Thread: Fossil Fuel Alternatives

My guess is that trump will remove 100% of the subsidies to renewables in the us. Then we shall see just how it goes. If what you say is true then all will be well for renewables, if what you say is not then they will collapse. If the renewables collapse in the us without massive govt subsidies then I say all of you are deplorables.

Yes it is true about coal/electricity production in Canada. And if you really follow it you will also know that the liberal govt of Ontario, Canada's largest province bye far in population is in crisis because of this. Electricity bills have skyrocketed, the liberals polling is now below 15%. People are in uproar over monthly electricity bills approaching 800 dollars and over for some. The poor openly swear at liberal politicians in public. The green revolution in Ontario is in crisis, a failure, a disaster.
Alberta is following in ontarios footsteps and the political situation there is also a growing disaster for the socialist party as they keep pushing it.

What the greens don't tell you is that its all promises but no delivery. The actuality is economic disaster, business close down or leave, people are forced into poverty. Jobs are gone and so are the taxes they now pay elsewhere. And on and on too its self destructive end. People trust the green promise, people believe, the reality is very very different and very cruel.

World's first solar panel road opens in Normandy village

Route in Tourouvre-au-Perche cost €5m to construct and will be used by about 2,000 motorists a day during two-year test period

France has opened what it claims to be the world’s first solar panel road, in a Normandy village.

A 1km (0.6-mile) route in the small village of Tourouvre-au-Perche covered with 2,800 sq m of electricity-generating panels, was inaugurated on Thursday by the ecology minister, Ségolène Royal.

It cost €5m (£4.2m) to construct and will be used by about 2,000 motorists a day during a two-year test period to establish if it can generate enough energy to power street lighting in the village of 3,400 residents.

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Solar capacity has increased 99% since last quarter

The U.S. solar industry just experienced a quarter of record-breaking growth, with 4,143 megawatts (or million watts) of solar capacity added between July and September. That’s a 99 percent increase over the previous quarter, and a 191 percent increase over the same time period last year.

Those numbers come from a quarterly report issued by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and market analysis firm GTM Research. According to the report, an average of one new megawatt of solar generating capacity came online every 32 minutes between July and September. From the beginning of the year through September, new solar capacity represented 39 percent of all new electric generating capacity in the United States — second only to natural gas in terms of the share of new electric capacity.

Much of that growth came due to utility-scale solar installations; residential solar, in contrast, has steadily fallen over the last year, due in part to slowdown in major markets like California. But Tom Kimbis, interim SEIA president, told the Washington Post that he wasn’t concerned about the slowdown in residential solar, and said that as markets adjust, he expects to see residential solar installations bounce back to normal levels.

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Google to be powered 100% by renewable energy from 2017

Google’s data centres and the offices for its 60,000 staff will be powered entirely by renewable energy from next year, in what the company has called a “landmark moment”.

The internet giant is already the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable electricity, last year buying 44% of its power from wind and solar farms. Now it will be 100%, and an executive said it would not rule out investing in nuclear power in the future, too.

“We are convinced this is good for business, this is not about greenwashing. This is about locking in prices for us in the long term. Increasingly, renewable energy is the lowest cost option,” said Marc Oman, EU energy lead at Google. “Our founders are convinced climate change is a real, immediate threat, so we have to do our part.”

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Queensland's largest solar farm plugs into the grid a month early

Queensland’s largest operating solar farm has plugged into the national electricity grid and is set to generate enough power for almost 10,000 households by the end of 2016.

The Barcaldine remote community solar farm, in the state’s central west outback, connected to the national electricity market on Wednesday, more than a month ahead of schedule.

The early delivery of the 20 megawatt plant, one of the first in the country to be funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, was evidence of the growing speed and proficiency of big solar developers, said Arena’s chief executive, Ivor Frischknecht.

It is to be followed by a dozen new large-scale solar farms to be built across Australia by the end of 2017, which would ramp up national solar capacity to enough power for 150,000 average homes.

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India plans nearly 60% of electricity capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2027

The Indian government has forecast that it will exceed the renewable energy targets set in Paris last year by nearly half and three years ahead of schedule.

A draft 10-year energy blueprint published this week predicts that 57% of India’s total electricity capacity will come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2027. The Paris climate accord target was 40% by 2030.

The forecast reflects an increase in private sector investment in Indian renewable energy projects over the past year, according to analysts.

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World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar That's Cheaper Than Wind

Emerging markets are leapfrogging the developed world thanks to cheap panels.

A transformation is happening in global energy markets that’s worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity.

The chart below shows the average cost of new wind and solar from 58 emerging-market economies, including China, India, and Brazil. While solar was bound to fall below wind eventually, given its steeper price declines, few predicted it would happen this soon.

“Solar investment has gone from nothing—literally nothing—like five years ago to quite a lot,” said Ethan Zindler, head of U.S. policy analysis at BNEF. “A huge part of this story is China, which has been rapidly deploying solar” and helping other countries finance their own projects.

Half the Price of Coal

This year has seen a remarkable run for solar power. Auctions, where private companies compete for massive contracts to provide electricity, established record after record for cheap solar power. It started with a contract in January to produce electricity for $64 per megawatt-hour in India; then a deal in August pegging $29.10 per megawatt hour in Chile. That’s record-cheap electricity—roughly half the price of competing coal power.

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UK hits clean energy milestone: 50% of electricity from low carbon sources

Half of the UK’s electricity came from wind turbines, solar panels, wood burning and nuclear reactors between July and September, in a milestone first.

Official figures published on Thursday show low carbon power, which has been supported by the government to meet climate change targets, accounted for 50% of electricity generation in the UK in the third quarter, up from 45.3% the year before.

The rise was largely driven by new windfarms and solar farms being connected to the grid, and several major coal power stations closing.

In Scotland, the share of low carbon power is even greater, and now stands at 77% of electricity generation. A record 29% of Scotland’s electricity was exported, with almost all of it going to England.

Environmental measures have made coal power increasingly uneconomic in the UK, and ministers have promised to phase it out entirely by 2025 at the latest.

Despite a recent rise in wholesale prices, which were blamed for one small energy supplier going bust last month, the average household energy bill was down 4.6% in 2016, to £1,237.

A spokesman for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “We have made a firm commitment to reducing the UK’s carbon emissions, and these statistics show that we are doing exactly that.”

Related: Two charts show how UK coal use is collapsing

The amount of coal burned in the UK is falling rapidly, new government data shows.

The collapse has been particularly dramatic in the power sector, where monthly coal use is down 70-80% compared to last year. The UK’s top-up carbon tax, rising output from renewables and the closure of several coal-fired power stations are behind this trend.

