Energy Week #508 – 2/2/2023

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 #508 – 2/2/2023

Thursday, January 26

Electric bus made in Kenya (AVA image)

Minute 2
¶ “Kenya’s Producing Its First Electric Buses” • Kenya’s BasiGo is a perfect example of how quickly things can happen. Established in May 2021, BasiGo sealed partnerships with several banks in Kenya. It just announced a partnership with Associated Vehicle Assemblers to make 1,000 electric buses in Kenya over the next three years. [CleanTechnica]

Coal-burning power plant (Wim van ‘t Einde, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “EPA Plans To Stop Six Power Plants From Dumping Toxic Coal Ash Into Unlined Ponds” • The EPA announced it plans to stop six coal-fired power plants from continuing to dump coal ash into unlined ponds. The agency announced last year that it would begin to enforce Obama-era regulations requiring coal-fired power plants to clean up their waste. [CNN]

Hydrogen storage (Hydrogen Web image)

Minute 8
¶ “Foresight Backs 100-MW German Electrolyser Project” • Foresight, through its managed funds, is to invest in a 100-MW green hydrogen project in Germany. Two Foresight funds, HH2E and HydrogenOne Capital Growth, are developing the project, located in Borna, Saxony. It will produce around 6000 tonnes of hydrogen a year, initially. [reNews]

Friday, January 27

New York City (Mike C Valdivia, Unsplash)

Minute 10
¶ “Equinor And BP Bid For Third New York Offshore Wind Solicitation” • Equinor and bp today jointly bid into New York’s third offshore wind solicitation, building on strong commitments to deliver renewable energy for New Yorkers, create sustainable jobs, boost the economy across the state, and support a just transition to renewable energy. [BP]

Jordan Creek Wind Farm (Courtesy of NextEra Energy)

Minute 13
¶ “NextEra Commissioned 5 GW Of Renewables And Storage In 2022, Ups Growth Plan” • NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light and the largest developer of clean energy in the US, said it deployed 5,000 MW of new renewable energy resources and energy storage in 2022, while adding 8,000 MW of projects to its pipeline. [Power Engineering]

Grant Lake (Ross Stone, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 16
¶ “How California’s Recent Flooding Could Set The Stage For A Dangerous Wildfire Season” • Weather has swung from drought to floods. But Californians know the pendulum could abruptly swing the other way again. If moisture doesn’t stick around and heat sets in, winter’s rain and snow could prime the landscape for an intense wildfire season. [CNN]

Saturday, January 28

Wind turbines (Jason Blackeye, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “At $1.1 Trillion, Renewable Energy Investment Matches Fossil Fuels In 2022 For First Time” • For the very first time in history, investment in low-carbon energy technologies worldwide was equal to money spent on fossil fuels, global strategic research service provider BloombergNEF said. $1.1 trillion was invested in cleaner energy technology in 2022. [Down To Earth]

Ravenswood Generating Station (Taraqur Rahman, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Dirty Fossil Power Plants In Queens To become Green Energy Hubs” • Rise Light & Power LLC announced that it will invest in an offshore wind facility so as to turn its Ravenswood Generating Station in Queens, New York City’s largest fossil fuel power plant, into a clean energy hub. A 1.3-GW offshore wind farm would power batteries at Ravenswood. [Informed Comment]

Tongass National Forest (US Forest Service)

Minute 24
¶ “Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Protections For Tongass National Forest” • The US Department of Agriculture finalized protections for the Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest. USDA’s final rule repeals the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule and restores longstanding protections to 9.37 million acres of Alaska. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, January 29

All-electric school bus (Courtesy of GreenPower Motors)

Minute 27
¶ “Electric School Buses Can Fight Inequity In The USA, Or Worsen It” • Most students, especially those from low-income and communities of color, ride diesel-powered buses that expose them to health issues. Electric school buses offer a solution, but they can actually deepen inequities if programs aren’t designed and deployed properly. [CleanTechnica]

Geothermal plant in Tiwi (Chris Newhall, USGS, public domain)

