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  1. #551
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    Was reading up about this some time back, use cheap off peak wind power to create potential energy stored in old coal mine shafts.

    https://gravitricity.com/technology/

  2. #552
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    ^ ^ hmm...

    The first law of thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy. It states that energy is always conserved. It means that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. Instead, it simply changes from one form to another. To keep a machine moving, the energy applied should stay with the machine without any losses. Because of this fact alone, it is impossible to build perpetual motion machines.
    Science Explained: The Physics of Perpetual Motion Machines

  3. #553
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    ^
    You missed the part about them coming back with no cargo.

  4. #554
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    555 ... deadheading... that's not something that shipping companies are keen on.

  5. #555
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    Quote Originally Posted by happynz View Post
    555 ... deadheading... that's not something that shipping companies are keen on.
    There is one thing that shipping companies are keen on and is making money, if they could make money going empty both ways, I guarantee you that's exactly what they will be doing.
    This system seems designed for specific applications where coming back empty makes sense , such as Trucks delivering ore from a mine that come back empty anyway.
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  6. #556
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    Trucks delivering ore from a mine that come back empty anyway.
    Good point.

  7. #557
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    Now, who said hydrogen isn't viable energy source?

    ---

    Could hydrogen ease Germany's reliance on Russian gas?

    Fossil Fuel Alternatives-_124814088_green_hydrogen_explainer-2x-nc-jpg


    Veronika Grimm is an economics professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and currently one of Germany's three special advisors to the federal government, called Economic Sages.

    "We need to diversify and decarbonise our energy sources faster than initially planned," she says. To help achieve that goal, Ms Grimm wants the nation to "ramp-up" its use of hydrogen.

    Hydrogen can store vast amounts of energy, replace natural gas in industrial processes, and power fuel cells in trucks, trains, ships or planes that emit nothing but vapour of drinkable water.

    Could hydrogen ease Germany'''s reliance on Russian gas? - BBC News
    Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago ...


  8. #558
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Australia’s election has brought in a wave of Greens and independents pushing for aggressive targets to cut carbon emissions.

    The election result, with the pivotal role climate change played, represents a remarkable shift for Australia, one of the world’s biggest per-capita carbon emitters and top coal and gas exporters. It was shunned at last year’s Glasgow climate summit for failing to match other rich nations’ ambitious targets.

    “Together we can end the climate wars,” incoming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in his victory speech. “Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower.”

    Albanese has said Labor would maintain its target of cutting carbon emissions 43 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, already much tougher than the outgoing conservative government’s Paris climate target of a cut of up to 28 percent.

    With votes still being counted, Labor is short of a majority in the lower house of parliament, so it may need the support of an expanded cross-bench. Even with an outright majority, it could face a fight in the Senate, where it will likely need to need to work with the Greens to pass legislation, including the 2030 emissions target.

    “Now the battle will be over ambition in short-term targets, legislating a plan so it’s out of the hands of any one government, and hitting pause on new fossil fuel mines,” said Richie Merzian, climate and energy head at the Australia Institute think-tank.

    The Greens want to achieve net-zero by 2035 rather than 2050, stop new coal and gas infrastructure from being built, and end coal-fired generation by 2030.

    Labor will also face pressure from a handful of climate-focused independents pushing for emissions reductions of at least 50 percent by 2030.

    Fossil fuel jobs

    Defeated Prime Minister Scott Morrison once mocked Labor, brandishing a lump of coal in parliament saying: “Don’t be afraid.”

    Since then, Labor – conscious of its defeat in 2019 when it lost seats in regions reliant on coal and gas jobs – has dropped or diluted policies that could hurt them.

    ________________




    Ericsson ERIC and Deutsche Telekom AG DTEGY have started using solar and wind power at an energy-intensive 5G mobile site in Germany amid the soaring electricity costs. This initiative will enable a live radio site to efficiently harness solar and wind energy and optimize power supply and demand.

    The energy costs that account for 5% of the operating expenses have a high probability of increasing with the broader deployment of 5G. According to Ericsson, the 5-kilowatt wind turbine and solar modules have the potential to power the entire site of Ditteheim, around 120 miles north of Munich in the state of Bavaria. The site currently contains 12sqm of solar modules.

    One of the major goals of this partnership between ERIC and Deutsche Telekom is to authenticate energy efficiency and related cost-cutting solutions based on careful usage of energy and controlled and increased use of renewable resources. The incorporation of these two renewable energy sources implies that the site can theoretically be operated on a stand-alone basis without relying on a cable connection to the electrical power grid. The solution will continue making an immense contribution to powering the site as long as it is backed by supporting weather conditions.

    According to Harnessing, the 5G Consumer Potential report from Ericsson, the worldwide 5G consumer market is expected to be worth $31 trillion by 2030. 5G is poised to drive massive opportunities for communications service providers in consumer business over the decade.

    ________________




    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 24, 2022 -- As part of its commitment to provide cleaner energy solutions to benefit customers throughout the state, Duke Energy Florida today announced that the first utility-scale solar power plant in Bay County is now operational and delivering power to the electric grid.

    "Growing renewable energy in Florida is a top priority for us, and we are proud to complete the first utility-scale solar site in Bay County," said Duke Energy Florida state president Melissa Seixas. "This project will play a major role in our state's transition toward a cleaner energy future and demonstrates how neighbors, businesses and communities can come together to make meaningful impacts that will benefit Florida's environment, energy system and electric customers."

    The Sandy Creek Solar Power Plant was built on 625 acres in Bay County, Fla. As the county's first utility-scale solar power plant, the facility brings 74.9 megawatts (MW) of clean energy to the area and consists of approximately 220,000 single-axis tracking solar panels, capable of producing enough electricity to power approximately 23,000 homes annually at peak production.

    The new facility is part of Duke Energy Florida's commitment to provide customers with 700 MW of clean energy through the completion of 10 facilities by 2022. These 10 facilities are located throughout Florida, as far south as Highlands County and as far north as Hamilton County. Nine of the 10 facilities are now in service, while the remaining site in Hardee County is under construction and expected to be completed this summer.

    Solar generation commitment

    With a combined investment of more than $2 billion, Duke Energy Florida's solar generation portfolio will include 25 grid-tied solar power plants, which will benefit all Florida customers and will provide about 1,500 MW of emission-free generation from approximately 5 million solar panels by 2024.

    _______________




    President Biden on Sunday said electric vehicles (EVs) are good for climate, jobs and businesses, highlighting Hyundai’s announcement that the automotive manufacturer will spend more than $5 billion to build an EV plant near Savannah, Georgia.

    During remarks in Seoul, South Korea alongside Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, Biden noted the U.S.’s climate goal for electric vehicles and emphasized his administration’s commitment to achieving the objective.

    “Last year, standing together with the CEOs of major American manufacturers, along with the CEO and the head of the United Auto Workers, I signed an executive order setting a goal of having 50 percent of all new vehicles sold by the year 2030 be electric. And it’s an ambitious target, I know, but I believe we can meet it,” Biden said.

    “But we’re all committed to making it happen — auto companies, American UAW, and the — and the federal government as well — because all understand the same basic thing: Electric vehicles are good for our climate goals, but they’re also good for jobs, and they’re good for business,” he added.

    Biden’s comments come days after Hyundai Motor Group announced that it will spend $5.5 billion on a new electric vehicle plant near Savannah, which will lead to the hiring of at least 8,100 people.

    The plant will be Hyundai’s first facility focused on assembling electric vehicles. It will also create vehicle batteries.

    Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, and in 2025 it is expected to start manufacturing up to 300,000 vehicles annually.

    Biden, during remarks alongside Chung on Sunday, said “thanks to Hyundai, we are being part of this transformative automobile sector and accelerating us on the road where we’re going to be [heading] to — the United States — an all-electric future.”

    “And that’s what we’re shooting for,” he added.

    The president also underscored the strength of American workers and union efforts.

    “Hyundai and any company investing in the United States would benefit greatly from entering into partnerships with some of the most highly skilled, dedicated, and engaged workers in the world, anywhere you can find. And that is American union members,” Biden said.

    “And again, every venture to manufacture electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries would be made stronger by a collective bargaining relationship with our unions,” he added.

    _________________




    Auto giants are joining with battery companies, EV startups and lithium producers in a new coalition seeking stronger federal support for building a large U.S. battery supply chain.

    Driving the news: The Coalition for American Battery Independence (CABI) launches Tuesday.


    • Members include General Motors, Ford, Panasonic, Tesla, Form Energy, Albemarle, Proterra and the Zero Emission Transportation Association.
    • The group, run via the lobbying firm Boundary Stone Partners, targets batteries for electric vehicles and storage.
    • The goal: cohesive support for everything from raw materials processing and refining to component manufacturing to making battery packs.


    Why it matters: Battery demand is slated to surge in coming years and decades.


    • There's intense global competition to build supply chains (and expand and diversify mining, a challenge that's not a current CABI focus).
    • It's "critically imperative for our energy and climate security to re-shore these battery materials and manufacturing capacity," CABI said.


    The big picture: The Biden administration is trying to boost the supply chain with steps like Energy Department grants and loan guarantees.


    • But Mike Carr of Boundary Stone — which represents several CABI members — said more holistic policies are needed.
    • The group will initially work behind the scenes with policymakers, he said.
    • It wants Congress to pass tax incentives for manufacturing and processing.
    • Executive support could include use of the Defense Production Act and other purchasing authorities, Carr said.


