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 #564 – 3/14/2024
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, March 7
Solar panels (Mariana Proença, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 2
“UK’s Green Power Industry Receives Surprise £10 Billion Pledge” • Britain’s stressed green power industry has received a surprise fillip after NatPower, a renewables startup that is part of a larger European group, pledged to plow £10 billion into what would become the largest portfolio of battery storage projects in the country. [The Guardian]
Gas prices at the Henry Hub
Minute 5
¶ “Henry Hub Daily Natural Gas Spot Price Fell to Record Lows in February” • Because of high production and relatively low consumption, less natural gas has been withdrawn from storage this winter. US natural gas inventories have been above average. Relatively high storage levels indicate an oversupplied market, reducing natural gas prices. [CleanTechnica]
Baku, Azerbaijan (Tural Taqiyev, Unsplash)
Minute 8
¶ “Azerbaijan Predicts Mutual Benefits Of Foreign Investment In Construction Of Solar Power Plant” • W Hass Future GmbH & Co, a German firm, said it is ready to invest more than €300 million to establish solar power stations in Kyrgyzstan, Azernews reports. The company is also considering wind energy, along with the solar power. [AzerNews]
Friday, March 8
Killington (Emily Ho, Unsplash)
Minute 10
¶ “Vermont Governor Opposes Ambitious Renewable Energy Bill Over Costs” • Citing a disputed cost study, Vermont Governor Phil Scott is pushing back against a bill mandating faster, wider adoption of renewable energy by power utilities. House Bill 289 would require utilities to purchase 100% of their electric power from renewable sources by 2030. [The Energy Mix]
Dog on a hot day (Akanda Kilicarslan, Unsplash)
Minute 13
¶ “The Planet Just Shattered Heat Records For The Ninth Month In A Row” • Last month was the hottest February on record. Each of the last nine months set a record for heat, Copernicus’ data shows. February was 1.77°C warmer than the average February in pre-industrial times. The last twelve month period was 1.56°C above pre-industrial levels. [CNN]
Ford E-Transit electric commercial van (Courtesy of Ford)
Minute 16
¶ “Ford Pops E-Transit Van Out Of Stealth Mode To Boost EV Sales” • The good news about EV sales keeps pouring in. Ford Motor Company racked up a strong performance in February with a 93% uptick in sales of the F-150 Lightning, YOY, and a 64% increase for the Mustang Mach-E. Ford released the all-electric E-Transit to keep things going. [CleanTechnica]
Saturday, March 9
Hexicon offshore wind farm (Hexicon image)
Minute 19
¶ “Fish To Frolic Among Floating Offshore Wind Turbines” • The rise of the offshore wind industry has sparked a new movement to piggyback other maritime activities onto offshore wind farms. In the latest development, a unique two-headed floating wind turbines has been tapped to host a commercial fish farm off the coast of Sweden. [CleanTechnica]
Bare trees (Dulcey Lima, Unsplash)
Minute 22
¶ “Winter Is Over, And It Was The Warmest On Record. Here’s What The US Missed Out On This Season” • This winter was the warmest on record for the Lower 48, according to NOAA, and the records go back to the late 1800s. The singularly mild winter left vast areas of the country without typical amounts of snow and ice, fueling a worsening drought. [CNN]
Offshore wind farm (Avangrid image)
Minute 24
“Virginia Could Make Almost $5 Billion From This 3.5-GW Offshore Wind Farm” • The 180-turbine Kitty Hawk Wind is an offshore wind project proposed in federal waters over 36 miles from Virginia Beach. It could deliver 3.5 GW of electricity and around $5 billion in economic impact for Virginia. The usual types of opposition seek to prevent that. [Electrek]
Sunday, March 10
Proposed electric eVTOL vehicle (Courtesy of Airbus)
Minute 27
¶ “Electricity And Airplanes – Lowering The Carbon Emissions Of Flight” • We have two news stories that focus on different ways of using electricity to reduce the carbon emissions of airplanes. The first comes from Mercedes-Benz, about an electric refueling vehicle for airplanes. The other is from Airbus, about an eVTOL passenger vehicle. [CleanTechnica]
Highway intersection (Denys Nevozhai, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 30