Minute 30
¶ “Asia’s First Steam Field Continues To Power Homes” • Asia’s first commercial-scale geothermal steam field was discovered 50 years ago in Tiwi, a small town in the Philippine province of Albay. It is still providing clean, renewable energy to 2.7 million homes. Geothermal is the biggest industry in Tiwi and a major source of local employment. [The Manila Times]

Wind turbines
(Priscilla Du Preez, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Permian Set To Lead BPx Energy’s Low Carbon, Renewables Efforts” • BP plans to sell $25 billion in oil and gas assets to fund its renewables business. The company is not completely through with oil and gas, and in fact, it sees significant contributions from the shale assets. But it has set a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. [Midland Reporter-Telegram]

Monday, January 30

Wind farm (Zbynek Burival, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “US Renewable Energy Farms Outstrip 99% Of Coal Plants Economically” • Coal in the US is now being economically outmatched by renewables to the point that it’s more costly for 99% of the country’s coal-fired power plants to keep running than it is to build an entirely new solar or wind energy operation nearby, an analysis found. [The Guardian]

Thanet Wind Farm (Acabashi, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 38
¶ “King Charles’ Newest Eco-Activism: Royal Wind Farm Profits Will Go To The People” • King Charles III announced that an expected surge in profits from wind farm deals that could have elevated royal investment accounts should, instead, be spent on the public. A spokesperson said the king wished a windfall to be redirected “for the wider public good.” [CleanTechnica]

Form Energy battery (Form Energy image)

Minute 40
¶ “Xcel To Test Power Storage Tech In Becker” • Xcel Energy is bringing state-of-the-art storage technology to the Sherco Power Plant in Becker. Xcel Energy has partnered with Form Energy, an American technology company, to deploy an iron-air battery system at the Sherco Plant. The plant’s capacity will be 10 MW, and 1,000 MWh. [WJON]

Tuesday, January 31

Solar farm (Elawan Energy image)

Minute 43
¶ “Solar, Wind Produce Record Fifth Of EU Power” • According to the “European Electricity Review,” published by energy think tank Ember, wind and solar generated over a fifth (22%) of EU electricity in 2022, for the first time overtaking fossil gas (20%). The coal power share increased by 1.5 percentage points to generate 16% of EU electricity in 2022. [reNews]

Duckweed (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Public Domain)

Minute 46
¶ “US Government Funding Helps Biofuels Move Forward” • Biofuels may not be the ideal way to address climate change, but they can help reduce our carbon emissions. Two pieces of news in recent weeks that show the US government is still trying to help biofuels improve, come from cleaner sources, and work better with infrastructure. [CleanTechnica]

Trondheim (Simon Williams, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Norway Discovers Huge Trove Of Metals, Minerals And Rare Earths On Its Seabed” • A Norwegian study found a “substantial” amount of metals and minerals ranging from copper to rare earths on the seabed of its extended continental shelf, authorities said. These resources are in high demand for the role they play in the transition to a greener economy. [CNN]

Wednesday, February 1

Gas station (Diego Carneiro, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 51
¶ “Exxon Announces Record Profits For 2022” • ExxonMobil announced record profits for the year 2022, reporting it made $55.7 billion over the past year and drawing ire from the left. Other major energy companies also posted record earnings for the year. Democrats have been critical of corporate profits at a time when consumers faced high prices. [The Hill]

Solar array (Gustavo Fring, Pexels)

Minute 54
¶ “Big Return To Coal In Europe Killed Off By Record Renewable Energy” • As Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe last year, countries put more coal power on standby to fill the gaps. But the bloc fended off a feared dramatic increase in burning coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, by installing large amounts of solar and wind generating capacity. [Sky News]

Wind farm in Iowa (Voice of America, public domain)

Minute 56
¶ “The Decline And Fall Of Fossil Fuels” • The latest projections from FERC say natural gas capacity will not grow in the US in the near term. Fossil fuels were in decline overall, but now no part of the fossil fuels or nuclear industry is projected to grow. So about 100% of net generating capacity growth to 2026 is expected to made up of renewables. [Green Energy Times]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #508 – 2/2/2023

