Energy Week #530 – 7/6/2023

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 #530 – 7/6/2023

Minute 0: Introduction

Thursday, June 29

Linemen (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Peco, Philly’s Energy Provider, Relies On Fossil Fuels And Aging Infrastructure” • In regard to energy, the Philadelphia metropolitan area is failing. It is polluted by ozone, and over 20% of the children suffer from asthma. Its polluting energy grid has become more unaffordable and unreliable. Its future rests on changing this. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Electric concrete mixer (Aggregate Industries image)

Minute 5
¶ “Aggregate Industries Gets London’s First Electric Concrete Mixer” • Aggregate Industries has gone the green mile with London’s first electric concrete mixer. The state-of-the-art 26-tonne electric concrete mixer will serve the business’ busy London Concrete arm, supplying essential ready-mix concrete materials across the Capital. [CleanTechnica]

Amargosa Desert (Finetooth, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 8
¶ “Record-Breaking Auction Held For Solar Development On Public Lands In Nevada” • The BLM held an auction for solar energy development in Nevada this week, resulting in $105.15 million in high bids. The auction of four parcels across 23,675 acres in the Amargosa Desert could support nearly 3 GW of renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]

Friday, June 30

US jet stream on March 2, 2012 (NOAA, public domain)

Minute 10
¶ “Scorching Heat And Canada Wildfires Could Be Tied To ‘Wavy, Blocky’ Jet Stream” • Scientists say an atmospheric pattern – the jet stream – is behind both the Canadian wildfires and the scorching heat in Texas, raising questions about how it shapes extreme weather events and whether its flow is being disrupted by climate change. [NBC News]

Dallas (Erin Hervey, Unsplash)

Minute 13
¶ “Killer Heat Threatens 75 Million People In US South” • Today climate change has set a Danger Season record: 76 million people in the US, which is or 23% of the total population, are currently under extreme weather alerts, including alerts for heat, flooding, storms, and wildfire weather conditions. Almost all of those alerts are for extreme heat. [CleanTechnica]

Mosquito on a poppy (Lucas van Oort, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “The Mosquito Era: As The World Warms, These Insects Are Thriving – And Bringing Disease” • There aren’t many winners in the climate crisis, but scientists are pretty sure mosquitoes are one. Climate change means more frequent and more severe heat waves. Storms and floods leave pools of stagnant water to breed in. It’s boom time for mosquitoes. [CNN]

Saturday, July 1

Solar installation in Texas (Ken Oltmann, CoServ, US DOE, public domain)

Minute 19
¶ “Without Solar Power, This Texas Heat Wave Would Burn Much Worse” • Solar electricity has been critical for keeping the lights on throughout Texas the past few days. It has been a workhorse during the afternoon hours, fulfilling more than 15% of the state’s power needs during some of the most critical times of need. [Texas Monthly]

Bald eagle (Richard Lee, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “US DOI Takes Action To Strengthen Endangered Species Protections” • The Interior Department announced action to better facilitate species recovery by providing more flexibility for introduction of threatened species to suitable habitats outside their historical ranges. This announcement supports locally led conservation efforts. [CleanTechnica]

Northvolt factory (Northvolt image)

Minute 24
¶ “Northvolt Close To Choosing Site Near Montreal For $5.3 Billion ‘Green’ Battery Factory” • Northvolt, the Swedish battery maker founded in 2017, has considered building a factory in North America for some time. Now, according to a report by The National News, the company has selected a site about 25 km east of Montreal. [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, July 2

It may look like PVs, but it’s actually, an Italian vineyard.
(Mario La Pergola, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Italy Aims To Turn Up Renewable Power To Two Thirds Of Total By 2030” • Italy aims to generate nearly two thirds of its electricity from renewable energy sources by the end of the decade, improving targets made public three years ago. The energy ministry said Italy aims to get 65% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, up from 55%. [Dunya News]

Graphene (AlexanderAlUS, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

Minute 30
¶ “Graphene Batteries: A Game Changer For EVs And Renewable Energy” • Graphene batteries promise to revolutionize the way we store and use energy. Graphene, with a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, shows immense potential in addressing this need, offering a number of benefits over more traditional battery technologies. [CityLife]

Japanese train (Rikku Sama, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Overhead Power Lines For Japan Trains Eyed To Transmit Renewable Energy” • Japan’s transport ministry is considering using the overhead lines that supply electricity to trains as networks to transmit renewable energy. Sources of renewable energy are scattered across regional areas and can support a more distributed power grid. [The Japan News]

Monday, July 3

Port of Singapore (shawnanggg, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 35
¶ “Shipping Faces Showdown Over Greenhouse Gases” • Ocean transport emits as much CO₂ as Germany, but is the biggest global sector without a goal for cutting emissions to “net zero.” Some delegates at a UN summit want emissions halved by 2030 and cut to net-zero by 2050. Campaigners say agreement to that goal would be the climate “deal of the decade.” [BBC]

Shanghai (Photoholgic, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Air Pollution Causes One In Six Human Deaths” • According to a recent report from the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, pollution is “responsible for approximately 9 million deaths per year, corresponding to one in six deaths worldwide.” It is also estimated that air pollution resulted in $4.6 trillion in economic losses in 2015. [CleanTechnica]

