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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 #575
Minute 0: Introduction
Thursday, May 23
Solar farm (Entergy Louisiana image)
Minute 2
¶ “Entergy Louisiana Approved For ‘historic’ 3-GW Of Solar Development” • Entergy Louisiana’s proposal to add up to 3 GW of economic solar power to its generation portfolio has been approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, marking what the utility calls the largest renewable power expansion in the state’s history. [Power Engineering]
Wind turbines (News Oresund, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 5
¶ “Draft National Targets Put EU Just Short Of REPowerEU” • National Energy and Climate Plans are the principal documents produced by EU Member States to detail their climate targets. National ambition is nearing what’s needed for the EU’s energy targets, but a further push is needed to close the remaining gap and accelerate deployment. [Ember]
Kaiser Friedrich (Image from Torqeedo)
Minute 8
¶ “Berlin’s Oldest Passenger Vessel Enters A New Green Era Powered By Torqeedo” • The historic vessel Kaiser Friedrich was built in 1886. The 30-meter steamship has returned to service in central Berlin. In a bid to preserve its legacy, its owners refitted the historic vessel with a modern, emission-free electric drive system by Torqeedo. [CleanTechnica]
Friday, May 24
Birds near offshore wind turbine (J Bartholmai, PNNL)
Minute 10
¶ “Seabird Study Shows How They Might One Day Share The Air With Offshore Wind Turbines” • Researchers from the US DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and from H T Harvey & Associates published results from a study to find out how high seabirds fly and whether they might interact with wind turbines in Frontiers in Marine Energy. [CleanTechnica]
Hurricane (Mike Trenchard, NASA, public domain)
Minute 13
¶ “NOAA Predicts Record Hurricane Season For 2024” • NOAA’s forecast of the upcoming hurricane season says all categories of storms are expected to exceed the typical number seen every year. Warming of the surface ocean temperatures from human-induced climate change is likely fueling more powerful tropical cyclones and extreme precipitation. [ABC News]
Offshore wind turbines (EDF image)
Minute 16
¶ “Atlantic Shores 1 And 2 Seal FEIS” • Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind has announced the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has released its Final Environmental Impact Statement for the 2,800-MW Atlantic Shores Project 1 and 2, off the coast of New Jersey. The schemes are a 50:50 partnership between Shell and EDF Renewables. [reNews]
Saturday, May 25
Nodding donkey (Zbynek Burival, Unsplash)
Minute 19
¶ “Nearly 175 Arrested As Climate Protesters Target France’s TotalEnergies And Key Investor” • The head of TotalEnergies has told shareholders that new oilfields have to be developed to meet global demand, as the annual meetings of the French energy giant and one of its biggest shareholders were picketed. Police arrested 173 protesters. [The Guardian]
Tootbus (VEV image)
Minute 22
¶ “Tootbus Unveils End-To-End Renewable Power For Its Electric Fleet With VEV Solar Panel Project in Wandsworth” • Tootbus, the world’s first low-emissions sightseeing bus company, has secured approval for plans to install roof-mounted solar panels on their Wandsworth depot, working in collaboration with VEV, an electric fleet provider. [CleanTechnica]
Bad weather (Lucy Chian, Unsplash)
Minute 24
¶ “‘Kitty Cat’ Storms Hitting US Heartland Are Growing Threat To Home Insurance” • Insurance companies are threatened by hurricanes made worse by climate change, but the problem is becoming a crisis that stretches far inland. Another, less-talked-about disaster has wreaked havoc on states in the midwest and the Great Plains. [The Guardian]
Sunday, May 26
Chevrolet Equinox EV (Chevrolet image)
Minute 27
¶ “Is The Chevy Equinox The Affordable EV We’ve Been Waiting For?” • Paul Fosse: “I think Chevy has a winner on its hands with the Equinox EV 1LT, which has an amazing value. I think the higher trims may have to offer some incentives to gain share in this ultra-competitive segment, since Tesla, Hyundai, and Kia offer compelling vehicles for similar prices.” [CleanTechnica]
Bill McKibben, 2012 (Dave Brenner, SNRE, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
Minute 30
