon, but final pricing details are pending. Long range, single motor, rear-wheel drive units of both models have range ratings of over 300 miles. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, November 

Electrolyzer (DLR, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 19
¶ “Electrolyzer Ramping From 0 To 50,000 Amperes In Less Than 10 Seconds” • Hydrogen Optimized, based in Toronto, said it had demonstrated that its RuggedCell high-current unipolar electrolysis system could ramp from 0 to 50,000 amperes in less than 10 seconds. This can be used to stabilize electrical grids and optimize renewable grid capacity. [PV Magazine] (The article doesn’t say so, but it is 100 MW)

Prototype 14-MW wind turbine (Siemens Gamesa image)

Minute 22
¶ “Siemens Gamesa 14-MW Prototype Delivers First Power” • Siemens Gamesa’s prototype 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine has started producing electricity at the test site at Østerild in Denmark. The turbine has a rotor diameter of 222 meters and features the company’s new B108 blades. Orders for the turbine have already been placed. [reNews]

Omaha (John Matychuk, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Nebraska Just Voted To Go 100% Clean Electricity” • Nebraska is the 20th state to commit to 100% clean electricity by 2050. The Nebraska Public Power District approved net-zero carbon goal, joining the Omaha Public Power District and the Lincoln Electric System. The NPPD board of directors voted 9–2 to adopt the net-zero commitment. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, November 

Reindeer (Norman Tsui, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “A White Christmas Is Less Likely For Many. The Grinch To Blame Is Climate Change” • Meteorologists refering to “normal” weather are mainly referring to a three decade data set, updated every ten years. The current data, from 1991 to 2020, is generally milder and less snowy due to the climate crisis. For many people, a White Christmas is less likely. [CNN]

Grapevine (Sven Finger, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “How The Climate Crisis Is Crushing The Wine Business” • A changing climate is changing the wine industry as we know it and for some producers, who have noticed changes to weather since the 1990s, the change is not all good. Wine grapes usually need a special set of weather conditions to ripen properly and climate change is making that harder. [The Hill]

Andasol Solar Power Station (kallerna, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 32
¶ “Renewables Already Generate Almost 50% Of Electricity … But Electricity Remains At Record Prices” • According to Red Elctrica de Espaa, renewables, including hydro, wind, and solar energy, have generated the 48.7% of electricity in Spain this year, more than double the 22.1% produced by nuclear. The high cost of gas kept electricity prices high, however. [CVBJ]

Monday, November 

Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng (UK government image)

Minute 35
¶ “UK Opens ‘Landmark’ 12-GW CFD Auction” • The fourth Contracts for Difference auction for renewable energy in the UK has opened for applications. The Energy Department put £285 million up to support projects. The lion’s share, £200 million, is available for offshore wind. The UK hopes to secure 12 GW of new capacity through the round [reNews]

Collage of radar imagery of supercell on Dec 10-11, 2021 (TheAustinMan, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 38
¶ “More Than 100 Feared Dead After Tornadoes Tear Through Several States” • More than 100 people are feared dead after a series of tornadoes ripped through several states in the Midwest and South and transformed homes and businesses into piles of rubble late Friday into Saturday. It was the deadliest tornado event in Kentucky’s history. [CNN]

Amazon warehouse (NWS St. Louis)

Minute 40
¶ “FEMA Chief Says Powerful Storms ‘New Normal’ In Era Of Climate Change” • Powerful storms like the ones that tore through parts of the central US this weekend are the “new normal” in an era of climate change, Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator said. Connecting increasing tornado activity to climate change is not easy, however. [CNN]

Tuesday, November 

Thwaites Glacier (NASA image, public domain)

Minute 43
¶ “Antarctic Glacier Heading For Dramatic Change” • Scientists warn of dramatic changes at one of Antarctica’s biggest glaciers, potentially within five to ten years. They say a floating section at the front of Thwaites Glacier that had been relatively stable could “shatter like a car windscreen.” Thwaites is as big as Florida. Its outflow has doubled in the past 30 years. [BBC]

Ship powered by rigid sails (Computed Wing Sail image)

Minute 46
¶ “Cargo Ships Reclaim Wind Power With High Tech Rigid Sails” • The modern shipping industry is taking steps to be powered by the wind again, though with a high tech twist. Last week the French startup Zéphyr & Borée got validation for a container ship decked out with eight rigid sails engineered by the firm Computed Wing Sails. [CleanTechnica]

EV charger (Sophie Jonas, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Biden Plan To Add 500,000 Electric Car Chargers Is Light On Details” • VP Kamala Harris announced that the administration is planning to add a half million EV chargers from sea to shining sea. Harris offered few details about the program, but she said many of those chargers would be designated for underserved and rural communities. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, November 