Fishing boat (Knut Troim, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “Record Temperatures in Warming Oceans Causes Chaotic Weather Patterns” • Researchers say they are detecting a big spikes in ocean surface temperatures worldwide. They are as much as 5°C (9°F) above normal in the North Atlantic, and they could rise even higher. Warmer oceans are triggering chaotic weather patterns around the world. [VOA]

Tuesday, July 4

Airport (Harikrishnan Tulsidas, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

Minute 43
¶ “Hyderabad International Airport Switches To 100% Renewable Energy” • The GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited announced that all energy consumption at the airport and across its ecosystem is powered by green energy. This was done in partnership with Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited. [The Indian Express]

Plastic waste (Nick Fewings, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “The AI Trained To Recognise Waste For Recycling” • About 2.24 billion tonnes of solid waste was produced in 2020, says the World Bank, which adds that the figure is likely to rise by 73% to 3.88 billion tonnes by 2050. Greyparrot, a UK start-up, has created an AI system designed to analyse waste processing and recycling facilities. [BBC]

Cattle (Daniel Quiceno M, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Hamburgers And Steaks Are A Big Climate Problem. Could New Grazing Practices Be The Answer?” • Arizona State University professor and filmmaker Peter Byck believes by simply changing the way they are grazed, cattle can be useful allies in Earth repair. He calls the system “Adaptive Multi-Paddock” or “AMP” grazing. [CNN]

Wednesday, July 5

IAEA experts check water storage (IAEA Imagebank, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Minute 51
¶ “Japan Will Soon Release Fukushima Radioactive Water Into The Ocean. How Worried Should We Be?” • TEPCO has built over 1,000 massive tanks to contain what is now 1.32 million metric tons of wastewater – enough to fill over 500 Olympic pools. It is running out of space for new tanks, so it will release water with tritium in it. [CNN]

Crop (Paz Arando, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “Underestimating Climate Change Is A Costly Mistake For Crop Production” • A new study published in Nature Communications suggested that we may be underestimating the risks of harvest failures in multiple global breadbaskets. This failure could have serious consequences across the world for food security, prices, and social stability. [Nature World News]

Toyota bZ3 (Image courtesy of Toyota)

Minute 56
¶ “Toyota Claims Solid-State Battery Has 745 Mile Range, 10 Minute Charging Time” • Toyota said it has simplified the production of the material used to make solid-state batteries, with a discovery that could dramatically cut charging times and increase driving range. It the weight, size, and cost of batteries could be cut in half. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #530 – 7/6/2023

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 #529 – 6/29/2023

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 #529 – 6/29/2023

Minute 0: Introduction

Thursday, June 22

Wind turbines (Anna Jiménez Calaf, Unsplash)

Minute 2
¶ “Solar And Wind Generated More Electricity Than Coal For Record 5 Months” • US Solar and wind power hit a new record this year, generating more power than coal for the first five months of the year, according to preliminary data from the US EIA. It’s the first time that wind and solar have out-produced coal for that time. [CBS News]

Monarch butterfly (Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 5
¶ “Biden Administration Looks To Reinstate Protections For Endangered Species Curbed By Trump” • A proposal to restore the strength of the Endangered Species Act was announced by the Biden administration. It would repeal certain Trump-era rules that weakened protection. The proposal would reinstate a “base level of protection” for species. [CNN]

Wind turbine (Enel image)

Minute 8
¶ “Long Awaited Power Line Project Breaks Ground, Bringing Renewables To A Fossil Fuel Community” • Federal and state officials broke ground on a 732-mile transmission project in Wyoming. The power line is to transfer electricity from the 3,000-MW, 600 turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project. [Wyoming Public Media]

Friday, June 23

Wind turbine (Enel image)

Minute 10

¶ “Cool Roof Technology Could Eliminate Billions Of Tons Of Carbon Dioxide” • While the world frantically pushes EVs to reduce carbon emissions and scientists research geoengineering strategies, here is a technique that is already available and quite inexpensive that could offset the carbon emissions from 300 million cars and trucks. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm (IRENA image)

Minute 13
¶ “IRENA: Annual Renewable Power Additions Must Triple by 2030” • In the World Energy Transitions Outlook 2023, the International Renewable Energy Agency calls for raised global ambition for renewables. Some progress has been made, but the gap between what has been achieved and what is required keeps growing larger. [Offshore Engineer Magazine]

Twiggy Forrest (Chatham House, flickr CC By 2.0)

Minute 16
¶ “‘Twiggy’ Forrest Of Fortescue Future Industries Cuts Loose On Hydrogen” • Dr Forrest said that Fortescue Future Industries would invest tens of billions of dollars in hydrogen projects in the US, partly as a result of the Inflation Reductions Act. For the sake of the investors, FFI will concentrate on the US market in the short to medium term. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, June 24

