Energy Week #461: 3/3/2022

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 #461: 3/3/2022 

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, February 24

Oil traders (Own Oil Industry News, public domain)

Minute 2 
¶ “Oil Hits $100, US Stock Futures Slide After Putin Announces Military Operation In Donbas” • Brent crude oil hit $100 a barrel and stock futures fell sharply Wednesday after blasts were heard in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Donbas. Dow futures lost nearly 700 points, or about 2%. Nasdaq futures dropped 2.7%. [CNN]

USPS delivery truck (Joel Moysuh, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “USPS Finalizing Plan To Replace Fleet With 90% Gas-Powered Vehicles” • The US Postal Service is moving ahead with a plan to replace its current fleet with 90% gas-powered trucks and 10% battery EVs, after the EPA and White House objected and asked for further study of the emissions impact. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said more EVs are not funded. [CNN]

Sunseap floating solar farm (Sunseap Group image)

Minute 8
¶ “European Renewable Energy Firm Plans To Invest $10 Billion In Singapore By 2030” • EDP Renewables, the world’s fourth largest renewable energy producer, will invest $10 billion by 2030 to establish its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, while continuing to develop new clean energy projects across the region, the company said. [The Straits Times]

Friday, February 25

Empty buildings at Chernobyl (Viktor Hesse, Unsplash)

Minute 11
¶ “Russian Forces Seize Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant” • The Russian military forces seized control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials say. A presidential adviser said the “totally pointless attack” on Thursday amounted to “one of the most serious threats in Europe today.” The danger goes far beyond the borders of the Ukraine. [BBC]

Western Spirit Wind facility (Pattern Energy image)

Minute 13
¶ “New Mexico Grand Opening Of Pattern Energy’s Western Spirit Wind, Largest Renewable Project In US History” • Pattern Energy Group LP commissioned its Western Spirit Wind power facilities. Western Spirit Wind consists of four wind projects with a total capacity of over 1,050 MW, enough to provide for annual needs of 900,000 Americans. [Los Alamos Daily Post]

Nord Stream pipeline route (Samuel Bailey, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 16
¶ “Why Europe Is So Dependent On Russia For Natural Gas” • The EU is especially dependent on Russian energy, which is becoming increasingly unsustainable. The Washington Post reported the EU is making plans for energy independence from Russia, citing anonymous sources. The plan is expected to be announced next week. [CNBC]

Saturday, February 26

Minute 19

Offshore windpower (Seaway 7 image)

¶ “US Offshore Wind Auction In NY, NJ Raises A Record $4.37 Billion” • The federal government announced a record $4.37 billion sale of six offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. The success of the lease auction moves forward the Biden administration’s goal to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. [Verve times]

Conversion by Janus Trucks (Janus Trucks image)

Minute 22
¶ “Janus Trucks Converting Freightliner To Electricity – Seeing Lot Of Demand” • Janus announced that the second fully electric registered Class 8 prime mover in Australia has hit the roads. Its exchangeable batteries can be swapped in three minutes, giving it a range of up to 600 km (373 miles). And the JCM350 Janus Conversion Module is 480 HP. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines (Karyatid, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “This Is How We Defeat Putin And Other Petrostate Autocrats” • Along with its military machine, control of oil and gas supplies is Russia’s main weapon. Now is the time to remind ourselves that the costs of solar and windpower have dropped by an order of magnitude in the last decade. We have a way to reduce Putin’s power: Get off oil and gas. [The Guardian]

Sunday, February 27

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

Minute 27
¶ “Russian Military Threatens Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant” • The Russian military is threatening a nuclear power plant in Ukraine amid the ongoing invasion in the country. Russia’s military presence has increased near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs has reported. [TheHill]

Tesla Model Y (Image courtesy of Tesla)

Minute 30
¶ “Gas Cars Produce More Supply Chain Emissions Than EVs – Yale University Study” • EVs offer lower emissions on the road, but some skeptics criticize the mining, manufacturing, and charging practices. A study shows how minuscule the lifespan emissions of EVs are, especially when compared to those of fossil fuel vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

