Energy Week #474 – 6/2/2022

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 #474 – 6/2/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, May 26

Robot for debris collection at Fukushima Daiichi (Jacobs image)

Minute 2
¶ “Jacobs Develops Robot For Fukushima Debris Sampling” • The USA engineering group Jacobs has designed and built a remotely-operated robotic tool to investigate debris in damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Eleven years after the meltdown at Fukushima, in March, 2011, it will be possible to get samples. [World Nuclear News]

Oil rig (Arvind Vallabh, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “Big Oil, Flush With Cash, Is Failing On Climate Pledges” • In 2020, with profits down due to pandemic and lockdowns, fossil fuel companies responded to pressure and announced bold plans to invest in clean energy. Now, with profits high and oil giants back to their pre-pandemic profitability, the push toward green reform appears to have taken a back seat. [CNN]

Pump jack in Texas (Eric Kounce, public domain)

Minute 8
¶ “Interior Department Announces $33 Million To Clean Up 277 Methane-Spewing Wells On Federal Land” • Officials from the Interior Department and the White House announced they will spend $33 million to clean up 277 orphan oil and gas wells on federal lands in nine states. States have identified over 130,000 orphan wells to work on. [CNN]

Friday, May 27

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

Minute 11
¶ “Should The War In Ukraine Spur A Nuclear Security Rethink?” • With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nuclear facilities have been caught up in the midst of conventional warfare for the first time in history. That scenario, a nightmare that has now turned into a reality, is one of the things that few of the industry’s players had ever anticipated. [France 24]

Wind turbines (Karyatid, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Energy Secretary Blasts Russia For ‘Weaponizing’ Energy” • Speaking at a GE wind turbine testing facility, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Russia is “weaponizing energy, which is another reason why as a nation, we should move to energy sources that cannot be weaponized.” She pointed out that wind and solar power can’t be weaponized. [CNN]

Block Island Wind Farm (US DOE, public domain)

Minute 16
¶ “Mayflower Wind Files PPAs For Approval” • Mayflower Wind filed 20-year power purchase agreements with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities to supply three of the state’s largest utilities for 1200 MW of electricity generated by offshore wind facilities. Mayflower Wind won bids for the electricity in 2019 and 2021. [reNews]

Saturday, May 28

Tesla Model S charging up at a Shell gas station (Shell image)

Minute 19
¶ “A Year After The Shell Ruling: Big Victories And Next Steps For Climate Litigation” • A year has passed since a precedent-setting court ruling in the Netherlands ordered Shell to cut its activities’ carbon emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels to align with the Paris climate agreement. Since then, other climate litigation has followed and more is to come. [CleanTechnica]

Oil tankers off California (US Coast Guard, public domain)

Minute 22
¶ “Massachusetts Court Rules Suit Against Exxon Can Move Forward” • The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled against Exxon in its bid to stop a suit filed by Attorney General Maura Healey from going to trial. Massachusetts alleges that Exxon lied about the climate crisis and covered up the fossil fuel industry’s role in it. [CleanTechnica]

Pipeline at a Nevada geothermal plant (BLMNevada, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 24
¶ “What Are Geophones?” • Geothermal energy is renewable, sustainable, and carbon free. A key factor to unlocking that energy could be through innovation in subsurface seismic sensors, or geophones. The DOE is offering the $3.65 million American-Made Geothermal Geophone Prize to support developmetn of geophones. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, May 29

Nuclear power plant (Avda, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 27
¶ “Nuclear Power Has No Place In Renewables Bill, Says Activists” • Activists are urging Indonesian regulators to exclude nuclear energy development from the new and renewable energy bill, arguing that it would impede the country’s transition to green energy. “Accommodating nuclear energy in the bill would hinder renewable energy development.” [Borneo Bulletin Online]

Ikea (Zheka Kapusta, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Soon You’ll Be Able To Buy Solar Panels At Ikea” • Starting this fall, shoppers will be able to buy solar panels at Ikea stores. The new project, according to a news release, is a collaboration between Ikea’s US branch and SunPower, a California-based company that sells and installs solar power products, including solar panels. [CNN]

