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Energy Week #479 – 7/7/2022
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, June 30
Offshore wind turbine (Waldemar Brandt, Unsplash)
Minute 2
¶ “Offshore Wind Enjoys 21 GW Of Growth In 2021” • Offshore wind enjoyed its best-ever year in 2021, with just over 21 GW of new capacity connected to the grid, according to the latest Global Offshore Wind Report from the Global Wind Energy Council. The report shows there was a three-fold increase in grid connection worldwide from 2020 to 2021. [reNews]
Ship with Norsepower sails (Courtesy of Norsepower)
Minute 5
¶ “Hard, Round, Tiltable Sails Add Wind Power To Energy Efficient Shipping” • The firm Norsepower Oy Ltd has been trying to bring wind power back to maritime shipping with sails that look like oversized smokestacks. An agreement with the Nefco, the Nordic Green Bank, will enable Norsepower to ramp up production. [CleanTechnica]
Fertilizing an Italian meadow (Etienne Girardet, Unsplash)
Minute 8
¶ “Why Green Ammonia Will Be The Workhorse Of EU’s Future Hydrogen Economy” • Europe is at a crossroads now. It has a dual objective of reaching its ambitious 2030 climate targets, while quickly reducing its dependency on Russia’s fossil fuels. These seemingly competing objectives can be achieved by prioritizing green ammonia. [EURACTIV.com]
Friday, July 1
Building in Overschild (Frank Terpstra, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 11
¶ “Life inside the Dutch earthquake zone” • Gas extraction in the Dutch state of Groningen has caused over 1,000 earthquakes since Exxon Mobil and Shell began government-approved drilling there in 1963. In the village of Overschild, 80% of the buildings need to be completely demolished as they have been deemed too unsafe to occupy. [BBC]
Polluting power plants (Ella Ivanescu, Unsplash)
Minute 13
¶ “Supreme Court Limits Biden’s Power To Cut Emissions” • The Supreme Court ruled that the EPA does not have the authority to limit pollution across whole states. The court hasn’t completely prevented the EPA from making such regulations in the future, but it says that the Congress would have to say clearly that it authorizes the power. [BBC]
Offshore windpower (Capmat007, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 16
¶ “Wind Developers Plan To Add 6 GW Of US Offshore Wind Capacity Through 2029” • Power plant developers and operators have reported plans to install more than 6 GW of offshore wind capacity at sites mostly along the eastern seaboard over the next seven years, according to the DOE’s latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory report. [CleanTechnica]
Saturday, July 2
Diablo Canyon nuclear plant (“Mike” Michael L Baird, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 19
¶ “Diablo Canyon Power Plant Won’t Stop Power Outages” • To justify keeping the Diablo Canyon Power Plant open, nuclear power peddlers blame the state’s shift to renewable energy for power outages. It’s a false narrative. Nuclear power failed to prevent the blackout of 2020, and since then 4 GW of renewable energy have been put online. [CalMatters]
Urban garden (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)
Minute 22
¶ “Rio’s Residents Garden Their Way Out Of Hunger” • Ms Silva puts her green fingers to use in exchange for a monthly stipend of 500 reais ($95, £79) from the city, as well as heaps of fresh food that she can take home at no cost. She is working in an urban garden that will provide food for 50,000 people just as Brazil is facing a food crisis. [BBC]
Pollution (Maxim Tolchinskiy, Unsplash)
Minute 24
¶ “EPA Retains Tools To Cut Power Sector GHG Emissions Despite Supreme Court Curbing Its Authority: Attorneys” • The Environmental Protection Agency still has pathways for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector following the Supreme Court’s ruling that took away one possible avenue, according to legal experts. [Utility Dive]
Sunday, July 3
Avocets (Joshua J Cotten, Unsplash)
Minute 27
¶ “Could nuclear plant ruin Suffolk haven for avocets, bitterns and harriers?” • Minsmere is an ornithologist’s paradise. But a threat hangs over its wildlife glories. The government is set to announce its decision on whether to allow the Sizewell C nuclear power plant to be built by EDF on land that overlooks the 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) reserve. [The Guardian]
Calamari (Esperanza Doronila, Unsplash)
Minute 30