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Delhi Metro To Run Trains Using Solar Power From Next Year

India’s largest subway system is set up fully switch to solar power from next year with an aim to reduce its growing carbon footprint.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief Mangu Singh told reporters that the subway system shall fully shift to solar power to run trains and support infrastructure, like lighting at stations, from next year.

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3D Printed Trees Harvest Energy From Sun, Wind, & Temperature

Can a 3D printed solar tree capture energy from the sun? Yes, say researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Not only do these little powerhouses make electricity from the sun, they also harvest energy from the wind and changes in temperature. VTT is the largest multi-technological applied research organization in northern Europe. It is part of the Finnish Ministry of Employment and Economy.

The tiny leaves are made of 3D printed organic solar cells. They react to sunlight to make enough electricity to power a cell phone or other small device. The flexible cells also make electricity when they vibrate, which happens when the wind blows or changes in temperature occur. The cells not only make electricity but can store it as well.

The “trunk” of the tree is manufactured from the byproducts created when real trees are harvested and made into lumber, so the trees even smell like real wood. The tiny trees can be used outdoors or indoors. The more “leaves” the solar tree has, the more power it generates.

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Netherlands: Only Zero-Emissions Cars By 2035 (New Car Sales), + Residential Natural Gas Phaseout

The Dutch government has presented a long-term energy plan that stipulates that no new cars with combustion engines may be sold from 2035 on. In addition, in the Netherlands – for over 50 years the largest natural gas producer in the EU – all houses will be disconnected from the gas grid by 2050. The plan has broad parliamentary support – in fact, many political parties believe it does not go far enough.

Well it's that or this.

(or maybe this?)

Solar Farms Expected to Outpace Natural Gas in U.S.

2016 is shaping up to be a milestone year for energy, and when the final accounting is done, one of the biggest winners is likely to be solar power.

For the first time, more electricity-generating capacity from solar power plants is expected to have been built in the U.S. than from natural gas and wind, U.S. Department of Energy data show.

Though the final tally won’t be in until March, enough new solar power plants were expected to be built in 2016 to total 9.5 gigawatts of solar power generating capacity, tripling the new solar capacity built in 2015. That’s enough to light up more than 1.8 million homes.

The solar farms built in 2016 were expected to exceed the 8 gigawatts of natural gas power generating capacity and the 6.8 gigawatts of wind power slated for construction this year. No new coal-fired power plants were planned in 2016.

“If 2016 planned additions pan out as operators initially expected for 2016, it would mark the first year that solar was the largest source of capacity,” said Tim Shear, an economist for the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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China builds world's biggest solar farm in journey to become green superpower

Vast plant in Qinghai province is part of China’s determination to transform itself from climate change villain to a green energy colossus

High on the Tibetan plateau, a giant poster of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, guards the entrance to one of the greatest monuments to Beijing’s quest to become a clean energy colossus.

To Xi’s right, on the road leading to what is reputedly the biggest solar farm on earth, a billboard greets visitors with the slogan: “Promote green development! Develop clean energy!”

Behind him, a sea of nearly 4m deep blue panels flows towards a spectacular horizon of snow-capped mountains – mile after mile of silicon cells tilting skywards from what was once a barren, wind-swept cattle ranch.

Built at a cost of about 6bn yuan (£721.3m) and in almost constant expansion since construction began in 2013, Longyangxia now has the capacity to produce a massive 850MW of power – enough to supply up to 200,000 households – and stands on the front line of a global photovoltaic revolution being spearheaded by a country that is also the world’s greatest polluter.

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Scotland sets ambitious goal of 66% emissions cut within 15 years

Holyrood ministers aim higher after hitting target of 42% cut by 2020 six years early, but say Brexit poses challenge

Scotland is seeking to dramatically cut its reliance on fossil fuels for cars, energy and homes after setting a radical target to cut total climate emissions by 66% within 15 years.

In one of the world’s most ambitious climate strategies, ministers in Edinburgh have unveiled far tougher targets to increase the use of ultra-low-carbon cars, green electricity and green home heating by 2032.

The new strategy, which is expected to cost up to £3bn a year to implement and is closely linked to a new renewable energy programme due to be published this month, will call for:

• 40% of all new cars and vans sold in Scotland to be ultra-low-emission by 2032, with 50% of Scotland’s buses to be low-carbon.

• A totally carbon-free electricity sector based entirely on renewable energy sources by 2032, when Scotland’s last nuclear power station will close.

• Four out of five of Scotland’s 2m homes to be heated using low-carbon technologies.

• The repairing of 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands, which store a total of 1.7 gigatonnes of CO2 in Scotland.

• At least 30% of Scotland’s vital publicly owned ferry fleet to be low-carbon, powered by hybrid engines.

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German Lawmakers Vote To Ban The Internal Combustion Engine

The modern internal combustion engine first came from Germany and now Germany wants to put a nail in its coffin. The Bundesrat has passed a resolution to ban the ICE beginning in 2030.

Germany's Spiegel Magazin reported this morning that the country's top legislative body was able to reach a bi-partisan agreement that hopes to allow only zero-emission vehicles on EU roads in 14 years. For the resolution to be instituted across Europe, it will have to be approved by the EU.

But according to Forbes, "German regulations traditionally have shaped EU and UNECE regulations."

Greens party lawmaker Oliver Krischer told Spiegel, "If the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions is to be taken seriously, no new combustion engine cars should be allowed on roads after 2030."

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Dutch trains now all powered by wind energy

All Dutch trains are now 100 percent powered by electricity generated by wind energy, the national railway company NS said Tuesday, calling it a world first.

“Since the first of January, 100 percent of our trains are running on wind energy,” NS spokesman Ton Boon told AFP.

Dutch electricity company Eneco won a tender launched by NS two years ago and the two firms signed a 10-year deal setting January 2018 as the date by which all NS trains should run on wind energy.

“So we in fact reached our goal a year earlier than planned,” said Boon, adding that an increase in the number of wind farms across the country and off the coast of The Netherlands had helped NS achieve its aim.

Eneco and NS said on a joint website that some 600,000 passengers daily are “the first in the world” to travel thanks to wind energy. NS operates about 5,500 train trips a day.

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Socially and politically, 2016 was a momentous year for Britain. It was also a record breaking year for energy and the environment, but thankfully for all the right reasons. Britain’s electricity was the cleanest it had been in 60 years, as coal collapsed and renewables rose to record levels.

In 2016, just 9.3% of British (not UK – as Northern Ireland is calculated separately) electricity was generated from coal, down from more than 40% in 2012. This is the lowest share coal has ever provided in the system’s 100-plus year history, and the lowest absolute quantity burnt since the start of World War II.

Renewables have seen a dramatic rise in Great Britain, with just over 28 GW of wind, solar and biomass installed – around 1 kW for every household. This is five times more than just five years ago, and as of December 2016, Britain has more renewables (combined) than any other type of generation, beating even gas turbines.

