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Energy Week #533 – 7/27/2023
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, July 20
Wind turbines in Texas (Leaflet, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 2
¶ “The Economics Of Green Energy: A Case Study Of Wind Ranchers In Texas” • When a developer offered John Davis cash for the right to install an array of wind turbines on his land, he looked at the numbers. Davis can get $8 per acre raising cattle, $15 per acre from deer hunters, but many hundreds of dollars by hosting wind turbines. [Electropages]
Blast furnace (Kateryna Babaieva, Pexels)
Minute 5
¶ “The Transformation Of Global Steel Making Has Huge Potential” • A major insight from Agora is that the once seen as “hard-to-abate” sector, the steel industry, now has the potential to turn into a “fast-to-abate” sector. A net-zero iron and steel industry is technically feasible by the early 2040s using a rapid rollout of new technologies. [CleanTechnica]
Solar panels (Jadon Kelly, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 8
¶ “Europe Stockpiling 40 GW (DC) Of Chinese Solar Panels” • Chinese-manufactured solar panels are piling up in European warehouses, with about 40 GW (DC) of capacity currently in storage, according to Rystad Energy. The number of panels, worth about £7 billion, is same amount installed across the continent in 2022. [reNews]
Friday, July 21
Geothermal Well (Fervo Energy Image)
Minute 10
¶ “Fervo Completes Geothermal Energy Testing” • Fervo Energy, based in Houston, uses horizontal drilling techniques developed by the oil and gas industry to unlock geothermal resources in places where tapping underground sources of heat to generate electricity has never been possible. Fervo says a test at a full-scale pilot facility was successful. [CleanTechnica]
Solar farm near Chapel Hill (Alice Keeney, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 13
¶ “Coal-Fired Electricity Is Falling Below Solar In NC” • Coal was used in 37% of electricity generation in 2015 in North Carolina. In the first quarter of 2023, it was down to 7%, while solar was up to 8%. A North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association officer said, “Based on this data, we’d expect to see solar generation regularly surpass coal generation starting this year.” [WFAE]
New method for making EV batteries (Navitas Systems via ORNL)
Minute 16
¶ “Better EV Batteries Start On Factory Floor With New ‘Dry Manufacturing’ Method” • The latest development in EV battery technology comes from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is part of the US DOE’s sprawling network of research facilities, in a public-private partnership with the US energy storage firm Navitas Systems. [CleanTechnica]
Saturday, July 22
Supercell (NOAA, Unsplash)
Minute 19
¶ “Climate Records Tumble, Leaving Earth In Uncharted Territory” • A series of climate records for temperature, ocean heat, and Antarctic sea ice have alarmed some scientists who say their speed and timing is “unprecedented.” Studies are under way, but scientists already fear some of the worst-case scenarios are unfolding. [BBC]
Wildfire in Greece (Lotus R, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 22
¶ “Europe Heatwave: Temperatures To Soar In Greece As Fires Still Burn” • Greece is bracing for more intense heat over the weekend, with meteorologists warning that temperatures could climb as high as 45°C (113°F). It could turn into Greece’s hottest July weekend in 50 years. Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle dozens of wildfires. [BBC]
Canoo Crew Transportation Vehicle
Minute 24
¶ “Canoo Transporting NASA Astronauts” • Canoo delivered three Crew Transportation Vehicles to the Kennedy Space Center. Canoo said that the vehicles were intended to transport astronauts for Artemis lunar missions. It wrote, “The CTVs are engineered to carry fully suited astronauts, flight support crew, and equipment to the launch pad.” [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, July 23
Solar array in Italy (Balfabio, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
Minute 27
¶ “Italy’s Renewable Energy Sector Soars With 2.5 GW Of Additions In Six Months” • Reports indicate that in the first half of 2023, Italy added an impressive 2.5 GW of new renewable capacity. The Monthly Electricity System Report says domestic clean energy sources covered 44.3% of the nation’s electricity demand in June. [Microgrid Media]
El Paso (Kevin Vega, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 30