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 #507 – 1/26/2023

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 #507 – 1/26/2023

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, January 19

Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland (Annie Spratt, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Temperatures On Greenland Haven’t Been This Warm In At Least 1,000 Years, Scientists Report” • After years of research on the Greenland ice sheet, scientists reported in the journal Nature that temperatures there have been the warmest in at least the last 1,000 years, which is the limit for the time they can analyze by examining ice cores. [CNN]

Rendering of new aircraft design (Boeing image)

Minute 5
¶ “New Aircraft Design From NASA And Boeing Could Benefit Passengers In The 2030s” • NASA and Boeing will work together on the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project to build, test and fly an emission-reducing single-aisle aircraft this decade, NASA announced. The first test flight of this experimental aircraft is set to take place in 2028. [CNN]

Proterra factory in South Carolina (Courtesy of Proterra)

Minute 8
¶ “US Races Ahead In EV Manufacturing Investments” • The US is poised to attract the most investments globally in EV and battery manufacturing, for the first time surpassing announced investments in China and closing in on Europe. Companies have announced $210 billion of investments in the EV industry, up from just over $50 billion in 2021. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, January 20

Nairobi (Mustafa Omar, Unsplash)

Minute 10
¶ “New Africa Renewable Energy Initiative To Unleash 1.2 Terawatts” • A new consortium launched the Africa Renewable Energy Manufacturing Initiative, which was set up to help drive the financial, technical, and socioeconomic investments needed to develop 1.2 terawatts of energy potential and 14 million new jobs in Africa. [MyJoyOnline.com]

Candela C-8 (Candela image)

Minute 13
¶ “Candela C-8 Electric Boat Gets Larger Polestar 2 Battery And Range Increase” • The Candela C-8 now has the Polestar 2’s 69-kWh battery, rather than the 44-kWh battery it previously came with. With the new larger battery, the C-8’s range is up to 65 miles traveling at 22 knots; previously it was 50 miles. The price of the boat is unchanged. [CleanTechnica]

Vineyard (Alex Gorbi, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “California Storms Were Great For Wine” • The atmospheric rivers that swept through California for two weeks caused an estimated $30 billion in damage. The torrents collapsed hillsides, uprooted trees, and washed out highways. At least 20 people died, and millions were under flood warnings. But the rain was a desperately needed gift to California wineries. [BBC]

Saturday, January 21

Floating offshore wind turbines (Courtesy of Hexicon)

Minute 19
¶ “Italy Orders 7,100 MW Of Weird Floating Offshore Wind Energy Harvesters” • The floating wind field is a relatively new one, but Italy has just put in for an ambitious order of 7,100 MW from a new joint venture anchored by the startup Hexicon, which is marketing a floating wind platform that supports two wind turbines instead of just one. [CleanTechnica]

All-electric Vector fire truck (REV Fire Group image)

Minute 22
¶ “An EV Heads To Daytona, But It’s Heavier Than Any Car That’s Ever Raced There” • A small fleet of EVs will be serving every race at Daytona going forward. The REV Fire Group Inc, which makes fire-fighting apparatus, announced that starting this year, its all-electric Vector fire truck will be part of the firefighting fleet at Daytona International Speedway. [CleanTechnica]

Lake Tahoe (Daniel Akre, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “This Winter’s Rain And Snow Won’t Be Enough To Pull The West Out Of Drought” • The West has been slammed by rain and snow. “It’s great to see a big snowpack,” said Brad Udall, a water and climate researcher at Colorado State University. “We would need five or six years at 150% snowpack to refill these reservoirs. And that is extremely unlikely.” [KUER]

Sunday, January 22

Aptera Sol (Aptera image)

Minute 27
¶ “Aptera Reveals Launch Edition EV” • Aptera held a live online event where the company revealed the Launch Edition version of its three-wheeled solar-powered car. There are some really cool things about the final design, but also some downsides early adopters will face. You can see the event yourself or read a recap and commentary. [CleanTechnica]

Floating City (Luca Curci Architects + Tim Fu Design)