Putting together renewables, nuclear, and imports from France (which are almost all nuclear and hydro), Britain hit the milestone of supplying more than half its electricity from low carbon sources in the summer of 2016, up from 20% in 2010.

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China to invest £292bn in renewable power by 2020

World’s largest energy market looks to move from coal towards cleaner fuels

China will plough 2.5tn yuan (£292bn) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country’s energy agency has said, as the world’s largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels.

The investment will create more than 13m jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation’s energy sector during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period.

The NEA said installed renewable power capacity including wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power would contribute to about half of new electricity generation by 2020.

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'This is possible. We did it': the week Portugal ran on renewables

Campaigners say the 107 hours when the country was powered by wind, sun and water show they can replace fossil fuels

But look up, past the villages, the clumps of stout ponies and the wolf-haunted forests of pine, oak and eucalyptus, and the harbingers of an environmental revolution are silhouetted against the December sky.

The 130 giant wind turbines that sprout from the peaks, slicing the air with a rhythmic sigh, have helped Portugal to a remarkable achievement. For four and a half days in May the country ran entirely on electricity from renewable sources: wind, hydro and solar power.

Despite fears of a blackout, the lights stayed on for a record 107 hours between 6.45am on Saturday 7 May and 5.45pm the following Wednesday.

90 Percent of New Power in Europe From Renewables

Renewable energy sources made up nearly nine-tenths of new power added to Europe’s electricity grids last year, in a sign of the continent’s rapid shift away from fossil fuels.

But industry leaders said they were worried about the lack of political support beyond 2020, when binding EU renewable energy targets end.

Of the 24.5GW of new capacity built across the EU in 2016, 21.1GW — or 86 percent — was from wind, solar, biomass and hydro, eclipsing the previous high-water mark of 79 percent in 2014.

For the first time windfarms accounted for more than half of the capacity installed, the data from trade body WindEurope showed. Wind power overtook coal to become the EU’s second largest form of power capacity after gas, though due to the technology’s intermittent nature, coal still meets more of the bloc’s electricity demand.

Germany installed the most new wind capacity in 2016, while France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Lithuania all set new records for windfarm installations.

The total capacity added was 3 percent down on 2015, but a surge in offshore windfarms — which are twice as expensive as those built on land — being connected in Britain saw total, Europe-wide investment hit a record €27.5bn ($29.2 billion).

More on Europe’s Wind Power

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Norway Sets New All-Time EV Sales Record, Hits 37.5% Market Share In January

Norway began 2017 in style, setting a new all-time plug-in electric vehicle sales record!

In total, 4,898 new passenger plug-ins were registered, which was up 75% year-over-year.

It’s amazing that Norway is moving towards 40% market share with new record of 37.5% – that means that now more than 1 out of every 3 new vehicles in Norway is sold with a plug!

And this result is still ahead of other longer-range EVs entering the market – such as the Opel Ampera-e in June.

Passenger registration breakdown:

BEVs (2,289 – up 20.5% and 17.5% market share) + 494 used and 65 vans (54 new and 11 used)
PHEVs (2,609 – up 190.9% and 20% market share)
FCVs (6)

For the month, the best selling plug-in for Norway was the BMW i3, which noted 622 new registrations (4.8% of all new vehicles in the country), taking second spot among all models. The Volkswagen Golf lead all sales, and of the 738 sold, 235 were e-Golfs and 257 were plug-in Golf GTEs.

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Wind Energy Is Now The Largest Source Of Clean Energy In The U.S.

Wind power has now overtaken hydroelectric as the largest single source of clean energy in the United States. With 82 thousand MWs of total installed capacity at the end of 2016, wind turbines exceeded the 80 thousand MWs generated by the nation’s hydroelectric dams. This comes on the heels of the EIA’s short-term energy outlook which predicts wind and solar power will continue to account for the fastest growth in the U.S. energy sector, repeating a trend from last year. The EIA predicts wind power will reach 94 thousand MWs by 2018.

Wind hasn’t surpassed hydroelectric power in all categories, however; in terms of actual power generated, dams still out-perform wind turbines, as they tend to stay on for more of the year. But with few dams planned for construction, it’s likely wind power will exceed hydroelectric in actual power produced in the next few years.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has reported that 10 thousand MWs in new power is currently under construction, including the Amazon Wind Farm off the coast of Elizabeth City, NC, the nation’s first large off-shore wind farm. Last year, 8200 MWs was added, most of it in the year’s final quarter.

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Victoria to get its first large-scale solar plants

After years of unfulfilled promises, Victoria is on the cusp of getting its first large-scale solar power stations. Three farms in the state's northwest are promised to be operating by the start of next year.

Australian company Overland Sun Farming plans to start work in April on separate fields of solar photovoltaic panels at Yatpool, Iraak and Wemen, creating about 200 construction jobs.

With a combined output of 320 megawatts, they are expected to produce enough electricity to power Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo when running at full capacity.

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Energy Budget 2017-18: Solar power to feed 7,000 railway stations says FM Arun Jaitley

To reduce dependence on fossil fuels, it has been announced that the government intends to expand sourcing of solar power as an important part of the Solar Mission of the Indian Railways

Announcing the Union Budget for the 2017-18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that around 7,000 railway stations will be fed using solar power and work has already began in 300 stations in that respect.

The project is expected to feed at least 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term. Jaitley also said that regarding this work will be taken up for 2000 stations as part of the government’s 1000 megawatt solar mission.

Addressing the House members, the FM said, ” It is proposed to feed at least 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term. A beginning has already been made in 300 stations.”

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US Solar Grows 95% In 2016 In Record-Breaking Year

The United States solar market had its biggest year to date in 2016, growing a phenomenal 95%, installing a fantastic 14.5 gigawatts of new solar capacity, according to new statistics released today.

The latest US Solar Market Insight report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) was published today, revealing that 2016 blew all expectations away. 2015 itself had been a record-breaking year, with the US solar market installing 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity. But 2016 almost doubled that total, growing 95% in one year to install a total of 14,625 megawatts (MW), and becoming the leading source of new electric generating capacity installed through the year, with 39% of new capacity across all fields.

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Utilities vote to close largest coal plant in Western US

Navajo Generating Station contributes big to tribal economy but also pollution.

At 2.25 gigawatts, Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station is the biggest coal-burning power plant in the Western US. The plant, and the nearby Kayenta coal mine that feeds it, are located on the Navajo Indian Reservation, and the Navajo and Hopi peoples have had a conflicted relationship with coal since the plant opened in the 1970s. Almost all the 900-plus jobs at the mine and plant are held by Native Americans, and the tribes receive royalties to account for large portions of their budget.