DHL electric truck (Volvo Trucks image)

Minute 32
¶ “DHL Orders Some Volvo Electric Trucks” • Delivery company DHL has tested and used an electric truck in London since 2020, and the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. DHL has put in an order for 44 electric trucks from Volvo. The trucks will be deployed all over Europe. Four of them will be larger trucks for for long distance work. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, May 30

High speed train in Japan (tansaisuketti, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 35
¶ “Faster, Cleaner, Greener: What Lies Ahead For The World’s Railways” • Faster, cleaner, greener and packed with advanced technology, rail is the only transport mode currently well placed to provide the backbone of our future mobility needs. Ridership may be down due to the pandemic, but rail transportation may be headed to a new golden age. [CNN]

Ford F-150 Lightning (Image courtesy of Ford)

Minute 38
¶ “Cars Could Get A ‘Flashy’ Upgrade” • The average SUV has up to 350 kg (771 lb) of plastic. It could sit in a landfill for centuries but for a new recycling process. Rice University chemists and researchers at the Ford Motor Company are turning plastic parts from “end-of-life” vehicles into graphene via the university’s flash Joule heating process. [CleanTechnica]

USS Arleigh Burke, DDG-51 (US Navy, public domain)

Minute 40
¶ “‘In The Crosshairs’: Department Of Navy Releases Climate Change Strategy” • The Department of the Navy released its strategy on how to deal with climate change and proceed toward the government’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Navy Secretary said the issue is “existential” for the Navy and Marine Corps. [Navy Times]

Tuesday, May 31

Los Angeles (Venti Views, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “With LA’s Vote, America’s Two Largest Cities Have Said No New Fossil Gas” • The Los Angeles City Council voted to ban fossil fuels in new construction. The Council told departments to develop a plan requiring “all new residential and commercial buildings in Los Angeles to be built so that they will achieve zero-carbon emissions.” [CleanTechnica]

Solar panels (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “HyDeal Picks EPC Partners For PV-hydrogen Project In Spain” • HyDeal selected engineering, procurement and construction partners for the initial phases of a multi-GW solar-connected electrolyzer project in northern Spain. The expectation is that 9.5 GW of solar generating capacity will be installed along with 7.4 GW of electrolyzer capacity. [reNews]

Work on small modular reactor design (Idaho National Laboratory)

Minute 48
¶ “Stanford-Led Research Finds Small Modular Reactors Will Exacerbate Challenges Of Nuclear Waste” • Industry analysts say the advanced modular designs for nuclear plants will be cheaper and produce fewer radioactive byproducts than conventional reactors. A study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says the opposite. [Stanford News]

Wednesday, June 1 

Transmission lines (Jay Heike, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “Energy Experts Sound Alarm About US Electric Grid” • The forecasts say this will be a hotter than normal summer, and electricity experts and officials are warning that states may not have enough power to meet demand in the coming months. But many of the nation’s grid operators are also not taking climate change into account in their planning. [CNN]

EV charging (dcbel, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Sales Of Electric Cars Doubled To Record 6.6 Million In 2021” • Electric car sales doubled in 2021 to 6.6 million and remain strong in 2022, but future growth will demand greater efforts to diversify battery making and ensure critical mineral supplies to reduce the risks of bottlenecks and price rises, an International Energy Agency report says. [Energy Digital]

Ore train in Australia (Fortescue, via Jalopnik)

Minute 56
¶ “An Electric Train That Never Needs Charging? It’s Real!” • NBC News recently reported on an electric train never needs to be plugged in to keep running. The train goes on battery power to a mine at the top of a mountain, where it is loaded with ore. It goes down by gravity, with regenerative breaking charging the battery again. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #474 – 6/2/2022

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 #473 – 5/26/2022

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 #473 – 5/26/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, May 19

Wind turbines (NREL image)