Minute 30
¶ “This ‘Floating City’ Concept Could Be The Answer To Climate Change” • This ‘floating city’ concept could house up to 50,000 people and be powered by 100% renewable energy. The living spaces are all connected by walkways, airways, and waterways. Take a look at its vertical gardens and 25 acres of interconnected social spaces. [Business Insider India]

Fender’s blue butterfly (Jeff Dillon, US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Minute 32
¶ “This Butterfly Was Once Thought Extinct. Now It’s Off The Endangered Species List” • Fender’s blue butterfly has fluttered away from the brink of extinction. The species, once so rare it was thought to be extinct, is no longer considered endangered. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is reclassifying the species from “endangered” to “threatened.” [CNN]

Monday, January 23

Money (Ibrahim Boran, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “How The World’s Largest Banks Are Funding Fossil Fuel Companies” • There’s no way to sugarcoat this. The world’s largest banks are providing the money fossil fuel companies need so they can continue degrading the environment to the point where the humans may no longer be able to survive on our little blue planet [CleanTechnica]

Mari Granström in a lab (Origin by Ocean image)

Minute 38
¶ “Algae That Blights Our Seas Is Harvested To Make Useful Products” • Excessive outbreaks of seaweed are clogging up waters from the Caribbean to the Baltic. Now the algae is being harvested alongside farmed crops to create ingredients for cosmetics and food products. The outbreaks happen when tiny cyanobacteria suddenly multiply rapidly. [BBC]

Mountains of Himachal Pradesh (Sreehari Devadas, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Climate Scientists Worry As ‘Sun Tourism’ Catches Up Fast In Himachal Pradesh” • ‘Sun tourism’ is catching up fast in the Indian mountains of Himachal Pradesh as one gets more balmy days in the winter compared to the country’s northern plains, where the fog is screening out the sun. It is a worrying sign for climate scientists. [The Weather Channel]

Tuesday, January 24

Wind farm (Charl Folscher, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “‘No Miracles Needed’: Prof Mark Jacobson On How Wind, Sun And Water Can Power The World” • “Combustion is the problem – when you’re continuing to burn something, that’s not solving the problem,” says Prof Mark Jacobson. The world can rapidly get 100% of its energy from renewable sources with, as the title of his new book says, “No Miracles Needed.” [The Guardian]

Harbor at Mutriku (Txo, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

Minute 46
¶ “The Spanish Town Powered By Waves” • Mutriku is called “one of the best-preserved medieval towns in the Basque Country.” It was built as a fishing village. Its harbor’s breakwaters protecct it from the effects of the constant waves. In 2011, it installed the Mutriku Wave Energy Plant, the first commercial wave power plant in Europe. [BBC]

Thar Desert (Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 48
¶ “India Can Save $19.5 Billion Per Year By Shifting From Coal To Clean Power, Says New Study” • India can save up to $19.5 billion a year if it goes with its plan to add 76 GW of utility-scale solar and wind power by 2025, research from Global Energy Monitor shows. The report ranked India in the top seven world countries for prospective renewable power. [Business Today]

Wednesday, January 25

Alpine skiing (Daniel Frank, Unsplash)

Minute 51
¶ “How Climate Change Threatens To Close Ski Resorts” • Over Christmas and New Year, northwest Switzerland hit a record 20.9°C (70°F). The warm weather throughout the Alps is an omen of what awaits the ski industry. Many resorts are aware that they only have two options: close or adapt their business model to cope with mounting climate threats. [BBC]

Dairy herd in the Netherlands (Shyam, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Bill Gates Backs Start-Up Tackling Cow Burps” • Billionaire Bill Gates has announced an investment in Australian start-up Rumin8, which is developing a seaweed-based feed to reduce the methane emissions from cattle. Nearly a third of global methane emissions come from livestock and most of that is from beef and dairy cattle. [CNN]