Farm in Queensland (Carnaby Gilany, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Forrest Outlines Plans For $3 Billion Wind, Solar And Battery Hub In Queensland” • Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest has unveiled plans for a $3 billion wind, solar, and battery storage hub in central Queensland. He said the proposed project would create the biggest renewable energy precinct in the Southern Hemisphere. [Renew Economy]

Monday, February 28

Wind energy (Luca Bravo, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Renewables Provide 21% Of US Electricity In 2021” • With strong growth in solar and wind power, electrical generation by renewable energy sources provided 21.02% of total US electrical generation in 2021, which exceeds US Energy Information Administration forecasts, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of EIA data. [Renewables Now]

Wind turbines (Waldemar Brandt, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Russia’s War On The Ukraine Will Hasten The Drive For Clean Energy Security” • Russia is a huge exporter of oil and gas. But waging war on Ukraine will change its energy trade. It will be a short-term boost to other energy exporters, but the bigger effect will be a fundamental re-think on energy security which will accelerate decarbonization. [Lowy Institute]

Solar PV (Biel Morro, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Germany Aims To Get 100% Of Energy From Renewable Sources By 2035” • Germany aims to fulfil all its electricity needs with supplies from renewable sources by 2035, compared to its previous target to abandon fossil fuels “well before 2040,” according to a government draft paper that has been obtained by Reuters. [Reuters]

Tuesday, March 1 

António Guterres (Palácio do Planalto, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 43
¶ “IPCC 6 Shows A ‘Criminal Abdication Of Leadership,’ Says UN Secretary General” • Bloomberg Green reports that UN Secretary General António Guterres said about the IPPC report, “With fact upon fact, this report reveals how people and the planet are getting clobbered by climate change.” He calls it an indictment of a “criminal abdication of leadership.” [CleanTechnica]

Nissan EVs (Nissan image)

Minute 46
¶ “Nissan Will Spend $500 Million On Mississippi Factory For EV Production” • Nissan said in a press release that it will spend $500 million to make a factory in Mississippi ready to produce EVs. The company plans to make 40% of its US sales battery EVs by 2030. The Canton, Mississippi, factory has been in operation for almost two decades. [CleanTechnica]

Tanker (Alexandr Popadin, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Shell Follows BP Out Of Russia As UK Oil Companies Abandon Putin” • Shell is getting out of Russia. The company said it would dump its 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 liquified natural gas facility, its 50% stake in a project to develop the Salym fields in western Siberia and its 50% interest in an exploration project in the Gydan peninsula in Siberia. [CNN]

Wednesday, March 2 

One cost of climate change (Mike Newbry, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “Five Takeaways From The UN’s Climate Report” • The UN’s climate science panel issued a report detailing both the impacts of climate change and potential adaptation measures society can take to mitigate the damage. The report warned of dire impacts from global warming. Here are five major takeaways from the newest report. [TheHill]

Solar panels (First Solar image)

Minute 54
¶ “SB Energy Places 1.5-GW PV Order With First Solar” • SB Energy Global, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, has placed a multi-year order for 1500-MW of First Solar’s advanced, ultra-low carbon thin-film photovoltaic solar modules. SB Energy will deploy these PV modules across its 4-GW US solar and storage development pipeline. [reNews]

Waymo EV (Waymo image)

Minute 56
¶ “Waymo To Start Charging Robotaxi Passengers In San Francisco” • After years operating only in a corner of Phoenix, Waymo branched out to San Francisco in 2021. It is hasn’t been charging for its robotaxi service there, but that’s about to change. Waymo will charge riders in the San Francisco area real-life money to get a ride. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #461: 3/3/2022

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 #460: 2/24/2022

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 #460: 2/24/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, February 17

Coastal flooding (National Ocean Service image)