    Catch up fast: While multiple U.S. battery projects are planned, the U.S. now has a fairly small piece of the industry.


    • China produces three-fourths of lithium-ion batteries; has by far the largest cathode and anode production; and over half of lithium, cobalt and graphite processing and refining capacity, per the International Energy Agency.
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  9. #559
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by David48atTD View Post
    Now, who said hydrogen isn't viable energy source?
    supplying hydrogen gas to homes is not what will happen - Industry yes , domestic no

  10. #560
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    supplying hydrogen gas to homes is not what will happen - Industry yes , domestic no
    Agree in part.

    Maybe ... domestic not yet

  11. #561
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    first Australia needs to reset the energy interconnection strategy that has been bastardised for so many years

  12. #562
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    A group of major economic powers including the U.S. on Friday said they would agree to eventually phase out coal-fired power, a major contributor to climate change.

    The environment ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) said in a joint statement on Friday that they would agree to an “eventual” phaseout of “unabated” coal power.

    “Unabated” refers to methods of electricity generation that don’t use technology to capture their climate-warming emissions.

    The G-7 is made up of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

    Japan is expected to be particularly impacted by the commitment, as the country got 32 percent of its electricity from coal in 2019. Coal makes up nearly 22 percent of the U.S. electricity generation.

    Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the countries had been considering an even more stringent action on coal — a phaseout by 2030. The wire service reported that the 2030 date faced objections from both the U.S. and Japan.

    But the call for a phaseout is a step further from what countries agreed to during last year’s COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, when countries only agreed to “phase down” coal.

    Coal is a major contributor to climate change, releasing more carbon dioxide than even other fossil fuels like oil or natural gas when it is burned.

    In their statement, the countries also committed to “predominantly decarbonised electricity sectors by 2035.”

    While a major economies shift toward mostly carbon-free power would cut a significant amount of planet-warming emissions, the goal is less ambitious than the Biden administration’s own stated goal of reaching entirely carbon-free power by that date.

    And, amid high oil and gasoline prices, the countries also called on oil producers including OPEC — which includes major producers such as Saudi Arabia — to “act in a responsible manner and to respond to tightening international markets.”

    ______________




    The Ukrainian military is using stealthy electric bikes modified to carry next-generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWS) to fight Russia.

    Soldiers on electric bikes have been spotted across Ukraine since the early days of the war, mostly on ELEEK brand bikes. e-bikes are fast and, critically, much quieter than a gas powered bike. They allow soldiers to perform quick guard patrols or move swiftly into position.


    On Telegram last week, pictures surfaced of the Delfast branded bikes that had been modified to carry massive anti-tank weapons. The two photos showed the e-bike modified with a crate on the back and a huge missile launcher poking from the back.

    The e-bikes are used for transporting the launchers; the anti-tank weapons aren’t fired from the back of the bikes. The quiet design and fast speed—a Delfast can reach speeds up to 50 mph—allow the bikes to move NLAWS into position and quickly flee once fired.

    Both Delfast and ELEEK are Ukrainian companies. When reached for comment, representatives of Delfast in the United States denied it had sold Ukraine any of its bikes. “Delfast continues to support the people of Ukraine. We are working with governments and the larger tech community to end this war,” a representative of Delfast in the U.S. told Motherboard. “We have not sold Delfast bikes or made modifications to our e-bikes to support any military action. We are also donating 5% of all sales to fund humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.”

    This is technically true: Delfast has not sold the Ukrainian military any of its bikes. It gave them away. Daniel Tonkopi, CEO of Delfast, is Ukrainian. When the pictures of the modified e-bikes surfaced on Telegram, Tonkopi shared them on his personal Facebook page and explained what was going on.

    “Delfast has been providing electric bikes to the Ukrainian Army since the first day of the war,” he wrote on Facebook. “We transferred electric bikes to the front line, but we did not talk about it—we do some things quietly. Now we've gotten permission from the command, and we're publishing these pictures.”

    Tonkopi also shared some quotes he said were feedback from the Ukrainian military about the bike. “The bike was great and can really work for mobile groups,” a member of the Ukrainian military said, according to Tonkopi. “Plans to use it for aero driving tours and with equipment for work on tanks.”

    “It was very hot out there. Three cars came back with holes, the guys intact luckily,” said another unnamed member of the Ukrainian military, according to Tonkopi. “One of them got his arm caught on the edge. All in all, your bike was highly appreciated by the guys.”

    Tonkopi also mentioned the donations on his Facebook page. “We help the Ukrainian Army from our own pocket,” he said in his post. “Since the first day of the war, we have been donating at least 5% of all revenues to help Ukraine.”

    Militaries across the world have been developing electronic stealth bikes for around a decade. Australia has been testing them for the scouting missions and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—the Pentagon’s mad scientists—began throwing money at the problem in 2014. The development has led to two prototypes: the NightHawk and the Nightmare. The SilentHawk is a hybrid model that sounds about as loud as a vacuum cleaner and can get up to 80 mph. Less is known about the Nightmare.

    The speed and low heat signature make e-bikes ideal for reconnaissance and special operations. In addition to the NLAW hauling Delfast bikes, reports have flourished online of Ukraine using e-bikes to move snipers around the battlefield and quickly deliver medical supplies.

    _______________



    The Supreme Court refused to take up a request from Republican attorneys general to block the Biden administration’s use of the “social costs” of greenhouse gases. Also, the Interior Department is proposing new offshore wind leasing off California’s coast.

    The Supreme Court is rebuffing an attempt from red states to block the Biden administration from using a key climate accounting metric in its decision making.

    In a new order on Thursday, the high court denied the states’ request to review a ruling that enabled the Biden administration to use the climate impacts measurement.

    The order did not provide insight into the court’s reasoning.

    So what is this all about? The metric in question, known as the “social costs” of greenhouse gases, is a set of values that help the government calculate the climate costs or benefits of its actions.

    The Obama, Trump and Biden administrations have all used social cost values for greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, but the Trump administration put a much lower cost on their release.

    A higher cost of these gases may be used to justify taking more stringent climate actions, while a lower cost could justify actions that are less stringent.

    But, the Biden administration has met GOP pushback: Republican attorneys general say that their states are harmed when high values are used to evaluate potential oil and gas leasing on their lands.

    Since the states receive revenue from those leases, they may end up shortchanged if less land is leased because of the climate costs, the attorneys general argued.

    At their request, a federal court in Louisiana temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s use of the metric in February, but in March, that ruling was halted, reinstating the use of the social costs.

    Late last month, 10 Republican attorneys general asked the Supreme Court to once again block the administration’s use of the social costs.

    ________


    • Interior proposes California offshore wind lease sale


    The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an offshore wind lease sale off the coast of California, the latest in a series of sales as the administration seeks to build out renewable energy infrastructure.

    The lease sales, which are the first off the U.S. west coast, would take place in five proposed lease areas.

    Two of the areas are off the coast of northern California in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, while the remaining three are off of central California in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area.

    The proposed leases total about 373,268 acres and could unleash more than 4.5 gigawatts of offshore energy capacity, according to the Interior Department. That’s the equivalent of about 495 million LED lights.

    The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has already held 10 lease sales and issued 25 offshore wind leases in an area of the Atlantic stretching from North Carolina to New England. The proposed lease sale notice for the West Coast will last for 60 days beginning May 31.

    ________________




    Building on the sponsorship contract renewal and extension announced on May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Shell will be the official fuel, motor oil and lubricant sponsor of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

    Beginning in 2023, Shell will produce a new race fuel for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. This new product consists of a blend of second-generation ethanol derived from sugarcane waste and other biofuels to create a fuel that is 100% comprised of feedstocks categorized as "renewable" under the applicable regulatory frameworks.

    The fuel developed by Shell is set to make the NTT INDYCAR SERIES the first United States-based motorsports series to power racing with 100% renewable race fuel and enables at least 60% greenhouse gas emissions reduction compared to fossil-based gasoline.

    “This race fuel development for INDYCAR is a great example of how fuels technology is pivotal in helping decarbonize the sport,” said Dr. Selda Gunsel, president of Shell Global Solutions. “Today’s development takes us one step closer to that goal.”

    The second-generation ethanol will be sourced from Raízen, a Brazilian Joint-Venture created in 2011 by Shell and Cosan. Raízen is one of the largest sugarcane ethanol producers in the world and owner of the first commercial second-generation ethanol plant.

    “It is an honor for Raízen to contribute advanced ethanol to this renewable race fuel, and it’s an exciting introduction to one of the most iconic motorsport categories,” said Ricardo Mussa, Raízen CEO.

    “Motorsports has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology, and today INDYCAR is furthering this tradition in a very important and transformational way,” said Mark Miles, president & CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp. “We are proud to become a leader in sustainability and decarbonization as we work towards becoming the first U.S. motorsport series to run on renewable fuel. With industry-leading organizations like Shell and Penske sharing the same ambition for a cleaner energy future, remarkable progress can be made.”

    _________________


    • Entergy unveils largest renewable power plant in Mississippi


    Entergy Mississippi announced Thursday the completion of the Sunflower Solar Station project, which is now the largest renewable energy plant in Mississippi.

    The Sunflower County facility, which sits on 1,000 acres in Ruleville, is slated to come online by mid-July. The plant has a 100-megawatt capacity, about twice as much as any active renewable facility in the state.