Beaver (Wolfgang Fürstenhöfer, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “People Building Artificial Beaver Dams In Drought-Stricken Montana” • In southwest Montana, landowners, volunteers, and others are wading into streams to create artificial beaver dams. The dams slow water runoff, which is quicker now with climate change bringing rain rather than snow. The dams may on day attract beavers. [Yale Climate Connections]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #507 – 1/26/2023

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 #506 – 1/19/2023

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 #506 – 1/19/2023

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, January 12

Rivian in water (Rivian image)

Minute 2
¶ “New UCF-Developed Battery Could Prevent Post-Hurricane Electric Vehicle Fires” • A researcher at the University of Central Florida has developed an aqueous battery that could prevent electric vehicle fires. The UCF-designed battery is fast charging, reaching full charge in three minutes, compared to the hours it takes lithium-ion batteries. [CleanTechnica]

Ocean (Nareeta Martin, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “Ocean Heat Hit Another Record High In 2022, Fueling Extreme Weather” • The world’s oceans were the warmest on record for the fourth year in row in 2022, according to a study published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. It is a troubling indication of the climate crisis caused by humans releasing heat-trapping gases. [CNN]

Storm (Layne Lawson, Unsplash)

Minute 8
¶ “Storms Relentless As California Drenching Goes On” • The famously sunny southern coast of California has been hit by storm after storm since the December holidays, eroding roads, felling trees and causing landslides. As of Tuesday evening, at least 17 people had died in weather-related incidents since the storms began, Governor Newsom said. [BBC]

Friday, January 13

Offshore wind farm (Capmat007, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

Minute 10
¶ “US Interior Department Takes Steps To Strengthen Offshore Clean Energy Development” • The Department of the Interior announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will publish a proposed rule to update and simplify regulations for clean energy development on the US Outer Continental Shelf to facilitate project approvals. [CleanTechnica]

Contrails (Rae Galatas, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Contrails Are A Problem For Aviation – But There Could Be An Easy Solution” • Environmentally, contrails are surprisingly bad. A study looked at aviation’s contribution to climate change and concluded that contrails create 57% of the sector’s warming impact by trapping heat that would otherwise be released into space. Fortunately, there is a solution. [CNN]

Lapland (Egor Vikhrev, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Huge Rare Earth Metals Discovery In Arctic Sweden” • The EU’s largest deposit of rare earths has been found in Sweden. No rare earths are currently mined in Europe, and 98% of rare earths used in the EU in 2021 came from China. The deposit’s discovery is seen as “decisive” for the green transition, as demand for EVs and wind turbines increases. [BBC]

Saturday, January 14

Nomad homes, one with PV panel (Joel Heard, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “UAE’s Masdar To Develop Number Of Renewable Energy Projects In Kyrgyzstan” • Masdar, UAE’s leading renewable energy company, has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy of Kyrgyzstan to develop renewable energy projects with a capacity to generate 1 GW, Trend reports citing Masdar’s press service. [Trend News Agency]

Ocean heat (NASA image)

Minute 22
¶ “NASA: 2022 Was Fifth Warmest Year On Record” • The last nine consecutive years have been the warmest nine on record. The year 2022 effectively tied for Earth’s fifth warmest year since 1880, as Earth is about 2°F (1.11°C) warmer than the average for the late 19th century. Forest fires, hurricanes, and droughts are getting stronger as a result. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model Y (Tyler Casey, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Tesla Reduces New Car Prices In Effort To Boost Sales” • Tesla has greatly reduced its prices for Model S, Model X, and Model Y cars in the US. In some cases, the price reductions make the Tesla cars eligible for tax reductions, magnifying the benefits. There were similar reductions in Europe, and after price cuts in China, Tesla sold 30,000 cars in three days. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, January 15

Transmission lines (Thomas Despeyroux, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Electrifying Everything Is A Critical Pathway To Decarbonize The World And Our Lives” • A number of organizations, such as the World Bank, have developed “pathways” or “pillars” for reaching net zero emissions globally by 2050. The core strategies are remarkably consistent, and one critically important pathway is electrifying everything. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines at Copenhagen (CGP Grey, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 30
¶ “Another Year, Another Record In Denmark’s Renewable Energy Progress” • In the past 40 years, Denmark has integrated 7 GW of wind and PV solar capacity into the electric grid. The fresh numbers from 2022 show that the country’s electricity needs are now covered by 60% renewables. In 8 years, that figure will quadruple. Yes, that’s 240%! [CleanTechnica]

