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Energy Week #525 – 6/1/2023
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, May 25
Hand crew from Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Navajo Region returning to fire camp (Photo by Bureau of Indian Affairs)
Minute 2
¶ “Ask A Scientist: Calling Out The Companies Responsible For Western Wildfires” • The US wildfire season used to last about four months. These days, it stretches six to eight months, the US Forest Service says, and in some places it’s now a year-round affair. Just seven companies accounted for a whopping 18.7% of total emissions. [CleanTechnica]
Airplane (Pascal Meier, Unsplash)
Minute 5
¶ “France Bans Short-Haul Flights To Cut Carbon Emissions” • France has banned domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to cut carbon emissions. The law came into force two years after lawmakers had voted to end routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours. [BBC]
Ford F-150 Lightning (Ford Motor Co image)
Minute 8
¶ “Ford Signs Battery Materials Deal, Hints At Fixed Pricing Strategy” • There’s a torrent of news about Ford Motor Company this week, so let’s get you caught up on recent developments. For a start, Ford announced a long-term contract with EnergySource Minerals to purchase the lithium it needs to manufacture EV batteries. [CleanTechnica]
Friday, May 26
Wind turbines in Finland (Teemu Vehkaoja, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 10
¶ “Electricity Prices In Finland Flipped Negative On A Huge Oversupply Of Hydroelectric Power” • Finland had an unusual problem on Wednesday: clean electricity that was so abundant it sent energy prices into the negative. The price drop was driven by an unexpected glut of renewable energy, with an added new nuclear power plant. [Business Insider]
Power lines (Rob Martin, Unsplash)
Minute 13
¶ “California Breaks Its Record For Renewable Electricity” • California has hit a new milestone in clean energy. In 2021, 37% of the state’s electricity was generated by renewable sources like solar and wind, according to numbers recently released by the California Energy Commission. This is more than double the 16% total of 2012. [The Brunswick News]
Ford Mustang Mach-E at a Tesla Supercharging station (Ford)
Minute 16
¶ “Ford Electric Cars To Have Best Fast Charging In USA With Tesla Supercharging” • Ford and Tesla announced that Ford’s EV coming to market that will include Tesla’s Supercharging port, starting in 2025. Before then, starting in early 2024, Ford will offer adapters for its EV owners so they will be able to use Tesla Superchargers. [CleanTechnica]
Saturday, May 27
Ship at sea (Borderpolar Photographer, Unsplash)
Minute 19
¶ “No, There Won’t Be Nuclear-Powered Commercial Shipping This Time Either” • A while ago, the author published a sexy-practical quadrant chart for maritime shipping decarbonization. He did not even include nuclear power for commercial ships in the chart because the idea is so obviously flawed from a business perspective. [CleanTechnica]
Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm (SSE image)
Minute 22
¶ “SSE Unveils Plans To Invest £40 Billion In Clean Energy” • Scottish energy giant SSE promised to invest up to £40 billion ($49.3 billion) in green energy in the next decade after seeing its annual profits almost double. Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said the pledge was a “further vote of confidence in the British economy.” [Energy Digital Magazine]
Round hut in Ethiopia (A Davey, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 24
¶ “Off-Grid Solar Brings Hope To Remote Villages” • Hundreds of millions of people live in communities without electricity. The International Energy Agency says almost 775 million people did not have access to electricity in 2022. Some of the largest of the populations are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Solar power can bring some hope. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, May 28
Mammoth in a museum (Thomas Quine, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 27
¶ “Mammoths, Sloths, And Camels Are Hurting The Renewable Revolution” • The US needs new transmission lines but faces opposition. The most recent transmission line fiasco comes in the form of the Greenlink West project, which is to pass through an area famous for the fossils of wooly mammoths, giant sloths, and ancient American camels. [Oil Price]
German bullet train (Markus Winkler, Unsplash)
Minute 30
