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Energy Week #571 – 5/1/2024
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, April 25
Solar PVs (Tom Brewster Photography, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 2
¶ “A Golden Age Of Renewables Is Beginning, And California Is Leading the Way” • California has had a record-breaking string of days in which the combined generation renewable sources has exceeded demand on the main electricity grid for anywhere from 15 minutes to 9.25 hours per day. The implications are spectacular. [Scientific American]
UK wind farm (Trish Steel, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 5
¶ “Share Of Electricity Generated By Fossil Fuels In Great Britain Drops To Record Low” • Fifteen years ago, gas and coal power made up 75% of the electricity mix, while renewables were only 2%. Last year only a third of Great Britain’s electricity came from fossil fuels, and 40% from renewables. There are times when over 90% is from renewables. [The Guardian]
Offshore wind turbine (Worldview Films image)
Minute 8
¶ “US Unveils Five-Year Offshore Leasing Plan” • US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new five-year schedule of offshore wind leasing rounds, with up to 12 lease sales by 2028. Four lease sales in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and near US territories will take place this year, one each in 2025 and 2026, two in 2027, and four in 2028. [reNews]
Friday, April 26
Solar plant in Gugarat (Citizenmj, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 10
¶ “India’s New Solar Installations Hit 6.2 GW In March” • Rystad Energy figures show India’s monthly installations of renewable energy surged to a record 7.1 GW in March 2024. The previous record was 3.5 GW, set in March 2022. More than 6.2 GW of the March 2024 total was solar capacity. That is over 80% of the 7.5 GW installed in all of 2023. [pv magazine International]
BYD Explorer No 1, bringing cars from China to Europe (BYD image)
Minute 13
¶ “Electric Cars Are The Spawn Of The Devil, Ex-CIA Dude Tells Faux News” • If you are wondering where all the negativity about electric cars is coming from, you probably don’t spend every moment of the day filling your cranial cavity with detritus from Faux News. If you did, you would be treated to a constant barrage of stunningly stupid nonsense. [CleanTechnica]
German wind turbines (Stephan Mosel, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
Minute 16
¶ “Renewable Energies Cover 56% Of Germany’s Q1 Electricity Consumption” • Renewable energies covered around 56% of electricity consumption in Germany in the first quarter of 2024, according to projections by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries. [Yahoo]
Saturday, April 27
Wind turbines (US DOE image)
Minute 19
¶ “Wind Repowering: Putting Old Wind Turbines Back Into Service” • Wind repowering aims to revamp old turbines with more efficient components, or put in completely new, state-of-the-art turbines. These new components and units can reduce noise, more efficiently power a turbine, and a deliver a higher overall energy output. [Emagazine.com]
Ship tracks (MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC)
Minute 22
¶ “Controversial Methods To Cool The Earth By Reflecting Sunlight Gain Traction As Global Temperatures Rise” • As the impacts of climate change intensify and become more severe, relatively untouched ideas are gaining momentum as potential short-term solutions to lower Earth’s temperature. One of them is solar geoengineering. [ABC News]
Renewable energy (Karsten Würth, Unsplash)
Minute 24
¶ “Tripling Renewables: European G7 Leaders Need To Turn Words Into Action” • The COP28 goal means increasing global renewables capacity from under 4 TW at the end of 2022 to 11 TW by the end of 2030. Ember’s analysis shows that collectively G7 countries are only targeting a doubling of renewables by 2030. They need to triple it. [Euractiv]
Sunday, April 28
Doha, Qatar (Kazuo ota, Unsplash)
Minute 27
¶ “Qatar Seeks To Generate 4 GW Of Renewable Power By 2030” • Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation has launched Qatar National Renewable Energy Strategy, which has a goal to increase renewable power generation to about 4 GW by 2030 to cut its emissions. To do this, QNRES coordinated with 22 key energy actors in the country. [The Peninsula Qatar]
Repair of a levee break at Pajaro, California (DWR image)
Minute 30