    The new solar project also represents a 50% increase in Mississippi’s overall renewable energy capacity among its power companies. Prior to the Sunflower plant’s completion, the state as a whole had about 220 megawatts of renewable capacity from eight different facilities, according to data from the Public Service Commission.

    The project is the first part of Entergy Mississippi’s recently announced initiative to replace some of its natural gas plants with renewable sources. The company’s aim is to reach 1,100 megawatts of renewable capacity, or 30% of the power it produces, by 2027. Entergy is the biggest power provider in the state with 461,000 customers.

    That initiative is a significant commitment in the state’s clean energy transition, which Mississippi has left largely to utilities and market forces to decide rather than policy around emissions, as Mississippi Today reported in February. Just about 2% of the state’s generated electricity comes from renewables, compared to 20% for the United States as a whole.

    The now low cost of producing solar power, as well as companies looking to incorporate renewables into their operation, are key drivers in Mississippi’s transition.

    “There’s one evolution in economic development that we’re seeing, and it’s a demand for renewable energy,” Laura Hipp, Deputy Director of the Mississippi Development Authority, said at the announcement Thursday. “Almost half of the requests that come in for new projects, they’re looking for part or all electricity from renewable sources. Whether they’re headquartered here or out of state, they’re asking about renewable energy.” https://mississippitoday.org/2022/05...n-mississippi/

    ________________


    • Oz duo open renewables hub in Western Australia


    Horizon Power and Pacific Energy have formally opened the Shark Lake Renewables Hub in Esperance, Western Australia.

    The new integrated power system combines a 4MW solar farm and two 4.5MW wind turbines located at the renewables hub, with a 4MW battery energy storage system and a 22MW high-efficiency gas power station.

    It will power Esperance with up to 50% of renewable energy.
    Horizon Power chief executive Stephanie Unwin said: “The new Esperance power system has been designed to accommodate new technology to ensure more renewable energy can be added to the system over the life of the assets.

    “The solar farm, which incorporates 8900 PV panels, is the largest in the Horizon Power renewable energy portfolio.

    “The panels track the sun across the day, maximising output and, combined with the wind turbines, will meet nearly half of Esperance’s power needs.”

    “Horizon Power has long been at the forefront of renewable technology, and we are committed to continue his tradition in Esperance, where renewable power and a decarbonised future is as important to the community as it to us.

    “Pacific Energy has helped us to deliver this excellent outcome for our Esperance customers, and we are pleased to have partnered with them on this important project."

    Pacific Energy chief executive Jamie Cullen said: “Pacific Energy came into this project with a clear vision to provide a solution that improved efficiency and reduced the environmental impact of supplying power.

    “The two new wind turbines will generate 60% more wind power than the old wind farms combined.

    “We are pleased to deliver a state-of-the-art renewables hub and high efficiency gas power station that will cut carbon emissions by nearly 50%, with the aim to improve on this over the life of the system.” https://renews.biz/78126/oz-duo-open...ern-australia/

  13. #563
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Idemitsu Renewables' 73MW solar project in California has achieved commercial operation and is expected to generate clean and affordable power equivalent to the needs of over 20,000 homes in the state.



    The Luciana solar project, located in Ducor, provided jobs for over 200 workers during construction, Idemitsu said.

    Idemitsu Renewables chief executive Cary Vandenberg said: "Considering the unprecedented supply chain challenges the industry faced this past year, we are proud to have successfully achieved commercial operation of the Luciana project through our partnership with East Bay Clean Energy (EBCE).

    "By leveraging our financial strength and development expertise, we're helping California meet its aggressive clean energy goals while also providing significant investment in Tulare County."

    The renewable power generated by the Luciana project will be sold through a 15-year power purchase agreement with EBCE, which serves Alameda County and neighbouring cities.

    EBCE chief executive Nick Chaset said: "The Luciana project brings more low-cost renewable energy to EBCE's portfolio, and it's another big step forward on EBCE's path to 100% clean energy for all of our customers by 2030."

    ________________




    The Biden administration is seeking to make it easier to deploy renewable energy on pubic lands, slashing the amount of money that companies have to pay to use these lands for wind and solar.

    The Interior Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it would implement a “rate reduction policy” for solar and wind energy that “substantially” reduces the rates and fees developers have to pay the government.

    On average, the Bureau of Land Management expects to cut rents and fees by more than 50 percent through both lower rents and a “standard” fee for energy produced.

    “Clean energy projects on public lands have an important role to play in reducing our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and lowering costs for families,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

    The announcement comes a few months after the department said it would raise royalties for oil and gas produced on public lands.

    The cut in how much renewables have to pay contrasted with the increased payments from oil and gas reflect the administration’s efforts to shift toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuels.

    As the nation struggles with high fuel prices linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, these policies are not expected to rapidly change the situation, given that new energy deployment on public lands can be a years-long process.

    In its statement this week, the Interior Department also said the Bureau of Land Management is “building new internal capacity” to process an increasing number of wind, solar and geothermal energy applications by creating new Renewable Energy Coordination Offices.

    _______________




    President Biden signed an order on Monday that will exempt Southeast Asian nations from any new tariffs on solar panels for two years in an effort to boost the solar industry beleaguered by an ongoing Commerce Department investigation.

    The White House said in a fact sheet that Biden would establish a “24-month bridge” for certain solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam by waiving tariffs “in order to ensure the U.S. has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.”

    The Commerce Department is currently investigating whether solar panel part companies in Southeast Asia are being used to circumvent U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar companies, a probe that began in March following a complaint from California-based Auxin Solar.

    While the investigation is not yet completed, Monday’s action will help ease concerns in the solar sector, which currently relies heavily on imports. The investigation spurred the cancellation of hundreds of solar projects in the U.S. amid concerns that it could result in retroactive tariffs up to 250 percent on imported equipment.

    In a proclamation issued later Monday, Biden said that “multiple factors are threatening the ability of the United States to provide sufficient electricity generation to serve expected customer demand” in laying out the decision to order the 24-month pause on new tariffs.

    Speaking on a call with reporters, a senior administration official said that Biden was exercising his authority under the Tariff Act and said the action is the result of an interagency legal team.

    FACT SHEET: President Biden Takes Bold Executive Action to Spur Domestic Clean Energy Manufacturing
    _______________




    U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Wednesday that the U.S. Postal Service, which sparked controversy earlier this year by ordering a predominantly gas-powered fleet, is reconsidering the number of new trucks that will be electric vehicles (EV).

    In the statement, DeJoy said the USPS will publish a supplement to the original environmental impact statement (EIS) to its original truck order. Following a recently-announced plan to streamline delivery routes, USPS said the update may affect the gas-to-electric ratio of the vehicle order.

    “As I noted when we placed our initial NGDV delivery order, the Postal Service would continue to look for opportunities to further increase the electrification of our fleet in a responsible manner, as we continue to refine our operating strategy and implement the Delivering for America plan,” DeJoy said in a statement. “A modernized network of delivery facilities provides us with such an opportunity. This is the right approach —operationally, financially, and environmentally.”

    _________________


    • At Raleigh event, Fort Bragg official outlines renewable energy efforts


    The largest floating solar farm in the Southeast is just one of several steps Fort Bragg has planned to increase the sprawling army facility’s use of renewable energy, an Army official said Wednesday. Audrey Oxendine, the chief of Fort Bragg’s energy and utilities branch, said the base plans to hold a ribbon cutting next week for the 1.1-megawatt solar farm that is floating on top of Camp Mackall’s Big Muddy Lake. Camp Mackall is a Special Forces training site.

    “Usually you don’t mix electricity and water,” Oxendine said, but the two-acre floating solar farm provides electricity while also not sacrificing valuable training grounds.

    Speaking at an event hosted in downtown Raleigh by environmental business organization E2, Oxendine said Fort Bragg’s next steps include a microgrid at Camp Mackall, 67 electric vehicles, and exploring placing solar panels on top of parking lots across the roughly 250-square-mile base. Bob Keefe, E2’s executive director, said the military is likely the largest market-maker in the nation’s economy, a massive purchaser whose needs can spur research and development that has ramifications for everyone.

    Keefe asked the audience to think about “what would happen if the biggest user of energy and fuel in the world, aka the U.S. military, were to shift to cleaner sources.”

    That’s exactly what the U.S. Department of Defense is trying to accomplish, targeting 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030.

    The DoD is trying to curb the effects of climate change — 2018’s Hurricane Florence caused $3.6 billion in damage at the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejuene. But the military also believes that adding renewable energy is important to maintaining mission readiness and reducing costs.

    Fort Bragg’s electricity bill alone is about $40 million a year. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/po...262027382.html

    ______________


    • Solar, storage win big in $2.7bn New York tender


    New York Governor Kathy Hochul (pictured) has announced awards for 22 large-scale solar and energy storage projects that are expected to deliver enough clean, affordable energy to power over 620,000 New York homes for at least 20 years.

    As the state's largest land-based renewable energy procurement to date, these projects will spur over $2.7bn (€2.5bn) in private investment and create over 3,000 short- and long-term jobs across the state.

    The awards accelerate progress to exceed New York's goal to obtain 70% of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2030 on the path to a zero-emission grid by 2040 as required by Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
    These awards are expected to strengthen the state's current pipeline of renewables to power over 66% of New York's electricity from renewable sources.

    Hochul said: "Today's investments will put us on a path to making New York a greener place to live while also creating new jobs and spurring economic developmen.