Mackinac Island (Erin Vanderklok, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Why Michigan Is Trying To Shut Down Canada’s Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline” • Michigan commissioned an independent risk analysis of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline. It says an oil spill could cost almost $2 billion in damages. Also, any pipeline accident in the Straits of Mackinac could “represent a point of no return for species loss.” [BBC]

Monday, January 16

Mild winter weather (Dominik Dombrowski, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Europe’s Warm Winter Is Robbing Putin Of A Trump Card” • The threat of cutting Russian gas supplies was Putin’s trump card, if the war he started dragged into a long winter. But the winter has been milder than expected, and Western and Central Europe have coordinated gas consumption. taking one of Putin’s largest bargaining chips out of his hands. [CNN]

Baltic Sea at Gotland (Michal Lawrenin, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Ørsted Applies For Four Permits For Swedish Offshore Wind Farms” • Ørsted has applied for permits to build four additional large offshore wind farms in Sweden. Pending permit approvals and a plan for offshore grid build-out, Ørsted aims to deliver the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in Sweden, Skane Offshore Wind Farm, by 2029. [reNews]

Davos looking green (Marvin Meyer, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Global Leaders And Climate Activists Gather In Snowless Davos Ahead Of World Economic Forum 2023” • At the Swiss resort of Davos, where World Economic Forum 2023 is meeting, snowpack remains meagre on the lower slopes due to a massive heatwave bringing high temperatures to Europe and forcing ski resorts to shut down operations. [Earth.Org]

Tuesday, January 17

Abu Dhabi (Belinda Fewings, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “A Major Oil Exporter Is Hosting A UN Climate Summit. Opinions Are Divided” • The COP28 climate summit is mired in controversy. It is being held in one of the biggest oil exporting nations – the United Arab Emirates – and headed by one of the most prominent faces in its oil industry. Some people fear that it has been hijacked by the fossil fuels interests. [CNN]

 Walnut orchard (© Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 46
¶ “California Hit With One Final Round Of Storms” • California has been hit by a final round of storms, bringing more rain and snow to a state already reeling from at least 19 weather-related deaths. Skies will begin to look sunnier starting Tuesday, the NWS said, but a final gasp of wet weather will hit some areas on Wednesday and into Thursday. [BBC]

Lion Electric school buses charging (Courtesy of Nuvve Corporation)

Minute 49
¶ “EPA Requirement Keeps Electric Buses Out Of Low-Income Schools” • In order to qualify for first round of funding from these EPA grants, school districts are being required to identify the specific diesel buses they’d replace with electric buses. The problem there is that many low-income school districts don’t own their own buses. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, January 18

Sun Cable proposal (Sun Cable image)

Minute 51
¶ “Billionaires Battle Over Sun Cable: David Waterworth” • Disagreements about management of Sun Cable, the world’s biggest renewable energy export project, led to numerous conflicting headlines. I was hoping that after four days, the dust might have settled and the situation might be clearer. I’m not sure, but here’s what I can make of it. [CleanTechnica]

Plane at Heathrow (Isaac Struna, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “The Rich Should Pay Higher Fares To Clean Up Aviation, Says Heathrow Boss” • Rich travelers will have to pay more to fly if the aviation industry is to transition to greener fuels, the boss of one of the world’s biggest airports said. Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said that wealthy individuals and companies should pay extra to fly with sustainable aviation fuel. [CNN]

Transmission lines (Hush Naidoo Jade Photography, Unsplash)

Minute 56
¶ “To Integrate Renewables, Energy Storage Is A Cost-Effective Alternative: Study” • Energy storage is a cost-effective alternative to transmission lines for integrating renewable energy, supporing reliability, and modernizing the grid, according to a recent study. Storage would typically have a lighter impact on the land and shorter development time. [Utility Dive]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #506 – 1/19/2023