Minute 2 
¶ “NOAA Sea Level Rise Report: Now It’s Personal” • Some people complain that stopping climate change will be expensive. There is no question the cost of doing something will be high, but the cost of doing nothing will be much, much higher. The latest report from the National Ocean Service about sea level rise makes that abundantly clear. [CleanTechnica]

Ignacio Galán and Governor Charlie Baker (Iberdrola image)

Minute 5
¶ “Iberdrola Makes $10 Billion US Offshore Wind Pledge” • Iberdrola made a multi-billion dollar pledge to invest in three offshore wind projects totaling 2800 MW in Massachusetts. The Spanish firm will invest $10 billion on the development of the sites, Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán agreed at a meeting with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. [reNews]

Gas station (Cameron McPhee, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “California Gas Prices Just Hit A Record High – $5 Gas Could Come Soon” • Gas in California hit a record high of $4.72 a gallon on average on Wednesday, and experts say a whopping $5 a gallon will likely be the norm there in a matter of months, if not sooner. Part of the reason for the price increase is the switch away from fossil fuels. [CNN]

Friday, February 18

Battery electric truck (Volvo Trucks image)

Minute 11
¶ “Why The Future Of Long-Haul Trucking Is Battery Electric” • There is increasing consensus among European truck makers and industry stakeholders that battery electric trucks will play a dominant role in the decarbonization of road freight. Low fuel and maintenance costs make battery EVs very competitive for long-haul transport. [CleanTechnica]

Saginaw Bay ( Notorious4life, CC0 1.0)

Minute 13
¶ “Biden Announces $1 Billion In Infrastructure Funding To Clean Up The Great Lakes” • President Joe Biden announced $1 billion in funding from his administration’s infrastructure law would go toward cleanup and restoration of the Great Lakes. The bulk of funding is to restore “Areas of Concern” that the EPA has identified as severely degraded. [CNN]

Zero-emission Yara Birkeland (Yara image)

Minute 16
¶ “Accelerated Ammonia Synthesis Holds Promise For The Conversion Of Renewable Energy” • Research by scientists at Hiroshima University reveals a way to make ammonia at ambient pressure from its constituent nitrogen and hydrogen molecules. The study demonstrates a process with potential uses for storage and transfer of renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, February 19

Lithium extraction from hot brine (Jenny Nuss, Berkeley Lab)

Minute 19
¶ “Can The Salton Sea Geothermal Field In California Power Our EV Revolution?” • The Salton Sea geothermal field in California may hold enough lithium to meet all of the US battery needs, with enough left over to export some. But can it be extracted in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way? And how long will the resource last? [CleanTechnica]

MOSE barrier raised (Consorzio Venezia Nuova image)

Minute 22
¶ “The Flood Barriers That Might Save Venice” • The MOSE tidal barrier was built over a period of four decades to protect Venice from rising sea water at high tides. Fourteen months after it was finished, it has been raised 33 times. Naysayers of the past appear to have been proven wrong. Not once has it failed to protect the city when it was raised. [CNN]

Iceberg (Sergey Pesterev, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Antarctica Will Likely Set An Alarming New Record This Year, New Data Shows” • Preliminary data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center suggests Antarctica will likely set a record this year for the lowest sea ice extent – the area of ocean covered by sea ice. Sea ice around the continent has dropped lower than the previous record minimum set in March 2017. [CNN]

Sunday, February 20

Stillstrom charging buoy (Maersk Supply Service rendering)

Minute 27
¶ “Floating Charging Points Will Let Ships Draw Electricity From Offshore Wind Farms – And Could Recharge Battery-Powered Vessels Of The Future” • Danish shipping firm Maersk Supply Service is to launch an electricity charging system to give ships access to renewable energy while they’re at sea. The electricity will come from offshore wind farms. [Yahoo News]

Wind farm (NextEra Energy Resources image)

Minute 30
¶ “Major Wind Developments Are Sweeping Into Northwest Oklahoma, Energy Companies Say” • The winds of change are blowing in Northwest Oklahoma with the development of several major wind projects over the next three years starting as early as this month. Invenergy and NextEra are both investing billions in Oklahoma wind farms. [EnidNews.com]