Solar farm (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Government Wants To Speed Up Construction Of Renewable Energy Plants” • The Swiss government has approved a plan to speed up construction of solar, wind, and hydroelectric stations to reduce Switzerland’s dependence on foreign suppliers. The bill needs to be approved by parliament, which the government hopes will happen this autumn. [Swissinfo]

Loom (Sergio Gonzalez, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “One-Fifth Of Water Pollution Comes From Textile Dyes. But A Shellfish-Inspired Solution Could Clean It Up” • Every year, the textile industry uses 1.3 trillion gallons of water to dye garments. Most of this water, loaded with harmful chemicals and dyes, flows untreated into rivers and streams. Researchers found a way to address the problem. [CNN]

Bourbon Street (Kristina Volgenau, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Some New Orleans Restaurants Hope To Use Solar Power To Be ‘Community Hub’ After A Hurricane” • We all hope for a quiet hurricane season especially after days and weeks without power after Hurricane Ida. But when another storm knocks out power, some New Orleans restaurants will stay open, because of solar power and Tesla batteries. [WWL-TV]

Sunday, June 25

Fishing boat (Paul Einerhand, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “World Bank Decries Disastrous Fossil Fuel, Agriculture, And Fisheries Subsidies” • The World Bank issued a scathing report, Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally Harmful Subsidies that calls for reducing or eliminating the trillions upon trillions of dollars governments use to prop up the fossil fuel, agriculture, and fisheries industries. [CleanTechnica]

Solar panels (Angie Warren, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “Chinese Solar Module Prices Plunge To Record Lows” • Chinese solar module prices have reached their lowest value ever, with the Chinese Module Marker falling for a fourth week in a row at $0.173 per watt. The CMM saw an unprecedented 11.73% week-on-week plunge, marking the largest percentage drop in its history. [Innovation Origins]

Tesla Model Y (Damian B Oh, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 32
¶ “RWD LFP Tesla Model Y Could Slash Price By $4,850, Driving US Sales To The Next Level” • The net price of the Tesla Model Y has been cut, a standard-range version is here, and paperwork done for a full tax incentive. Now, Tesla has approval for a new rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Model Y using LiFePO₄ (LFP) batteries that will likely be very affordable. [CleanTechnica]

Monday, June 26

Minute 35

Solar panels (Green Voltaics Energy, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “The Unstoppable Force Of Agrivoltaics, Now With Tiltable Solar Panels” • Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana came up with a workaround for the tall racks some agrivoltaics use, so farmers can drive vehicles under them. It is a software-enabled agrivoltaic array that is mounted closer to the ground, so panels can be tilted to give verticle clearance. [CleanTechnica]

Montevideo (Tania Malréchauffé, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Putting Salt In Tap Water And Drilling Wells In Parks: One City’s Desperate Quest To Avoid Running Dry” • Grappling with a multi-year drought and high temperatures, Uruguay is running dry. The situation has become so bad that residents are being forced to drink salty tap water and workers are drilling wells in the center of the capital city. [CNN]

Rising sun (Karsten Würth, Unsplash)

Minute 40
¶ “New Battery Storage Capacity: 10x Growth, 40 GWh/Year By 2030” • Rystad Energy predicted that energy storage installations will surpass 400 GWh a year in 2030. That would be nearly ten times the 43 GWh added in 2022. This year, 74 GWh of capacity are expected to be added, which is 72% more than last year, so the growth is already under way. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, June 27

Minute 43

Heat (Kirk Thornton, Pexels)

¶ “Extreme Heat Means Two-Thirds Of North America Could Suffer Blackouts This Summer” • Power grid officials have warned that large swaths of the US could face blackouts if it’s a hot summer. Periods of extreme heat stress the grid by spiking demand for electricity for air conditioning to stay cool just as heat causes problems at power facilities. [CNN]

Texas (Daniel Lloyd Blunk-Fernández, Unsplash)

Minute 46
¶ “Solar Power Trumps Texas Lawmakers As Heat Wave Hits” • Texas lawmakers tried to throw a wet blanket over the state’s renewable energy industry last month, but they came up short on votes. They should count their blessings. The state’s solar power sector is now being hailed as a hero for helping the grid during a hellish heat wave. [CleanTechnica]

Smoke from Canada (NASA MODIS)

Minute 48
¶ “Canadian Wildfire Smoke Reaches Europe As Canada Reports Its Worst Fire Season On Record” • Canada has marked its worst wildfire season on record, with smoke from the blazes crossing the Atlantic Ocean and reaching western Europe. Over 18,688,691 acres (nearly half of the area of New England) have burned, and over half of the peak season is still to come. [CNN]

Wednesday, June 28

Wind farm (Vattenfall image)

Minute 51
¶ “Wind Farm Neighbours Are More Positive To Wind Power” • Do all people oppose to living near wind farms? Well, when asked, it turned out that those who lived closer to turbines have a more favourable view of wind power than people living further away. This was one of the results which some may find surprising in a recent survey. [Evwind]

Wisconsin Flood (jim gade, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 54
¶ “Extreme Floods Are Happening Much More Often Than Federal Data Would Suggest, Analysis Shows” • A critical federal analysis of extreme rainfall is vastly underestimating the chances of flood events, with grave implications for everything from new roads and bridges to the rising cost of flood insurance, according to a new analysis. [CNN]

