Energy Week #466: 4/7/2022

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 #466: 4/7/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, April 

No water, no crops (USDA, public domain)

Minute 2 
¶ “Severe Drought And Mandatory Water Cuts Are Pitting Communities Against Each Other In Arizona” • As the climate crisis intensifies, battle lines are beginning to form over water amid a decades-long megadrought. Some Arizona communities are facing the very real possibility of losing access to the precious water that remains. [CNN]

XLCC CLS (XLCC)

Minute 5
¶ “XLCC Completes Concept Design For New Cable-Lay Ship” • XLCC, in a collaboration with Salt Ship Design, has completed the concept design of a cable-lay vessel, which it says will be delivered in the first half of 2025. The planned delivery of the XLCC CLV will support the Morocco-UK Power Project, the cable manufacturer said. [reNews]

Wind turbines (Fabian Wiktor, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 8
¶ “Germany Issues ‘Early Warning’ Of Possible Gas Shortages As Russia Threatens Supplies” • Germany issued an “early warning” of potential natural gas shortages as a payments dispute with Russia is developing. The German government said there are no supply shortages now, but it urged consumers to reduce their use as far as possible. [CNN]

Friday, April 

Gas storage in Massachusetts (Fletcher6, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 11
¶ “The World Is Stuck Between Gas Prices And Climate Change” • The West needs more oil now. The world needs to get off oil and gas ASAP. It is an epic quandary of the oil addiction that runs the world economy. President Joe Biden announced a plan he said would address all of the above, with a large release from the strategic oil reserve. But will it work? [CNN]

Electric cement truck (Courtesy of Volvo Trucks)

Minute 13
¶ “American Lung Association Says EVs Save Lives” • A report from the American Lung Association says that transitioning away from fossil fuels to battery-EVs would lead to important health and financial benefits. The US would see more than $1.2 trillion in health benefits if it goes electric for personal vehicles by 2040 and for trucks by 2035. [CleanTechnica]

Sarcophagus for destroyed reactor (Mick De Paola, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “IAEA Investigates Claim Russians Fled Chernobyl With Radiation Sickness” • Russian troops have largely withdrawn from the Chernobyl nuclear power. The Ukrainian state power company Energoatom said the pullout came after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation, a claim the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said it is investigating. [The Guardian]

Saturday, April 

Prickly acacia (Queensland government image)

Minute 19
¶ “Noxious weed prickly acacia to be turned into ‘green coal’ by renewable energy company in outback Queensland” • Prickly acacia, originally from Africa, has been a multi-million-dollar problem across outback Queensland for decades, infesting prime grazing land, killing native grasslands and degrading soil health. Now it could become an energy source. [ABC]

Pelamis wave machine (P123, public domain)

Minute 22
¶ “Portugal To Speed Up Switch To Renewable Power In Wake Of Ukraine War” • Portugal aims to accelerate its energy transition to have renewable sources supply 80% of its electricity output by 2026, the government said. That is four years earlier than had been planned. The transition is being accelerated in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Reuters]

Screech owl (Joshua J. Cotten, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “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 have spent decades on work bolstering robust wildlife habitats in the city’s five boroughs. New York is densely populated, but much of it’s 30,000 acres of parkland is teeming with wildlife. [CNN]

Sunday, April 

Deluge ahead (Jim Witkowski, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Dangerous Combination of Intense Wildfires and Extreme Rainfall Likely to Happen More Often” • The dangers of extreme wildfires followed by torrential rainfall leading to deadly flooding and landslides will likely become more common in western US as the world becomes warmer, according to a study in the journal Science Advances. [The Weather Channel]

Natural sulfur crystal (Didier Descouens, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 30
¶ “New Sulfur Battery Promises 300% More EV Range” • German startup Theion is promising a new sulfur battery technology that could help mainstream electric cars offer 900 miles of range on a single charge. The best part? Compared to lithium, sulfur uses much less energy to produce and costs just pennies on the dollar to source. [CleanTechnica]

Chernobyl nuclear plant (Viktor Hesse, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Ukraine Hoists National Flag Above Chernobyl Nuclear Plant After Russian Troops’ Departure” • Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Energoatom, a nuclear power company in Ukraine, announced in a statement on Telegram, “Today, April 2, at 11:00, the Ukrainian flag was raised over the Chernobyl NPP and the anthem was sung,” CNN reported. [Republic World]

Monday, April 

Quality control at Giga Berlin (Tesla image)

Minute 35
¶ “Tesla And German Auto Industry’s Varied Tech Paths” • Tesla manages its business very differently than its competitors. As a result, Tesla sales grew almost 90% in 2021, compared to a declines of 2% at Daimler and 3% at the VW Group. Tesla’s growth took place despite a world-wide shortage in chips, and some of the legacy car makers are noticing. [CleanTechnica]

Chernobyl plant before it blew up (IAEA, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 38
¶ “Ukraine Plans To Resume Regulatory Control At Chornobyl Nuclear Plant” • The International Atomic Energy Agency has been notified by Ukraine that it is examining the possibility to resume regulatory control of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, after the withdrawal of the Russian military from the site. Ukraine did not specify a date. [Power Technology]