Scene in County Cork (Jason Murphy, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Why Ireland Is The Worst Country In The EU At Using Renewables To Make Heat Energy” • Only 6% of the energy required for heating and cooling in Ireland came from renewable sources in 2020 – the lowest proportion of any EU country. For the EU as a whole, 23.1% of the energy used for heating and cooling in 2020. [TheJournal.ie]

Monday, February 21

Wind turbines in Portugal (Vitor Oliveira, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 35
¶ “We Should Boost Europe’s Energy Independence By Investing In Renewables, CEO Says” • The CEO of Portuguese utility EDP linked Europe’s energy independence to the rapid adoption of renewables. He said investment in the sector needed to come “much faster.” Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have put energy independence on people’s minds. [CNBC]

Candela C-8 (Candela image)

Minute 38
¶ “Candela C-8 Is The IPhone Moment For Electric Boats” • After sixteen months of development, Candela announced its C-8 electric hydrofoiling speedboat. It offers long all-electric range and high speed. It’s the company’s most ordered electric boat ever and had its first flight outside the Swedish tech company’s Stockholm headquarters. [CleanTechnica]

Corn (Waldemar Brandt, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Is Corn-Based Ethanol Worse Than Gasoline? New Study Says Yes” • A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that corn-based ethanol mixed in with gasoline is most likely a much larger contributor to global warming than gasoline by itself. The study was funded in part by the National Wildlife Federation and the US DOE. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, February 22

Polluted Denver (Image retrieved from NOAA)

Minute 43
¶ “Texas Supreme Court Tells Exxon To Go Pound Sand” • In a brazen attempt by Exxon to stop lawsuits against it filed by eight California cities and counties, it argued that the suits violated Texas’ sovereignty and that it had every right to hide the truth about its products because its “free speech” was protected. Texas’s Supreme Court was not impressed. [CleanTechnica]

Solar array (US DOE image)

Minute 46
¶ “Renewable Energy: Zero Blackouts, Millions Of New Jobs: Mark Z Jacobson” • Mark Z Jacobson and his team recently published an updated study building on prior research to show switching to 100% renewable energy would virtually eliminate the electrical grid blackouts that have plagued many areas of the country in recent years. [CleanTechnica]

Nodding donkeys (CGP Grey, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 48
¶ “Biden Administration Freezes New Oil And Gas Drilling Leases After Court Rules Against Key Climate Tool” • Earlier this month, a District Judge ruled that the Biden administration may not use the “social cost of carbon” in decisions around oil and gas drilling on public land. Now the administration has put a pause on new leases and permits for drilling. [CNN]

Wednesday, February 23

Ford F-150 Lightning (WMrapids, CC0 1.0, public domain)

Minute 51
¶ “43% Of Pickup Owners Are Considering Buying An Electric Truck” • Car Gurus creates surveys. In the last quarter of 2021, the company asked 1,026 pickup truck owners in the US about their plans for the future. 43% of those said they would consider buying an electric truck in the next 10 years. That’s up from 34% just one year ago. [CleanTechnica]

Semi-submersible pipe-laying vessel (Philfaebuckie, public domain)

Minute 54
¶ “Germany Halts Nord Stream 2 And Russia Responds With A Stark Warning” • Germany said it was halting certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline following Moscow’s actions in eastern Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, warned after Germany’s announcement that prices in Europe would skyrocket. [CNN]

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (News Oresund, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 56
¶ “Finland To Reevaluate Russian Rosatom Nuclear Reactor Project: PM” • Finland will reevaluate the security risks for a planned nuclear power reactor to be built by Rosatom, the Russian state-owned firm, following Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said. The decision was proposed by the country’s defense ministry. [Daily Sabah]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #460: 2/24/2022

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 #459: 2/17/2022

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 #459: 2/17/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, February 

Torus Hall, where the JET tokamak machine lies (UKAEA image)