Great Lakes (NASA image)

Minute 56
¶ “Offshore Wind Energy Opportunities In The Five Great Lakes” • Wind resource assessments suggest that the Great Lakes’ potential capacity is 160 GW for fixed-bottom wind turbines and 415 GW for floating wind energy systems. The potential for wind energy exceeds the annual electricity consumption in five of eight states on the Great Lakes. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #529 – 6/29/2023

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 #528 – 6/22/2023

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 #528 – 6/22/2023

Minute 0: Introduction

Thursday, June 15

Lake Oroville, full (Quinn Comendant, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

Minute 2
¶ “California’s Lake Oroville Is Back At 100% Capacity After Being Hit Hard By Yearslong Drought” • California’s drought-stricken reservoirs recovered remarkably in recent months in a barrage of storms. Lake Oroville, California’s second-largest reservoir is at 100% of its capacity after being at critically low levels for several years. It was the state’s hardest hit reservoir. [CNN]

Cargo ship (Kinsey W, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “Marine Environment At Risk Due To Ship Emissions” • A study by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden says the release of metals and other environmentally harmful substances by ships poses a significant threat to a marine ecosystem. Over 90% of the contaminants was from the water discharged by ships’ exhaust scrubbers. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines at NREL (NREL image)

Minute 8
¶ “Global Wind Industry Reaches One Terawatt Milestone In June” • It has taken over forty years to reach the 1-TW milestone, although with the continual gain in momentum, the next TW will take less than 7 years to install, data from the Global Wind Energy Council shows. GWEC is organizing events to mark the achievement. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Friday, June 16

Floating solar array in New Jersey (Businesswire.com image)

Minute 10
¶ “US Goes Bonkers Over Floating Solar Power Plants” • First it was a trickle, now it’s a flood. US energy planners are starting to catch up with the floating solar trend, in which solar panels rest on lakes, reservoirs, and other bodies of water. The technology could provide solar developers with another pathway for solar energy in rural areas. [CleanTechnica]

Foxconn EV (Foxconn image)

Minute 13
¶ “Iphone Maker Foxconn To Switch To Cars As US-China Ties Sour” • iPhone maker Foxconn is betting big on electric cars and redrawing some of its supply chains as it navigates a new era of icy Washington-Beijing relations. Chairman Young Liu said even as Foxconn shifts some supply chains away from China, EVs will drive its growth in the coming decades. [BBC]

Tuk-tuk in Thailand (Lauren Kay, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “Sri Lanka Aims To Reach 500,000 Electric Tuk-Tuks” • Tuk-tuks sure can be dirty vehicles, but some countries have a lot on the roads. Sri Lanka is one of those countries, and it is now looking to do something about this problem. Within the next five years, Sri Lanka plans to convert half a million fossil-fueled tuk-tuks to electric tuk-tuks. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, June 17

Wind turbines (Efe Kurnaz, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Renewable Energy Soars, Fossil Fuels Decline In Electricity Report” • Renewable energy sources grew remarkably while fossil fuel-based electricity production declined, the International Energy Agency’s Monthly Electricity Statistics report shows. Fossil fuel generation declined 8.1% in the OECD, and nuclear genaration was off 3,1%. [Energy Live News]

Wind turbine in Australia (Kshithij Chandrashekar, Unsplash)

Minute 22
¶ “Australian Wind Farms Set First Record Of 2023” • Wind farms on Australia’s eastern seaboard set a record of over 7 GW on June 8, covering over 30% of grid demand. Wind capacity has grown, and more is coming online. As Australia moves further into winter, wind power is picking up. We can bet that more records will be broken. [CleanTechnica]

Tornado (Will Campbell, National Weather Service, public domain)

Minute 24
¶ “How ‘Tornado Alley’ Is Changing” • Perryton, Texas, was torn up by a tornado. The latest research suggests that such incidents are set to become more common across the US. Though the central states currently witness more tornadoes than anywhere else, in the future, the main area of peril could also include the southeast. Tornado alley is widening. [BBC]

Sunday, June 18

Wind turbines (Thomas Richter, Unsplash)

Minute 27
¶ “Countries Powered By Renewable Energy Recover Faster From Economic Crises” • Ecological Economics published a study that examined 133 economic crises in 98 countries over a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2011. The researchers found that the best predictor of economic recovery was the amount of renewable energy a country used. [Cosmos Magazine]

Solar array unfolding (NASA TV image)

Minute 30
¶ “NASA Spacewalkers Finish Installing Roll-Out Solar Array” • Expedition 69 flight engineers Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen of NASA concluded their spacewalk after 5 hours and 35 minutes. They completed their major objective to install an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array. The 20-kW array is 60 feet by 20 feet (18.2 by 6 meters). [CleanTechnica]

Montana (Matthew Lancaster, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Renewable Energy And Health Impacts Highlighted In The Climate Trial” • Plaintiffs in Held v Montana, a first-of-its-kind youth climate lawsuit, sought to illustrate both the feasibility of transitioning Montana to fossil fuel-free energy sources and the physical, emotional, and societal dangers of a “business as usual” approach to climate policy. [Montana Free Press]

