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Energy Week #498 – 11/17/2022
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, November 10
Wind turbines (Fabian Wiktor, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 2
¶ “Investors Have Trillions To Fight Climate Change. Developing Nations Get Little Of It” • Many investors see big opportunities to propel – and profit from – the fight against climate change. Yet little of their money is going to poorer nations, which already bear the brunt of extreme weather despite contributing little of the pollution that fuels climate change. [KCCU]
Oil rigs (Ben Wicks, Unsplash)
Minute 5
¶ “Sharp Rise In Fossil Fuel Industry Delegates At The COP27 Climate Summit” • The number of delegates with links to fossil fuels at the UN climate summit has jumped 25% from the last meeting, analysis shared with the BBC shows. Campaign group Global Witness found more than 600 people at the talks in Egypt are linked to fossil fuels. [BBC]
H2Pro electrolyzer (H2Pro image)
Minute 8
¶ “Israeli Green Hydrogen Firm Picks Up Moroccan Job” • Gaia, a Moroccan renewable energy developer, will use electrolyzer technology from Israeli company H2Pro for a green hydrogen demo project in Morocco. The announcement came at COP27, where the topic of green hydrogen and its role in the net-zero transition is much discussed. [reNews]
Friday, November 11
Wind turbine in Egypt (Hatem Moushir, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 11
¶ “10-GW Wind Farm To Be Built In Egypt” • Masdar, Infinity Power, and Hassan Allam Utilities have signed an agreement to develop a 10 GW onshore wind project in Egypt – one of the world’s largest wind farms. The project will reduce Egypt’s carbon emissions by 9% and save the country an estimated $5 billiion each year. [Energy Digital Magazine]
Locomotive (Wabtec image)
Minute 13
¶ “Argonne And Oak Ridge National Laboratories Collaborate With Wabtec On Hydrogen-Powered Trains” • Scientists at the Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories are exploring options for emissions-free trains. The research focuses on hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels as viable alternatives to diesel for the rail industry. [CleanTechnica]
Wave (lucas andreatta, Pexels)
Minute 16
¶ “Floridians Are Picking Up The Pieces After Hurricane Nicole Pummeled The State, Killing At Least 4 And Collapsing Homes As It Moves North” • Nicole hit Florida’s coast as a Category 1 hurricane, just as the state was still reeling from catastrophic Hurricane Ian. Nicole was the first hurricane to hit the US during November in nearly 40 years. [CNN]
Saturday, November 12
Tesla Model Y (Alexander Migl, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 19
¶ “Tesla Model Y Dominated European Car Sales In September” • Automotive market intelligence company JATO posted the results of the September 2022 car sales data for Europe. The data show that in September the Tesla Model Y topped the sales chart for all cars for the first time since it was launched in Europe in August of 2021. [CleanTechnica]
Flooding after Hurricane Ian (US CBP, public domain)
Minute 22
¶ “Florida Picks Up After Nicole Kills At Least 5 And Leaves ‘Unprecedented’ Damage To Daytona-Area Coastline” • As Nicole moved north, Floridians are picking up the pieces. It killed at least five people and ripped apart buildings with its dangerous storm surge and powerful winds. Many were still recovering from Hurricane Ian when Nicole hit. [CNN]
Using AI to track emissions (JHU Applied Physics Laboratory)
Minute 24
¶ “First Global Estimates For Road Transportation GHG Leveraging AI And Satellite Images” • Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, have leveraged artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce accurate estimates for road transportation emissions of the top 500 emitting cities worldwide. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, November 13
Sinking building (Sue Natali, Woodwell Climate Research Center)
Minute 27
¶ “Belching Lakes, Mystery Craters, ‘Zombie Fires’: How The Climate Crisis Is Transforming Permafrost” • Nunapitchuk, Alaska, used to be in the middle of grassy tundra. Now, it sits in bogland. People who used to walk on grass now use 8-foot-wide boardwalks to get around. The Arctic is warming fast, and that brings many unexpected problems. [CNN]
Heat pump water heater (Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance image)
Minute 30