    "These projects will allow us to not just meet but exceed our goal of obtaining 70% of our electricity from renewable resources and will further cement New York as a national leader in the fight against climate change." https://renews.biz/78240/new-york-pr...rojects-power/

    _________________

    Just for fun.

    • Ford Motor Co.’s electric F-150 Lightning pickups are poised to come to the rescue of any Tesla drivers in need of a jolt.


    Initial owners of the model that beat the Cybertruck to market have shared images online of an adapter that came with their pickup enabling them to charge Teslas, which use plugs distinct from the rest of the auto industry. When an electric-vehicle enthusiast blog wrote this week that Ford appeared to be trolling its rival, Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley assured his Twitter followers that the automaker means well.


    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...?sref=pbOaIEpG - https://twitter.com/jimfarley98/stat...90566605398016

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    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Enovix, based in Fremont, California, announced that it demonstrated in electric vehicle (EV) battery cells the ability to charge from 0% to 80% state-of-charge in as little as 5.2 minutes and to achieve a greater than 98% charge capacity in under 10 minutes. The cells also surpassed 1,000 cycles while retaining 93% of their capacity.

    The achievement shattered the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) goal of achieving 80% charge in 15 minutes.

    Other goals for USABC at the cell level include a usable energy density of 550 Wh/L, a survival temperature range of -40 to +66 degrees C, and a cost of $75/kWh at an annual output volume of 250,000 units.

    The company demonstrated the fast-charge ability in its 0.27 Ah EV cells in its silicon lithium-ion batteries, which it said contain a novel 3D architecture and constraint system. The cells contain a 100% active silicon anode. Enovix said the material has long been heralded as an important technology in the next generation of battery anodes.

    Silicon anodes can theoretically store more than twice as much lithium than the graphite anode that is used in nearly all Li-ion batteries today (1800mAh/cubic centimeter vs. 800mAh/cubic centimeter).

    “Fast charge capability can accelerate mass adoption of EVs and we’ve been able to demonstrate a level of performance that meets and exceeds many OEM roadmaps,” said Harrold Rust, co-founder, CEO and president of Enovix. “EV manufacturers are in pursuit of batteries that support longer range, while the public and private sectors work to increase EV driver access to fast chargers. We’re proud to support these goals to help electrify the automotive industry and demonstrate our batteries are an exciting option to power long-range, fast-charging EVs.”

    Silicon’s high energy density, however, creates four significant technical problems that Enovix has addressed with its technology:


    • First Charge Expansion: The cells have a stainless-steel constraint system surrounding it that limits the battery from swelling. Enovix reorients the electrodes to face a small side of the battery to decrease the required constraining force.
    • First Charge Efficiency: The battery uses a “pre-lithiation” process during manufacturing to insert additional lithium source to top-off lithium trapped at formation. The batteries can do this practically because the additional lithium only needs to travel a short distance in the 3D architecture to permeate the anode.
    • Cycle Swelling: Enovix manages swelling as a result of cycling with its integrated constraint, limiting swelling to as little as <2% cell thickness after 500 cycles.
    • Cycle Life: The integrated constraint keeps particles under constant stack pressure, limiting particles from electrically disconnecting and cracking.


    “Our unique architecture enables a battery that not only charges in less than 10 minutes, but also maintains high cycle life,” said Ashok Lahiri, co-founder and CTO of Enovix. “We can improve battery performance today using the same chemistries, but more importantly, we can accelerate the industry’s roadmap.”

    Lahiri will speak at the 12th International Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC) Europe in Mainz, Germany. His presentation at 11:20 a.m. CEST (5:00 a.m. EST) titled “Silicon-Anode Lithium-Ion Batteries for EV Applications,” will provide an update on the company’s EV program. The slide deck can be found here.

    _____________




    The Bureau of Land Management has approved construction work to begin on two commercial-scale solar power projects that would be the first to be built inside an Obama-era renewable energy zone in the Southern California desert.

    If built, the Arica and Victory Pass photovoltaic solar power projects would cover a total of 1,300 acres of federal lands and collectively produce up to 465 megawatts of electricity — enough to power more than 130,000 homes.

    BLM approved right-of-way permits for both projects last year following a lengthy environmental review (E&E News PM, Dec. 21, 2021).

    The Interior Department today hailed the notice to proceed with construction because the projects would be the first built within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) area, which includes 10.8 million acres of federal lands already evaluated by the Obama administration in 2016 and deemed suitable for utility-scale renewable energy development. Projects within DRECP are subjected to a streamlined permitting process.

    San Francisco-based Clearway Energy Group LLC could begin construction on both projects as early as this week, BLM said.

    ___________




    Nestled in the hills of Morrow County, hundreds of solar panels and wind turbines are generating a product that will soon be in high demand around the state — clean electric energy.

    But storing large amounts of renewable energy has proven challenging. Wind and solar only generate power when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Otherwise, fossil fuels kick back in. Now, one major utility in Oregon is trying to produce energy 24/7 with a boost from a critical component — batteries.

    Portland General Electric partnered with NextEra Energy Resources to build a first-of-its-kind facility that will use an innovative battery technology that supporters are calling a “game changer” for Oregon’s renewable energy transition. The batteries allow the Lexington facility to capture and store electricity even when there’s no sun or wind available.

    “I think you’re going to see more of these types of facilities in the future,” said Kristen Sheeran, PGE’s director of sustainability strategy, on a recent tour. “We’re still in the early years of battery storage technology development.”

    The Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility is about 30 miles from the utility’s now-shuttered Boardman coal plant and uses some of the same transmission lines. It started operating in March and generates up to 350 megawatts of clean energy — enough to power about 100,000 homes. The batteries store 30 megawatts, or enough to power the city of Tigard for four hours.

    ___________




    In an emergency, one person can set up this nanogrid and start generating power in 15 minutes, with minimal training.

    In other words, it’s almost as easy as saying “open sesame,” or in this case, using a new device launched today by Sesame Solar, based in Jackson, Michigan.

    “The treasure of essential services is inside,” says Lauren Flanagan, Sesame Solar’s CEO.

    The nanogrid can generate clean, off-grid power using solar energy and green hydrogen. It comes pre-fabricated to meet essential services and emergence response needs across a variety of scenarios, according to the startup.

    The nanogrids have already been tested to support the island of Dominica in the wake of Hurricane Maria and with Comcast to support communication recovery after Hurricane Ida. Other early users include the U.S. Air Force and major telecommunications companies and emergency response organizations, Flanagan says.

    The “open sesame” part occurs by electronically unfolding a retractable solar array.

    In an emergency, the nanogrids can provide services like medical response, water purification, Wi-Fi and electric vehicle charging.

    Flanagan says earlier versions of the device used solar and battery power. “We’re the first to market with green hydrogen. We make the hydrogen gas from solar power through electrolysis of water and store it to fuel a hydrogen fuel cell.”

    The solution is a green alternative to diesel-powered generators that emit harmful particulate matter. The only byproduct is oxygen, the CEO says.

    The Sesame Solar units can produce 3-20 kilowatts of solar power, with total battery storage of 15-150 kilowatt hours, according the company.

    This offers “weeks of autonomy” by combining renewable energy generation and storage in a closed-loop, carbon-free, reliable system. The nanogrids range in length from 10-40 feet for easy transport, housed in a trailer or shipping container.

    A typical unit holds about 50 gallons of water. “If you have more water, you can have more days of autonomy or if you’re having more sunny days you can toggle between the two.”

    The cost per unit is $100,000-$300,000, with a lifespan of about 20 years.

    Flanagan says the nanogrids launched today have been in development for five years. She’s on her fifth startup; she co-founded two angel investment funds and is on the board of Springboard Enterprises, whose 900-plus women-led portfolio companies have created more than $36.4 billion in value, according to a news release.

    “After (Hurricane) Katrina, I was sort of, ‘everybody has to do something about climate change,’” Flanagan says.

    Sesame Solar sees a huge market opening for its products.

    “We’re riding these sort of dystopian waves of increased weather disasters ...” said Flanagan, speaking shortly after a tornado ripped through Gaylord, Michigan, in May.

    “There’s a need for mobile power and these services.”

    She declined to say how many units will be deployed this year, but says the nanogrids will be used in multiple locations to assist with emergencies.

    According to the United Nations, 560 catastrophic weather events are expected to happen each year by 2030, costing lives and billions of dollars globally.

    In 2021, economic losses from weather events totaled $343 billion.
    ___________

    Just for fun……….




    Under a 2020 law, utilities must generate some of their power from coal plants fitted with technology that captures carbon, but in recent filings to regulators, two companies are warning about the cost and environmental impacts.

    Wyoming has bet its future on carbon capture technology.

    The state has poured money into research on how to remove carbon dioxide from industrial emissions, and what to do with the gas once it has been captured. State lawmakers have passed laws to encourage carbon capture and regulations to govern it.

    As many other states and nations have tried to wean themselves off fossil fuels, Wyoming has done the opposite: In 2020, Gov. Mark Gordon signed a law—the first in the nation—that requires electrical utilities to generate some of their power from coal plants fitted with carbon capture equipment.

    Wyoming produces 40 percent of the nation’s coal, and relies on fossil fuels to generate nearly 60 percent of state and local revenues. The goal has been to find a way for the coal industry to thrive even as the nation reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

    But two years later, Wyoming may be no closer to willing this coal-friendly climate solution into being. In March, the utilities covered by the law submitted filings to regulators saying that carbon capture was not economically feasible. Retrofitting their plants would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, at the least, they said, forcing them to raise customers’ electricity bills.