Climate protest (Mika Baumeister, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Climate Change Could Cost US Budget $2 Trillion A Year By End Century – White House” • Flood, fire, and drought fueled by climate change could take a massive bite out of the US federal budget per year by the end of the century, the White House said in its first ever such assessment. It could take up $2 trillion per year, the assessment said. [WKZO]

Tuesday, April 

Outdoor heatpump units (Kristoferb, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 43
¶ “Can The Defense Production Act Jump-Start A Transition To Renewable Energy?” • Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, Bill McKibben proposed a radically simple idea: President Joe Biden should invoke the Defense Production Act to undermine Russia’s economic power over the EU by having US manufacturers make millions of electric heat pumps. [Sierra Club]

BYD Han EV (Courtesy of BYD via Electrive)

Minute 46
¶ “BYD Has Ended Production Of Conventional Cars Powered by Gasoline” • The last BYD passenger car without a plug rolled off the line in China at the end of February. Since then, every one built has been either a plug-in hybrid or a battery-electric car, according to Electrive, which cites several different Chinese sources for its report. [CleanTechnica]

Polestar (Polestar image via Hertz)

Minute 48
¶ “Hertz Buys 65,000 New Electric Cars From Polestar” • Hertz is proving to be a major player in the switch to electrification, and is following up its 100,000 unit Tesla order with another massive electric car order. This time, from Swedish performance brand Polestar. The 65,000 order is more than double Polestar’s entire sales for last year (29,000 units). [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, April 

Air pollution (Sumita Roy Dutta, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 51
¶ “The Fungi Cleaning New Delhi’s Air” • New Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Much of the pollution comes from burning agricultural waste. Pusa Decomposer, which is made up of seven different species of fungus naturally present in the soil, can be used to compost the waste in place, reducing pollution and improving the soil. [BBC]

Electric airplane concept (Courtesy of Wright Electric/easyJet)

Minute 54
¶ “Getting Electric Off The Ground With R&D: Analysis On Battery-Powered Electric Aircraft And Seacraft” • With growing success of R&D in preparing EVs for the road, NREL researchers are applying their expertise to non-road transportation modes. Like EVs, battery-powered aircraft and seacraft can decrease emissions, noise, and costs. [CleanTechnica]

Coal on a barge (Tobias Reich, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Europe Proposes Ban On Russian Coal Imports” • The EU is planning a new round of sanctions that includes a ban on Russian coal imports, and it’s also working on sanctions on Russian oil. The measures were announced by President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission. They still need approval of all 27 EU member states. [CNN]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #466: 4/7/2022

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 #465: 3/31/2022

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 #465: 3/31/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, March 24

Shell order page

Minute 2 
¶ “Shell Is Offering Tesla & Other EV Subscriptions In Germany” • Shell oil company is offering Tesla and other EV subscriptions in Germany. Oil and gas companies need to evolve if they want to survive the eventual EV revolution, and Shell may be leading the way. This isn’t to say that Shell is 100% a good company, but it is making progress. [CleanTechnica]

Jamie Dimon (Steve Jurvetson, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 5
¶ “Jamie Dimon To Joe Biden: We Need A ‘Marshall Plan’ For US And European Energy Security” • JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon urged President Joe Biden in an off-the-record meeting this week to develop a “Marshall Plan” to fortify the energy security of the US and Europe, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. [CNN]

Postal EV (Image from the USPS Office of Inspector General)

Minute 8
¶ “USPS Inspector General Study Favors Electric Vehicles” • The Office of Inspector General for the USPS has issued an extensive report on the purchase of new postal vehicles. It states nearly 99% of all postal delivery routes in the US could be served reliably by battery EVs that would cost less to buy, fuel, and maintain than conventional vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, March 25

Airplane taking off (Quintin Soloviev, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Flights Are Taking Huge ‘Detours’ Around Russian Air Space. Here’s What That Means For The Climate Crisis” • In response to sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Russia closed its airspace to airlines from dozens of countries. About 400 flights per month are being forced to take a wider berth, each using significantly greater amounts of fuel. [CNN]

Coral bleaching (Ahmed Areef, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Great Barrier Reef: Australia Confirms New Mass Bleaching Event” • Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is being devastated by another mass bleaching event, officials confirmed. It is the fourth time in six years that such severe and widespread damage has been detected. Prior to 2016, only two mass bleaching events had ever been recorded. [BBC]

Arcimoto EV (Arcimoto And Directed Technologies)

Minute 16
¶ “Directed Technologies Will Test Arcimoto EVs In Australia” • Directed Technologies and Arcimoto announced the testing of Arcimoto’s Fun Utility Vehicle and Deliverator across Australia. “It’s staggering to think that you can build a hundred Mean Lean Machines with the same amount of extracted material that goes into one Hummer.” [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, March 26