Monday, June 19

Swiss glacier and train (Janita Top, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “Switzerland Referendum: Voters Back Carbon Cuts As Glaciers Melt” • Voters in Switzerland backed a climate bill designed to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The law will require a move away from dependence on imported oil and gas towards the use of renewable sources. The green energy proposals were backed by 59.1% of voters. [BBC]

Offshore wind farm (SSE image)

Minute 38
¶ “Scotland Could Become ‘World Leader’ In Renewable Energy” • Scotland could become a world leader in renewable energy, an analysis shows. Researchers for the independent think tank Green Alliance mapped where future green industrial clusters might be sited for maximum benefit, and found Scotland to be in a strong position to develop them. [STV News]

BYD B19 eBus (Image courtesy of BYD)

Minute 40
¶ “Cool BYD Electric Bus News From Europe” • BYD says there are 4,200 BYD eBuses either in operation or on order in Europe. They have covered 235 million kilometers, which is equivalent to reducing 250,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. This is pretty cool, as electric buses are helping to get more people accessing electric mobility options. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, June 20

New York smog, in time gone by (Matthew Henry, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Poor Air Quality Isn’t The Only Way Wildfires Affect Cities” • The catastrophic effects of the wildfires in Quebec make it clear that a forest’s impact – or the impact of its destruction – expands far beyond the forest itself. By making forests more resilient to wildfires, cities can protect their communities. Here are a few ways they can act. [CleanTechnica]

BYD Seal (BYD image)

Minute 46
¶ “Tesla And BYD Search For New European Factories” • It seems that both Tesla and BYD are considering new factories in Europe – the second for Tesla and the first for BYD.  The two companies are totally committed to manufacturing electric cars (and trucks and buses in the case of BYD), but they have quite different business philosophies. [CleanTechnica]

Miami (Denys Kostyuchenko, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “Florida Enacts Car Dealers Protection Law To Stymie Online Sales” • The National Automobile Dealers Association is one of the most influential lobbying entities in Washington. In 2022, it the amount it spent on federal lobbying set a record. In Florida, it was behind a law that makes it hard for legacy auto makers to have any control on prices of their EVs. [CleanTechnica]

Wednesday, June 21

Minute 51
¶ “The North Atlantic Is Experiencing A ‘Totally Unprecedented’ Marine Heat Wave” • Temperatures in parts of the North Atlantic Ocean are soaring off the charts. Parts of the North Sea are in a a category 4 marine heat wave – defined as “extreme” – according to NOAA. In some areas, water temperatures are up to 5°C (9°F) hotter than usual. [CNN]

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (Mark Garten, UN)

Minute 54
¶ “Fossil Fuels Are “Incompatible With Human Survival,” Says UN Secretary General” • World leaders and their representatives are preparing for COP 28, which will take place in Dubai from November 20 until December 12. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been monitoring those preparations and is less than pleased with what he has seen so far. [CleanTechnica]

Solar farm (Photo courtesy of Ameren Missouri)

Minute 56
¶ “Ameren Missouri Plans Solar Farms That Can Power 95,000 Homes” • Ameren Missouri announced plans to open four solar farms by 2026, sufficient to power a total of 95,000 homes. The investor-owned power utility, which serves St Louis and eastern Missouri, said it would build or purchase the solar farms, with a total capacity of 550 MW. [Missouri Independent]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #528 – 6/22/2023

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 #527 – 6/15/2023

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 #527 – 6/15/2023

Minute 0: Introduction

Thursday, June 8

Volvo buses (Volvo image)

Minute 2
¶ “150 Double-Decker Electric Buses From Volvo Headed To UK” • One of the largest double-decker electric bus orders ever was made in the UK. UK coach and bus operator Stagecoach ordered 150 electric double-decker electric buses and 39 single-decker electric buses from Volvo Buses. It’s the largest electric bus order Volvo Buses has received. [CleanTechnica]

Clown fish (Rachel Hisko, Unsplash)

Minute 5
¶ “As Ocean Oxygen Levels Dip, Fish Face An Uncertain Future” • Global warming not only increases ocean temperatures, it also triggers a cascade of effects that are stripping the seas of oxygen. With global warming, oceans around the world are becoming ever more deprived of oxygen, forcing many species to migrate from their usual homes. [BBC]

Shell truck (Shell image)

Minute 8
¶ “Shell Adverts Banned In UK Due To “Misleading” Content” • The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned multiple adverts for oil giant Shell due to “misleading” content. According to the ASA, the adverts “omitted significant information about the overall environmental impact of Shell’s business activities in 2022.” [Offshore Technology]

Friday, June 9

Solar project in California (White Pine Renewables image)

Minute 10
¶ “US Solar Market Expected To Triple In Size In Five Years” • The US solar industry installed 6.1 GW of capacity in the first quarter of 2023, according to a report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie. Wood Mackenzie forecasts that the solar market will triple in size over the next five years. [pv magazine USA]