Minute 2 
¶ “Giant Donut-Shaped Machine Just Proved A Near-Limitless Clean Power Source Is Possible” • Scientists in the UK announced that they were able to generate a record 59 megajoules (16.4 kWh) of sustained fusion energy over five seconds. (The article says the fuel, deuterium and tritium, can be extracted from seawater, but that is not true. Tritium can’t be.) [CNN]

Gas station (Michelle Oude Maatman, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “Oil Could ‘Easily’ Hit $120 If Russia-Ukraine Crisis Escalates, JPMorgan Warns” • Oil prices could soar to $120 a barrel or more if Russia’s crude exports are derailed by tensions with Ukraine, projections from JPMorgan say. The forecast underscores how a potential invasion of Ukraine would cause wide-ranging ripple effects throughout the world. [CNN]

Wrecked home (Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NPS)

Minute 8
¶ “Home Collapsed Into The Ocean As Rising Seas Eat Away At The North Carolina Coast” • Another beachfront home in North Carolina collapsed into the ocean, officials with the National Park Service said, as tides get higher and rising sea levels eat away at the coast. Recent windy weather has produced waves that are higher than normal. [CNN]

Friday, February 

Thar Desert (sushmita balasubramani, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Rajasthan Signs Pacts For Over 90 GW Of Renewable Energy Projects ” • State-owned power producers THDC India, NTPC, NHPC, and SJVN committed to building 10 GW of renewable energy capacity each. Among private firms, Reliance plans 20 GW, and Axis Energy Group plans 28 GW of solar projects and a 4-GW solar PV factory. [pv magazine India]

Koala (Bob Walker, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Australia Lists Koala As Endangered Species” • Australia listed the koala as an endangered species across most of its east coast, after a dramatic decline in numbers with rapidly diminishing habitats and climate change. The federal government said the listing was for Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. [BBC]

Lignin to replace non-renewable graphite (Stora Enso image)

Minute 16
¶ “Wooden Batteries Are Hitting The Market – Is This The Future Of Clean Energy?” • Finnish designers Stora Enso have built a production facility costing €10 million that will create renewable bio-based carbon by turning trees into batteries. This will be done with lignin, which is commonly derived from wood but is abundant in all vascular plants. [Euronews]

Saturday, February 

Amazon rainforest (Neil Palmer, CIAT, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 19
¶ “Amazon Deforestation: Record High Destruction Of Trees In January” • The number of trees cut down in January in the Brazilian Amazon far exceeded deforestation for January of last year, according to government satellite data. The area destroyed was five times larger than 2021, the highest January total since records began in 2015. [BBC]

Rooftop solar systems (Mischa Frankl, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Glut Of Solar Panels In 2025” • Rethink Energy predicts that there will be a surge of polysilicon production capacity coming online in the next two years, leading to a glut of solar panels by 2025. The solar panel production capacity is expected to exceed 1,000 GW per year by 2030. The initial wave of manufacturing facilities is to come in 2025. [CleanTechnica]

Irrigation canal (image courtesy of Turlock Irrigation District)

Minute 24
¶ “Mother Of All Agrivoltaics Projects Will Link Solar Canopies, Irrigation Canals” • One example of how farming combines with solar PVs is the Turlock Irrigation District in California, which just announced a new agrivoltaics project that could give the state multiple gigawatts of solar power, by outfitting irrigation canals with solar panels. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, February 

New Mexico (Joonyeop Baek, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Temporary spent nuclear fuel storage isn’t temporary” • The proposal to “store” spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico is a Trojan horse that will defeat the goal of geologically isolating this highly radioactive and chemically toxic material. The proposed interim storage facility is geologically unsuitable even for a period of decades. [Santa Fe New Mexican]

Wave (Matt Paul Catalano, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Monstrous Waves Will Crash Ashore More Frequently Due To Climate Change” • The risk of coastal floods could rise 50-fold because of man-made climate change, recent research shows. With the weather phenomenon of overtopping, huge waves will hit structures or beaches with increasing frequency, say scientists, devastating communities. [Study Finds]