Robin’s eggs (Solen Feyissa, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Birds Are Laying Eggs Earlier, A Study Shows. Scientists Blame The Climate Crisis” • Using collections of egg samples from the modern and Victorian eras, researchers found that several bird species in the Chicago area nest and lay eggs almost a full month earlier now than they did a century ago. Their study appeared in the Journal of Animal Ecology. [CNN]

San Juan (Wei Zeng, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “100% Renewable Energy In Puerto Rico – How To Get There” • An analysis led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is underway to supply Puerto Rico with options for achieving a renewable, reliable, and equitable electric power system. A goal is to de-risk Puerto Rico’s investments in modern, intelligent, and affordable grid infrastructure. [CleanTechnica]

BMW 5G connected cars (BMW, via T-Mobile)

Minute 24
¶ “America’s First 5G Connected Car Is Here – And It’s Electric!” • BMW is introducing America’s first 5G connected cars, the BMW i4 sports sedan and the all-electric BMW iX. The pair will be powered by T-Mobile’s “Magenta Drive for BMW” service plan as part of an agreement with T-Mobile to bring unlimited calling and 5G data to select BMWs. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, March 27

Lithium ion batteries (Image from Argonne Laboratory)

Minute 27
¶ “Pivotal Battery Discovery Could Impact Transportation And The Grid: Overcoming Performance Decline” • One of the more promising candidates for new battery technology is sodium-ion. It is attractive in part because of sodium is so cheap, but battery performance declines rapidly. Researchers have found a cause of that problem, and a possible solution. [CleanTechnica]

Fighting a fire (Joe Bradshaw, Bureau of Land Management)

Minute 30
¶ “Climate Change Is Turning California’s Wildfire Season Into Wildfire Year” • There is no wildfire season any more. Like pay phones, typewriters, and VCRs, a wildfire “season” is a thing of the past. We are seeing serious wildfires in the West throughout the year. Earlier spring and drier weather mean that vegetation has more time to dry out. [CleanTechnica]

River Mersey (Mitchell Orr, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Mersey Tidal Project Could Be The Renewable Energy Answer The North Needs” • The Russian invasion in Ukraine is causing rising energy bills in the UK. A project in the River Mersey in Liverpool could be the energy source we need to become more self-reliant, reports the Liverpool Echo. Tidal power is more secure and a sustainable source of energy. [Cheshire Live]

Monday, March 28

Fuerstkogel wind farm, Austria (Image by BayWa re)

Minute 35
¶ “Renewables’ Share In Austria Stands At About 60% In Feb” • Renewable energy covered around 60% of the electricity needs in Austria in February as windpower generation more than doubled in annual terms thanks to stormy weather, the Austrian Power Grid said. Wind turbines provided nearly 18.5% of the country’s electricity mix. [Renewables Now]

Deer near Chernobyl (Sergey Omelchenko, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Forest Fires Spread To 10,000 Hectares Around Chernobyl Nuclear Plant” • More than 10,000 hectares of forest are ablaze in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, posing a dangerous risk of nuclear wildfires, an Ukrainian official warned, according to the Interfax agency. The fires could cause increased levels of radioactive air pollution in nearby countries. [Republic World]

Cloud named Hector, Darwin, NT (Djambalawa, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Long power cable (Sun Cable image)

Minute 40

¶ “Progressing World’s Largest Renewable Energy System” • The Northern Territory Labor Government will introduce legislation to facilitate the $30 billion Sun Cable Australia-Asia PowerLink project. The Sun Cable project is the world’s largest renewable energy transmission system. One part of it is the world’s largest solar farm and battery. [Mirage News]

Tuesday, March 29

Mangrove forest (David Clode, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “What Is Biodiversity And How Are We Protecting It?” • World governments are meeting in China later this year, to discuss how to stop human activities from causing the extinction of animal and plant species. They hope to come up with a long-term plan to reverse the threat to life on Earth – in all its varieties – at the UN Biodiversity Conference. [BBC]

Red leaf monkey in Borneo (Jeremy Bezanger, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “Pressure Grows For Deal To Save Nature” • A global agreement to reverse the loss of nature and halt extinctions is inching closer, as talks in Geneva enter their final day. International negotiators are working on the text of a UN framework to safeguard nature ahead of a high-level summit in China. Observers slammed the “snail’s pace” of negotiations. [BBC]

Starbucks charger (Courtesy of Starbucks via Fast Company)

Minute 48
¶ “Starbucks Wants To Woo Electric Car Drivers With More EV Chargers” • Most of the time, EV owners don’t have to worry about charging – they plug in their car at home in the evening and wake up with it charged. But Starbucks sees an opportunity to bring in customers who have to charge their cars when they are on longer trips. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, March 30

Humpback whale (Bart van meele, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “Artificial Whale Poop Could Save The Planet – Here’s How” • We’ve known that whale feces is good for marine life for more than a decade. In 2010, German whale scientist Victor Smetacek discovered that whale poop is like agricultural dung, a fertilizer. Whale poop is turns out to be a vital part of a natural system that supports life of many types. [DW]