Minute 2 
¶ “NOAA Wind Forecasts Result In $150 Million In Energy Savings Every Year” • As electricity providers increasingly add renewable energy to their portfolios, a study in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy shows that more accurate wind forecasts generated by a NOAA weather model is saving large amounts of money. [NOAA Research]

Coal-burning power plant (Sam LaRussa, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “‘Fossil Fuels Are A Dead End’: UN Chief Emphasizes Renewable Energy Projects” • United Nations general secretary Antonio Guterres, noting the global energy crises which prompted large economies to open new oil and gas fields, has proposed five critical actions to jump-start the transition to renewable energy. [Hindustan Times]

Materials scientists (Image by Argonne National Laboratory)

Minute 8
¶ “Center Advancing Beyond-Lithium Battery Tech Generates Over 30 Patents” • Since 2013, DOE researchers have invented a diverse range of technologies in the “beyond lithium-ion” space. The primary focus has been on flow, lithium-sulfur, multivalent and solid-state batteries. It has yielded over 30 patents that are now available for licensing. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, May 20

Building an offshore wind turbine (Rscbelgium, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 11
¶ “150 GW Of Wind Power From The North Sea – Deal Signed In Denmark” • Probably the most ambitious renewable energy agreement ever was signed on the harbor of Esbjerg, Denmark. The Esbjerg Declaration, which has the subtitle The North Sea as a Green Power Plant of Europe, has targets for offshore wind up to at least 150 GW by 2050. [CleanTechnica]

Construction of new power station at Hinkley Point (Nick Chipchase, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 13
¶ “Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station Delayed A Year By Covid” • The nuclear power station being built at Hinkley Point in Somerset will start operating a year later than planned and will cost an extra £3 billion, it was announced. The delay means the first reactor unit is now scheduled to start operating in June 2027, a year later than planned. [The Guardian]

Climeworks carbon capture (Climeworks image)

Minute 16
¶ “DOE Announces Multibillion-Dollar Project To Kickstart A Carbon Dioxide Removal Industry In US” • The US DOE is announcing a massive investment in direct air carbon removal projects, in hopes of kickstarting an industry that energy experts say is critical to getting the country’s planet-warming emissions under control. [CNN]

Saturday, May 21

Cherry blossoms in Tokyo (Alan Godfrey, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Human-Induced Climate Crisis Is Making Japan’s Cherry Blossoms Bloom Earlier” • Japan’s world-famous cherry trees are flowering much earlier than normal due to human-induced climate change, a study has found. The cherry blossoms have special cultural importance, and the dates of flowering have been recorded for centuries. [CNN]

Zoox robotaxi (Zoox image)

Minute 22
¶ “Zoox Shows Off Its Battery-Electric Autonomous People Pod” • Amazon has an autonomous robotaxi division, Zoox, which is preparing to bring its battery-electric autonomous people mover to market soon. The Zoox is designed from the ground up to transport people from point A to point B as conveniently as possible. [CleanTechnica]

School buses (Denisse Leon, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Harris And EPA Will Announce Schools Can Apply For $500 Million To Replace Diesel School Buses With Zero-Emissions Buses” • The Biden administration is announcing that school districts around the US can apply for the first round of funding to transition to zero emissions buses. It is $500 million out of $5 billion in the bipartisan infrastructure law. [CNN]

Sunday, May 22

US electric grids (NREL image)

Minute 27
¶ “Why We Can Send A Rover To Mars, But We Can’t Send An Electron From New York To California” • Space missions are a federal matter, but states determine energy policy and decisions on infrastructure. Right now, states and the federal government can choose how to define our country’s options for clean energy and plan the challenges ahead. [CleanTechnica]

Cotton Top Tamarins (Rebecca Campbell, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “What Is Biodiversity And How Are We Protecting It?” • The UN has declared Sunday, May 22, to be the International Day for Biodiversity to raise awareness of the extinction risk facing animals and plants. Nearly a third of all species are currently endangered due to human activities. Governments will meet on the issue this year in China. [BBC]