Lincoln concept EV from ArtCenter College of Design

Minute 32
¶ “Ford Plans To Add 5 New Electric Lincoln SUVs By 2026” • Sources told Reuters that Lincoln, the luxury car division of Ford Motor Company, plans to introduce at least five new battery electric SUVs through 2026. Ford says it will build 600,000 EVs globally within two years. Part of its mission to be “the clear No 2 EV maker in North America.” [CleanTechnica]

Monday, February 

Moving a blade on a winding road (Colin Watts, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “West Virginia To See Thousands Of New Jobs From Build Back Better Act” • The Senate’s passage of the policies in the Build Back Better Act, which the House has passed, would enable West Virginia to invest in climate solutions that could lead to over 70,000 direct jobs, an analysis from the Natural Resources Defense Council shows. [CleanTechnica]

Clean energy (Sven Brandsma, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Renewables Reach New Highs In NEM As Fossil Fuels Slump To Historic Lows” • New figures published by Australia’s Climate Council show that renewable energy generation in the National Electricity Market grew almost 20% in 2021. Renewable sources generated 31.4% of electricity last year while gas generators supplied just 5.7%. [pv magazine Australia]

EV interior (Jenny Ueberberg, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “US Electric Car Sales Surge As Overall Car Sales Slip – A Game-Changing Trend?” • Last quarter, overall US auto sales fell, but EV sales surged. Kelley Blue Book reports that total car sales fell by 21.3% in Q4 2021 compared to Q4 2020, while EV sales grew by 72%. Kelley Blue Book is not alone in predicting that EV sales will keep growing. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, February 

Spill from ash retention pond failure (Brian Stansberry, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 43
¶ “DOE Will Build Nation’s First Large-Scale Facility To Turn Fossil Fuel Waste Into Rare Materials For Tech” • The DOE plans to build the nation’s first large facility to extract critical minerals like nickel and cobalt from waste like coal ash. The metals could then be used in components for renewable-energy batteries, cell phones, EVs, and other technologies. [CNN]

Russian sniper (Dominik Sostmann, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “Putin Could Turn Off Europe’s Gas Tap. This Is The Solution” • As Russian soldiers look ready to invade the Ukraine, Europe is threatened by another crisis. Russia supplies 38% of Europe’s natural gas, and is using the European dependency on its gas as a weapon. One way for Europe to get out of the bind is to bring renewables online quickly. [CNN]

Arizona in drought (US NPS image, public domain)

Minute 48
¶ “Megadrought: Western US Dry Spell Is Worst In 1,200 Years, Study Says” • The intense dry spell that’s parched the western US the past 22 years is the region’s worst “megadrought” since at least the year 800, a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change says. Over 40% of it can be blamed on human-caused climate change. [USA Today]

Wednesday, February 

Last house on Holland Island (baldeaglebluff, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 51
¶ “US Sea Levels Will Rise Rapidly In The Next 30 Years, Report Shows” • A report led by NOAA gives an alarming forecast for the US: Sea level will rise as much in the next 30 years as it did in the past 100. According to the report, there is increasing confidence in science showing that the coasts of the US will see another 10 to 12 inches of sea level rise by 2050. [CNN]

Lichens growing on a rock (Scott Osborn, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Earth Is Heating Up Too Quickly For These Tiny Organisms To Adapt” • As global temperatures steadily rise, our planet may be changing too quickly for some of nature’s most wide-ranging organisms to adapt. The algae within lichen can take hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years to adapt to their preferred climates, according to the study. [CNN]

Portland Head Lighthouse (Mercedes Mehling, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Maine To Get 3,600 New Jobs From Build Back Better Act” • If the US Senate passes the Build Back Better Act, it would bring a result of 3,600 to 5,100 new direct jobs being created in Maine, according to Natural Resources Defense Council analysis. Clean energy investment, economic activity, and job growth are some of the benefits. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #459: 2/17/2022

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 #458: 2/10/2022

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 #458: 2/10/2022 (Energy Week #457 was a special with the keynote talk by George Harvey at the New England Coalition’s 50th anniversary meeting.)