EV in Utrecht (Photo courtesy of We Drive Solar)

Minute 51
¶ “Utrecht Wants To Be The First City To Use Its Electric Car Fleet As A Giant Battery” • Utrecht aims to be the first city in the world to be fully bidirectional, using EV batteries to help solve the challenge of intermittent renewable power. It is not necessary to buy batteries, because as people shift to EVs, the cars can be used as grid infrastructure. [Fast Company]

Northern lights (Johannes Groll, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “The Arctic Fails Its Annual Health Check As Global Warming Brings More Ills To The Region” • The Arctic Report Card, which serves as an annual physical for the Arctic, found this vast and significant biome is changing profoundly. It continues to warm twice as fast as the rest of the Earth and is rapidly losing its ice cover, visibly changing in just a decade. [CNN]

Power lines (Jaël Vallée, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Grid Software Solution Could More Than Double Network Capacity For Renewables With No New Infrastructure” • A Smarter Grid Solutions pilot project in New York State was a resounding success. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory predicted it could unlock large amounts of network capacity with no need for new power lines. [PV Magazine]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #449: 12/16/2021

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 #448: 12/9/2021

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 #448: 12/9/2021

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, December 2

Hoover Dam in 2017 (Mariordo, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 2 
¶ “How California Hydropower Plants Navigate Intense Drought” • Although drought conditions in California reduced the water supply, hydroelectric generation during the period from April to September 2021 still increased. This was because hydro ramped up generating in response to higher average hourly electricity prices in the late afternoon. [CleanTechnica]

Changing costs (Institute of New Economic Thinking image)

Minute 5
¶ “Renewable Energy Is Even Cheaper Than Previously Thought” • Researchers at Oxford showed that early models consistently underestimated both how quickly the costs of renewable energy would fall and the benefits of a rapid switch to clean energy. Costs of renewables are falling far faster than expected, even as costs of energy from coal and nuclear rise. [GreenBiz]

Prague, representative EU city (Anthony Delanoix, Unspash)

Minute 8
¶ “Europe Unveils Its $340 Billion Answer To China’s Belt And Road Infrastructure Initiative” • The EU unveiled a €300 billion ($340 billion) alternative to China’s Belt and Road initiative. The EU claims their program will create “links, not dependencies.” The Global Gateway is aimed at helping the global recovery by mobilizing investments. [CNN]

Friday, December 3

Oil platform in the North Sea (Richard Child, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Shell Scraps Plans To Develop Cambo North Sea Oilfield” • Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had scrapped plans to develop the Cambo oilfield in the British North Sea. The oilfield had become a lightning rod for climate activists seeking to halt the development of new oil and gas resources. But Shell cited economic reasons to stop development. [CNN]

Solar farm (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “The Magic Math Of Solar Plus Storage” • “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” seems to be the perfect description for the magic math for storage plus solar. The effective load-carrying capability (ELCC) of solar with storage is actually higher than the ELCC of solar plus the ELCC of storage. But it’s not magic – it’s the way the numbers add up. [CleanTechnica]

Pipeline work (Amar Preciado, Pexels)

Minute 16
¶ “Fossil Fuel Plant Outages Pose Main Threat To Summer Power Supply As Renewables Bolster Grid” • The addition of almost 5 GW of renewable energy capacity will improve the resilience of Australia’s main electricity grid this summer, with outages from fossil fuel plants the main threat to supplies, the Australian Energy Market Operator says. [The Guardian]

Saturday, December 4

Carbon Engineering pilot plant (Carbon Engineering image)

Minute 19
¶ “New Canadian Facility To Produce Renewable Fuel From Air” • In British Columbia, Canadian clean energy company Huron Clean Energy and its partner Carbon Engineering Ltd have plans to create a revolutionary fuel for cars, airplanes, and ships. They are engineering a commercial facility that they say will produce usable fuel out of air. [EcoWatch]

Wind turbines (Charl Folscher, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “IEA Forecast On Renewable Electricity Capacity” • Renewables are set to account for almost 95% of the increase in global power capacity through 2026. Global renewable electricity capacity is forecast to rise over 60% from 2020 levels to over 4,800 GW by then, equivalent to the current global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined. [GreentechLead]

Tesla Model S (Jp Valery, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Drag Race: Tesla Model S Plaid Crushes Fossil Fuel Powered Competitors (Video)” • Here is a drag race with a 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, a 2022 BMW M5 CS, and a 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid. The sedans with internal combustion engines may have been among the fastest in their class, but in a drag race against the Plaid S, both were left far behind. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, December 5