¶ “El Paso Electric Power Usage Hits Level Not Expected Until 2029 Because Of Heat Wave” • El Paso Electric has shattered power-consumption records four days in the last three weeks because of the heat wave gripping the region for over a month. El Paso Electric officials didn’t expect to hit the power peak levels of this summer until 2029. [El Paso Times]
Solar array in Australia (Grahamec, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 32
¶ “Queensland’s $62 Billion Green Energy SuperGrid Gambit” • Though Australia is a major coal producer, the government has approved several wind and solar power operations and expects the country to become a major green hydrogen hub in the next decade. And now the state of Queensland will become home to a SuperGrid, powered by renewables. [Yahoo Finance]
Monday, July 24
Turbine being installed (China Three Gorges Corporation image)
Minute 35
¶ “The Largest And Most Powerful Wind Turbine Ever Built Is Now Operational” • The world’s largest wind turbine constructed to date is now up and running and contributing to the power grid in China. The turbine is a MySE 16-260. The nomenclature designates a power capacity of 16 MW and a rotor diameter of 260 meters (853 feet). [ScienceAlert]
Hut at Bulungula Lodge (Bulungula Lodge image)
Minute 38
¶ “Remote Xhosa Community Pioneers Use Of Solar Power To Transport Tourists” • Bulungula Lodge in Nqileni Village, a rural community on the Wild Coast of South Africa, has pioneered eco-tourism since it opened in 2004. Solar panels were ten times as expensive then as they are now, yet the lodge has operated on solar power for almost twenty years. [SA Good News]
Solar panels in Paradox Valley (Tony Webster, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 40
¶ “What’s Driving Sudden Flare Of Solar Energy And Storage In Colorado?” • Colorado has had a lot of solar and other renewable energy projects that independent experts say are keeping it ahead of a fast-growing pack of successful green-development states. Accelerants are lucrative tax credits and grants from the Inflation Reduction Act. [Vail Daily]
Tuesday, July 25
Wind farm (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)
Minute 43
¶ “UAE To Work With COP28 Participants To Triple Global Renewable Energy Capacity By 2030” • The UAE will work with the participants of COP28 to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity and to double the production of hydrogen by 2030, according to Suhail Al Mazrouei, the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. [The National]
Sun in a heatwave (Raphael Wild, Unsplash)
Minute 46
¶ “Heat Waves In US And Europe Would Have Been ‘Virtually Impossible’ Without Climate Change” • Attribution analysis from the World Weather Attribution initiative shows that the searing heat in the US and southern Europe would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, and it made China’s heat wave at least fifty times more likely. [CNN]
Prototype floating wind turbine in the Gulf of Maine. (UMaine)
Minute 48
¶ “Maine To Go All In On Offshore Wind” • The legislature of the state of Maine is expected to pass a bill that calls for getting 3 GW of electricity from offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine by 2040. The measure also supports building port infrastructure and local supply chains to service projects in the gulf’s deep, frigid waters. [Canary Media]
Wednesday, July 26
Atlantic Ocean (Jacob Buller, Unsplash)
Minute 51
¶ “Crucial System Of Ocean Currents Is Heading For A Collapse That ‘Would Affect Every Person On The Planet’” • A vital system of ocean currents could collapse in a few decades if the world continues to pump out planet-heating pollution, scientists warn. The event would be catastrophic for global weather and “affect every person on the planet.” [CNN]
Solar array in China (李大毛 没有猫, Unsplash)
Minute 54
¶ “China Surpasses Renewable Energy Targets Five Years Ahead Of Schedule” • A report by Global Energy Monitor, an NGO that monitors wind and solar farms, China has exceeded its ambitious goals. The report reveals that China is set to double its renewable energy capacity by 2025, reaching a milestone of 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity. [Microgrid Media]
Sailing at Key West (Jonathan Wheeler, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “Florida Ocean Temps Surge To 100°F As Mass Coral Bleaching Event Is Found In Some Reefs” • Multiple reefs near the Florida Keys are completely bleached or dead in a grim escalation that took place in as little as two weeks, experts told CNN. A buoy in the Florida Bay hit 101.1°F at a depth of 5 feet, one of the highest temperatures ever recorded anywhere. [CNN]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #533 – 7/27/2023
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 