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 #505 – 1/12/2023

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 #505 – 1/12/2023

Minute 0: Introduction 

Thursday, January 5

Minute 2

BYD Song Plus (Courtesy of BYD)

¶ “BYD Hits Nearly 1 Million BEV Sales In 2022” • Overall, BYD sold 1,863,494 plugin vehicles in 2022. The company sold 911,140 battery EVs. Tesla was the first automaker to surpass 1 million BEV sales in a year, scoring 1.31 million sales in 2022, but BYD is not that far behind on that milestone. It will surely be the second automaker to reach it. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 5

P2XFloater (H2Carrier image)

Minute 8
¶ “Duo Plan Greenland’s ‘First’ Commercial Wind Project” • H2Carrier and Greenland-based company Anori have signed a Letter of Intent to develop the first commercial wind farm in Greenland. The 1.5-GW wind farm is intended to supply power to H2Carrier’s vessel, P2XFloater, for on-board production of hydrogen and green ammonia. [reNews]

Storm (Dan Meyers, Unsplash)

¶ “Powerful Bomb Cyclone Slams Into California With Hurricane-Force Winds And Heavy Rain” • A powerful bomb cyclone slammed into the California coast Wednesday night, lashing the state with heavy downpours and hurricane-force winds as the storm advanced onshore. Peak wind gusts at 85 mph were recorded in Nicasio Hills. [CNN]

Friday, January 6

Artemis Technologies electric boat (Artemis Technologies image)

Minute 10
¶ “Flying Boats And Other Tech For Cleaner Shipping” • The Pioneer is an electric foiling workboat developed by Artemis Technologies. The foil, a wing-like structure beneath the boat, lifts the hull out of the water, reducing drag. Combine that with an electric motor, Artemis says, and you have a vessel with 90% reduced fuel costs and no emissions. [BBC]

Perito Moreno Glacier (Birger Strahl, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Up To Half Of The World’s Glaciers Could Disappear Even If Ambitious Climate Targets Are Hit” • Glaciers will lose far more ice, causing more sea level rise than current scientific estimates project, a study shows. Researchers found that up to half of all glaciers could be lost by the end of the century, even given the world’s ambitious global climate actions. [CNN]

Rooftop solar system in a village (Pixabay, Pexels)

Minute 16
¶ “Global Renewable Power Capacity To Double In Five Years: IEA Report” • The global capacity of renewable power generation is expected to almost double over the next five years as countries step up efforts to deal with the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a report by the International Energy Agency has shown. [毎日新聞, The Mainichi]

Saturday, January 7

Gas storage tanks (Patrick Federi, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 19
¶ “Natural Gas Prices Haven’t Been This Low Since Russia Went To War” • Natural gas prices in Europe and the US have tumbled to levels last seen before Russia sparked a global energy crisis by invading Ukraine. Europe can thank a record-breaking spell of warm weather, as well as its own barnstorming effort last summer to fill gas storage. [CNN]

Great Salt Lake (Patrick Hendry, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Great Salt Lake Will Disappear In Five Years Without Massive ‘Emergency Rescue,’ Scientists Say” • Utah’s Great Salt Lake is facing “unprecedented danger,” experts say, It has fallen to an alarmingly low levels in a megadrought fueled by climate change. A dire report calls for “emergency measures” to save the Great Salt Lake from going dry. [CNN]

Window smashed by a wave (Cambria fire department)

Minute 24
¶ “Widespread Damage To The California Coast In The Wake Of Major Storms” • A deadly storm has inflicted widespread damage in northern California, dumping record-breaking rain along the coastline. Waves washed away walls of homes, while mudslides, sinkholes, and flooding were reported throughout the region. Two deaths have also been reported. [BBC]

Sunday, January 8

Solar array (Sungrow EMEA, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “China Seen Accelerating Wind And Solar Power Installation Under 5-Year Plan, Reaching 2030 Renewable Target Ahead Of Time” • Climate analysts expect China to reach its 2030 goal for renewable energy about five years ahead of schedule, after at least 30 provinces unveiled their respective programs under the national five-year plan. [South China Morning Post]