Sydney Harbor (Photoholgic, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Australian Voters Deliver Strong Message On Climate, Ending Conservative Government’s Nine Year Rule” • Australian voters have delivered a sharp rebuke to the center-right government, ending nine years of conservative rule. They have voted in favor of the center-left opposition that promised stronger action on climate change. [CNN]

Monday, May 23

Ireland (Nils Nedel, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Ireland Allocates 1.53 GW Of PV In Second Renewables Auction” • Grid operator EirGrid announced provisional results of Ireland’s second renewable energy auction. Overall, EirGrid selected 80 of the 130 projects that were submitted. The projects range in size from 0.5 MW to 104.4 MW and are mostly located in central and southern Ireland. [PV Magazine]

Hyzon road train (Hyzon image)

Minute 38
¶ “Could Hydrogen Be The Victor In UK’s Hydrogen Vs Electric Truck Probe?” • The UK government launched a £200 million investigation into the future of its road freight. Over a three-year period, it will look to understand advantages of hydrogen and electric trucks, as well as the infrastructure needed for road freight to be decarbonized. [CleanTechnica]

Wildfire (USDA Forest Service)

Minute 40
¶ “With Climate Change Fueling Wildfires, Changes Are Needed To Prevent Worse Scenarios” • A study published this month in the journal Ecology Letters found that wildfire risks are going to increase in states like New Mexico because of climate change. Scientists say humans need to make changes to prevent worse fire risks. [The NM Political Report]

Tuesday, May 24

Hardwick solar array (Encore Renewable Energy image)

Minute 43
¶ “Solar Array Transforms Hardwick Gravel Pit Into Renewable Energy Resource” • Encore Renewable Energy and the Electric Department of Hardwick, Vermont, held a ribbon-cutting at a 1.65-MW solar array at a former Hardwick gravel pit. The system is expected to provide annual electricity needs of approximately 340 homes. [Vermont Business Magazine]

Scania (Image courtesy of Scania)

Minute 46
¶ “More Electric Semi Trucks Coming To US And Europe” • Private car owners may still be undecided about EVs, but commercial fleet managers are rushing to reap the benefits of battery-operated vehicles, with their greatly reduced costs of fuel and maintenance. Electric semi trucks are enjoying a surge of orders in both the US and Europe. [CleanTechnica]

Bullet train in Tokyo (Fikri Rasyid, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “What Would A Flying-Free World Look Like?” • Air travel is incredibly polluting, but what would happen if people across the world suddenly stopped flying completely? A world of no flights would present some serious logistical challenges, but could also open up the door to huge changes to other, lower-carbon forms of transport. [BBC]

Wednesday, May 25

Climeworks direct air capture plant (Photo by Climeworks)

Minute 51
¶ “Elon Musk, Alphabet, And Joe Biden (USA) Are Just A Few Investing Billions Into Carbon Removal” • As the world shifts toward clean energy in its automobiles and its energy generation tactics, experts say there’s still a lot of work to do to ensure global temperatures don’t keep rising. One costly but effective solution is carbon removal technology. [CleanTechnica]

PVs in the Po Valley (Rosapicci, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 54
¶ “Italy Introduces Domestic Renewable Energy To The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy Plan” • Italy formally backed a plan to allow farmers to sell renewable energy to European power grids, following talks between Italian Agricultural Minister Stefano Patuanelli and European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski. [China.org]

Blue Bird chassis (Image courtesy of Blue Bird)

Minute 56
¶ “Blue Bird Will Manufacture Electric Medium Duty Trucks And Vans” • A school bus is basically a truck chassis with a passenger compartment bolted on. So it should come as no surprise that Blue Bird, which currently manufactures electric school buses, is preparing to start producing medium duty Class 5 and Class 6 electric trucks. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #473 – 5/26/2022

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 #472 – 5/19/2022

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 #472 – 5/19/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, May 12

Hurricane Sam (NASA image)

Minute 2 
¶ “Reducing Harmful Air Pollution Has Led To A Surprising Effect – More Hurricanes In The North Atlantic” • A study published in Science Advances found that as aerosol pollution decreased in the decades following the US Clean Air Act and similar actions in Europe, the ocean could absorb more sunlight, which fueled more storms. [CNN]