Cruise ship (Courtesy of Hurtigruten)

Minute 13
¶ “Hurtigruten Norway Plans Electric Cruise Ship With Sails And Solar Panels” • Norway’s Hurtigruten operates a small fleet of cruise ships that ply the country’s coast, giving people a chance to witness the wonders of Norway’s fjords. Now it says it will build a battery electric cruise ship that features actual sails that will be covered in solar panels. [CleanTechnica]

Monsoon season in India (Boudhayan Bardhan, Unsplash)

Minute 16
¶ “El Niño planet-warming weather phase has begun” • Scientists confirmed that El Niño had started. Experts say it will likely make 2024 the world’s hottest year. They fear the world will go past the 1.5°C warming mark partly due to its effects on world weather. They could include drought in Australia, increased rain in the southern US, and a weak mosoon in India. [BBC]

Saturday, June 10

Mushroom cluster (Timothy Dykes, Unsplash)

Minute 19
¶ “Mushrooms Could Play A Key Role In Solving The Climate Crisis” • The scientific journal Cell Press is publishing a study showing that a group of fungi with mycorrhizal systems draw down and store more than 13 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. That’s nearly the annual greenhouse gas output of China and the US combined. [The Japan Times]

Wildfire (Pixy.org, CC0)

Minute 22
¶ “Canadian Wildfire Smoke Is A Climate Change Wake-Up Call For The USA” • The New York Post ran a headline this week telling readers to “Blame Canada” for the smoke hanging over the city. It is typical of reactionaries in the US to look around and refuse to see what is happening before their eyes. The climate crisis ss arriving early, and we aren’t ready. [CleanTechnica]

Coal-burning power plant (Johannes Plenio, Unsplash)

Minute 24
¶ “Switching From Coal Power Contracts To Renewable Energy Can Save Kerala ₹9,000 Crore In Five Years” • Replacing its coal power contracts with renewable energy can save the Indian state of Kerala ₹9,000 crore ($1.09 billion) over a five-year period, a study by think tank Climate Risk Horizons says. The report recommended phasing out coal by 2030. [The Hindu]

Sunday, June 11

Airbus airplanes (Airbus image)

Minute 27
¶ “Megawatt Electrical Motor Designed By MIT Engineers Could Help Electrify Aviation” • To electrify large commercial airliners, megawatt-scale motors are required. To meet this need, a team of MIT engineers is now creating a 1-MW motor, to be powered by a battery or fuel cell, that could be a key stepping stone toward electrifying larger aircraft. [CleanTechnica]

Manhattan (Jenin Abumazen, Unsplash)

Minute 30
¶ “New York City Will Charge Drivers Going Downtown. Other Cities May Be Next” • New York City is moving ahead with a landmark program to toll vehicles entering Lower Manhattan. The Federal Highway Administration signed off on the release of an environmental assessment, and the public review period is ending on Monday. [CNN]

Philadelphia (Mike Conway, Unsplash)

Minute 32
¶ “Cities Across The Northeast Experience Better Air Quality As Hazardous Wildfire Smoke Subsides” • Sorely missed blue skies are returning and cities across the northeastern US have better air quality after the monstrous cloud of smoke from the wildfires in Canada dissipates. The area of Canada that has burned so far is more than twice the size of New Jersey. [CNN]

Monday, June 12

Nuclear power plant (Lukáš Lehotský, Unsplash)

Minute 35
¶ “EU To Try Again For Renewable Energy Deal After Nuclear Row” • EU countries will try to pass a deal on new renewable energy targets, which were stalled by concerns of France and other states that the law sidelines nuclear energy. The countries lodged last-minute opposition to the more ambitious EU goals for renewable energy last month. [The Star]

Hydrogen in the atmosphere (CICERO via Nature.com)

Minute 38
¶ “Hydrogen Can Make Global Heating Worse, CICERO Study Shows” • CICERO, a climate and environmental research center based in Oslo, has published a report that says while the use of hydrogen may result in no emissions, leakage from the hydrogen distribution system can be twelve times as destructive as carbon dioxide to the environment. [CleanTechnica]

Wind power (Filipe Resmini, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 40
¶ “Solar And Wind Power Now Producing More Electricity Than Fossil Fuels In EU!” • The EU has hit a crossover point. For the first time, solar power and wind power have combined for more electricity generation than fossil fuels in the EU. Last month, the two core renewables of the new clean energy era achieved that historic crossover point. [CleanTechnica]

Tuesday, June 13

Haze (Alaric Duan, Unsplash)

Minute 43
¶ “Last Week’s Haze May Be Just The Beginning Of A New ‘Summer Of Smoke’” • What we saw unfold along the Eastern Seaboard last week was surreal. But just because the smoke has mostly cleared for now doesn’t mean those apocalyptic scenes won’t be back. Canada’s fire season is just getting going, this could be a summer of smoke. [CNN]

Rendering of new Volkswagen factory (Volkswagen image)

Minute 46
¶ “Volkswagen Claims Dry Battery Process Will Save Hundreds Of Dollars Per Car” • Volkswagen intends to bring a new dry coating process for EV batteries into large-scale production, according to Der Spiegel. Dry coating reduces consumption of energy in the production of battery cells by 30%, which could lower the cost of EVs. [CleanTechnica]