¶ “Climate Change Has Disproportionately Impacted These Vulnerable US Communities, Experts Say” • Events in recent years show the disproportionate impacts of climate change on the poorest communities, which emit the least greenhouse gas. Extreme weather events are exacerbated by warming global temperatures. [ABC News]
Richard Nixon (Oliver Atkins, National Archives)
Minute 32
¶ “In 1971, The Nixon Administration Punted On A Revolutionary Climate Study” • A nonprofit research organization based at George Washington University, has launched its Climate Change Transparency project. The National Security Archive released a briefing book that focuses on climate change discussions in the Nixon White House. [CleanTechnica]
Monday, April 29
Ørsted wind turbine (Ørsted image)
Minute 35
¶ “Offshore Wind Energy Tender To Power Denmark’s Entire Electricity Demand” • Denmark has launched a major tender for offshore wind energy that could provide all of the country’s electricity. Denmark announced an offshore wind tender that could award up to 10 GW – more than enough for the nation’s entire population. [Innovation News Network]
Simple explanation (Image by We Don’t Have Time)
Minute 38
¶ “Is Your Bank Financing Fossil Fuel Companies? This App Lets You Find Out” • We Don’t Have Time is an organization whose mission is to wake us all from our reverie in which we assume that someone, somewhere will find a solution for global warming and save us from having to do much of anything to avoid a sixth extinction event. [CleanTechnica]
Aptera (Aptera image)
Minute 40
“What’s Going On With Aptera And The Emirates?” • Jennifer Sensiba: It’s no secret that Aptera has been seeking funding for production for years. Sadly, the company is not very open about what is going on with it. We can hope that Aptera finally found the investor or investors it was looking for. I want to see it do well, but we don’t know. [CleanTechnica]
Tuesday, April 30
Wind turbines (UK government)
Minute 43
¶ “UK Accelerates Connections For 8 GW Of Clean Energy Capacity” • Electricity networks in England and Wales enabled the grid connection offer dates for nearly 8 GW of clean energy projects to be brought forward. The Technical Limits program brought connection dates of over 200 projects forward by up to ten years. Their capacity totals 7.8 GW. [reNews]
Wind turbine (EDP image)
Minute 46
¶ “New York Wraps Up Latest Renewables Tender” • NYSERDA has concluded New York State’s seventh annual solicitation for onshore renewable energy projects. It has provisionally awarded 24 projects to support the continued development of large-scale onshore wind and solar resources toward the achievement of the New York’s Climate Act goals. [reNews]
Sydney Opera House (Liam Pozz, Unsplash)
Minute 48
¶ “Australia’s Energy Crisis Looms” • A report from the Grattan Institute says Australia must take immediate action to reform its national energy market to avoid energy crisis. The report warns that the current National Electricity Market is ill-equipped to handle the rapid transition away from coal-fired power and towards renewable sources. [Ecogeneration]
Wednesday, May 1
Eurostar train (Eurostar image)
Minute 51
¶ “Eurostar Pledges To Power Trains With 100% Renewable Energy By 2030” • Eurostar, the high-speed rail network in the northwest of Europe, announced a goal of enabling 30 million passengers to travel sustainably while lowering carbon emissions. Eurostar’s objective is to power its trains using 100% renewable energy by 2030. [Rail Business Daily]
Sodium-ion battery (Courtesy of Natron via businesswire.com)
Minute 54
¶ “Buh-Bye, Conflict Minerals: US Gets First Sodium-Ion Battery Factory” • In the latest sodium-ion battery news, the US startup Natron Energy staked out its claim to the first commercial-scale production of a sodium-ion battery in the US when it hit the start button on its factory in Michigan. It plans to make 600 MW of sodium batteries per year. [CleanTechnica]
Wind turbines in California (Tim Drivas, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
Minute 56
¶ “Data Reveals Big Milestones For California’s Wind, Water And Solar Power Production” • According to data at the California Independent System Operator’s website, during the past 52 days wind, water, and solar power have provided an average of 61.5% of the state’s electricity demand. And renewables meet 100% of demand for at least 15 minutes of 44 days. [MSN]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #571 – 5/2/2024
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 