Wind turbines (European Energy image)

Minute 5
¶ “European Energy And Vestas Forge Offshore Turbine Team” • European Energy and Vestas have teamed up for a joint venture aiming to develop and build three of Vestas’ new V236 15.0-MW offshore wind turbine at three test positions which are now under development by European Energy about four km off the coast near the city of Frederikshavn. [reNews]

Tidal turbines and installation ship (Sustainable Marine image)

Minute 8
¶ “First Floating Tidal Power Delivered To Nova Scotia Grid” • Sustainable Marine said it has successfully harnessed the tidal currents in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, delivering the first floating in-stream tidal power to Nova Scotia’s grid. The project has enabled Sustainable Marine to acquire skills and resources to deliver turnkey projects. [Marine Link]

Friday, May 13

Vogtle construction on 2011 (Charles C Watson Jr, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 11
¶ “Six Years Late And 250% Over Budget: Georgia’s Newest Nuclear Plant” • The Municipal Energy Authority of Georgia, announced that the Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear generating stations approaching completion in that state are now likely to cost roughly $34 billion. They were originally estimated to cost $14 billion and be operational in 2017. [Oil Price]

Oil rig (Pixabay, Pexels, CC0)

Minute 13
¶ “Saving The Books And Cooking The Planet” • Oil and gas companies are increasingly using mergers and acquisitions to offload emissions from their balance sheets and meet corporate climate targets without actually reducing emissions, according to an Environmental Defense Fund report that examined mergers and acquisitions in 2017 through 2021. [CleanTechnica]

Canal in Venice California, 2016 (NewtonCourt, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 16
¶ “As Water Runs Short In California, Commission Rejects $1.4 Billion Desalination Plant” • As a water crisis looms in California, the state’s coastline protection agency unanimously rejected the development of a $1.4 billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach that would have converted ocean water into municipal water for Orange County residents. [CNN]

Saturday, May 14

Cruas nuclear power plant (Yelkrokoyade, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 19
¶ “France’s Power Sector Further Strained By Extended Outages And Repairs” • France’s nuclear power plants are to have repairs and extended outages, leading to a 25% decrease in power output next winter, an analysis from Baringa Partners LLP said. The shortage will happen just as EU countries scramble for energy as they reduce imports from Russia. [Oil Price]

Offshore wind turbine (Grahame Jenkins, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Norway Turns Its Back On Gas And Oil To Be A Renewable Superpower” • Norway has unveiled plans for a major expansion of its offshore wind energy production by 2040, aiming to turn a country that has built its wealth on oil and gas into an exporter of renewable electricity. The government set a target to develop 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040. [Euronews]

Alaska (Landon Arnold, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Interior Nixes Oil And Gas Lease Sales In Alaska And Gulf Of Mexico” • The Department of Interior is cancelling three oil and gas lease sales off the coasts of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico. The leases would have opened up more than a million acres for development in oceans ecosystems vital to endangered species, fishermen, Native peoples, and others. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, May 15

Drone (Dose Media, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Drones Seized At UK Nuclear Bases After A ‘Swarm’ And Reports Of ‘Red Lights’” • Drones have been seized by security personnel at nuclear facilities with one report of a ‘swarm’ at a UK installation, newly released files show. The unmanned aerial systems were sighted at plants across the country amid concerns over the security threat they pose. [Metro]

Transmission lines (Ernest Brillo, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Creaky US Power Grid Threatens Progress On Renewables, EVs” • The nation’s transmission network, plagued by outages and increasingly severe weather, needs a trillion-dollar overhaul to handle the Biden administration’s promised clean-energy revolution and deal with climate change. Unfortunately, no one is taking charge of that problem. [Reuters]