Negotiations were underway to improve the tribes’ lease terms, which expire in 2019. But on Monday, the four utilities that own most of the plant voted to close it at the end of 2019. They decided that the plant’s coal-powered electricity just can’t compete with plants burning natural gas. A press release from Salt River Project, which runs the plant, explained, “The decision by the utility owners of [Navajo Generating Station] is based on the rapidly changing economics of the energy industry, which has seen natural gas prices sink to record lows and become a viable long-term and economical alternative to coal power.”

Solar power growth leaps by 50% worldwide thanks to US and China

The amount of solar power added worldwide soared by some 50% last year because of a sun rush in the US and China, new figures show.

New solar photovoltaic capacity installed in 2016 reached more than 76 gigawatts, a dramatic increase on the 50GW installed the year before. China and the US led the surge, with both countries almost doubling the amount of solar they added in 2015, according to data compiled by Europe’s solar power trade body.

Globally there is now 305GW of solar power capacity, up from around 50GW in 2010 and virtually nothing at the turn of the millennium.

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'Spinning sail' rebooted to cut fuel and make ocean tankers greener

Invented a century ago, rotating columns fixed to ship’s deck interact with wind to provide forward thrust and could make 10% fuel saving

An ocean-going tanker is to be fitted with a type of “spinning sail” invented almost a century ago in a step that could lead to more environmentally friendly tankers worldwide.

The unusual sails are rotating columns fixed to the deck of the ship, whose interaction with the wind provides forward thrust. The trial is backed by Maersk, one of the world’s biggest shipping companies and Shell’s shipping arm.

International shipping runs largely on highly polluting “bunker” fuel and the industry is coming under increasing pressure to play its part in tackling climate change by reducing emissions. Technologies being explored to cut pollution include kites, batteries or using biofuels.

The spinning, or rotor sail, was invented by the German engineer Anton Flettner and he put it into practice on two ships, one of which crossed the Atlantic in 1926. It propels the ship because when wind passes the spinning rotor sail, the air flow accelerates on one side and decelerates on the opposite side, creating a thrust force perpendicular to the wind direction.

The rotor sails being installed on a 240 metre-long Maersk tanker are modern lightweight versions produced by the Finnish company Norsepower. They will be 30 metres tall and 5 metres in diameter, the largest rotor sails ever deployed and the first to be used on a tanker.

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New 2-D Perovskite Solar Cell Exceeds Expectations For Solar Cell Efficiency

In the latest such development, the Los Alamos team practically ran out of words trying to describe the significance of their Ruddleson-Popper photovoltaic study. Here’s team member Mercouri Kanatzidis of Northwestern University enthusing over the results:

“The 2D hybrid perovskites continue to surprise. When we first designed these materials we were hoping that high quality samples of them would exhibit novel optoelectronic properties…Well, they have done so and then some. They have exceeded our expectations and are proving to be truly amazing systems. We have only scratched the surface of what is there—sorry for the pun—in this 2D family and we anticipate continued excitement going forward.”

If you are wondering what’s up with that pun about scratching the surface, Kanatzidis is referring to the focal point of the study.

One drawback of layered perovskites and similar photovoltaic materials is that their efficiency tends to degrade at edges and surfaces.

The Los Alamos team was able to show that such materials can be tweaked to avoid that problem.

The solution was to insert organic (think: plastic) layers between the perovskite layers.

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US Navy Wades In With Another Pitch For Low Cost Renewable Energy

The Air Force is forging ahead with solar projects in California and New Jersey, and now the Navy is giving itself a big pat on the back for helping to develop a new device for harvesting ambient energy from rivers, tides, and ocean currents.

The Navy seems particularly excited about the potential for providing remote villages in Alaska with relief from the high cost of diesel fuel for heating and power generation.

The new device is in the category of hydrokinetic energy systems. Like hydro dams, hydrokinetic systems use the flow of water to power turbines that generate electricity (wave power devices are in a related but slightly different slot).

The big difference is that conventional hydropower requires a lot of infrastructure to amp up water pressure. Hydrokinetic devices require no such thing. They simply use an ambient current to spin a turbine, so they could be anchored to a riverbed or tethered to a barge.

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Shell sells Canadian oil sands, ties bonuses to emissions cuts

Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell most of its Canadian oil sands assets for $8.5 billion, the latest international oil major to withdraw from the costly and carbon-heavy projects.

Shell is trying to sell assets totaling $30 billion to cut debt following its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group and is under investor pressure to mitigate climate change risks.

Shell also said on Thursday that 10 percent of directors' bonuses will now be tied to how well it manages greenhouse gas emissions in refining, chemical and upstream operations.

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Two Ohio coal-fired plants to close, deepening industry decline

Electricity company Dayton Power & Light said on Monday it would shut down two coal-fired power plants in southern Ohio next year for economic reasons, a setback for the ailing coal industry but a victory for environmental activists.

Republican President Donald Trump promised in his election campaign to restore U.S. coal jobs that he said had been destroyed by environmental regulations put into effect by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

Dayton Power & Light, a subsidiary of The AES Corporation, said in an emailed statement that it planned to close the J.M. Stuart and Killen plants by June 2018 because they would not be “economically viable beyond mid-2018.”

Coal demand has flagged in recent years due to competition from cheap and plentiful natural gas.

The plants along the Ohio River in Adams County employ some 490 people and generate about 3,000 megawatts of power for coal.

Originally Posted by pulvarien

My guess is that trump will remove 100% of the subsidies to renewables in the us. Then we shall see just how it goes. If what you say is true then all will be well for renewables, if what you say is not then they will collapse. If the renewables collapse in the us without massive govt subsidies then I say all of you are deplorables.

Most photovoltaic panels come from China. The best way to increase uptake of private solar panels is to remove the tariffs imposed upon them. I can't see Trump removing tariffs from Chinese imports.

Originally Posted by Maanaam

Most photovoltaic panels come from China.

True. But Solar City is building a mega factory for mass producing solar panels in the US.

Tesla is announcing a Semi truck to be presented later this year.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-semi...nvestment-roi/



BTW the stock market must be a crazy place. Tesla has been valued higher than Daimler for a while. But a few days ago it passed General Motors who produce about 100 times more cars at least for the moment.

There are a lot of people who speculated on a drop of Tesla shares after the US election. I guess some people have lost heavily in that bet.

Tesla’s solar roof tiles go up for pre-order today

Tesla is opening up pre-orders for its solar roof tiles today — a little later than previously slated.

CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company will be accepting orders for the tiles from later this afternoon. Although only two of the four possible tile styles are being made available at this point.

Responding to a question via Twitter Musk said the first version of the tiles that can be pre-ordered are the black glass smooth and textured versions.

Tuscan and French slate versions will be available to order “in about six months”, he added.

Musk said the tiles can be ordered “for almost any country”, including specific confirms for Australia and the UK.

He also confirmed that deployment — i.e. delivery and installation — will be this year in the US, and in 2018 for overseas orders.