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, February 3

Terrier powertrain for electric cars (Image courtesy of Koenigsegg)

Minute 2 
¶ “Koenigsegg Quark And Terrier Bring Big Power In Small Package To Electric Cars” • Christian von Koenigsegg has turned his talents to electric motors and drivetrains. One result is the Quark, a compact 3-phase electric motor measuring just 12″ by 13″ x 4.4″ (303 x 334 x 112 mm), that puts out an eye-popping 335 hp. And there is more. [CleanTechnica]

Winter storm (Patino Jhon, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “Natural Gas Spikes 16% Ahead Of Winter Storm” • Natural gas futures rose 16% on Wednesday as energy markets brace for a powerful winter storm that threatens to derail production just as demand rises. Natural gas futures closed at $5.50 per million BTUs. That’s a rise of 55% since the price sank to $3.56 on December 30. [CNN]

GM Renaissance Center (arthurpalac, Pixabay)

Minute 8
¶ “General Motors To Power Three Automotive Plants With Clean Energy” • GM made a new pledge to power Michigan automotive plants in Flint, Burton, and Wyoming with clean energy. GM partnered with Consumers Energy for the project. It brings GM closer to its target of sourcing 100% renewable energy in the US by 2025. [Environment + Energy Leader]

Friday, February 4

Minute 11
¶ “New England Natural Gas And Electricity Prices Increase On Supply Constraints, High Demand” • The spot natural gas price at the Algonquin Citygate, a trading hub and benchmark for the natural gas price in New England, averaged $20.55 per million British thermal units during January 2022, the highest monthly average price since February 2014. [CleanTechnica]

Oil terminal (Oiltanking image)

Minute 13
¶ “European Oil Facilities Hit By Cyber-Attacks” • Multiple oil transport and storage companies across Europe are dealing with cyber-attacks. IT systems have been disrupted at Oiltanking in Germany, SEA-Invest in Belgium, and Evos in the Netherlands. In total dozens of terminals with oil storage and transport across the world have been affected. [BBC]

Wildebeest migration (Jorge Tung, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Does Renewable Energy Threaten Efforts To Conserve Biodiversity On Land?” • In our study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we suggest that, while conflicts between renewables and protected areas do occur, overlap need not be as severe as previously suggested, with appropriate policy and regulatory controls. [Carbon Brief]

Saturday, February 5

Plant Vogtle in Georgia (Georgia Power image)

Minute 19
¶ “Nuclear Power: CO₂ Fix Or Cost Disaster?” • It is an issue the industry has not properly addressed. The costs for two reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia are up dramatically. In fact, the actual costs of 75 of the more than 90 existing nuclear power reactors in the US exceeded the initially estimated costs of the units by over 200%, according to the US DOE. [E&E News]

Jet plane (Call Me Fred, unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Airlines Call For End To Loopholes In Carbon Market And Back European Climate Measures” • Four airlines and clean mobility group T&E are calling for equal rules to apply to all flights departing from European airports, regardless of their destination, in order for European measures to decarbonize aviation by 2050. [CleanTechnica]

Construction (Etienne Girardet, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Sustainable Construction: Modern Approaches To Traditional Practices” • As the mainstream construction techniques have progressed in speed and cost, there is a growing realization that continuing in the direction of traditional practices is having negative impacts on our environment, our communities, and our quality of life. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, February 6

Humpback whale (Pixabay, Pexels)

Minute 27
¶ “Iceland To End Whaling From 2024 Amid Controversy And Falling Demand” • Iceland says it will end whaling from 2024 amid dwindling demand and continuing controversy. Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, wrote that whale hunting had lost much of its economic significance in recent years. [CNN]

MIT 2-dimensional polymer (MIT image)