Fayette Power Project (Imjeffp, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 32
¶ “Texans Asked To Turn Up Thermostats After Sweltering Heat Knocks Six Power Plants Offline” • The Electric Reliability Council of Texas made the appeal in a statement saying that soaring temperatures increased demand and caused six power generation facilities to trip offline. That resulted in the loss of about 2,900 MW of electric power. [CNN]

Monday, May 16

Tesla Semi (Image courtesy of Tesla)

Minute 35
¶ “The East Coast Diesel Crisis Highlights The Urgency For Widespread EV Adoption” • News on availability of diesel oil has some trucking companies worried, according to a report from FreightWaves. There are solutions that would help both truckers and everyone else. One critical solution is switching from diesel vehicles to EVs. [CleanTechnica]

Volvo Car charging (Image courtesy of Volvo)

Minute 38
¶ “European Ministers Back CO₂ Emission Standards For Cars And Vans” • Environment Committee MEPs are in favor of a pathway towards zero-emission road mobility in 2035 for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The plan would mitigate negative economic impact of the transition with targeted funding. [CleanTechnica]

Vineyards in Napa Valley (Fredrick Lee, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 40
¶ “California Is In A Water Crisis, Yet Usage Is Way Up. Officials Are Focused On The Wrong Problem, Advocates Say” • A group advocating for affordable access to clean water, said that urban communities don’t seem to understand the severity of the water crisis in the way that rural communities do, where water could literally stop flowing out of the tap. [CNN]

Tuesday, May 17

Morocco-UK subsea cable (Courtesy of Xlinks)

Minute 43
¶ “African Renewable Energy To Power UK Homes With New Subsea Cable” • Octopus Energy Group and Xlinks will partner to build a subsea cable to deliver 3.6 GW of renewable energy from Morocco to the UK. Once complete, the project will be capable of supplying 8% of Great Britain’s electricity needs at £48/MWh ($59/MWh). [ESI Africa]

Carbonfuture biochar (Carbonfuture image)

Minute 46
¶ “Carbonfuture Partners With Bioenergie For 17,500 Tonnes Of Carbon Removal” • Switzerland’s Bioenergie is joining forces with Carbonfuture (the carbon removal platform) for a 17,500 tonne carbon removal delivery. The plant will take residual biomass in the form of wood and convert it into biochar through pyrolysis. [CleanTechnica]

Building taller turbines (Courtesy of Keystone Tower Systems)

Minute 48
¶ “Spiral Welding Can Bring Taller Wind Turbines To The US Southeast” • The Southeast’s low wind speeds are holding back wind energy in the region. The problem could be resolved by taller wind turbines to harvest more optimal wind speeds higher off the ground. Taller turbines can be made at the site by special welding technology. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, May 18

Indian wheat crop (Wandering Indian, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “India Offered To Help Fix The Global Food Crisis. Here’s Why It Backtracked” • A month ago, as Russia’s war in Ukraine pushed the world to the brink of a food crisis, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi offered to help countries facing shortages. Now, life-threatening heat worsened by climate change is set to stunt output, putting an end to that goal. [CNN]

Soybean field (James Baltz, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Brazilian Community Leaders Call On EU To Stop Promoting ‘Ecocide'” • Industrial soybean farming is causing destruction and conflict in Brazil, in part driven by the EU’s biofuel policies. Community leaders from Brazil have asked the EU to stop this ecocide in a joint press release from Transport & Environment and Rainforest Foundation Norway. [CleanTechnica]

Volvo XC40 (Image courtesy of Volvo)

Minute 56
¶ “Ford, Volvo Cars, And Broad Industry Coalition Appeals To EU For All New Cars And Vans Are Zero Emissions From 2035” • A broad cross-industry coalition including Ford of Europe and Volvo Cars are appealing to the EU to ensure all new cars and vans in Europe are zero emission from 2035 and to establish charging infrastructure targets. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #472 – 5/19/2022

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 #471 – 5/12/2022

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 #471 – 5/12/2022

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, May 5

Itaipu Dam (Jonas de Carvalho, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 2
¶ “World’s Second-Largest Hydropower Plant Set For 14-Year Upgrade After Deal With GE” • GE Renewable Energy has signed a deal that will see it carry out upgrades to the 14-GW Itaipu hydropower plant, a vast facility straddling the border between Brazil and Paraguay. Itaipu started production in 1984. The upgrade will last 14 years. [CNBC]