Fire-fighting airplane (Filippos Sdralias, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “As Drought Pushes East, More Intense Wildfires Are Sparking In New Areas” • This year is already a dreadful year for wildfires. More than 14,781 separate wildfires have scorched over half a million acres so far, the largest number of fires year-to-date the National Interagency Fire Center has recorded in a decade. And they are popping up farther to the east. [CNN]

Natural gas flare (Image retrieved from NASA, public domain)

Minute 56
¶ “Oil Conglomerates Made Record Profits In 2021” • Surging gas prices hurt working people just as 25 of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies reaped a total of $205 billion in profits in 2021. It’s no coincidence that the big profits came after shareholders pressured fossil fuel corporations to restrict supply in order to drive prices higher. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #465: 3/31/2022

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 #464: 3/24/2022

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 #464: 3/24/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, March 17

Forest (Luca Bravo, Unsplash)

Minute 2 
¶ “Don’t Plant Just Any Tree To Save The Planet” • A mass tree planting can be used to start restoration of a damaged ecosystem. Adding tree planting to a renewable energy transition is a natural solution to carbon reduction. But done poorly, projects to plant trees can exacerbate issues like stormwater runoff, biodiversity loss, and soil depletion. [CleanTechnica]

Sensor (Mark Stone, University of Washington)

Minute 5
¶ “Wireless Sensors: Tiny Battery-Free Devices Float In The Wind Like Dandelion Seeds” • Inspired by dandelion seeds, a University of Washington team developed a sensor-carrying device that can travel up to 100 meters in a moderate breeze. Powered by solar cells, it can hold at least four sensors and share data up to 60 meters. [CleanTechnica]

Coal-burning power plant (Sam LaRussa, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “Federal Appeals Court Rules Biden Administration Can Use Key Climate Metric” • The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a Louisiana federal judge’s injunction that prevented the Biden administration from using a metric estimating the societal cost of carbon emissions in its federal environmental and climate regulations. [CNN]

Friday, March 18

Audi A6 Avant concept (Audi image)

Minute 11
¶ “Audi Shows Off A6 Avant Concept For Wagon Lovers” • The Audi A6 Avant is a pre-production concept, but it is scheduled to appear in showrooms a year after the Audi A6 Sportback. It is “a completely tangible look at future production models on our new PPE technology platform,” says technical development chief Oliver Hoffmann. [CleanTechnica]

Delta jet (Miguel Ángel Sanz, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Airline Giant Delta Warns Oil Increases Mean Higher Ticket Prices” • Higher oil prices are set to lead to a 10% increase in air fares, according to Ed Bastian, head of Delta Air Lines. He told the BBC that the final impact “really depends where fuel prices settle.” Oil prices have reached 14-year highs after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [BBC]

Offshore wind turbine (Grahame Jenkins, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Could The Energy Crisis Boost The Path To Renewables?” • The Oil & Gas price spike has reignited important conversations about the need to invest in alternative energy sources. Fossil fuels still provide around 85% of global energy and nearly half of the EU’s natural gas imports continue to come from Russia. Over-reliance on fossil fuels is not safe. [Energy Voice]

Saturday, March 19

Record-setting hail stone for the US (NWS, public domain)

Minute 19
¶ “How Climate Change Is Leading To Bigger Hailstones” • One result of climate change is bigger hailstorms. In Texas, Alabama, and Colorado, records for largest hailstone have been broken in the last three years, reaching sizes of up to 16cm (6.2 inches) in diameter. In 2020, Tripoli, the capital of Libya, was struck by hailstones nearly 18 cm (7.1 in) across. [BBC]

EV (Martin Katler, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Germany Gets On Board With EU ICE Ban” • The EU is in favor of banning sales of cars with internal combustion engines by 2035. Germany has been reluctant to make that commitment, but Politico reports that Germany has reluctantly signed on to the 2035 ICE ban and will ditch plans to lobby for key exemptions to EU CO₂ emissions targets. [CleanTechnica]

Fleetzero ship (Fleetzero image)

Minute 24
¶ “Fleetzero’s Container Ship Battery-Swapping Scheme May Help Electrify Shipping” • Fleetzero has developed a 2-MWh LiFePO₄ battery pack that fits in a shipping container. A ship can load enough containers onboard to complete a sea voyage, then swap them out when they are depleted for fully charged batteries while the ship is in port. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, March 20

Rivne nuclear power plant (Tanya Dedyukhina, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 27
¶ “Could Russia’s Reckless Rampage Endanger Nuclear Power?” • Russia’s reckless rampage includes savage attacks on Ukrainian nuclear plants. Shelling the plants raises questions about Russia’s future role in the international energy picture. It also poses a dilemma about whether nuclear energy is safe in a world where a madman can unleash vengeance. [Forbes]