    Beyond that, the filings said operating carbon capture equipment could spike water use at the coal plants and increase emissions of some air pollutants, as well as solid and liquid waste.

    Energy companies, labor unions and each of the last four presidential administrations have held out carbon capture and storage as a technology that could help the nation reduce greenhouse gas emissions while continuing to burn fossil fuels. The technology has played an important role in the Biden administration’s climate policy.

    Last year’s infrastructure bill included more than $12 billion to help pull carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions and straight from the atmosphere. Some states have also joined in: California recently said it will rely partly on carbon capture to meet its climate targets, though primarily in the industrial sector rather than for electrical generation.

    Nowhere is the support as strong as in Wyoming, which is an ideal testing ground. The state has abundant coal reserves and the right geology to store captured carbon dioxide. Perhaps most importantly, the technology has the unequivocal backing of political leaders, who have stated their intention to use carbon capture to protect their coal industry.

    “We put all our eggs in one basket,” said Dan Zwonitzer, who sponsored the 2020 carbon capture bill. “We champion coal. And so if we’re going to do that, we’ve got to find ways to make sure it can carry us into the future. And I think CCUS is a way that we need to find,” he said, using an acronym for carbon capture, utilization and storage.

    Yet so far, the technology has failed to catch on commercially there or elsewhere. And many economists and policy experts say it is unlikely to play a significant role in helping eliminate emissions from the power sector.

    “There are so many other cheaper and cleaner ways to decarbonize electricity that I don’t see carbon capture as likely to have a big role,” said Dan Cohan, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Rice University. “The economics just don’t make sense.”

    Some carbon capture companies have disputed the negative conclusions of the two Wyoming utilities, Rocky Mountain Power and Black Hills Energy, that submitted the filings. Other supporters of the technology say the analysis is sound, but that the world will need carbon capture on coal plants to meet climate goals, and that the federal government should bear the costs.

    But the Wyoming filings make clear that even with conditions primed in favor of the technology, the utilities would rather convert their coal plants to burn natural gas, or simply close them down, than install carbon capture equipment. And even Zwonitzer concedes that the 2020 bill he sponsored is far from achieving its goal.

    “We are not where we thought we’d be three years ago,” he said, “and I’m not sure where we’re going over the next year.”

    Not Feasible ‘At This Time’

    When the law passed in 2020, the potential impact on residents or utilities was speculative. The March filings made them real.

    Black Hills Energy said that building carbon capture operations on two of its coal units would cost about $506 million and $474 million, respectively. The second figure represents three times what it cost to build one of the coal generation units in the first place, the filing said. If the costs were borne by ratepayers, that would mean an increase of as much as 16 percent, or $25 per month, for the average residential customer. The operations would also siphon off more than a third of the units’ electrical output, Black Hills said, so it would have to build additional generation or have customers reduce their consumption.

    Black Hills also said the carbon capture operations “may have an impact on ambient air quality in the area,” because they have the potential to increase the emissions of certain pollutants. The increased demand for water, “would apply stress on existing aquifers in the area,” the company wrote.

    Rocky Mountain Power, the other utility, said in the filing, “There is not a portfolio standard that is economically feasible at this time.”

  15. #565
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Carbon capture is a myth promoted by companies keen for a slice of government money to prolong their failing business

    Anyone who has worked in a coal fired power station involved it the process has a good idea of the varied outputs that need to be disposed of and knows that it is much more than the carbon dioxide released from burning coal.

  16. #566
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    Carbon capture is a myth promoted by companies keen for a slice of government money to prolong their failing business
    Unfortunately you are right.

  17. #567
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    Have a good renewable article for Australia, but saving it for a weekly update.

    ___________

    At least they’re thinking about a good direction.


    • 2022 Renewable Energy Fair Inaugurated in Cuba


    Havana, Jun 22 (Prensa Latina) Building a prosperous and sustainable socialism in Cuba is impossible without considering the development of energy from renewable sources, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes said on Wednesday.

    During the inauguration of the 2nd Renewable Energy Fair at the Pabexpo venue until June 24, Valdes said that Cuba’s need to guarantee sufficient access to clean energy is one of the government’s main priorities.

    It is necessary, he said, to increase the use of clean energy until reaching the goal of 100 percent in the energy matrix as a priority for the country.

    It will be in its different forms in which electric vehicles and the necessary technology for the accumulation of energy are included.

    The actions for the implementation of Cuba’s energy policy also intertwines all the actors and the participation of the national industry, he stressed.

    Moreover, it meant working with foreign investment opportunities despite the pressures of the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States.

    That cannot prevent the development of the country, he noted. 2022 Renewable Energy Fair Inaugurated in Cuba - Prensa Latina

    ______________




    Rhode Island law requires the state to achieve economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050, and legislation passed by the House this week supports that goal, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, D.

    Under Ruggiero’s bill, Rhode Island’s RES target would increase by an additional 4% in 2023; 5% in 2024; 6% in 2025; 7% in 2026 and 2027; 7.5% in 2028; 8% in 2029, 8.5% in 2030, 9% in 2031 and 9.5% in 2032, to achieve the 100% goal in 2033.

    “In addition to reducing emissions and our reliance on fossil fuels ... creating renewable energy supports the green industry, creating thousands of good paying jobs right here in Rhode Island,” Ruggiero said in a statement.

    Rhode Island has already seen a 74% increase in green jobs since 2014, “and that trend is going to continue as we deepen our commitment to renewables,” Ruggiero said.

    The RES “does not guarantee that the actual energy used in Rhode Island came from a renewable source, nor does it prohibit any utilities from supplying energy generated by fossil fuel,” according to Ruggiero’s statement. But the bill is expected to result in the generation of a “corresponding amount of renewable energy in the region and encourages construction of renewable projects.”

    A 100% renewable energy requirement “will keep Rhode Island, home to the nation’s first offshore wind farm, on the forefront of renewable energy innovation,” Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, D, said in May following passage of an identical measure.

    According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2020 about 89% of Rhode Island electricity was generated by natural gas, with most of the remainder coming from solar, wind, and biomass resources.

    The state has plans to add large scale offshore wind and is home to the first offshore wind turbines deployed in state waters. Deepwater Wind’s 30 MW, five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm began operating offshore Rhode Island in 2016.

    The House bill passed this week “doesn’t mean we won’t have any dependence on gas and oil, but this will make us much less dependent on fossil fuel and more reliant on renewables, to move us toward a resilient future,” Ruggiero said.

    _____________




    As record heat continues across central Texas, more people turn to their AC to cool down, but how is that affecting the Texas energy grid?

    “We hit a new record this summer hitting over 75 gigawatts just a few days ago,” said Luke Metzger with Environment Texas. “These extreme heat temperatures can put a strain on the grid and test its ability to meet all the demands we have right now.”

    That’s why energy companies will ask you to set your AC to 78 degrees and to not use appliances during peak hours.

    Conserving energy can help prevent blackouts, but with a summer heat wave that can be a hard ask.

    Metzger says renewable energy is helping make sure we don’t see any blackouts.

    “Wind and solar are playing a critical role in keeping the lights on and the AC running,” Metzger said. “Without wind and solar we would definitely be having blackouts. Today it is expected that wind and solar will provide 30 percent of our peak demand of energy and some days it is as high as 40 or 50 percent.”

    Are there any concerns with renewable energy?

    “The biggest concern you hear is around it’s intermittency,” said Metzger. “It is true that the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow and that is why we need a balanced mix of clean energy sources.”

    With more people moving to Texas and temperatures continuing to get hotter, changes will have to take place, says Metzger.

    “We know that is only going to get worse unless we take action to weatherize our homes, get better insulation and use more efficient appliances,” Metzger said.

    ______________

    One more (of many) reason nuclear power stations should never be built and are a bad idea.


    • One of the owners of a nuclear power plant being expanded in Georgia says it’s shifting overruns to Georgia Power Co. in exchange for giving up a sliver of its ownership.


    Oglethorpe Power Corp. which provides power to 38 electric cooperatives, said Saturday that it has exercised a contractual option to freeze its costs for Plant Vogtle at $8.1 billion.

    Oglethorpe Power said it would save members at least $400 million. In exchange, Oglethorpe’s ownership share of the two new reactors being built at the plant east of Augusta would fall from 30% to 28%. That would bump Georgia Power’s share of ownership from 45.7% to 47.7%.

    Associated Press calculations show the plant will cost at least $30.34 billion.

    If costs rise further, Oglethorpe would save more, but give up a larger share of its ownership.

    Georgia Power officials have said they don’t expect regulators with the Georgia Public Service Commission to approve customers paying further costs. That means shareholders of Georgia Power’s parent — Atlanta-based Southern Co. — would pay.

    Oglethorpe, Georgia Power and Vogtle’s two other owners — the Municipal Electrical Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton — have been arguing over Georgia Power’s obligations to start absorbing more costs.

    It was supposed to begin after more than $2.1 billion in overruns had occurred following a 2018 agreement. Oglethorpe says costs have risen by $3.4 billion since then. But Georgia Power has said COVID-19 was an act of God that drove up costs and delayed work, and it shouldn’t have to pay for that slowdown.