¶ “Europe Is Trying To Ditch Planes For Trains. Here’s How That’s Going” • There’s definitely been progress in Europe for the move from planes to trains. Airlines including Dutch carrier KLM are entering into rail partnerships on certain routes, while countries like Austria and France are seeking to restrict internal routes where trains are available. [CNN]
Wind turbines at Copenhagen (Mads Eneqvist, Unsplash)
Minute 32
¶ “Wind Energy Has A Waste Problem. New Technologies May Be A Step Closer To Solving It” • Wind turbine blades have been difficult to recycle, but Danish wind company Vestas announced a “breakthrough solution.” New Vestas technology would allow wind turbine blades to be recycled without needing to change their design or materials. [CNN]
Monday, May 29
Overcast day in New Zealand (Antoine Barrès, Unsplash)
Minute 35
¶ “Continuous Clean Energy: Scientists Are Pulling Power Out Of Thin Air” • In a groundbreaking study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, engineers demonstrated the potential to produce continuous clean energy from humidity in the air. The secret is a porous structure at the nanoscale that can be put into virtually any material. [Earth.com]
North Carolina mill dam (Leslie Cross, Unsplash)
Minute 38
¶ “UCS Releases Online “Danger Season” Map” • This summer is projected by the NOAA to be hotter than normal, and the Union of Concerned Scientists launched an online “Danger Season” map, showing areas of the US that are at risk of extreme heat, wildfires, storms, or flooding. The map will be updated daily through October. [CleanTechnica]
Joshua tree and wind turbines (Brian Wangenheim, Unsplash)
Minute 40
¶ “Kern Plays Biggest Role As California Taps Renewable Energy To Avoid Blackouts” • State officials say California probably won’t suffer any power outages this year, for two reasons: Snowmelt will produce record hydroelectric power, and new solar and wind capacity and battery storage are coming online. Kern County is a leader in that. [The Bakersfield Californian]
Tuesday, May 30
Industrial-sized heat pump (MAN Energy Solutions)
Minute 43
¶ “The ‘Exploding’ Demand For Giant Heat Pumps” • Heat pumps made by MAN Energy Solutions are among the largest in the world. With a heating capacity of up to 48 MW, one of them could heat thousands of homes. We are in a time of urgent need to end the use of fossil fuels, especially in Europe. “The demand for district heating is exploding.” [BBC]
Wind turbines (Peter Beukema, Unsplash)
Minute 46
¶ “New Debt Limit Deal Commits To Speeding Up Energy Projects” • US financial markets breathed a sigh of relief after negotiators from Democratic and Republican parties reached an agreement to raise the debt limit. Among its key provisions, the new deal will make it easier for both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects to get licenses. [Yahoo Finance]
Vitesco engine (Vitesco Technologies)
Minute 48
¶ “An EV Drive Unit Built Without Rare Earth Minerals” • Vitesco Technologies came up with a really cool EV drive unit design. What really sets it apart from other designs is that it doesn’t depend on rare earth minerals and permanent magnets. The unit also has certain advantages for efficiency because it does not have permanent magnets. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, May 31
Transporting a wind turbine blade (Acroterion, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 51
¶ “What Is Permitting Reform? The Critical Energy Provision Buried In Debt-Ceiling Negotiations” • Tucked into a bipartisan debt ceiling deal is a critical energy provision that Democrats and Republicans in Washington both want, at least in theory. Energy permitting reform, which aims to cut down the time it takes for new projects to get approved. [CNN]
SpaceX launch, SpaceX, Unsplash)
Minute 54
¶ “Japan Is On A Mission To Beam Solar Power From Space By 2025” • Japan’s decades-long mission to transmit solar power collected in space back to Earth could move a step closer to reality in just a few years. A public-private partnership wants to start a trial sometime around 2025 using small satellites launched into orbit. [TechSpot]
Wind turbine (Vestas image)
Minute 56
¶ “European Power Prices Go Negative As Renewables Soar” • Balmy springtime weather across Europe and growing renewable energy capacity has led to multiple days of negative wholesale power prices, highlighting the need for increased energy storage capacity. A number of factors have led to consistent negative wholesale power prices. [Renew Economy]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #525 – 6/1/2023
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 with George Harvey and Tom Finnell 