There’s no official confirm on price yet which really is the key detail here. Because, while traditional solar panels may look unsightly, the historical cost of the renewable technology has undoubtedly been the biggest barrier to wider uptake — though the price of solar has also been falling significantly in recent years.

Previous hints from Tesla on the cost of its solar tiles have suggested the price of the system will amount to the price of an ordinary roof plus the cost of electricity.

Which implies solar tiles will require an initial outlay that’s more than the upfront cost of a traditional slate roof. But we should know more in a few hours…

Tesla announced the quartz glass solar roof tiles last fall, showing off four aesthetic looks that resembled fairly closely a current roofing material style.

The tiles are transparent to allow sunlight to penetrate the cells from above but appear opaque when viewed from an angle. And they have roughly equivalent efficiency of traditional solar power gathering cells, while aiming to blend in rather better with traditional roofing aesthetic.

The product is being billed as being able to generate enough energy to fully power a household. While any excess power generated could be stored in Tesla’s Powerwall 2.0 battery units, giving the homeowner a backup energy source to cover demand spikes.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/10/te...e-order-today/

^Tesla's Solar Roof gets a price

Following this morning's news that Tesla will begin taking orders for its Solar Roof, the company laid out a few more details via a blog post published this afternoon, including long-awaited pricing information.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first announced the Solar Roof project in October 2016, promising a glass roofing tile with the same appearance of traditional building materials, but which would generate electricity for a home by way of a solar cell embedded in each tile. At the time of the announcement, Musk claimed a Solar Roof would have a similar cost to a standard roof "plus electricity."

The company says Solar Roof will cost $21.85 per square foot of Solar Roof tile for a 3,000 square foot roof, using the same calculation method in a Consumer Reports roof tile comparison from November 2016. To compete with the costs of a non-solar roof, Tesla, extrapolating from the Consumer Report study, said the Solar Roof would need to come under $24.50.



more https://www.cnet.com/news/teslas-sol...f-has-a-price/

Originally Posted by misskit

The company says Solar Roof will cost $21.85 per square foot of Solar Roof tile for a 3,000 square foot roof,

Originally Posted by misskit

To compete with the costs of a non-solar roof, Tesla, extrapolating from the Consumer Report study, said the Solar Roof would need to come under $24.50.

That's $8000 under the competitive break-point (for a 3000 sq foot roof). Looking promising.

A single revolution of a turbine’s blades can power a home for 29 hours.

The World’s Largest Wind Turbines Have Started Generating Power in England

The engineers responsible for maintaining the hardware at the Burbo Bank wind farm, off the northwest coast of England, will need a head for heights. Standing 195 meters tall, these are the tallest wind turbines in commercial use on the planet.

The new wind farm, actually an addition to an older facility installed a decade ago, comprises 32 of the gargantuan new turbines. Each one is fitted with three 80-meter-long blades, allowing it to crank out eight megawatts of power—for a grand total of 258 megawatts from the entire installation, which went live this week. According to the Danish firm DONG Energy, which led the project, a single revolution of the blades on one turbine can power a home for 29 hours.

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Renewable Energy Powers Jobs for Almost 10 Million People

The renewable energy industry employed 9.8 million people last year, up 1.1 percent from 2015, led by the solar photovoltaic business, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s annual report on the industry.

Growth has slowed in the past two years, while the solar photovoltaic category, with 3.09 million jobs, and wind business more than doubled their respective employee numbers since 2012, the first year assessed, Irena said in the report.

“The nature of jobs is changing a little bit, with more emphasis on the installation, operational and maintenance side,” Adnan Amin, Irena’s director general, said Wednesday in an interview in Abu Dhabi. “That doesn’t grow as fast as the growth in manufacturing, which was very quick because the technology cost was coming down and you had this huge explosion in equipment.”

Jobs will continue to grow in developing countries, especially in Asia, he said.

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Uni Newcastle team tests “printed solar” panels in Australian first

Just days after Tesla announced it was taking orders – and down-payments – for its much-hyped and quite good looking solar roof, an Australian made printed solar innovation that could rival Elon Musk’s power generating tiles has moved one major step closer to commercialisation.

A University of Newcastle team of researchers has this week launched Australia’s first large-scale demonstration of printed solar panels, as part of a final phase of testing and modifications of the potentially ground-breaking renewable energy technology.

The lightweight and flexible solar panels are made by printing an advanced electronic ink onto paper thin, clear laminated sheets using conventional printing presses.

The UON team, led by Professor Paul Dastoor, has pioneered both the electronic ink and the printing process over a period of more than 15 years, and is now testing the printed solar panels across a 100 square meter site at the UON campus.

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World’s largest floating solar farm is now generating energy in China

A 40-megawatt solar farm in the South Anhui province of China is finally online and generating renewable energy. Larger than floating farms in Australia and India, the mass of solar panels is the largest in the world can produce enough clean energy to power homes in the area.

A spokesperson for the government said, “The plant in Hainan not only makes full use of this area, reducing the demand for land, but also improves generation due to the cooling effects of the surface.”

China may be one of the most polluted countries on the planet, but the government is investing in green energy initiatives to offset that reputation. Now that Huainan is home to the world’s largest floating solar farm, it is likely to become a leader in renewable energy production.

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Kentucky Coal Mining Museum converts to solar power

The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham is owned by Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. Communications Director Brandon Robinson told WYMT, they're hoping to save money by the switch.

"We believe that this project will help save at least eight to ten thousand dollars, off the energy costs on this building alone, so it's a very worthy effort and it's going to save the college money in the long run," said Robinson.

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Top Trump economic adviser: ‘Coal doesn’t even make that much sense anymore’

But investing in solar and wind can make us “a manufacturing powerhouse,” admits Gary Cohn.

Cohn, director of Trump’s National Economic Council (NEC), appears to be much more informed about the new energy reality than his boss.

“If you think about how solar and how much wind power we’ve created in the United States, we can be a manufacturing powerhouse and still be environmentally friendly,” Cohn said.

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Divestment From Fossil Fuels: A May 2017 CleanTechnica Update

Solar paint offers endless energy from water vapor

Researchers have developed a solar paint that can absorb water vapour and split it to generate hydrogen -- the cleanest source of energy.

The paint contains a newly developed compound that acts like silica gel, which is used in sachets to absorb moisture and keep food, medicines and electronics fresh and dry.

But unlike silica gel, the new material, synthetic molybdenum-sulphide, also acts as a semi-conductor and catalyses the splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

Lead researcher Dr Torben Daeneke, from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said: "We found that mixing the compound with titanium oxide particles leads to a sunlight-absorbing paint that produces hydrogen fuel from solar energy and moist air.