Atmospheric river (National Weather Service image)

Minute 30
¶ “What Does It Mean That (Once Rare) Atmospheric Rivers And Bomb Cyclones Are Becoming More Frequent?” • Atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones are ever more frequent and intense parts of the North American meteorological landscape. That fact is perfectly compatible with projections of climate change driven by our warming our planet. [The Hill]

Volvo Polestar 2 (Kenny Leys, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “TI Claims New Battery Management System Can Increase Range Of Electric Cars” • This week, Texas Instruments was at the Consumer Electronics Show 2023, where it introduced its latest battery cell and battery pack management tools. TI says its battery management tools could increase the range of an electric vehicle by as much as 20%. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, January 9

Lützerath and mine (Alle Dörfer, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 35
¶ “German Coal Mine Stand Off Amid Ukraine War Energy Crunch” • Lützerath, in western Germany, is about to be swallowed up by a massive coal mine. Around 200 climate activists, who are now all that stand in the way of the diggers expanding the Garzweiler opencast mine, have been warned to leave or be forcibly evicted. [BBC]

Boodarie industrial area (Pilbara Ports Authority image)

Minute 38
¶ “WA Land Allocation Advances Plans For 26-GW Renewable Energy Hub” • British energy giant BP’s plans to build one of the world’s largest renewable energy and green hydrogen hubs in Western Australia got a significant boost when the government of the state allocated land to support development of the proposed 26-GW project. [pv magazine Australia]

Flood (Norm Hughes, California Department of Water Resources)

Minute 40
¶ “Most Of California Could Experience Significant Flooding This Week” • Significant widespread flooding is possible across much of California as more heavy rain hits the state, forecasters say. Two major bouts of rain will impact the West Coast over the next few days. The concern is not just the rain, snow, and wind, but each event follows the last so quickly. [CNN]

Tuesday, January 10

Indonesian island (Denissa Devy, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Could Floating Solar Farms Survive Out At Sea?” • Indonesia has over 10,000 islands, so getting electricity  to all its people is a huge challenge. Cables to remote islands are expensive. Solar power is one option to provide those islands with energy. But solar farms take up lots of space, so installing solar panels on the ocean surface is under study. [BBC]

Gas stove (Ilse Driessen, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “A US Federal Agency Is Considering A Ban On Gas Stoves, Report Says” • A federal agency is considering a ban on gas stoves as concerns about indoor pollution linked to childhood asthma rise, according to a report first published by Bloomberg. A US Consumer Product Safety commissioner told Bloomberg gas stove usage is a “hidden hazard.” [CNN]

Coal-burning power plant (Sam LaRussa, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Renewables To Surpass Coal As Global Electricity Source In Just 2 Years” • Clean energy achieved momentum globally in 2022, but sadly, the momentum was triggered by a destructive action. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine catapulted the world into a global energy crisis. And that in turn sparked a drive to switch from fossil fuels to renewables. [Electrek]

Wednesday, January 11

Weather disasters (NOAA image)

Minute 51
¶ “Extreme Weather Has Cost The US More Than $1 Trillion In The Past Seven Years, Feds Report” • The US was lashed by 18 extreme weather and climate disasters costing at least $1 billion each last year, a report shows. They came as tornadoes, extreme heat and cold, deadly flooding and hurricanes, and a climate change-fueled drought in the West. [CNN]

Heat (Craig Manners, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “The Past Eight Years Were The Eight Warmest On Record For Planet” • The last eight years have been the eight warmest on record as the growing concentration of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere pushes global temperatures toward a dangerous tipping point, analysis by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows. [CNN]

Low water level (Ross Stone, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 56
¶ “Why California’s storm is unlikely to reverse its drought” • Given the decades-long drought in California, you might be wondering if this extreme weather could in some ways be a positive. But the downpour is unlikely to have a big impact on the drought. Experts say it would take consecutive years of severe wet weather to reverse it in the long-term. [BBC]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #505 – 1/12/2023

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