Block Island wind farm (Ionna22, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 30
¶ “RI Plans To Buy More Offshore Wind Power To Help Meet Goal Of 100% Renewable Energy” • Governor Dan McKee is moving ahead with a plan to ramp up Rhode Island’s supply of power from offshore wind farms that would be developed off the coast of Southern New England. He asked for another 600 MW of offshore wind energy. [The Providence Journal]

Anglo American platinum mine (Anglo American image)

Minute 32
¶ “Anglo American To Build Huge Renewable Energy Plants” • Anglo and Électricité de France have agreed jointly to develop on-site and off-site solar and wind farms in South Africa with 3 GW to 5 GW of production capacity over the next decade, the companies said. The plan will bolster South Africa’s renewable electricity output greatly. [TechCentral]

Monday, March 21

Penguin (Ian Parker, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Scientists Astonished By Heatwaves At North And South Poles” • Startling heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles are causing alarm among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown. At both the North Pole and Antarctica, temperatures reached record high levels over the weekend. [The Irish Times]

Tübingen (David Hertle, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Tübingen: Europe’s Fiercely Vegan, Fairy-Tale City” • Located in a German region famed for its frugality, Tübingen is known for its fiercely green reputation, where the default setting is veganism and environmental friendliness. Now the city has passed a tax on packaging for single-use meals packaging. McDonalds is suing. [BBC]

Porsche EV (Porsche image)

Minute 40
¶ “Porsche Ramps Up Its Electric Car Plans” • You know the EV revolution is moving forward when Porsche announces it expects 50% of the cars its sells to come with a plug by 2025, and 80% by 2030. Last year, the company sold a record 301,915 cars. In Europe, nearly 40% of them were either a plug-in hybrid or a battery-electric car. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, March 22

Austin, Texas (Carlos Alfonso, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Severe Storms And Reported Tornadoes Tear Through Texas As Storm System Heads East” • There were 17 tornado reports across Texas and Oklahoma, a CNN meteorologist said, and over 800,000 people were under a flash-flood warning in the Austin area. The line of severe weather struck as the state was already dealing with more than 170 wildfires. [CNN]

Cadillac Lyriq (Nissangeniss, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 46
¶ “GM Begins Production Of Electric Cadillac Lyriq” • GM celebrated the production of its first Ultium-powered electric Cadillac Lyriq rolling off the assembly line. It also announced plans to reopen its order books in May after selling out the entirety of its first production run within minutes of the vehicle’s announcement last year. [CleanTechnica]

Traverse wind farm (AEP image)

Minute 48
¶ “AEP Brings 998-MW Traverse Wind Online In Oklahoma” • American Electric Power brought online the 998-MW Traverse Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma. The project has 365 2-MW GE turbines. It provides electricity to customers of AEP’s Public Service Company of Oklahoma and Southwestern Electric Power Company in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. [reNews]

Wednesday, March 23

Electric powertrain (Wrightspeed image)

Minute 51
¶ “Romeo Power And Wrightspeed Debut ‘Powertrain In A Crate’ For Buses And Heavy Trucks” • Romeo Power and Wrightspeed are working on what they call a “Powertrain In A Crate,” which can be installed in an existing large vehicle. Their system is intended for transit buses and trucks of medium or heavy duty, according to Romeo. [CleanTechnica]

Work in a Volkswagen plant (Volkswagen image)

Minute 54
¶ “Volkswagen Plans $7 Billion Investment To Build Electric Cars In North America” • Volkswagen Group announced it will invest $7.1 billion to produce battery-electric cars in North America, and offer 25 new EV models to customers in the US, Mexico, and Canada by 2030. Its goal is for 55% of its cars to run on electricity by the beginning of the next decade. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm substations (GE-Bond image)

Minute 56
¶ “GE, Bond To Deliver Empire Wind 1 Onshore Substation” • GE and Bond Civil & Utility Construction have been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to provide the onshore substation for the 816-MW Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm off New York. The onshore substation will be built in Brooklyn, New York City. [reNews]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #464: 3/24/2022

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 #463: 3/17/2022

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 #463: 3/17/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, March 10

Rivne Nuclear Power Plant (Victor Korniyenko, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 2 
¶ “Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine Highlights Vulnerability Of Nuclear Power Plants” • A series of Russian attacks near nuclear plants over the last two weeks are elevating fears of potential accidents and what they could trigger. John Yang reports on the latest and speaks to science correspondent Miles O’Brien, who covered the aftermath of Chernobyl. [PBS]

Traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge (Saketh Garuda, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “EPA Officially Reinstates California’s Authority To Craft Its Own Vehicle Emissions Standards” • The EPA announced that it restored California’s authority to implement its own greenhouse gas emission standards and zero-emission sales mandates. The EPA is also allowing other states to adopt California’s stricter standards in lieu of the federal rules. [CNN]

Oil rig (Worksite, Ltd, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “War In Ukraine: Oil Prices Plunge As UAE Supports Supply Boost” • Oil prices have plunged after the UAE said it supported increasing production. The benchmark Brent crude fell more than 17% at one point after the statement. The fall follows weeks of escalating prices due to fears of supply disruptions sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [BBC]

