Please note that because of scheduling for Thanksgiving, this edition of the show will be recorded on November 20, and the following on November 30.
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Energy Week No 549 – 11/20/2023
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, November 9
NuScale VOYGR-6 small modular reactor (NuScale image)
Minute 2
¶ “Pioneering Nuclear Project Gets Canceled After Costs Surge” • The first nuclear power project in the US with a small modular reactor has been canceled. NuScale Power Corp was building the reactor in partnership with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, but the estimated cost of its electricity rose from $58/MWh to $89/MWh. [Oil Price]
Fog (Jakub Kriz, Unsplash)
Minute 5
¶ “Why Super Fog Is Continuing To Create Dangerous Driving Conditions In Louisiana” • Relentless drought conditions fueling the persistence of marsh fires burning in parts of southeastern Louisiana are causing ongoing super fog events on regional highways during peak commute times. Some highways were closed due to dangerous conditions. [ABC News]
Friday, November 10
Wildfire smoke (Malachi Brooks, Unsplash)
Minute 7
¶ “White House Announces New Efforts To Prevent Wildfires, Limit Smoke Hazards” • The White House is announcing an interagency focus to protect communities from wildfire smoke and prevent large fires that put communities at risk. An MOU was signed by the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, along with the EPA and CDC. [ABC News]
Jeep EV (Jeep image)
Minute 10
¶ “Jeep’s Electrification Game Plan: Wrangler, Wagoneer, And More Going Electric!” • Exciting times are coming for Jeep enthusiasts, as Jeep is set to take a giant leap into electrification. Jeep outlined some plans for the next five years, promising to electrify some of its most beloved models, including Wrangler, Wagoneer, and Grand Wagoneer. [CleanTechnica]
Saturday, November 11
Solar array in Kentucky (Vesper Energy image)
Minute 12
¶ “Kentucky Regulators Approve Plan For 900% Increase In Renewable Energy” • The Kentucky PSC approved a plan by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities to retire several fossil fuel plants and replace them with 877 MW of solar and a 125-MW, 500-MWh of battery system. This will be a 900% increase in renewables. [pv magazine USA]
Brent futures prices (EIA image)
Minute 15
¶ “Low US Gasoline Demand Is Making Gasoline Less Profitable” • Low gasoline demand in combination with the seasonal switch to winter-grade gasoline has made gasoline less profitable to produce, reducing the difference between gasoline blendstock and crude oil prices to multiyear lows of around 17¢/gallon in October 2023. [CleanTechnica]
Sunday, November 12
Lead author James Hansen (Bruce Gilbert, Earth Institute)
Minute 17
¶ “World Temperatures Will Blow Past Paris Goals This Decade, Asserts New Study” • A paper by scientists of a dozen institutions says the world’s average temperature will surpass 1.5°C above preindustrial times much sooner than most forecasts. It says extreme action is needed, or they will reach 2°C above those levels before 2050. [Phys.org]
GE Haliade-X turbine (Courtesy of Avangrid)
Minute 20
¶ “Vineyard Wind 1 Installs First 853-Foot-Tall GE Haliade-X Wind Turbines” • We hear a lot about offshore wind installations that were halted as the economic calculus changed, rendering some of the projects unprofitable. Here we have some news about the forward progress with Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts. [CleanTechnica]
Monday, November 13
Spinning machines (Siemens Energy)
Minute 22
¶ “Spinning Mega-Machines Will Safeguard The Baltic Power Grid As It Desynchronizes From Russia” • Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia recently accelerated a plan to cut the electrical chains that keep them tied to Russia. A technical lynchpin to their planned escape from the Moscow-controlled power zone is a set of synchronous condensers. [IEEE Spectrum]
Accommodation listed on Ecobnb’s website (Ecobnb image)
Minute 25
¶ “Tourists Are Rethinking Their Relationship With Earth” • Ecobnb, based in Italy, lists over 3,000 properties worldwide, from a vegan and organic farmhouse in Tuscany, to an eco mountain lodge in Costa Rica. Travellers can filter their search to find specific interests such as plant-based food, and EV charging stations powered by renewable energy. [BBC]
Tuesday, November 14
Traverse Wind Energy Center (American Electric Power image)
Minute 27
¶ “AEP To Spend $9.4 Billion On Regulated Renewables” • The American Electric Power Company plans to invest $9.4 billion in regulated renewables over the next five years as part of its plan to add 21.5 GW of diverse generation in the period 2024-2033. This is according to AEP chair, president, and CEO Julie Sloat, as she discussed AEP’s five-year plan. [Renewables Now]
EV (Hyundai Motor Group, Pexels)
Minute 30
¶ “Electric Vehicle Sales Continue to Grow, Despite What Some Automakers Are Saying” • The future of cars is electric, a fact that many of the world’s automakers have publicly stated. But over the last month several automakers have said the transition from gasoline to EVs needs to slow down, partly due to low demand. That is a tactic. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, November 15
Electric VTOL (Courtesy of Joby)
Minute 32
¶ “First Electric VTOL Aircraft To Fly Over New York City” • A four-passenger eVTOL aircraft has flown over New York City. It’s very different from the Volocopter that recently flew over Tampa. The Joby electric aircraft can go 100 miles on a full charge, and Joby estimates that a flight from Manhattan to JFK Airport will take around seven minutes. [CleanTechnica]
Rio de Janeiro (Raphael Nogueira, Unsplash)
Minute 35
¶ “Health Warnings As Brazil Is Gripped By An ‘Unbearable’ Heatwave” • Red alerts have been issued for almost 3,000 towns and cities across Brazil, which are enduring an unprecedented heatwave. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, temperatures were as high as 42.5°C (108.5°F). Officials attributed the heat to El Niño and climate change. [BBC] (This was reported as 52.5°C in error.)