Petrochemical plant in Schwedt (© Ralf Roletschek, via Wikimedia)

Minute 5
¶ “Ukraine War: How Germany Is Getting Rid Of Russian Oil” • Since the invasion the German government has dramatically reduced its dependence on Russian oil from 35% to 12%, all of which comes to the refinery in the town of Schwedt, in north-eastern Germany. Germany has managed to pivot away from Russian oil quicker than expected. [BBC]

Historic Jamestown (Pi3.124, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 8
¶ “Jamestown: America’s First English Settlement Is Now Endangered” • One of the most important historic sites in the US has been put on a list of endangered places. Preservation groups warn that Jamestown, Virginia, the first successful English colony in America, may not survive another generation because of climate change. [BBC]

Friday, May 6

Skydweller taking off (Skydweller Aero Inc)

Minute 11
¶ “This Solar-Powered Plane Could Stay In The Air For Months” • The solar powered airplane Solar Impulse 2 circumnavigated the Earth powered entirely by sunlight in 2016. In 2019, the airplane was sold to Skydweller Aero, a US-Spanish startup, with the intention of turning the plane into the world’s first commercially viable “pseudo-satellite.” [CNN]

Drought in the US on May 3 (droughtmonitor.unl.edu)

Minute 13
¶ “Drought Expands In The Southwest, Worsening The Region’s Fire Risk And Water Crisis” • Drought conditions worsened in much of the Southwest over the past week, according to the latest update from the US Drought Monitor, deepening the region’s water crisis and fueling record-setting wildfires. More than 98% of the Southwest is in drought this week. [CNN]

Green roof in Paris (cocoparisienne, Pixabay)

Minute 16
¶ “New Law In France: Green Roofs On All New Commercial Buildings” • The French Parliament approved a law requiring all new commercial buildings to partially have their roofs covered with plants or solar panels. The law will apply to all new buildings in commercial zones. Environmentalists had wanted the roofs to be completely covered by greenery. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, May 7

Oil platform (Photo by NASA, public domain)

Minute 19
¶ “Texas Is In Turmoil, As Green Finance Is Very Appealing To Major Funds” • Last year the Texas legislature passed a law to stop fund portfolios that don’t include fossil fuel companies from doing business in the state. They may not business with companies the State Comptroller says are “boycotting” fossil fuels. But loopholes are being used. [CleanTechnica]

Energy storage system (Energy Vault image)

Minute 22
¶ “Gravity-Based Storage Team Kick Off Construction In China” • Energy Vault, Atlas Renewable, and China Tianying have started construction of a 100-MWh gravity-based storage system adjacent to a wind farm and national grid site at Rudong in Jiangsu province, China. The EVx system will be the first to be deployed in the country. [reNews]

Freeze-thaw battery (Andrea Starr, PNNL)

Minute 24
¶ “Rechargeable Molten Salt Battery Freezes Energy In Place For Long-Term Storage” • For long-term energy storage, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory showed that freezing and thawing a salt solution can be the basis for a rechargeable battery that can store energy cheaply and efficiently for weeks or months at a time. [Scientific American]

Sunday, May 8

Wind turbines (Arteum.ro, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Soon we’ll have too MUCH energy!” • Britain is predicted to have an excess amount of electricity by 2030 due to huge investments in wind and solar power, according to new analysis. It predicts that huge amounts of electricity could go to waste by 2030. The government also wants to build eight nuclear plants by 2050. [Daily Mail] (So, what’s the point of nuclear?)