¶ “Millions Of US Homes Are Installing Heat Pumps. Will It Be Enough?” • Across the United States, over 15 states and roughly 100 cities have begun to shift policies to encourage or require electrification of homes, workplaces, schools, and government buildings. Nevertheless, we are falling woefully short on climate pledges. We have to do better. [CleanTechnica]
Gas flaring (Celeda, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
Minute 32
¶ “Uncovering The Dirty Secret Behind BP’s Bumper Profits” • Far removed from the world leaders making climate pledges at COP, are people like Ali Hussein Julood, a young leukaemia survivor living on an Iraqi oil field co-managed by BP. When the BBC discovered BP was not declaring the field’s gas flaring, Ali helped us to reveal the truth. [BBC]
Monday, November 14
Floating wind turbines (Equinor image)
Minute 35
¶ “Hywind Tampen Floating Wind Farm Delivers First Power” • The Hywind Tampen floating wind farm in the North Sea has begun producing power from its first turbine. Owned by the partners developing the Gullfaks and Snorre oilfields, the Hywind Tampen wind farm is expected to meet about 35% of the electricity demand of the two fields. [reNews]
Solar power (Supplied image)
Minute 38
¶ “Forrest Unveils 10-GW Renewable ‘Super Hub’ To Power Grid And Green Hydrogen” • Queensland’s push to be a hydrogen superpower gained serious momentum with the announcement of a renewable energy “super hub” that will host more than 10 GW of wind and solar projects to produce green hydrogen at an industrial scale. [RenewEconomy]
Gas station (Mehluli Hikwa, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 40
¶ “Fossil Vehicle Bans Are Likely To Hit Mom-And-Pop Gas Stations The Hardest” • The California Air Resources Board’s decision to phase out fossil fuel-powered cars by 2035 was an important step to address air quality and climate change. But there will be winners and losers. Mom-and-pop gas station owners seem likely to be losers. [CleanTechnica]
Tuesday, November 15
House with rooftop hydrogen panels (Courtesy of Solhyd)
Minute 43
¶ “Hydrogen House” Deploys Rooftop Solar Panels, But Don’t Call Them Solar Panels” • The idea of a house that can produce its own hydrogen has been tossed around for a while now. We might expect solar panels to be involved, but Belgian researchers mapped out a different pathway. Their panels generate hydrogen gas instead of electricity. [CleanTechnica]
Macaws in a rain forest (Christina Victoria Craft, Unsplash)
Minute 46
¶ “Biggest Rainforest Nations Form Triple Alliance To Save Jungle” • The world’s three largest rainforest nations, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia, have launched a partnership to cooperate on forest preservation after a decade of on-off talks on a trilateral alliance. They will pressure the rich world to finance forest conservation. [CNN]
Solar power (RMI image)
Minute 48
¶ “As Rich Nations Haggle Over Climate Solutions, The Storm-Ravaged Caribbean Is Taking Matters Into Its Own Hands” • The Caribbean leaders, residents, and even utility companies say they are tired of waiting for world leaders to save them. Experts and residents tell CNN that the islands are now eagerly phasing out fossil fuels and building microgrids. [CNN]
Wednesday, November 16
Wind turbines (Filipe Resmini, Unsplash)
Minute 51
¶ “Getting Renewable Energy Connected” • There are about 1,300 GW of new energy resources, primarily renewables and storage, waiting to connect to power grids across the US. That’s more than the combined output of all power plants operating in the country today. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission blames the backlog on old rules. [NRDC]
Main Street in Logan, Utah (Michael Hart, Unsplash)
Minute 54
¶ “Small Firms Have A Big Role Fighting Climate Change” • In the US, small businesses make up 99% companies. They employ nearly half of the American workforce. But their sheer numbers make it tough to regulate them. Focusing on supply chains can make it easier to engage with small businesses, unlocking billions in emissions savings. [BBC]
Bali landscape (Geio Tischler, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “Wealthy Nations Ink $20 Billion Deal To Move Indonesia Off Coal” • A group of wealthy countries secured an agreement with Indonesia to shift the major emitter’s power generation from coal to clean energy. The $20 billion deal financed by financial institutions and governments would be one of the largest public investments to close fossil fuel plants. [E&E News]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #498 – 11/17/2022
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 with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 