¶ “Bill McKibben Thinks Climate Change Is The Key To A Biden Win In November” • Bill McKibben, the committed climate activist who has been educating us about the dangers of climate change for decades, has some advice for Joe Biden as the next presidential campaign heats up: Hit the topic of climate change early and often. [CleanTechnica]
Volvo Ocean Race (Maurits & Marjol, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
Minute 32
¶ “World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Yacht Set To Compete In The Ocean Race” • Phil Sharp, inventor of the Hydrogen Power Module and co-founder of Genevos, a leading developer of marine fuel cell systems, plans to compete in The Ocean Race with the world’s first hydrogen-powered racing boat, showcasing benefits of renewable energy. [Interesting Engineering]
Monday, May 27
Solar parking shade (Flicker02, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Minute 35
¶ “Australia’s Low Cost Solar PV Goal Could Change Everything About The Grid” • The CSIRO GenCost report published last week has sparked a new polemic about the cost of generating technologies, with the critics in the nuclear camp not liking the country’s main scientific research agency stating that nuclear is really expensive. [RenewEconomy]
Airplane (riikkeary, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Minute 38
¶ “Twelve People Injured When Plane Hits Turbulence” • Twelve people were injured when a Qatar Airways plane flying from Doha to Dublin hit turbulence, airport authorities said. Some meteorologists note that reports of turbulence encounters have been increasing and point to the potential impacts that climate change may have on flying conditions. [ABC News]
Kuala Lumpur (Wengang Zhai, Unsplash)
Minute 40
¶ “Government Aims For 40% Of Primary Energy Mix To Come From Re Sources By 2035” • Malaysia aims to ensure that 40% of the country’s primary energy mix comes from renewable energy sources by 2035, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof. This would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 million tonnes annually. [The Edge Malaysia]
Tuesday, May 28
Komatsu battery-electric haul truck (Komatsu image)
Minute 43
¶ “Rio Tinto And BHP Collaborate On Battery-Electric Haul Truck Trials In The Pilbara” • In an industry first, Rio Tinto and BHP will collaborate on testing large battery-electric haul truck technology in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The two companies will work with Caterpillar and Komatsu to conduct trials of their battery-electric haul trucks. [CleanTechnica]
Port of Tyne (Port of Tyne image)
Minute 46
¶ “Port Of Tyne Enters HVDC Cable Factory Talks” • Port of Tyne in the UK and LS Eco Advanced Cables UK are negotiating for a long-term lease for a cables factory. LS EAC is interested in potential for a high voltage DC factory on the Tyne Renewables Quay site in the north-east of England. It would be worth an investment of £923 million. [reNews]
Offshore wind turbines (Waldemar, Unsplash)
Minute 48
¶ “Energy Giant RWE To Build Two New Wind Farms Off The German Coast” • Germany’s largest power producer, RWE AG, announced it is to construct 1.6 GW of offshore wind capacity in the North Sea. It took the decision despite ongoing supply-chain challenges and soaring costs that have halted some offshore wind projects in the UK and the US. [Euronews.com]
Wednesday, May 29
Tesla in Canada (Jp Valery, Unsplash)
Minute 51
¶ “All The Ways Cars Harm The World” • CleanTechnica has many articles showing love for EVs. But here, two authors show how cars, even EVs, are harmful to people and communities. The psychologist Carl Jung said everything has a “shadow” or dark side, and cleantech authors explore the big-time shadow of the pervasive automobile. [CleanTechnica]
Coal-mining site (Swift Current Energy)
Minute 54
¶ “Feds Offer $90 Million For Vast Solar Array On Pennsylvania Mine Land” • The US government is offering up to $90 million to a renewable energy developer to build Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm on 2,700 acres of reclaimed coal-mining land. The $800-million Mineral Basin Solar Project would have a capacity of 402 MW. [Bay Journal]
Wind turbines (Zbynek Burival, Unsplash)
Minute 56
¶ “Renewables Provided Almost 30% Of US Electrical Generation In March” • Renewables are now the second-largest source of US electrical generation behind natural gas, which averaged a 40.5% share during Q1 2024 but fell to 39.4% in March. Electric energy from all renewables grew from 26.3% in March of 2023 to 29.2% in March of 2024. [Electrek]
Minute 59: Finis
Notes: Energy Week #575
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 