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Energy Week #567 – 4/4/2024
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, March 28
Wind turbine (Thomas Reaubourg, Unsplash)
Minute 2
¶ “‘Historic Breakthrough’: China’s Installed Wind Turbine Cost Drops To One-Fifth Of The US In Green Energy Race” • Wind power is soaring ahead in China, with the installation price of turbines dropping nearly 45% thanks to economies of scale and technological advancements, according to government tender documents. [South China Morning Post]
Reddy Kilowatt on a booklet (Author unknown, public domain)
Minute 5
¶ “Last Coal Plants In New England To Close; Renewables Take Their Place” • The last coal producers in New England will shutter their doors permanently under an agreement reached with environmental groups and the EPA. Two plants in New Hampshire, Schiller and Merrimack, will voluntarily close down in 2025 and 2028, respectively. [The Hill]
Polar ice at Iceland (Roxanne Desgagnés, Unsplash)
Minute 8
¶ “Polar Ice Is Melting And Changing Earth’s Rotation. And It’s Messing With Time Itself” • One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself. [CNN]
Friday, March 29
Togg T10X, an EV made in Turkey (Togg image)
Minute 10
¶ “The EV Revolution Has Passed A Tipping Point” • By the end of last year, sales of electric cars reached 5% or more of the new car market in 31 countries. The trajectory laid out by countries that had reached that point in the past shows that EVs sales can grow from 5% to 25% of new cars in under four years, according to Bloomberg. [CleanTechnica]
BYD’s first cargo ship (BYD image)
Minute 13
¶ “China Files WTO Complaint Over US EV Incentives” • From the time President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, it was inevitable. The Chinese empire struck back by initiating dispute settlement proceedings against the US at the World Trade Organization to safeguard its interests in the EV industry, the Chinese mission said. [CleanTechnica]
Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro (Commonwealth Media Services)
Minute 16
¶ “Governor Proposes Alternative Plan For Reducing Carbon Emissions” • Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro has proposed a plan aimed at reducing power plant carbon emissions while requiring more electricity to come from renewable sources. Pennsylvania would become the first state to adopt its own carbon-pricing program, if the plan passes. [Bay Journal]
Saturday, March 30
Wind turbines (Waldemar, Unsplash, cropped)
Minute 19
¶ “US Renewables’ Installed Generating Capacity Beats Coal” • Solar capacity additions hit the ground running in 2024, pushing renewables’ installed generating capacity past coal, US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission data shows. Solar accounted for 2,527 MW of new installed generating capacity in January of this year, 87.3% of the total. [Electrek]
Curbside EV charging (Image courtesy of FLO)
Minute 22
¶ “Curbside EV Charging In NYC Is A Huge Success” • New York City has a goal of being “net-zero” by 2050. Clearly, that’s not going to happen with zillions of vehicles powered by infernal combustion engines on its roads. Curbside EV charging may help. FLO, a Canadian company, has run 100 curbside chargers in a pilot program since 2021. [CleanTechnica]
Scania truck (Gabriel Santos, Unsplash)
Minute 24
¶ “EPA Sets New Emissions Standards For Heavy-Duty Vehicles In Effort To Fight Climate Change” • The EPA announced its new emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The agency claims the new emissions standards will avoid 1 billion tons of GHG emissions by 2055. The standards will go into effect for vehicles being made in 2027-2032. [ABC News]
Sunday, March 31
Wind turbines (Bastian Pudill, Unsplash)
Minute 27
¶ “Significant Renewable Energy Gains In 2023 Put Global Goal Within Reach” • The world added 50% more renewable energy in 2023 than 2022, putting the global goal of tripling clean energy in the next six years within reach, experts have said. The IEA made the announcement after analysis of current policies and market developments. [Yahoo News UK]
Platte River wind turbines (Platte River Power Authority)
Minute 30
¶ “How Platte River Power Authority Is Accelerating Its Energy Transition” • Community-owned Platte River Power Authority is a wholesale electricity provider in northern Colorado. It has a policy goal to decarbonize by 2030. It was the first utility in the state to bring windpower online, and plans to grow its windpower sevenfold by 2025. [Longmont Times-Call]