City of Gold Coast, Queensland (City of Gold Coast, Unsplash)

Minute 48
¶ “$19 Billion For Energy Transition In Queensland Budget As It Pushes State Ownership, Milks Coal” • Queensland’s government has allocated A$19 billion ($12.9 billion) to deliver on its energy transition plan, with a focus on public ownership of energy assets. Queensland’s flush financial position was enabled by an increase in coal royalties. [pv magazine Australia]

Wednesday, June 14

Hazelwood power plant in 2008 (Simpsons fan 66, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Minute 51
¶ “Historic Moment In Australia’s Energy Transition: Hazelwood Battery Energy Storage System Is Commissioned” • Marking a new era in Australia’s energy transition, Hazelwood is the first retired coal-fired power station in the country to host battery storage. It is a key moment in repurposing former thermal assets for renewable technologies. [Yahoo Finance]

Wind turbines (Thomas Reaubourg, Unsplash)

Minute 54
¶ “China Offers To Donate 66 GW Of Solar And Wind Power Equipment To South Africa” • The Chinese government has offered to donate to South Africa solar PV panels and generators that can be installed at public institutions to prevent power disruptions, according to Chen Xiaodong, China’s ambassador to South Africa. [The Mail & Guardian]

PV array in Georgia (Jud McCranie, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Minute 56
¶ “Form Energy To Supply 15-MW, 1500-MWh Battery To Georgia Power” • Form Energy announced that it is moving forward with its agreement with Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, to deploy a 15-MW, 1500 MWh iron-air battery system. The battery system is expected to come online as early as 2026. [CleanTechnica]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #527 – 6/15/2023

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 #526 – 6/8/2023

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 #

Minute 0: Introduction

Thursday, June 1

Wind turbines (Lisa Baker, Pexels, cropped)

Minute 2
¶ “Global Renewables Set To Break Records In 2023” • Global additions of renewable power capacity are expected to jump by a third this year, according to the International Energy Agency. A number of global issues are driving strong deployment of solar PV and wind power to achieve a more that 440 GW of additional capacity in 2023. [reNews]

Flooding in Hoboken (Spc Joseph Davis, US Army, via Flickr)

Minute 5
¶ “The Laws That Took Down Mobsters Are Now Being Turned Against Big Oil” • Hoboken, New Jersey, has sued oil companies, including Exxon and Chevron, hoping to put them on trial for deceiving the public. In a new twist, Hoboken’s lawyers have amended the complaint, alleging that Big Oil had violated the state’s RICO Act. [NJ Spotlight News]

After a fire (Landon Parenteau, Unsplash, cropped)

Minute 8
¶ “If Climate Goals Are Meant To Protect Us From ‘Significant Harm,’ Then They Aren’t Good Enough, Scientists Say” • The world has been focusing on limiting global warming to 1.5°C. But even at that amount, millions of people will still face “significant harm,” including death, displacement, and scarcity of food and water, a report says. [CNN]

Friday, June 2

Smoke from Nova Scotial Wildfires (NASA image)

Minute 10
¶ “Nova Scotia Battles Its Largest Wildfire On Record” • In Nova Scotia, firefighters are battling the largest wildfire in the history of the Atlantic province. And another fire forced the evacuation of thousands near Halifax. The wildfire smoke travelled south, with air quality warnings in the US. Heat that comes with climate change has driven the wildfires. [BBC]

Rooftop solar power (Solar Victoria image)

Minute 13
¶ “Solar Leads Way With Renewables On Course To Shatter Deployment Records” • The International Energy Agency expects global additions of renewable capacity to surge by 107  GW in 2023 to 440 GW, the largest annual addition yet. This is about one third more renewable energy than the world added in 2022. [pv magazine Australia]

Heliostats (NREL image)

Minute 16
¶ “Heliostat Consortium Announces Funding Awards Supporting Heliostat Deployment” • The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, co-leads of the Heliostat Consortium, announced seven awardees from a request for proposals aimed to achieve DOE’s goals for heliostat cost and performance. [CleanTechnica]

Saturday, June 3

Volkswagen ID. Buzz (Courtesy of Volkswagen)

Minute 19
¶ “The Official Volkswagen ID. Buzz For North America Reveal!” • The Volkswagen ID. Buzz has been anticipated for a long time. Rumors, speculation, and guesses about the ID. Buzz have been coming thick and fast, in advance of the official North American reveal on June 2. Now June 2 is finally here and the official press release is out. [CleanTechnica]

Fiber-optic sensing (Jenny Nuss, Berkeley Lab)

Minute 22
¶ “How Fiber-Optic Sensing And New Materials Could Reduce Cost Of Floating Offshore Wind” • Two key concerns for floating offshore windpower are the potential to disrupt the clean energy space and how the offshore technologies would impact marine life. Researchers developed fiber-optic sensing that can monitor acoustic signals such as whale calls. [CleanTechnica]

Daimler trucks (Daimler image)