¶ “Whether Powered By Electrons Or Molecules, Automobiles Are A Curse” • After readers commented that there are too many cars in the world, Bloomberg ran a story entitled “EVs Can’t Fix a Global Epidemic of ‘Car Harm,’ Study Finds.” The modern world moves itself around in roughly 2 billion motor vehicles, 65% of which are cars, Bloomberg says. [CleanTechnica]
Rivian R2 (Rivian image)
Minute 32
¶ “Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe Says He’s Changing Mindsets Of What’s ‘Possible In An Electric Vehicle’” • A common complaint of EVs is that they’re too expensive. That’s why Rivian, the electric carmaker from Irvine, California, just launched three new models to meet this “huge need in the market,” RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and CEO said. [ABC News]
Monday, March 11
Storm (Simon Maisch, Unsplash)
Minute 35
¶ “More Than 30 Million People Under Flood Alerts In The Northeast” • Flood alerts are in effect for over 30 million people in eleven states from Virginia to Maine Saturday night, with both flood watches and coastal flood alerts. The Northeast will see rain and possible flooding after the Southeast had strong winds, rising waters, and even a tornado. [ABC News]
Supernal eVTOL (Hyundai image)
Minute 38
¶ “Electric Aircrafts Will Need Powerful Ports” • Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft might quickly move passengers over mountains or float them across urbanscapes. But an important consideration for these flying batteries is where they will charge and whether the existing power grid infrastructure can satisfy this demand. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm (Henry & Co, Unsplash)
Minute 40
¶ “Irish Firm Wins Gov’t Contract To Build 440 MW Of Wind Power” • Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd marked won two contracts to build two onshore wind projects in the Philippines. The government said it signed contracts with Mainstream to build wind projects, with a combined capacity of 440 MW, in Cagayan province and Leyte. [Inquirer.net]
Tuesday, March 12
Solar power (Sungrow EMEA, Unsplash)
Minute 43
¶ “Equinor Launches 531-MW Solar Plant in Brazil” • Equinor ASA has launched its 531-MW Mendubim solar plant, marking a 30% increase in its equity power production in Brazil. The plant will produce 1.2 TWh of power annually, Equinor said. Around 60% of the energy will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Alunorte. [Rigzone]
Alberta (Ryan Stone, Unsplash)
Minute 46
¶ “Alberta’s ‘Roping In’ on Renewables Could Hurt C$11 Billion In Investments, Study Says” • Alberta’s ban on some renewable projects could hurt C$11.1 billion ($8.24 billion) in investments and stall up to 6.3 GW of solar and wind power capacity, a study by the Pembina Institute said. The new rules potentially affect 42 projects and thousands of jobs. [EnergyNow]
Tidal energy project on the River Mersey (Liverpool City Region)
Minute 48
¶ “Magnificent Tidal Energy Project To Double As New City Park” • The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that the global amount of technically recoverable, zero emission electricity from tidal motion could add up to 1,000 GW, and that’s just counting locations near coastlines. The world has been getting experience already. [CleanTechnica]
Wednesday, March 13
Paints and coatings facility in Colombia (AkzoNobel image)
Minute 51
¶ “AkzoNobel Uses 100% Renewable Electricity In Latin America” • All of AkzoNobel’s manufacturing locations in Latin America are now operating on 100% renewable electricity. The company’s ambition is to reduce carbon emissions across the full value chain by 50% by 2030 (baseline 2018). It had achieved that goal in Europe and North America earlier. [AkzoNobel]
Pumped storage facility (UK Parliament via Pixabay)
Minute 56
¶ “Government Must Act Now On Energy Storage” • A UK Parliamentary Committee report on long-duration energy storage concludes that the Government must act fast to ensure that energy storage technologies can scale up in time to play a vital role in decarbonising the electricity system and ensuring energy security by 2035. [UK Parliament]
Coral (roy zeigerman, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “Researchers Discover New Technique To Encourage The Restoration Of Degraded Corals” • Researchers have discovered a way to encourage restoration of coral reef populations degraded by record-high marine temperatures. Underwater speaker that play the sounds of a healthy reef were found to help coral larvae settle up to seven times as fast. [ABC News]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #564 – 3/14/2024
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 