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
Energy Week with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 