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Winds of change: gusts across Europe help set renewable power record

Nuclear, wind and solar power in UK each generated more electricity than gas and coal combined for first time ever

The windy weather across Europe in the past 24 hours may have been a curse for summer picnics, but it has set records for renewable power.

In the UK, wind, nuclear and solar power were each generating more electricity than gas and coal combined at 1pm on Wednesday, for the first time ever.

Including hydropower and biomass burned at power stations such as Drax in North Yorkshire, renewables provided 50.7% of demand at lunchtime.

High wind speeds and the growing number of windfarms off the coasts of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries have also set what are understood to be records.

On Tuesday, 2.7% of all the EU’s power was coming from such offshore windfarms, according to the industry body. In the UK, the figure was 10%.

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U.S. Solar Market Adds 2 Gigawatts of PV in Q1 2017

Following rapid growth across the industry in 2016, the United States solar market added 2,044 megawatts of new capacity in the first quarter of 2017. As installations grow, prices continue to fall to new lows, with utility-scale system prices dropping below the $1 per watt barrier for the first time, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report.

Q1 was the sixth straight quarter in which more than two gigawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) and more than one gigawatt of utility-scale PV was installed.

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Vietnamese 800 Megawatt Phu Cuong Wind Farm Gets Official Go-Ahead

Seven months after it was first proposed the massive 800 megawatt Vietnamese Phu Cuong Wind Farm has been officially formalized under a $2 billion Joint Development Agreement between GE Renewable Energy, Mainstream Renewable Power, and local Vietnamese partner, the Phu Cuong Group.

GE Renewable Energy announced on the last day of May that it had signed a formal $2 billion Joint Development Agreement (JDA) between alongside global wind and solar company, Mainstream Renewable Power, and local Vietnamese partner, the Phu Cuong Group, to develop the 800 megawatt (MW) Phu Cuong Wind Farm. Originally announced back in November of last year, the Phu Cuong Wind Farm was part of three separate wind farms that Mainstream Renewable Power will develop in Vietnam, for a cumulative total of 940 MW.

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U.S. Reports a Major Milestone in Wind and Solar Power

10 percent of electricity generated in the country in March came from these renewables

Ten percent of all of the electricity generated in the U.S. in March came from wind and solar power, marking the first such milestone in U.S. history, according to a new U.S. Energy Information Administration report.

The EIA estimates that wind and solar farms likely generated 10 percent of America’s electricity in April as well, which would be another first, according to the report.

This year’s milestone shows that renewables are becoming a major source of electricity in the U.S. and can no longer be considered “alternative” energy, said Christopher Clack, CEO of the power grid modeling firm Vibrant Clean Energy and a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher.

The report’s findings represent a marked increased from March 2016, when wind and solar generated 8.6 percent of total U.S. electricity. Overall, about 7 percent of U.S. electricity comes from wind and solar annually, up from less than 1 percent a decade ago. Texas is the country’s biggest wind power producer and California is the largest solar producer.

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Electric cars accelerate past 2m mark globally

China, US and Europe accounted for more than 90% of electric vehicle sales last year with decreasing costs driving demand

The number of electric cars in the world accelerated past the 2m barrier last year, as prices fell and manufacturers launched new models.

The number of battery-powered vehicles numbered just hundreds globally in 2005 and passed the 1m milestone in 2015, but sales jumped 60% in 2016.

China, the US and Europe accounted for more than 90% of electric vehicle sales last year, with China the single biggest market, according to research by the International Energy Agency.

In some European countries, growth has been so fast that electric cars are taking significant market share from petrol and diesel cars.

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Update on the Model 3:

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Sign of the times,..

South Miami puts off vote requiring solar panels for new homes — wants ‘to get it right’

After a protracted meeting Tuesday night, South Miami commissioners voted unanimously to hold off on a measure that would require new homes in the city to be installed with solar panels, the first such law in Florida, saying they wanted to make sure the city was adhering to Florida building code laws before taking a final vote.

“We want to do this right,” said Mayor Philip Stoddard, who powers his electric car and entire house with solar panels, including air-conditioning. He pays Florida Power & Light a monthly electric bill of about $10 a month.

The ordinance, which the commissioners had passed unanimously on first reading in early June, would require that 175 square feet of solar panel be installed per 1,000 square feet of roof area on new houses built in the city. For people who want to expand their home, the ordinance would only apply if the expansion were more than 50 percent of the home’s total square footage.

Four similar ordinances exist in the United States, all of which are in California.

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World’s First Commercial CO2 Capture Plant Goes Live

A Swiss company on Wednesday is set to become the world’s first to commercially remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and turn it into a useful product.

Climeworks, which will begin operations at a facility near Zurich, Switzerland, plans to compress the CO2 it captures and use it as fertilizer to grow crops in greenhouses. The company wants to dramatically scale its technology over the next decade, and its long-term goal is to capture 1 percent of global annual carbon dioxide emissions by 2025.

Along with cutting fossil fuel use to zero, removing carbon dioxide from the air is increasingly seen as one way to stop the long-term buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon removal and storage coupled with drawing down fossil fuel use is called “negative emissions.”

Time is running out to perfect the various methods of capturing carbon dioxide and permanently storing it. Research shows that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will increase to the point that 2°C (3.6°F) of global warming will be inevitable within the next 22 years. Scientists consider that level of global warming dangerous, and the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is to stop global warming before that limit is reached.

A bit pricey now

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New BP data shows emissions flat in 2016 with record rise in renewables

The world added a record amount of energy from renewable sources in 2016 and global coal use fell again, according to the 2017 BP Statistical Review of World Energy, published earlier this week. This helped to keep global CO2 emissions flat for the third year in a row, even as energy demand rose.

The record 53 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) added by non-hydro renewables met a third of the increase in global energy demand. Global coal use fell by 53Mtoe (1.4%) and is now 4% below the 2014 peak.

https://qz.com/1024520/renewable-ene...ump-withdraws/


Renewable energy is becoming so cheap the US will meet Paris commitments even if Trump withdraws

Research analysts at Morgan Stanley believe that renewable energy like solar and wind power are hurtling towards a level of ubiquity where not even politics can hinder them. Renewable energy is simply becoming the cheapest option, fast. Basic economics, the analysts say, suggest that the US will exceed its commitments in the Paris agreement regardless of whether or not president Donald Trump withdraws, as he’s stated he will.
“We project that by 2020, renewables will be the cheapest form of new-power generation across the globe,” with the exception of a few countries in Southeast Asia, the Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report published Thursday.
“By our forecasts, in most cases favorable renewables economics rather than government policy will be the primary driver of changes to utilities’ carbon emissions levels,” they wrote. “For example, notwithstanding president Trump’s stated intention to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, we expect the US to exceed the Paris commitment of a 26-28% reduction in its 2005-level carbon emissions by 2020.”
Globally, the price of solar panels has fallen 50% between 2016 and 2017, they write. And in countries with favorable wind conditions, the costs associated with wind power “can be as low as one-half to one-third that of coal- or natural gas-fired power plants.” Innovations in wind-turbine design are allowing for ever-longer wind blades; that boost in efficiency will also increase power output from the wind sector, according to Morgan Stanley.
Even in Australia, where the political climate is hostile to renewables, Morgan Stanley sees hope in the slightly longer-term: “In Australia, we anticipate that by 2020, renewables will provide ~28% of grid-supplied energy, including over 60% in South Australia.”