    Southern Co. has acknowledged it will have to pay at least $440 million more to cover what would have been other owners’ costs, and has said another $460 million is in dispute. https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...296_story.html

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    Looks like things aren't quite going to plan in Europe, which I believe leads the world in fossil fuel alternatives. I'm not against the phasing out of fossil fuels and know for a fact it will happen one day, but it's not going to be any time soon. Far from it.

    Can Europe Actually Afford To Kick Fossil Fuels? | OilPrice.com

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    Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. unveiled an electric-car battery it said has a range of over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) on a single charge and is 13% more powerful than one planned by Tesla Inc., a major customer.

    CATL, as the world’s biggest maker of electric-car batteries is known, will start manufacturing the next-generation “Qilin” next year, according to a video the Chinese company streamed online Thursday. The battery charges faster than existing cells, and is safer and more durable, CATL said.

    The Qilin battery, named after a mythical Chinese creature, has an energy density of up to 255 watt-hour per kilogram, Ningde, Fujian-based CATL said.

    “It’s an important advancement for CATL as it keeps them at the forefront on the innovation side,” said Tu Le, managing director of Beijing-based consultancy Sino Auto Insights. “Being the lowest cost provider isn’t enough to command loyalty, there needs to be more to it -- and that seems to be the Qilin battery for CATL.”

    _____________




    Tesla Megapacks are on their way to Hawaii in order to create a giant new energy storage system that is about to replace the state’s last remaining coal power plant.

    Hawaii aims to reach 100% green energy by 2045 and already has the highest amount of solar capacity deployed per capita. However, in order to handle all that renewable energy, the state needs to balance it with energy storage capacity since the sun doesn’t always shine.

    Tesla has been deploying batteries in Hawaii for years in order to help toward that goal. The company works with Hawaiian Electric on giant new battery systems and on a virtual power plant using Powerwalls.

    Now the Tesla Megapacks are coming to Hawaii, and they will be used to retire the state’s last coal power plant.

    Once completed, the Kapolei Energy Storage facility (KES) will become one of the largest battery systems in the world with a capacity of 185 megawatts/​565 megawatt-hours. It is a project in partnership with Plus Power and Hawaiian Electric – the former decided to use Tesla Megapacks to power the system.

    Megapack is Tesla’s largest energy storage solution – a container-size battery system with a capacity of up to 3 MWh. 158 Megapacks are on their way to Hawaii’s Oahu to build the project.

    The goal is to have the project operational by September 2022 when Hawaii’s last remaining coal plant, which is located just down the road from KES, is expected to be retired.

    The coal power plant is used to maintain grid frequency – something Tesla’s energy storage products have proven capable of doing – and that’s what KES is aiming to do along with absorbing excess solar power during the day and discharging during the evening.

    Plus Power’s lead developer Bob Rudd said at a ground blessing ceremony last year (via Canary Media):

    “Here, today, on Oahu, Plus Power and Hawaiian Electric are sending a postcard from the future. ​I’m certain that someday we’ll all look back, when there are dozens of projects just like KES on the mainland and all across the world, and we’ll think, ​‘We were there. Hawaii showed the world how to do it first.’ “

    Plus Power also says that the Tesla Megapack will act as a “black-start” system to jump-start the island’s electric grid if it gets shut down by any calamity. They are calling it the “Ultimate pacemaker for the grid.”

    For Tesla, it is quite a large project with 565 MWh of Megapacks to deploy, but the company has deployed larger systems, like the recently commissioned Moss Landing project, which has a capacity of 730 MWh and is planned for an expansion to over 1GWh.

    _____________



    EU energy ministers have agreed their position on changes to new regulatory amendments to pave the way for faster buildout of renewables.

    The agreement reached over the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and Energy Efficiency Directive, also paves the way for streamlined permitting for wind farms, stated WindEurope.

    It has been agreed that the RED should now include additional measures as proposed in the REPowerEU Action Plan to increase the EU’s energy security.

    EU energy ministers will now finalise the changes in negotiations with the European Parliament in autumn.

    EU Energy Ministers included key elements of the REPowerEU Action Plan, the EU’s energy response to the war in Ukraine, in their amendments to the RED.

    In light of the ongoing war the ministers stressed the need to accelerate the deployment of home-grown renewables in order to strengthen EU’s energy security, stated WindEurope.

    They agreed the expansion of renewables and the linked expansion of on- and offshore grid infrastructure in Europe should be considered a matter of “overarching public interest” and “public safety”.

    To deliver the necessary build-out of renewables the EU Energy Ministers agreed on clear deadlines for the permitting of new projects and facilitated permitting of repowering projects.

    For repowering only the environmental impacts that are additional to the already existing turbines will be subject to environmental impact assessments.

    To ensure that wind energy development goes hand in hand with biodiversity protection the European Council now encourages a population-based approach to biodiversity that will help maintain and improve the health of endangered bird populations.

    Member States are now ready to start discussions with the European Parliament on the revised RED.

    The next step is for the European Parliament to vote its position on the Directive in its Industry and Energy Committee this 13 July ahead of final negotiations to start in autumn.

    "Fit for 55": Council agrees on higher targets for renewables and energy efficiency

    ______________





  20. #570
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    What was Lopper’s new government doing this past week?


    • Chris Bowen's Press Club address about shift to green energy and power crisis | ABC News




    Well, it’s tempting to say that May 21 saw the winds of change blow through our country.

    But in fact, a gale blew away nine years of climate denial, delay and dysfunction.

    After years of climate change policy being weaponised by conservatives, after years of baseless fear campaigns about the cost of climate action

    There was a climate election, and that election resulted in a Labor victory with an ambitious climate agenda.

    Of course, real victory on climate will only come with achievement in government, with progress in policy and with a focus on delivery.

    ____________




    The review into credits follows the former head of the government’s Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee, Prof Andrew Macintosh, going public with his concerns earlier this year.

    Macintosh said the growing carbon market overseen by the then Morrison government and the Clean Energy Regulator was “largely a sham” as most of the carbon credits approved did not represent real or new cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

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    Environment ministers from the EU’s 27 member states approved to end the sale of vehicles with combustion engines by 2035 in Europe, officials announced early Wednesday (29 June), marking a major victory in the EU’s bid to reduce CO2 emissions to net-zero by 2050.

    As of 2035, new vehicles put on the EU market will need to reduce their CO2 emissions by 100%. An intermediate objective of 55% for cars and 50% for vans was agreed for 2030, the Council of the European Union said in a statement posted after a long night of negotiations which ended at 02.10 in the morning.

    The measure, first proposed in July 2021, will mean a de facto halt to sales of petrol and diesel cars as well as light commercial vehicles and a complete shift to electric engines in the European Union from 2035.

    The plan is intended to help achieve the continent’s climate objectives, in particular, carbon neutrality by 2050.

    Campaigners hailed an “historic decision” to end the sale of polluting cars.

    “It’s game over for the internal combustion engine in Europe,” said green mobility NGO Transport and Environment (T&E), adding that the agreement “breaks hold of the oil industry over transport”.

    It was not a foregone conclusion. Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania had pushed to delay the 2035 target to 2040.

    Countries eventually backed a compromise proposed by Germany, the EU’s biggest car market, which kept the 2035 target and asked Brussels to assess in 2026 whether hybrid vehicles or CO2-neutral fuels could comply with the goal.

    EU climate chief Frans Timmermans said that the European Commission would keep an “open mind” but that today, hybrids did not deliver sufficient emissions cuts and alternative fuels were prohibitively expensive.

    “We are technology neutral. What we want are zero-emission cars,” he explained.

    “At the moment, e-fuels do not seem a realistic solution, but if manufacturers can prove otherwise in the future, we will be open.”

    Ferrari amendment

    Environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg also approved a five-year extension of the exemption from CO2 obligations granted to so-called “niche” manufacturers, or those producing fewer than 10,000 vehicles per year, until the end of 2035.

    The clause, sometimes referred to as the “Ferrari amendment”, will benefit luxury brands in particular.

    These measures must now be negotiated with members of the European Parliament before they are passed into law.

    “This is a big challenge for our automotive industry,” acknowledged French Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting.

    But she said it was a “necessity” in the face of competition from China and the United States, which have bet heavily on electric vehicles seen as the future of the industry.

    Last month, the European Parliament also approved the EU’s proposed 2035 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles. The agreement reached among EU member states on Wednesday means the proposal can now be swiftly finalised in the coming months.

    In the face of strong conservative opposition, the European Parliament on Wednesday (8 June) narrowly voted to back a European Commission proposal for a total ban on new CO2-emitting vehicles by 2035.

    Synthetic fuels under the spotlight

    Much of the discussion among EU ministers centered around synthetic fuels. The technology, currently under study, consists of producing fuel using low-carbon electricity and combining it with CO2 emitted from industrial activities, in a circular economy approach.

    Like the oil industry, the automotive sector has high hopes for these new fuels, which would extend the use of internal combustion engines now threatened by the emergence of completely electric vehicles.

    But environmental organisations object to the use of this technology in cars, as it is considered both expensive and energy-consuming. Synthetic-fuelled engines also emit as much nitrogen oxide (NOx) as their fossil fuel equivalents, they say.

    Cars are the main mode of transport for Europeans and account for just under 15% of total CO2 emissions in the EU. It is also one of the main gases responsible for global warming.

    In response to manufacturers’ concerns about insufficient consumer demand for 100% electric cars, the Commission has recommended a major expansion of charging stations.

    “Along the main roads in Europe, there must be charging points every 60 kilometres,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last year.