Allegheny River Lock and Dam 2 (Andrew Byrne, US ACE)
Minute 32
¶ “The Real Value Of Electrifying Non-Powered Dams” • Some non-power dams are suitable for conversion to generate power, but few have been in the last 20 years due to the complexity and concerns about economics. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a way to calculate the economic value of a converted NPD. [CleanTechnica]
Monday, April 1
North Atlantic right whales (NOAA Fisheries image)
Minute 35
¶ “Smart Siting Of Offshore Wind Protects Right Whales In Gulf of Maine” • The final Wind Energy Area identified for potential offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine is principally located away from habitats of higher importance to endangered North Atlantic right whales. Smart siting will help the industry advance responsibly. [CleanTechnica]
Agrivoltaics (Connexus image, cropped)
Minute 38
¶ “Farmers In Germany Ready To Embrace Agrivoltaics” • In Germany, researchers associated with the world renowned Fraunhofer ISE published a study designed to shed light on what factors make agrivoltaics – the practice of combining solar panels with farming – attractive to those who are actually engaged in farming. [CleanTechnica]
Grand Tetons (Nate Foong, Unsplash)
Minute 40
¶ “Tesla Seems To Be Focusing On National Park Access With Supercharger Network: Jennifer Sensiba” • In two other recent articles, I spotted some upcoming Tesla Supercharger stations that will greatly improve access to national parks. Now, after seeing a third, and then fourth, fifth, and sixth examples, I see a pattern in Tesla’s behavior. [CleanTechnica]
Tuesday, April 2
Lavender Bee (Bennilover, CC BY-ND 2.0, cropped)
Minute 43
¶ “Imminent Insect Demise Means Global Food Web Is On Verge Of Collapse” • Buried in the late Friday afternoon news cycle, the most recent annual assessment from the World Entomology Body on the health of insects indicates that loss of whole insect communities is imminent. This would have disastrous effects for the global food web. [CleanTechnica]
Fuel cell electric bus (Photo courtesy of Ballard)
Minute 46
¶ “New Texas Fuel Cell Gigafactory Pours More Cold Water On Clean Power Foes” • In Texas, public officials have been pulling out all the stops to obstruct clean energy investment, but the hits just keep on coming. In the latest development, Ballard Power Systems is moving forward with plans to set up a 3-GW fuel cell factory in Rockwell. [CleanTechnica]
Jalhaput Dam (zskm10, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)
Minute 48
¶ “India Hydropower Output Records Steepest Fall In Nearly Four Decades” • India’s hydroelectricity output fell at the steepest pace in at least 38 years over the year ending March 31, a Reuters analysis of government data showed. Erratic rainfall and high demand forced further dependence on coal-fired power, a major water consumer. [The Globe and Mail]
Wednesday, April 3
Adani Green Energy wind-solar plant (AGEL image)
Minute 51
¶ “Adani Green Energy Has Over 10 GW Of Renewable Capacity Operating” • Adani Green Energy Ltd has reached an operating renewable energy portfolio of 10,934 MW, the largest in India. AGEL’s operating renewable energy portfolio consists of 7,393 MW of solar, 1,401 MW of wind and 2,140 MW of wind-solar hybrid capacity. [pv magazine India]
Solar + horses (Voltalia image)
Minute 54
¶ “Portuguese Utility Says Renewables Covered 91% Of Demand In March” • Renewable energy covered 91% of Portugal’s demand for electricity in March, according to data from the grid operator. Hydropower provided 47%, followed by wind at 31%, solar at 6%, and biomass at 5%. Natural gas plants generated the remaining share. [pv magazine International]
Offshore wind turbines (insung yoon, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “US Gives Go-Ahead For 2.6-GW New England Wind” • The US government announced its approval of Avangrid’s 2,600-MW New England Wind offshore wind project. With the approval, the Department of the Interior has approved more than 10 GW of capacity from offshore wind projects. It said this is enough to power nearly 4 million homes. [reNews]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #567 – 4/4/2024
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 