Vattenfall’s 288MW Sandbank offshore wind farm inaugurated

Swedish energy giant Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München (SWM) have inaugurated its 288MW Sandbank offshore wind farm.

The offshore wind farm located 90km west of Island of Sylt, is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power about 400,000 German households.

Sandbank is the second offshore wind farm to have been inaugurated by the duo Vattenfall and Stadtwerke München, with the first being Dan Tysk. Both the wind farms generate 576MW of clean energy.

The offshore wind farm’s construction began in the summer of 2015. It has a total of 72 turbines, each producing about 4MW of electricity. The turbines were supplied by Siemens. Each of the turbines is installed on a monopile structure, reaching depths between 26m – 34m.

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China Just Built A 250-Acre Solar Farm Shaped Like A Giant Panda

In a display of China's commitment to ramping up renewable energy resources, the country just finished a 250-acre solar farm in the shape of a panda. The effort is partially a PR campaign as China continues to lead the world in renewable energy investment.

The first phase of the solar power plant was recently completed, adding 50MW (of the total 100MW) to the electricity grid in Datong, China. The panda shaped plant was proposed in May of 2016 by Panda Green Energy's largest shareholder, China Merchants New Energy. It was quickly approved as a way to build support for sustainable energy development with Chinese youth.

To create the visual effect of darker and lighter solar panels, Panda Green Energy used both darker monocrystalline silicon and lighter thin film cells. This allowed the energy company to stagger the solar panels in an array that mimics the coloring and shape of a giant panda.

This is just the first of 100 panda shaped solar plants planned across China and Asia in the coming years. This past May, Fiji announced a smaller panda shaped solar farm.

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The Largest Wind Farm In The US Is Being Built In Wyoming

There’s the Wyoming you see on postcards — the snow-dusted mountains and caramel-colored prairies where movie stars build their second homes. But there’s another Wyoming — the one that powers America’s homes and businesses. The Cowboy State churns out more coal than all of Appalachia, and it’s home to some of the strongest winds on the continent. The Rocky Mountains funnel air across flat, open prairies, producing winds that rival the most powerful ocean gales.

In Carbon County, Wyoming — so named for its abundant reserves of coal — conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz is building the country’s largest wind farm. Its 1,000 turbines could generate enough electricity to power every home in Los Angeles and San Francisco — electricity that will be shipped to California by way of a brand new 700-mile transmission line.

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Porsche Installs $900,000 Solar Pylon & 1st High-Power EV Supercharger (350 kW) At New Berlin Office

Porsche is investing more than €15 million in new facilities in the German capitol region in and around Berlin. Part of that investment is represented in a pylon that stands in front of the company’s newest branch office known as the Porsche Center Berlin-Adlershof. The 80 foot high, 20 foot wide pylon is more than a corporate symbol.

Covered in 8,000 solar cells contained in 260 solar panels, the pylon in front of the new Berlin headquarters is expected to generate more than 30,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every year — enough to meet the energy needs of the entire building it sits in front off. The photovoltaic pylon cost $900,000 to build. Completed in 16 weeks, the finished pylon weighs 88 tons.

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6 million people in China went a week without fossil fuels

A vast Chinese province of nearly 6 million people has generated all the power it needed for an entire week without using any fossil fuels, according to state-run Chinese media.

Qinghai, a Tibetan plateau province in the country’s northwest, derived all of its power from wind, solar, and hydro-electricity from June 17 to June 23. The experiment was part of a trial run by the government to see if the electricity grid could cope without the kind of constant, reliable energy normally provided by fossil fuels. The Chinese government claims that Qinghai’s week without fossil fuels sets a new global benchmark. In May last year, Portugal (population 10 million) ran its electricity for four consecutive days without fossil fuels.

But Qinghai had some advantages. It’s sparsely populated, compared to other Chinese provinces. As the source of China’s three mighty rivers — the Yellow, Yangtze, and Mekong — it has an unusually large number of hydroelectric facilities. Nearly 80 percent of the energy used during the test week came from hydro. But the plateau is also bathed in sun, making Qinghai a prime site for the expansion of the Chinese solar industry. China completed the world’s biggest solar farm there earlier this year.

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Coal has no future, says US railroad boss

CSX will not buy locomotives to haul the fuel despite Trump pledge to revive industry

One of the largest haulers of US coal says fossil fuels have no future, despite pledges to the contrary from President Donald Trump.

CSX, a freight railroad company with origins in the bituminous coal seams of Appalachia, will not buy a single new locomotive to pull coal trains, chief executive Hunter Harrison told analysts on Wednesday.

“Fossil fuels are dead,” Mr Harrison said. “That’s a long-term view. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s not going to be in two or three years. But it’s going away, in my view.”

His comments come as the White House aims to revive the American coal industry by rescinding environmental regulations and abandoning the Paris climate agreement. Mr Trump surrounded himself with coal miners earlier this year when he signed an executive order he said was “putting an end to the war on coal”.

Yet US power generators are building more plants fuelled by cheap natural gas, displacing old coal-fired units. Falling costs for solar and wind energy have also eaten into coal’s market share.

North American railroads have reshaped their asset holdings in acknowledgment that coal’s apex has passed.

Lance Fritz, chief executive of the Union Pacific railroad, said in a recent interview that Mr Trump’s move to scrap Clean Power Plan regulations was unlikely to grow its coal business. “It takes away a headwind," he said.

CSX’s rise in coal volumes derived from 8.2m tonnes of exports. Deliveries of coal to US utilities declined year on year to 11m tonnes. Despite long-term trends, Mr Harrison reiterated his support for the business. “The last carload of coal that’s shipped out of this country, I want to be the carrier that ships it,” he said.

Mr Harrison said he was not going to buy locomotives or double-track CSX’s routes to accommodate coal. “Coal is not a long-term issue,” he said.

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Britain to ban sale of all diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2040

As part of a government strategy to improve air quality, Britain is to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide pose a major risk to public health.

The commitment, which follows a similar pledge in France, is part of the government’s much-anticipated clean air plan, which has been at the heart of a protracted high court legal battle.

I always wondered how long those batteries would last. I was pleasantly surprised to hear they are good for at the very least 150,000km, very likely much more, like double that.