Friday, March 11

Hoover Dam (Ryan Thorpe, Unsplash)

Minute 11
¶ “Size Of Drought In US Increased By The Area Of California In The Past Month” • The West is not the only region with severely dry weather so far this year. According to Thursday’s report from the US Drought Monitor, more than 61% of the contiguous US is in some classification of drought. The figure is nearing the all-time record of 65%, set in 2012. [CNN]

Lady Vesta (Sergey Rodovnichenko, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 13
¶ “Russia Hits Back At Western Sanctions With Export Bans” • After western countries set import limits on its oil and gas, Russia retaliated by imposing export bans on a string of products until the end of 2022. The ban covers exports of telecoms, medical, vehicle, agricultural, and electrical equipment, as well as some forestry products such as timber. [BBC]

High prices in Massachusetts (Yassine Khalfalli, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Why Record-High Gas Prices Won’t Be Solved By Drilling More Oil In The US” • As US oil and gasoline prices set records, politicians in both parties called for a seemingly easy solution: Drill our way out of the problem. But the idea that the US can be fully energy independent, thereby keeping gas prices low, is a fantasy, numerous experts told CNN. [CNN]

Saturday, March 12

Tesla Semi (Tesla image)

Minute 19
¶ “EPA Wants To Cut Semi Emissions By 60%” • Earlier this week, the EPA said it would propose rules to reduce smog-forming and greenhouse gas emissions from heavy duty vehicles. The rules could require cuts of up to 60% in the NOₓ emissions by 2045. The Department of Transportation is to offer funding to help companies meet those goals. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines in Ukraine (DTEK image)

Minute 22
¶ “Half Of Ukraine Renewables Capacity ‘Under Threat'” • Half of Ukraine’s 9,500 MW of renewable capacity is threatened with complete or partial destruction due to the Russian war on the country. The Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy said 47% of the installed renewable capacity is in the regions where active hostilities are taking place. [reNews]

Brisbane flood, 2022 (Kgbo, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 24
¶ “Australia Floods: ‘I’m Angry It’s Happening Again'” • Sophia Walter is angry. In 2011, the hill she lives on in Brisbane was turned into an island by a 100-year flood. Now, it’s happened all over again, just as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was publishing its latest update saying there will be even more wildfires and more floods coming. [BBC]

Sunday, March 13

Oil tanker (Wilfredor, CC0 1.0, public domain)

Minute 27
¶ “Will Russia’s Attack On Ukraine Help Thaw US-Venezuela Relations?” • These are desperate times, and desperate measures are needed. Oil helps make the world go round and Venezuela has a lot of it – and when the world is in crisis, such as with the ban on Russian oil exports causing prices to surge, leaders start revisiting those awkward friendships. [BBC]

Tesla Model 3 (Vlad Tchompalov, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Traditional Automakers Could Face ‘Kodak Moment’ If They Fail To Catch Up With Tesla” • Legacy automakers are serious about EVs. But do they have what it takes to catch up with Tesla? According to Rob Hull at the UK’s This is Money media outlet, “Tesla’s ability to continue delivering EVs in 2022 could see it extend its stronghold over the market.” [CleanTechnica]

How an iron air battery works (Form Energy Image)

Minute 32
¶ “Rusty Metal Could Be The Battery The Energy Grid Needs” • An electrochemistry professor at the MIT, Yet-Ming Chiang, with his colleagues are working on a low-cost iron-air battery that will provide multi-day storage for renewable energy by 2024. When the battery is charged rust turns to iron, and discharging returns the iron to the form of rust. [Popular Science]

Monday, March 14

Khmelnitskiy nuclear plant (RLuts, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 35
¶ “Why Putin Is Hell-Bent On Capturing Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactors” • “Turning off the power nationwide, as [Russian force] have done on a smaller scale in Mariupol, in the middle of winter creates mass hardship and suffering for the Ukrainian people, and that is apparently a weapon Putin feels free to utilize,” one expert on warfare said. [Yahoo]

Electric aircraft (Image: Airbus and Fortescue Future Industries)

Minute 38
¶ “Electrifying Trains, Planes, And Dirty Big Mining Trucks” • Twiggy Forrest has all the big boy toys, and he is planning to electrify them all and run them on green hydrogen and gravity. He plans to use Williams Advanced Engineering’s battery tech in a push to electrify Fortescue’s mining equipment – trains, planes, and dirty big mining trucks. [CleanTechnica]

Climate protest (Li-An Lim, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “An ‘Excruciating Year’: Climate Activists Reset With Biden’s Agenda On Life Support” • President Joe Biden “was supposed to show up with Build Back Better in his back pocket and slam it down on the table and say, ‘China, India, how do you like them apples?'” Bill McKibben said. “But he showed up with nothing. And had nothing really to say.” [CNN]

Tuesday, March 15

Chernobyl Confinement (Cls14, GNU License 1.2)