Ocean life (Shaun Low, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Renewable Wind Energy Can Help Save The Planet And The Ocean’s Marine Life” • The ocean’s winds are about to play two new historical roles: helping to save us from fossil fuels and making habitats safe for marine life. As offshore wind turbines generate electricity, they also bring fish and shellfish and even crustaceans back to the seas. [EVWind.es]

Wind turbines (Jason Blackeye, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Renewable Energy And Sustainability: Stakeholders And Consumer Trends” • Reports released by Norwegian clean energy firm ECOHZ and US utility NRG Energy highlight the value of clean capacity. According to the report by ECOHZ, sustainability strategies are pushing large companies to embrace renewable energy. [Power Engineering International]

Cloud formation caused by jet stream (Justin Withers, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 32
¶ “Stuck Jet Stream, La Nina Causing Weird Weather” • America’s winter wonderland is starting out this season as anything but traditional. Umbrellas, if not arks, are needed in the Pacific Northwest, while in the Rockies snow shovels are gathering cobwebs. Meanwhile, there is a blizzard warning on Hawaii’s Big Island summits. [AP News]

Monday, December 6

PV-covered Stadium of World Game 2009, Kaohsiung (Peellden, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 35
¶ “Explaining The Exponential Growth Of Renewable Energy” • Understanding the exponential growth of renewable energy gives us reason to be more optimistic about how fast it can ramp up to meet climate goals. This article explains the reasons behind solar and wind’s growth, how much progress has already been made and what’s needed to go even further. [GreenBiz]

Lithium ions in a graphite anode (ANL image)

Minute 38
¶ “Scientists Discover Another Reason Why EV Batteries Can’t Charge In A Few Minutes” • At Argonne National Laboratory, scientists discovered that when lithium-ion batteries are charged too quickly, the lithium ions cover on the surface of the graphite anode, plating it, instead of inserting themselves into the anode’s graphite. This reduces battery life. [CleanTechnica]

Hell’s Kitchen geothermal plant (Controlled Thermal Resources)

Minute 40
¶ “Lithium Brine Bummer Could Turn Into Bonanza Soon” • Geothermal power plants at the Salton Sea in California produce brine that is so extraordinarily high in lithium that the US could become to a leading producer of lithium for EV batteries. There are technical issues in the way, but it appears that the issues can be overcome. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, December 7

Hydrogen generating station (Siemens Gamesa image)

Minute 43
¶ “Siemens Gamesa Partners On Offshore Wind-To-Hydrogen” • Siemens Gamesa signed a memorandum of understanding with Strohm to collaboratively develop offshore wind-to-hydrogen infrastructure. They will focus on a decentralized concept, with each turbine generating green hydrogen and sending it to shore through a submarine pipe. [reNews]

Solar Charging station (Electrify America image)

Minute 46
¶ “Electrify America Adds 30 MWh Of Battery Storage To 140 EV Charging Sites” • Electrify America has been installing large behind-the-meter storage batteries from Tesla to 140 of its fast charging facilities, 90 of them in California. To date, the total installed battery capacity is 30 MWh and growing. It is the largest such system in North America. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore wind turbines (Nicholas Doherty, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Con Edison Plans 2.4-GW Offshore Link To New Jersey” • Con Edison Transmission is proposing a grid network link to deliver electricity from offshore wind farms to New Jersey. The plans for the Clean Link New Jersey project would look to connect 2.4 GW of future offshore wind capacity to the grid’s high-voltage onshore network. [reNews]

Wednesday, December 8

Refuse truck (Courtesy of BYD)

Minute 51
¶ “Jersey City Receives Its Five BYD Battery-Electric Refuse Trucks” • Jersey City is taking delivery of its five battery-electric refuse trucks. BYD said they are the first battery-electric refuse trucks deployed in New Jersey and this is the largest deployment of them in the US to date. Delivery is expected to be completed by the end of this year. [CleanTechnica]

Coal-burning plant with ash ponds (Antony-22, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 54
¶ “Investigating Coal Ash Sites Near You” • Coal ash is one of the most important types of industrial waste in the US. Hundreds of coal ash ponds, filled with various solids from burning coal, dot the country, as shown by data federal regulations require pond operators to publish. The data was compiled by Earthjustice, an environmental nonprofit. [CNN]

Aquon One (Fraser Yachts image)

Minute 56
¶ “This New 64-Foot Hydrogen-Powered Catamaran Uses Renewable Energy To Supply Unlimited Range” • Fraser Yachts has just unveiled a new catamaran powered by hydrogen. Aquon One combines innovative green technologies for sustainable cruising without noise and emissions but with modern comforts. It is set for delivery in 2023. [Robb Report]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #448: 12/9/2021

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