A funny thing at the recent ISS conference. A mother has brought her daugther and niece, 10 and 14 years old. She said for them Elon Musk is what at that age for her was Madonna. A popstar and they want to get into STEM education for that reason.

$274M wind farm floating off Scotland

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4 Dutch Airports to Become 100% Renewable By Next Year, in Big Win for the Planet - Royal Schiphol Group fully powered by Dutch wind farms from 2018

From 1 January 2018, all the business units of Royal Schiphol Group will run on sustainable power which is generated in the Netherlands. Eneco and Royal Schiphol Group have entered into an agreement to this effect. In the years ahead, all of the sustainable power will be generated by Eneco's new Dutch wind farms. As a result, Schiphol is helping to accelerate the development of sustainable electricity production in the Netherlands.

Eneco will supply Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Eindhoven Airport and Lelystad Airport with sustainable power. Together, the airports consume around 200 GWh, which is comparable with the consumption of 60,000 households, e.g. the size of Haarlemmermeer or Delft.

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China connects 13.5GW of solar PV – in a single month

China has installed 24.4 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV in the first six months of 2017, including an extraordinary 13.5GW in the month of June alone, as developers rushed to complete installations to capitalise on a higher feed in tariff that expired on July 1.

According to the data from the China PV Industry Association (CPIA), the 24.4GW of new capacity – a combination of large and small scale – represented an increase of 9 per cent year on year. It is also equivalent capacity to Australia’s entire coal fleet, and more than four times its installed solar capacity.

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Wind farm with Tesla battery storage proposed for offshore Massachusetts

The development could power 80,000 homes with clean energy.

Massachusetts might be getting a massive new wind farm that uses Tesla batteries to store energy.

Deepwater Wind, a wind energy development company, has proposed a 144-megawatt wind farm with 40-megawatt hours of battery storage for a site 30 miles from mainland Massachusetts and 12 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, the company announced Tuesday.

In 2008, Massachusetts passed a law requiring the state to “establish goals and meet targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.” Under the law, titled the Climate Protection and Green Economy Act, the state pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

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South Miami = 1st City Outside California To Enact Rooftop Solar Mandate

Yes, South Miami, Florida, supports the Paris Climate Agreement. The city has reason to do so, as concerns are large that Miami and surrounding areas will sink into the wild blue ocean before the end of the century if action isn’t taken. Trying to do its part more, in July, South Miami became the first city outside of California to require that solar panels be installed on roofs of all new homes.

Florida politics often lack clarity and ease of environmental support. Still, South Miami got the message loud and clear and decided to follow California’s lead. The backward politics of wasting millions of dollars on misleading policy proposals and TV ads is not the way to go. South Miami, luckily, understands that.

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This Containerized Solution Brings Clean Water & Solar Power To Remote Areas

Getting electricity and clean water to remote villages and off-grid locations can make a huge difference in the lives of those who live there, but running power and water lines from a central location can cost far more than bringing an electricity generation and water filtration system directly to the location, and one Italian startup has a $15,000 all-in-one modular solution to do just that

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India adds 4.8 GW of solar capacity in H1

India has added 4,765 MW of solar power generation in the first half of 2017, surpassing the 4,313 MW installed during 2016.

Of this, 1,869 MW was added in the second quarter of 2017, according to Mercom India Research. While large-scale solar installations aggregated to 1,639 MW in Q2 2017, rooftop installations accounted for 230 MW.

In the first half of 2017, large-scale solar installations made up 4,290 MW (90 per cent) and rooftop installations totalled 475 MW (10 per cent) of the total.

Cumulative solar rooftop installations crossed a significant milestone of 1 GW at the end of Q2 2017.

“The Indian solar market has had its best first-half and is on pace to have its best year,” Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-founder, Mercom Capital Group, said.

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Liddell coal plant to be replaced by solar, wind, storage

AGL Energy has continued to rubbish suggestions from members of the Coalition, as well as the Murdoch media and the ABC, that Australia should invest in new baseload generation, particularly in coal plants.

“We just don’t see the development of a new coal-fired power plant as economically rational, even before carbon costs,” AGL Energy CEO Andy Vesey told analysts and journalists at a briefing on Thursday, to mark the release of its annual profit results.

And nor would the company consider extending the life of existing coal-fired generators, such as the Liddell plant in the NSW Hunter Valley, which is scheduled to close in 2022.

AGL made a point in its presentation that the most economic option to replace the 2000MW Liddell would not be coal, or baseload gas, but a mix of energy from wind and solar, and various load shaping and firming capacity from other sources.

AGL also reproduced its estimates of the current cost of wind and solar PV. Both renewable energy technologies delivered energy at a lower cost than brown or black coal, and were still competitive even after adding “firming costs”

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as of late. Here is his take on transitioning away from fossil fuels.

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The coal truth: how a major energy source lost its power in Britain

Coal supplied just 2% of power in the first half of 2017, marking a steep decline from just five years ago, according to analysis by Imperial College

UK coal power has collapsed in the past five years

None have ceased operation this year but coal supplies so little power today that in April the National Grid reported the UK had gone the first day without the fossil fuel since Thomas Edison opened the country’s first coal power station at Holborn, London, in 1882. In 2017 so far, there have been more than 300 hours without coal.

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As if former reality TV star and current US President* Donald J. Trump needed another headache during his short time in office, along comes the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. Sepa, as it is affectionately known, has just informed the leader of the free world that he is not free to follow through on plans build a second course at his money-losing Trump International Golf Links near the village of Balmedie, Aberdeen.

Trump’s original plans for the resort included two golf courses. He put the second one on hold when plans for the wind farm were first unveiled, but — view or no view — apparently he relented (more on that in a bit) and is pushing forward with the second course.

The Guardian provides this snippet from SNH:

“It remains likely that in future coastal-edge dynamism would repeatedly disrupt and increasingly threaten elements of the golf course (whether tees, greens or areas stabilised to support them),” SNH told planning officers. If the Trump Organization tried to protect the course by building solid, artificial walls to stop the dunes from drifting in future, the agency said it was likely to formally object.

The big payoff of the golf project is not revenue from memberships and use of the links, it’s from hotels, housing, and time shares. The problem is that Trump’s original agreement with local planners requires him to build the second course before he can start in the housing end of the development.

According to Mother Jones, Trump tried to renegotiate the deal last year, promising to build 850 homes and 1,900 timeshare units if local planners would let him delay construction of the second course, but he failed to change hearts and minds.

For a someone who represents himself as a great deal maker, Trump now finds himself in a pickle.

*As of this writing.

The only sustainable part of Trumps global energy policy is his 'fart in a trance' attitude to world energy leadership.
Be thankful for the likes of Professor Dan Kammen and his sensible pragmatism, which will certainly prevail long after Trump has gone.

Damm, I was looking for this thread for ages ... thanks for the recent bump