¶ “You Can Spot Climate Change In Old Restaurant Menus” • A study from the University of British Columbia shows a startling way that climate effects are already showing up in our lives. They didn’t find it in ice cores or weather patterns, but in restaurant menus. In the 1880s, Vancouver’s seafood joints served lots of salmon. Now they serve squid. [The Atlantic]
Yellowstone mule deer (David Garry, Unsplash)
Minute 32
¶ “How The Climate Crisis Is Forever Changing Our National Parks” • The consequences of the climate crisis – more wildfires, devastating drought, sea level rise, flooding, ecological disease – are plaguing the country’s national parks. Unprecedented flash flooding recently overwhelmed Yellowstone National Park and some of its surrounding areas. [CNN]
Monday, July 4
Dungeness Power Station and an old lighthouse (Tony Hisgett, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 35
¶ “Ukraine War Fears As UK’s Nuclear Plants Vulnerable To Attack” • The war in Ukraine has put civilian nuclear plants on the frontline of a military conflict for the first time in history. Dr Paul Dorfman said that the conflict in Ukraine has shown that the UK’s own civilian nuclear infrastructure is at risk of attack and likely cannot be defended. [Daily Express]
Making steel (yasin hm, Unsplash)
Minute 38
¶ “JSW Steel Is To Invest ₹10,000 Crore To Increase Use Of Renewable Energy, Reduce Emissions” • To reduce its carbon footprint, the Indian company JSW Steel has earmarked the sum of ₹10,000 Crore ($1.266 billion) to increase the use of renewable energy to replace thermal power and other green initiatives, its Chairman Sajjan Jindal said. [TechStory]
Bee on a sunflower (Christoph Polatzky, Unsplash)
Minute 40
¶ “How Heatwaves Are Creating A Pollen Crisis” • Even with adequate water, heat can damage pollen and prevent fertilisation in many crops, including canola, corn, peanuts, and rice. For this reason, many farmers aim for crops to bloom before the heat of summer. But the crops are being exposed to higher temperatures earlier, in a changing climate. [BBC]
Tuesday, July 5
Solar trackers (Image from Project Drawdown)
Minute 43
¶ “Latest Project Drawdown Update Adds Eleven Ways To Stop Global Heating” • Project Drawdown issued its comprehensive guide to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, and it has updated its original plan since. The most recent update from the Project Drawdown group adds eleven new ways to address the climate crisis responsibly. [CleanTechnica]
Image from the study
Minute 46
¶ “We Can Have (Just About) Everything We Want For Energy And The Climate” • A study by Mark Z. Jacobson, et al, “Low-cost solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity for 145 countries,” says we can make more money, live in a less expensive world, have huge health benefits, and stop carbon emissions, with very little downside. [CleanTechnica]
Hyundai diesel (Hyundai image)
Minute 48
¶ “Another Diesel Cheating Scandal – This Time It’s Hyundai And Kia” • Hyundai and Kia are at the center of the newest diesel cheating scandal. A spokesperson for Hyundai Motor Group in Seoul that also represents Kia confirmed raids coordinated by the European Union agency Eurojust at eight corporate properties to gather evidence. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, July 6
Norwegian offshore oil rig (JanChr, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 51
¶ “Norway’s Government Steps In To End Oil And Gas Strike, Averting A New Energy Shock For Europe” • Natural gas prices spiked after Norwegian oil and gas workers went on strike over a pay dispute. The Norwegian government has intervened to end the strike, citing concerns about Europe’s energy crisis amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. [CNN]
Hollyford wind farm (Energia image)
Minute 54
¶ “Energia To Halve Carbon In Power Generation” • Ireland’s Energia Group unveiled a commitment to reducing the carbon intensity of its electricity generation by 50% by 2030, compared to 2019 to 2020. To achieve the target Energia will increase the volume of renewable electricity it generates from onshore wind and solar by a factor of three. [reNews]
Minute 56
¶ “Endangered Species Act Restored By Federal Judge After Trump-Era Weakening” • In a win for environmental groups, a federal judge in California overturned Trump administration move in 2019 to gut the landmark Endangered Species Act, vacating that administration’s changes and restoring protections for hundreds of species. [CNN]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #479 – 7/7/2022
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 with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 