Thursday, November 16
Portugal (Maksym Kaharlytskyi, Unsplash)
Minute 37
¶ “Portugal Just Ran On 100% Renewables For Six Days In A Row” • Portugal started decarbonization with some legacy hydropower, but neither nuclear capacity nor plans for any. That meant it had to figure out how to cut fossil fuel use with new renewables. It committed to building renewables in pledging a 2050 deadline for net-zero carbon emissions in 2016. [Canary Media]
Ireland (Aldo De La Paz, Unsplash)
Minute 40
¶ “Ireland Holds Firm On 8 GW Of Solar By 2030 Target” • The Irish government said this week that it expects to install 8 GW of solar by 2030. The government said PV should reach existing levels of onshore wind, roughly 4.5 GW, by the mid-late decade. The government said that Ireland will hit the 8-GW target by use of existing instruments. [PV Magazine]
Friday, November 17
Minute 42
Vertiia by AMSL Aero (AMSL Aero image)
¶ “Hydrogen Aircraft Brings Low Emissions Flight To The Skies” • Australian Government funding is helping startup AMSL Aero to develop a new hydrogen-powered aircraft named Vertiia. The Sydney business received $5.43 million under the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Advancing Renewables Program after a prototype was developed. [energy.gov.au]
Flooding in Florida (Wade Austin Ellis, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 45
¶ “Florida Flooding Closes Schools, Knocks Out Power” • More than 80,000 customers were without power in Florida Thursday morning after torrential rain and winds topping 65 mph. Parts of South Florida, near Key Largo, recorded more than a foot of rain in the past 24 hours. Miami saw a whopping 7.53 inches of rain, setting a new daily record. [ABC News]
Saturday, November 18
GE Verona’s 6 MW turbine (GE Verona)
Minute 47
¶ “First Wind Turbine Produced At GE Vernova’s New York Facility” • GE Vernova’s Onshore Wind business announced that it has completed the first onshore wind turbine produced on its new wind manufacturing assembly line in Schenectady, New York. The unit is the largest onshore turbine ever manufactured in the US. [Power Engineering International]
Candela P-12 (Candela image)
Minute 50
¶ “A Swedish Hydrofoil Ferry Seeks To Electrify The Waterways” • Speeding through Stockholm’s archipelago, the new P-12 vessel by electric boat maker Candela barely makes a sound as it glides over a meter (3’ 4”) above the water. Its developers hope the ferry, which was unveiled this week, will introduce a new era of public transport on the water. [ABC News]
Sunday, November 19
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in 2022 (White House, public domain)
Minute 52
¶ “US And China Agreement Sets The Tone For COP28” • The US and China will back a new global renewables target and work together on methane and plastic pollution, they said in a joint statement after a meeting to find common ground ahead of COP28 talks. The two countries account for 38% of the world’s greenhouse gases. [CleanTechnica]
Moving a blade (Supplied, Danny Tuddenham via Facebook)
Minute 55
¶ “Wind Turbines Begin 700 km Journey Inland From Geraldton To Billion-Dollar Kathleen Valley Lithium Mine” • The first of 15 gigantic blades, which will make up five wind turbines, has left Geraldton Port on a 700 km journey inland to a $951 million lithium mine that is being opened up in Western Australia’s northern Goldfields. [ABC]
Minute 58: Finis
Notes: Energy Week No 549 – 11/20/2023
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 