Minute 24
¶ “Daimler, Toyota, And Mitsubishi To Partner On Hydrogen Tech” • Daimler and Toyota Hino are two of the biggest names in commercial trucking, and they’ve just signed an MOU with Mitsubishi Fuso that will see the acceleration of that company merging with Hino and the development of new, advanced trucking tech (hydrogen). [CleanTechnica]

Sunday, June 4

Windpower (Pixabay, Pexels)

Minute 27
¶ “IEA: Renewables Installations In 2023 Soar To Levels We’ve Never Seen” • The energy crisis in Europe, the US Inflation Reduction Act, and the continued strong expansion of green energy installations in China are all expected to contribute to the biggest-ever increase in renewable energy capacity additions this year, an IEA report says. [Oil Price]

Kashmir (Durray Sameen Rajouri, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

Minute 30
¶ “Climate Change: Kashmir’s Agriculture And Horticulture Sectors At Risk” • In Jammu and Kashmir, unusual weather events, including heavy rain, thunderstorms, and lightning, have become more frequent. This is affecting crop productivity and fruit quality. Experts attribute the changes in the weather to climate change. [Ground Report]

PV technology class (Courtesy of Central Community College)

Minute 32
¶ “Nebraska Renewable Energy Training Programs Struggle To Recruit Students Amid National Worker Shortage” • In Nebraska, Central Community College is teaching future workers in the renewable energy industry, offering wind, solar energy, and battery storage accreditation. There are not enough students. It is a common problem in the US. [Lincoln Journal Star]

Monday, June 5

Floating PVs (Harvinder Chandigarh, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

Minute 35
¶ “Eco-Friendly Push Can Raise Farmers’ Incomes” • With effective implementation, solar energy can be rewarding for farmers. Renewable energy and the farm sector can be a winning combination, because together, they can help improve the crop yield, cutting overhead costs and improving efficiency of farm processes. [Tribune India]

No jobs on a dead planet (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)

Minute 38
¶ “Climate Scientists: Safe Global Warming Limit For Humans Has Already Passed” • Scientists have long backed a goal to cap global warming at 1.5°C, to avoid its most dangerous effects. But a new analysis says the limit to prevent significant harm to people is just 1°C. That warning, published in the journal Nature, says the Earth has already heated up by about 1.2°C. [Europe]

Royal Penguins on Macquarie Island (M Murphy, public domain)

Minute 40
¶ “Australia To Triple Size Of Protected Marine Park To Area Larger Than Germany” • Australia plans to triple the size of the Macquarie Island Marine Park and close off an area larger than Germany to fishing and mining, the government announced, protecting millions of vulnerable seabirds and animals. The park is between Tasmania and Antarctica. [CNN]

Tuesday, June 6

Electric bus (MAN image)

Minute 43
¶ “MAN Goes All In On Electric Buses, Daimler Introduces Fuel Cell ECitaro” • MAN, the heavy vehicle arm of Volkswagen Group, has made an executive decision not to manufacture diesel-powered buses that comply with the upcoming Euro 7 exhaust emissions rules. Instead, it will focus on producing battery-electric buses. [CleanTechnica]

Canal in Arizona (Central Arizona Groundwater Replacement District)

Minute 46
¶ “Arizona Limits New Construction Around Phoenix Due To Lack Of Groundwater” • The Phoenix area has been one of the fastest growing areas of the US for decades, but the growth can’t go on. There isn’t enough water to wash the dishes and flush the toilets and fill the pools of all the new homes that will be needed to house more people. [CleanTechnica]

Solar panels between tracks (Sun-Ways image)

Minute 48
¶ “Switzerland Is Installing Solar Panels In Train Tracks” • Swiss startup Sun-Ways is installing solar panels on railway tracks in Switzerland. The panels are reportedly being rolled out ‘like a carpet’ in the gap between the tracks near the Buttes train station following the go-ahead from the country’s Federal Office of Transport. [TechSpot]

Wednesday, June 7

Cooling spray ponds at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (Energoatom)

Minute 51
¶ “Ukrainian Dam Is Destroyed – Nuclear Plant Lives In A ‘Grace Period’” • The Kakhovka dam was blown up. It is a critical piece of infrastructure, hosting a hydroelectric plant and managing a reservoir that supplies water for drinking, irrigation, and cooling of the upstream six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest. [Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]

Sea-Cargo ship (Courtesy of Sea-Cargo via Norsepower)

Minute 54
¶ “Cargo Ships Return To Wind Power, Again” • The ocean-going wind power firm Norsepower launched its different-looking Rotor Sails back in 2014, and now it looks like all that hard work is about to pay off. There are other benefits being being free of emissions, as well. “The rotor sails dampen the roll motion so the ship hardly rolls at all.” [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm in Spain (Iberdrola image)

Minute 56
¶ “Spain’s Renewable Power Generation To Top 50% In 2023” • With strong wind and solar production, Spain is on track to generate over 50% of its electricity from renewable sources this year, the first of the top five European power consumer countries to achieve the feat. In doing so, Spain has beat France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. [OGV Energy]

Minute 59: Finis

Notes: Energy Week #

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