Minute 30
¶ “MIT Scientists Create 2-Dimensional Polymers As Strong As Steel” • Scientists at MIT have been trying for two decades to make a 2-dimensional polymer, something that all their theories and models suggested was possible but could never be actually created in the lab. Now, it seems they have one. It is stronger than steel and as light as plastic. [CleanTechnica]

Two-man bobsled (Rowan Simpson, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Winter Olympics: Will The Beijing Games Be ‘Green And Clean’?” • China has promised to deliver a “green and clean” Winter Olympics. Organisers say they prioritized protecting native species, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting down on resources used. Extraordinary as efforts have been, there have been criticisms. [BBC]

Monday, February 7

Marshall fire (Bmurphy380, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 35
¶ “Boulder Sued Big Oil For Climate Damages, Then The Marshall Fire Happened” • Four years ago, Boulder, Colorado, sued ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy for climate change-related damages and adaptation expenses. They estimated the damage at over $100 million by 2050. They vastly overestimated the time and underestimated the price. [CleanTechnica]

Limondale 349-MW (DC) solar farm (RWE image)

Minute 38
¶ “Investors Submit 34 GW Of Wind, Solar, And Storage For Renewables Zone In Australia” • The state government of New South Wales has reported a “huge” response to the registration of interest process for the South-West Renewable Energy Zone. Over 34 GW of wind, solar PV, and energy storage proposals were received, after 3 GW had been sought. [PV Magazine]

Crystals made from colloids (Image courtesy of Energy.Gov)

Minute 40
¶ “Making Designer Crystals? It’s Easier With A New Targeted Particle Bonding Strategy” • Colloids are microparticles evenly distributed in a fluid. Crystals made from colloids are valuable in a wide range of applications such as batteries, fuel cells, sensors, solar cells, and catalysts. Scientists have learned how to use them to form a crystal structure. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, February 8

Solar power in California (Tom Brewster Photography, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 43
¶ “More Cities Transitioning To 100% Renewable Energy!” • Los Angeles County, Beverly Hills, and Redondo Beach decided to go up to 100% renewable energy as the default rate beginning in 2022. By the end of this year, more than 2 million people will be receiving 100% renewable energy in Los Angeles and Ventura counties! [Sierra Club Angeles Chapter]

Wall of Wind (Florida International University)

Minute 46
¶ “Preparing For Category 6 Hurricanes, A New Facility Will Test Winds Of 200 MPH And Storm Surge” • The 12-fan Wall of Wind at Florida International University is used as a test site for engineering against tornadoes, hurricanes, and other types of windstorms. It can generate winds of 160 MPH. Unfortunately, that isn’t enough anymore. [CNN]

Floating homes (Farzn Dehbashi, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 48
¶ “Why The Dutch Embrace Floating Homes” • With sea levels rising and supercharged storms cause waters swelling, floating neighborhoods offer an experiment in flood defense that could allow coastal communities to better withstand climate change. In the land-scarce but densely populated Netherlands, demand for such homes is growing. [BBC]

Wednesday, February 9

Ford E-Transit (Image courtesy of Ford)

Minute 51
¶ “Ford E-Transit Deliveries To Customers Have Begun” • Ford E-Transit electric work vans are leaving the factory in Kansas City and are on their way to 300 business and commercial customers. More than 10,000 have already been ordered. Ford CEO Jim Farley says his company intends on being the Tesla of electric commercial vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

Pump jack (Jeff W, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Huge Profits At BP And Shell Revive Calls For Windfall Tax To Tackle Fuel Poverty” • In earnings reports, BP posted an annual profit of almost $12.9 billion, and Shell reported a profit of $19.3 billion after what it described as a “momentous” year. Meanwhile, households are suffering energy poverty. This has people calling for a tax on windfall profits. [CNN]

Secretary Granholm addressing reporters (US DOE image)

Minute 56
¶ “US Energy Secretary Ties Renewables To World Peace” • The greatest peace plan ever could be based on renewable energy, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in her opening remarks at a US-EU Energy Council Ministerial this week. The issue of energy security has been highlighted due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. [Oil Price]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #458: 2/10/2022

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