Minute 43
¶ “Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Loses Power Hours After Being Turned Back On” • Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant has lost power just hours after it was restored. The decommissioned plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, was seized by Russian forces within days of the invasion. Its high-voltage power line was damaged by fighting. [Metro]

Joe Biden in 2019 (Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 46
¶ “House Democrats To Biden: Use Climate Action To Restart Negotiations On Spending Bill” • A bloc of 89 House Democrats sent a letter to President Biden urging him to restart negotiations on a Democrat-only spending bill centered around climate action. The lawmakers stressed that Biden must not fail to act on climate change. [CNN]

Hawaii (Luca Bravo, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Court Case In Hawaii Against Fossil Fuel Companies Passes Major Milestone” • In Hawaii, a state judge ruled that a lawsuit seeking damages from major oil and gas companies can move forward. The companies are accused of working for decades to deceive the public and policymakers about the devastating impacts of climate change. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, March 16

Volkswagen EV lineup (Volkswagen via Inside Transportation)

Minute 51
¶ “Volkswagen Says EV Operations Will Be Profitable Earlier Than Expected” • Volkswagen Group told the press that several of its electric car models, including the Porsche Taycan, are sold out through the end of 2022. High demand is helping its electric car business become as profitable as its conventional car business more quickly than expected. [CleanTechnica]

Pollen (Alex Jones, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Allergy Season Will Start Much Earlier And Be Far More Intense Because Of Climate Crisis, Study Suggests” • A study published in Nature Communications, found by the end of the century, pollen season could begin as much as 40 days earlier than it normally has in the US because of global warming. Pollen counts could climb by up to 250%. [CNN]

Denmark (Adrian Cuj, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “Denmark Targets 6 GW Of Electrolyzer Capacity By 2030” • The Danish government has reached an agreement to accelerate the development of green fuels, through a tender to support the construction of 4 GW to 6 GW of power-to-x capacity by 2030. Denmark will support hydrogen production, better framework conditions for producers, and other measures. [reNews]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #463: 3/17/2022

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 #462: 3/10/2022

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 #462: 3/10/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, March 3

Elon Musk (Bill Ingalls, NASA)

Minute 2
¶ “Elon Musk’s Taxes Were Just About Enough To Cover GM’s Bailout” • Earlier this century, the US government bailed out GM. Last December, the Treasury Department sold the last remaining shares it had acquired from that, and Reuters it lost $11.2 billion overall. In 2021, Elon Musk paid over $11 billion in taxes due to selling Tesla shares. [CleanTechnica]

Bits of plastic on a beach (Thobias Löfqvist, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “UN Agrees To Create World’s First-Ever Plastics Pollution Treaty In A Blow To Big Oil” • The UN approved an agreement to create the world’s first global plastic pollution treaty, describing it as the most significant environmental deal since the 2015 Paris climate accord. Member states agreed on the outline of a pact to rein in soaring plastic pollution. [CNN]

Jeep EV (Courtesy of Jeep)

Minute 8
¶ “All New Jeep, Chrysler, Ram Products Will Be Electric From 2026” • The big news from Stellantis’ (née Chrysler) big press conference wasn’t really the first-ever, all-new, all-electric Jeep model. It was an unsaid statistic that every new Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram truck offering will be available as a battery-electric model from 2026. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, March 4

Zaporizhzhia reactors 1 and 2 (DENAMAX, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Ukraine conflict: Shares fall after nuclear plant attack” • Share prices fell after a fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, after Russia troops shelled it. London’s FTSE 100 share index opened down 0.6%. Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 2.2%. Some investor concerns were eased after officials said the plant’s safety was “secured.” [BBC]

Offshore windpower (Stig Nygaard, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 13
¶ “Victoria Sets 9-GW Offshore Wind Goal In Australia” • The Australian state of Victoria plans to have 9 GW of offshore wind capacity installed of its coast by 2040. The Labor Government of the state has published the “Victorian Offshore Wind Policy Directions Paper”, which also set interim targets of 2 GW by 2032 and 4 GW by 2035. [reNews]

Electric heat (Nate the House Whisperer, via Electrify Now)

Minute 16
¶ “The Climate Math Of Home Heating Electrification” • UC Davis researchers published a study in Energy Policy showing that a typical US home can cut its heating-related climate pollution by 45% to 72% by swapping out a gas-fired furnace for an efficient, all-electric heat pump. And it’s true right now, today, in every region in the country. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, March 5

Russian tank (Kevin Schmid, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Turn Down The Heat To Stop Putin? Europe Wrestles With Its Russian Gas Addiction” • You may not think much about where the energy that heats your home comes from, let alone where the money you pay for it goes. For many Europeans, there’s a good chance that money is flowing to the Russian state – much of it into Putin’s war chest. [CNN]

Sony test car

Minute 22
¶ “Honda And Sony Will Build Electric Cars Together” • Honda and Sony signed a memorandum of understanding to form a new company to manufacture electric cars together, The Verge reports. The first cars are to go on sale in 2025, which is pretty quick, given that new car design and production typically takes five to seven years. [CleanTechnica]