    Manufacturers regularly complain about the lack of such infrastructure, especially in southern and eastern European countries.

    __________




    The Crown Estate – the British monarch’s property corporation (it is neither UK government property nor part of the Queen’s private estate) – has identified five locations to develop the first commercial-scale floating offshore wind farms, the Times reports. It continues:

    “The areas in the waters around South Wales and the South West peninsula were chosen based on where the energy platforms could be built most quickly, taking into account shipping routes, fishing activity and the environment. These will be whittled down to smaller sites in collaboration with marine and government bodies and market players.” The paper adds that the government wants to produce up to 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030. The new turbines will deliver 4GW of floating offshore wind power by 2035, fuelling almost 4m homes, the Guardian reports. Sky News adds that “further development in the Celtic Sea could generate another 20GW by 2045”.

    __________




    Chinese automaker BYD, which is backed by Warren Buffett, has surpassed Tesla as the world's leading electric vehicle seller.

    Driving the news: BYD sold 638,157 electric or plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles in the first six months of 2022, according to company filings published on July 3.


    • The figure represents a nearly 325% year-on-year increase from the same period last year.
    • In June alone, BYD sold 133,762 electric or plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles.
    • In the first two quarters of 2022, BYD sold 323,519 battery electric vehicles and 314,638 plug-in hybrids.


    The big picture: Tesla, on the other hand, delivered a total of 564,743 vehicles in the first six months of the year, according to figures in their first and second quarter reports.


    • Tesla noted in the reports that it had contended with supply chain challenges and factory shutdowns over the course of the year.
    • BYD's shares have risen 36% since January and the company was able to avoid the lockdown-spurred factory closures, Business Insider reported.
    • Tesla, however, was forced to temporarily close its factory in Shanghai during a COVID-19 outbreak in the city earlier this year.


    ___________


    • Volkswagen Sells Stake in Electrify America to Siemens


    Volkswagen has agreed to sell a minority stake in its U.S. electric-vehicle charging business to Siemens in a transaction that provides $450 million in new money and values the charging network at $2.45 billion, the companies said Tuesday.

    Bringing Siemens into Volkswagen’s Electrify America LLC generates additional funding to drive an expansion of EV charging that aims to more than double the number of charging stations that Electrify America operates across the U.S. and parts of Canada to 1,800 by 2026. Reston, Va.-based Electrify America also offers EV charging stations for use at home.

    The deal—whose talks were previously reported byThe Wall Street Journal—marks the first time that VW has brought an outside investor into its U.S. charging unit, which the company launched in the wake of the 2015 “dieselgate” emissions scandal. It also underscores VW’s plan to push hard into the U.S. EV market as a way of boosting its overall U.S. market share.

    VW executives have said they believe the company is well positioned to take advantage of the growth in EV sales in the U.S. Scott Keogh, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America Inc., said recently that the company is actively looking for a site to build a factory to make battery cells for EV models it plans to launch in the U.S. in the coming years.

    The company also recently announced that it would revive the iconic Scout off-road vehicle brand as an independent brand in the U.S. and begin production in 2026 of a fully-electric pickup truck and large SUV for American consumers.

    “Electrification gives us the historic opportunity to finally make a breakthrough in one of the most important markets,” VW CEO Herbert Diess, told an assembly of the workforce in Wolfsburg on Tuesday. “We’ve sunk billions there for decades.”

    VW will provide the bulk of the new financing for Electrify America. Siemens, through its investment arm, Siemens Financial Services, is acquiring a minority stake in the charging network and will receive a seat on the company’s board.

    The companies didn’t provide the precise amount of Siemens’ investment, saying only it was in the “low triple-digit millions.”

    Veronika Bienert, CEO of Siemens Financial Services, said the investment was the largest the company had ever made in electric mobility and “aims at driving the growth of an open eMobility ecosystem in the U.S. and Canada.”

    The deal would complement Siemens’s existing operations in the EV charging sector. In August, the engineering and technology company said it plans to expand its manufacturing operations in the U.S. as part of a plan to make over 1 million EV chargers for that market over the next four years.

    In the U.S., Siemens manufactures charging equipment for buses, trucks and heavy-duty electric vehicles at its facility in Wendell, N.C. It also has EV-focused operations in Texas, California, South Carolina and Georgia.

    Bets on charging networks are supported by a doubling of EV auto sales in the U.S. last year. However, that amount accounted for only a fraction of the U.S. car market, highlighting the challenges charging infrastructure faces generating sustainable profits. An analysis by consulting firm AlixPartners in 2020 showed that the average fast-charging station, charging market price for electricity, would take 20 to 25 years to pay off its initial investment.

    Electrify America expects to spend $2 billion on its expansion in coming years, partly funded by the injection of fresh capital from VW and Siemens.

    Volkswagen, which is based in Wolfsburg, Germany, formed Electrify America in 2016. That was part of a broader settlement with U.S. officials and consumers to show renewed commitment to clean vehicles after U.S. regulators accused the auto giant of installing so-called defeat devices on diesel cars that misstated emissions levels.

    Governments and regulators have pushed traditional auto makers to phase out production of fossil-fueled powered cars in favor of electric ones. The success of some EV companies, led by Tesla, is driving demand and funding for a faster rollout of charging stations. Mass adoption of clean-energy vehicles depends on drivers having confidence that they can charge their cars quickly when traveling.

    Tesla operates one of the largest charging networks globally, but it has only been available to owners of the company’s cars. In November, the EV maker started to open the infrastructure to non-Tesla vehicles in parts of Europe including France, the Netherlands, the U.K. and Norway to encourage wider EV adoption. Texas-based Tesla said it continues to expand this service to new sites and countries.

    Tesla says its Supercharger technology allows users to charge their cars for up to 200 miles in 15 minutes. Electrify America says its charging technology is the fastest on the market as of April 2019, according to the website.

    Utilities and governments are also seeking to expand the availability of charging facilities. The Electric Highway Coalition, whose members include Duke Energy Corp. and American Electric Power Co. Inc., is seeking to build an EV charging network spanning much of the U.S. South, Midwest and East Coast.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswa...ns-11656424395

    ___________


    • Puerto Ricans have built the largest renewable peaker plant in the world.


    It’s no coincidence that this year’s gathering of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or SEARUC, was held in San Juan. All eyes are on Puerto Rico’s fascinating story of innovation in resilient energy, spurred principally by thousands of solar batteries deployed since the devastating hurricanes of 2017.

    We’re now at a pivotal moment, sitting on a massive virtual power plant, or VPP, an existing and growing network of solar powered storage units that can be dispatched in unison to share power when most needed, like at peak power demand hours. It’s a clean, island-wide, resilient power generator that could save thousands of lives and dollars while preventing blackouts small and large. And turning our VPP on as fast as possible is the policy mandated by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, or PREB, the local regulator. All that’s left to do is to “flip the switch.”

    After the almost year-long blackout that followed 2017’s Hurricane Maria, forward-looking, pro-renewables bipartisan local legislative reforms and regulatory actions were enacted, which set the framework to achieve 40% generation from renewables by 2025 and 100% by 2050. But since then, virtually all new investment in renewables (fundamentally distributed solar plus storage) has come not from government — but nonprofits, private donations, and most importantly, Puerto Ricans themselves, aided by new and beneficial private financing options.

    Puerto Ricans have taken their energy resiliency into their own hands. Over 55,000 rooftop-solar powered batteries are already on Puerto Rican homes, a fleet that grows by around 2,000 every month. These families and small businesses are now individually protected during blackouts, but they could also help all other consumers via their stored energy.

    These VPPs could be mitigating blackouts today, without firing up dirty and expensive government-run fossil peaker plants.

    It’s therefore puzzling how the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority simply drags its feet, despite PREB’s now over 16-month old order for PREPA to procure substantial solar plus storage VPP resources.

    June 30 is PREB’s current deadline for PREPA to submit final pricing for all mandated renewable projects. Perhaps a clearer status of a total of 490 MW of 9 utility-scale storage projects and one 17 MW VPP project, will be shared publicly. Still, 17 MW is but a fraction of the not lesser than 150 MW VPP initially mandated and many orders of size smaller than the actual and expanding untapped VPP ready to be deployed today in the island. That June date is closing in soon, but as experience is the best teacher, that date could sadly come and go, with little consequence.

    One common misconception held by utilities, including PREPA, as well as the island’s transmission & distribution operator (LUMA), is that the entire power grid must be first completely overhauled and modernized before a VPP discussion is even possible. In reality, no new infrastructure is needed for a basic VPP to be put to use today, and in any case, the necessary technology and software is already built into commercially available batteries from companies like Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge and others.

    Here’s how it works: either the utility asks the company orchestrating the VPP ahead of time which days hours it wants the batteries activated, and the companies proceed (via the wireless Internet communications already built into all these batteries) and/or the utility pushes a button that says “there’s a potential blackout coming, activate VPP,” communicating this message to the companies in charge of the battery fleets. Within seconds, thousands of batteries are activated, thus avoiding expensive peaker plant costs and also preventing the impending blackout.

    It’s not too late for PREPA to see the obvious economic and societal value of VPPs. Not only do we have an opportunity to save lives and money, but we can be an example for the rest of the United States and the planet.

    The largest renewable peaker plant in the world has already been built in Puerto Rico and it’s simply waiting to be tapped. Let’s use it!

    https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pue...nt-vpp/626197/

  22. #572
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    I want to recognize the “good” David for the direction of this post when he made a remark about the floods in Sydney (NSW).