Deep-water vehicle (Photo courtesy of The Metals Company)

Minute 30
¶ “The Metals Company Success: Deep-Water Collector Vehicle Tested At Depth Of Almost 2,500 Meters” • A polymetallic nodule collector vehicle has been successfully tested in the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of almost 2,500 meters. The vehicle shows that polymetallic nodules can be mined while disturbing the environment minimally. [CleanTechnica]

Qaanaaq (Col Lee-Volker Cox, USAF, public domain)

Minute 32
¶ “Arctic Town Attempts To Design Wind And Solar Devices Against Climate Change And Energy Crisis” • The arctic town of Qaanaaq, Greenland, plans to incorporate renewable energy to save the lives of financially-stricken residents, who were gripped by the burdens to pay for fossil fuels required to heat and power their homes. [Nature World News]

Monday, May 9

Towing a floating wind turbine (Principle Power image)

Minute 35
¶ “California Sets 3-GW Floater Goal For 2030” • California set a floating offshore wind target of 3 GW by 2030 as part of a raft of new goals for the state. The California Energy Commission believes that with that end-decade goal, the state can deliver up to 15 GW by 2045 and possibly 20 GW by 2050. The targets are contained in a draft AB 525 report. [reNews]

Volkswagen ID.Buzz (Image courtesy of Volkswagen)

Minute 38
¶ “Sold Out! Every EV Volkswagen Can Manufacture In 2022 Is Already Spoken For” • Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen Group, says it is “basically sold out on electric vehicles in Europe and in the United States” for all of this year, The Verge reports. That means anyone hoping to buy an EV from VW, Audi, or Porsche may have to wait until 2023. [CleanTechnica]

Jack-up ship (Arnold Price, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 40
¶ “A First In The US, Unions Announce Deal To Build Offshore Wind Farms (Video)” • Offshore wind developer Ørsted and North America’s Building and Trade Unions agreed to a “historic” national project labor agreement for offshore wind projects along the Atlantic Coast. The agreement sets better standards for an industry set to grow. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, May 10

NuScale Power Module (NuScale Power)

Minute 43
¶ “Green Party Leaders Urge Saskatchewan Government To Halt Small Nuclear Reactor Plans” • The interim Leader of the Green Party of Canada made a stop in Regina Monday to urge Premier Scott Moe to abandon plans to develop small nuclear reactors. Amita Kuttner said developing nuclear power will take too long in the climate emergency. [CBC]

Climate crime scene (Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “Climate Change: ‘Fifty-Fifty Chance’ Of Breaching 1.5°C Warming Limit” • The likelihood of crossing a key global warming threshold has risen significantly, according to a new analysis. UK Met Office researchers say that there’s now around a fifty-fifty chance that the world will have warmed by more than 1.5°C within the next five years. [BBC]

Carport groundskeeper hard at work (Solarfields image)

Minute 48
¶ “World’s Largest Solar Power Carport Launched” • A 35-MW solar power carport with 90,000 solar panels was activated in the Netherlands. It is located on the parking site used for the annual Lowlands music festival, which has tens of thousands of visitors each year. The parking area covers 35 hectares and has 15,000 parking spaces. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, May 11

Bleached coral (Vardhanjp, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 51
¶ “Great Barrier Reef Suffers Sixth Mass Bleaching Event With 91% Of Reefs Surveyed Affected” • Warmer waters from climate change caused coral bleaching in 91% of reefs surveyed along the Great Barrier Reef this year, an Australian government agency said. It was the sixth mass bleaching event of the reef on record and the fourth since 2016. [CNN]

Old sign (Ilja Nedilko, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “The Insanity Of Expanding Nuclear Energy” • Former nuclear regulatory top dogs from the US, France, Germany and Great Britain issued a joint statement in January strenuously opposing any expansion of nuclear power to combat climate change. There is not a single good reason to build new nuclear plants, and many reasons not to. [E/The Environmental Magazine]

Offshore wind workers (EnBW image)

Minute 56
¶ “Renewables ‘Primed For Record 2022’” • Renewable power is set to break global records in 2022, despite higher costs and supply chain bottlenecks, according to the International Energy Agency. The world added a record 295 GW of renewable power capacity in 2021, but 320 GW of renewable capacity is expected to be added this year. [reNews]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #471 – 5/12/2022

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