Lake Powell dam (Luca Bravo, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Lake Powell Is About To Drop Below A Critical Level Never Reached Before, As Drought Rages On” • Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest reservoir, is projected to dip past a critical threshold, threatening water supplies and putting a key source of hydropower generation at heightened risk of being forced offline, as the drought continues. [CNN]

Sunday, March 6

Rotterdam solar array by DSD Renewables (Photo provided)

Minute 27
¶ “Schenectady-Based DSD On Sharp Growth Path As Green Energy Expands” • Less than three years after its creation, GE spinoff DSD Renewables has nearly tripled its workforce as it adds solar electricity to the power grid and to its customers’ facilities. DSD’s headquarters at Mohawk Harbor hosts a small part of its nearly 170 employees. [The Daily Gazette]

Gas prices by state (AAA image)

Minute 30
¶ “Shock! Awe! Americans Willing To Pay Higher Gas Prices To Defeat Putin” • Americans want low energy prices, but in a poll conducted last week by Reuters, 80% of respondents including solid majorities of Republicans and Democrats said they support the idea of not importing any oil from Russia, even if that leads to higher gas prices at the pump. [CleanTechnica]

Montenegro (olga brajnovic, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Montenegro To Introduce Renewable Energy Auctions” • The Ministry of Capital Investments of Montenegro announced that it will conduct auctions to raise the share of solar power plants and wind farms in the country’s energy mix. To do this, it will have technical support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. [Balkan Green Energy News]

Monday, March 7

Shell station (Myke Waddy, public domain)

Minute 35
¶ “Did Shell Change Its Mind About Russia?” • Did Shell Oil Company change its mind about Russia? Well, it’s complicated – at least, according to Shell. Shell was one of three oil companies cutting ties with Russia. But it bought 100,000 metric tons of Russia’s Urals crude from a commodity trader at $28.50 a barrel below the price of Brent crude. [CleanTechnica]

Shell Perdido offshore platform (BSEE, public domain)

Minute 38
¶ “Stocks Sink While Oil Soars After US And Allies Consider Banning Russian Oil” • Stocks are tumbling Monday as oil prices are soaring to the highest level in 13 years, raising fears about a further spike in inflation that could damage the global economy. Brent crude also rose to the highest level since 2008, up 8% to $127.66 a barrel. [CNN]

Wind turbines (Sam Forson, Pexels)

Minute 40
¶ “UK Renewable Energy Projects Should Be Accelerated To Mitigate Impact Of Ukraine Conflict” • Energy experts called for the UK to press on with its push to roll out renewables, with the need to bolster energy security highlighted by the impact of Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. EU and UK gas prices have now risen close to the record highs. [New Civil Engineer]

Tuesday, March 8 

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

Minute 43
¶ “Amazon Near Tipping Point Of Shifting From Rainforest To Savannah, Study Suggests” • The Amazon rainforest may be nearing a critical tipping point that could see the biologically rich and diverse ecosystem transformed into a grassy savannah. The fate of the rainforest is crucial to the health of the planet for a number of reasons. [CNN]

Work on Nord Stream 1 (Alexey Druzhinin, Government.ru, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 46
¶ “War In Ukraine: Russia Says It May Cut Gas Supplies If Oil Ban Goes Ahead” • Russia has said it may close its main gas pipeline to Germany if the West goes ahead with a ban on Russian oil. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said a “rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market.” [BBC]

Site of proposed solar farm (The Nature Conservancy)

Minute 48
¶ “Nature Conservancy To Build Solar Farms At Abandoned Coal Mines In Virginia” • In 2019, the Nature Conservancy acquired 253,000 acres in the central Appalachian Mountains to create what it calls the Cumberland Forest Project. The forest includes several moutaintop removal mines that were abandoned. Some will become solar farms. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, March 9

Wind turbines (Irina Iriser, Pexels)

Minute 51
¶ “Europe Plans To Reduce Russian Gas Imports By 66% This Year” • Europe is planning to reduce consumption of Russian natural gas this year as it prepares for a complete break with its single biggest energy supplier over the war in Ukraine. EU officials outlined a plan to achieve energy independence from Moscow “well before 2030.” [CNN]

Russian currency (Polina Tankilevitch, Pexels)

Minute 54
¶ “War in Ukraine: Fitch Ratings warns Russian bond default ‘imminent'” • Fitch Ratings has warned Russia is likely to soon default on its debts, as it downgraded the country’s bonds further into “junk” territory, almost to the bottom grade. The warning came after the EU, US, and UK said they will reduce or ban imports of Russian oil or gas. [BBC]

Installing a solar panel (Kindel Media, Pexels)

Minute 56
¶ “Vice Admiral McGinn: Renewable Energy Will Save Us From Dictators Whose Power Comes From Fossil Fuels” • Vice Admiral Dennis V McGinn wrote a piece for The Hill responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He argued that renewable energy will save us from dictators powered by fossil fuels and called for the US to up its game on renewables. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #462: 3/10/2022

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