    Quote Originally Posted by david44 View Post
    Up the creek without a paddle, flushing Windsor could be an improvement, last time I passed thru it resembled Davy Jones Okker.

    Lucky Scomo and Howard saw no link between fossi fuels/ tools and climate change.
    What Looper’s new government is saying about the floods (highlights below).........



    Long-term climate change is causing the NSW to warm. The average temperature in NSW has been increasing since 1910. This is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and storm surges near the coast.

    Increased temperatures are likely to increase the risk of thunderstorms across NSW in the warmer months.

    In terms of natural cycles such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), climate changes to temperatures and rainfall may change the pattern of these natural climate processes. Climate change will affect oceanic climate systems, like the El Niño Southern Oscillation, making rainfall and flooding even harder to predict.

    In terms of east coast lows, which are the main cause of extreme storms along the NSW coast, climate modelling predicts there may be more extreme low pressure systems in the warmer months, and fewer small to moderate low pressure systems in the cooler months.

    Storms caused by east coast lows vary from year to year, and decade to decade. This makes it difficult to predict when they will occur, how severe they will be, and how they might be affected by climate change.


    • And from Mark Howden the Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions at ANU


    The repeated flood events across the Australian east coast foreshadow a future of wild weather, disruption and loss unless we act now. Without a clear plan to confront global warming and its impacts, we can expect this disruption to ramp up over time.

    East coast lows are not unprecedented, with problematic seasons occurring in 2007 and 2011 for example. This current event is no different but climate change has made it more intense.

    The amount of water that the air can hold increases exponentially with temperature. So, ocean warming from accumulating greenhouse gas emissions is increasing the water-holding capacity of the atmosphere above it. This general warming effect is being added to this year by a La Nina event.

    Right now, we see a classic La Nina pattern in the Pacific with a large tongue of colder than average water stretching from South America to just above the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. La Nina events pile up warm water in the western Pacific and some of that water flows down the east coast of Australia, increasing the sea surface temperatures off Queensland and NSW.

    This double-whammy of warming allows the really intense dumps of rain, like those that have occurred in the past few days. And patterns of sea surface temperatures to Australia’s north and west are helping feed in moisture-laden warm air into the low-pressure system.

    Further global warming is highly likely to further increase rainfall intensity. The global water cycle is already accelerating twice as fast as the global climate models are predicting. Climate change may also increase the strength of La Nina and El Niño events, bringing both more severe floods and droughts to eastern and northern Australia. There is no room for complacency.

    Little more……


    • PRIME MINISTER: Well, we are looking at long term solutions. My government has changed Australia's position on climate change from day one, for example. What we know is that Australia has always been subject of floods, of bushfires. But we know that the science told us that if we continued to not take action globally on climate change, then these events, extreme weather events, would be more often and more intense. And what we're seeing, unfortunately, is that play out. The people of the Hawkesbury Richmond area have now had four flooding events in the last 18 months. Prior to that they were impacted by bushfires. That's why my government is acting, I've got to say, as well, the New South Wales Government are acting as well on changing the energy mix in this state. But what we know is that no state and no nation can act by itself. It's one of the reasons why I've been out there engaging in the need to lift up global action. But Australia needs to be a part of that. We know that unless we do that, the science whether it be at the IPCC level, or whether it be the CSIRO, or our Australian scientists, we've been warned about this.: Press Conference State Emergency Operations Centre, Sydney | Prime Minister of Australia


    _______________


    What science says………..

    Climate change is making flooding worse




  23. #573
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    A UK government auction has secured a record 11 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity that will generate electricity four times more cheaply than current gas prices.

    The projects are all due to start operating within the next five years up to 2026/27 and have agreed to generate electricity for an average price of £48 per megawatt hour (MWh) in today’s money. This is four times cheaper than the £196/MWh current cost of running gas-fired power stations.

    Most of the new capacity – some 7GW – will be offshore wind. Notably, for the first time, these projects were cheaper than the 1.5GW of onshore wind or 2.2GW of solar.

    Once the pre-approved projects are built, Carbon Brief estimates they will generate 42 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year, enough to meet around 13% of current UK demand.

    Analysts said they would also save consumers an estimated £1.5bn per year in the late 2020s and cut annual average bills by £58, with most of the projects effectively subsidy-free.

    This is the UK’s fourth biannual “contracts for difference” (CfD) auction round (AR4). As well as seeing record-low prices, with 11GW of capacity secured, it is also by far the largest.

    AR4 auction results

    The UK government has committed to getting 95% of the country’s electricity from low-carbon sources by 2030 and to fully decarbonise the grid by 2035. It is also aiming for “up to” 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, including “up to” 5GW from floating offshore schemes.

    CfD auctions for new renewable energy capacity are the UK’s primary route for achieving these targets. Auctions have been held every two years since 2015, but will now be held annually.

    Under the contracts, projects agree to generate electricity for a “strike price” that is fixed in real terms, meaning it is index-linked to inflation. The results are usually reported in 2012 prices.

    Once projects have been built, the money they earn from generating electricity is compared with a market reference price. If this is lower than the strike price, the project receives a subsidy to make up the difference. When prices are higher, the project must pay back the extra money.

    Amid a global energy crisis, current market prices are extremely high, due to the soaring cost of gas. They are expected to remain elevated for a number of years.

    As a result, the bulk of this week’s auction winners are expected to pay back to consumers for much of their lives, making them effectively subsidy-free. (Though there is disagreement over exactly what the term “subsidy free” means.)

    Four times cheaper than gas

    The prices secured in this week’s auction are the lowest ever, with the £37/MWh for offshore wind in 2012 prices falling below the previous record of £39.65/MWh.

    According to Thomas Edwards, modeller at consultancy Cornwall Insight, AR4 projects would pay back £1.5bn a year towards the end of the 2020s, based on their latest price forecasts.

    He tells Carbon Brief the projects “will pay back to consumers for much of their lives”.

    Similarly, Nathan Bennett, head of public affairs for industry group Renewable UK, tweeted that the schemes would lower average household energy bills by £58 a year.

    The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a thinktank, says the projects would save households £100 a year, if the current extremely high market prices persisted. In this scenario, it says savings from current and future CfD projects could reach £500 per household.


    ____________



    The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult has welcomed the inclusion of tidal energy projects in today’s Contract for Difference (CfD) Round 4 results.

    The winning projects, which are Orbital Marine Eday 1 & 2, Morlais Magallanes and Meygen Phase 2, will together have a capacity of 40MW when built.

    ORE Catapult wave and tidal sector leader Simon Cheeseman said: “We welcome this long-awaited revenue support given to the tidal stream industry today from the UK Government – demonstrating their confidence in our world-leading tidal stream sector and priming it for the global export market.

    He said it market the beginning of a journey to 1GW tidal deployment capacity by 2035, helping the UK achieve its net zero targets and driving down the cost of tidal stream, making it competitive with other renewable sources of electricity.

    SAE will work to achieve financial close for the next phase (28MW) of the Meygen project by 2024 with the operation starting in 2027.

    Graham Reid, CEO of SAE, said: “The significance of today’s announcement cannot be downplayed.

    “We are going to be delivering the world's first commercial scale tidal array and we now have a clear runaway, with future CfD rounds, to deliver the full c400MW of tidal power generation at MeyGen.

    “I can’t thank enough all those who have championed, supported, and invested in our business to achieve this milestone. Our absolute focus will be on the delivery of this project.”

    Ocean Energy Europe also welcomed the development.

    By awarding contracts to three projects, the government also “ensures healthy competition and large-scale growth potential across several tidal technologies”, Ocean Energy Europe stated.

    For the tidal industry’s progress to be sustained, the group also said it is “vital” that the UK government creates long-term visibility by continuing to include ringfenced allowances in future allocation rounds.

    Two contracts were awarded to Orbital Marine Power’s 7.2MW multi-turbine Eday project in Orkney, Scotland, which will deploy floating technology.

    In Wales, another floating tidal project, the 5.62MW Morlais Magallanes, will be powered by Spanish tidal technology.

    Lastly, the Meygen project, which has been providing power to the grid since 2016, will now be able to expand its generating capacity by 28MW with a second project phase.

    Ocean Energy Europe CEO, Remi Gruet said: “Today’s announcement is the first step in turning a 20GW resource into a large-scale power source.

    “Tidal energy can now take its rightful place in the UK’s mainstream electricity supply. It is time for the EU to follow suit by actioning the commitments made in its offshore renewables strategy.

    “Europe has long been the global leader in developing and deploying renewable energy – by dragging its heels on the Strategy, the EU now risks being left behind.”

    ____________




    Indian energy giant Tata Power is planning to invest more than Rs750bn ($9.45bn) in its renewable energy business over the next five years.

    The company’s chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said that it intends to invest Rs100bn ($1.26bn) of the total earmarked sum during the current financial year.

    Over the next five years, Tata Power intends to increase its electricity generation capacity from 13.5GW to 30GW, with more than half of this due to come from clean energy sources.

    The company also aims to expand its clean energy portfolio to 80% by 2030 from its current levels of 34%.

    During the financial year 2021-22, it added 707MW of renewable energy capacity.

    Chandrasekaran also said that Tata Power currently holds an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) order book of Rs130bn.

    To expand these green businesses, the company has begun a strategic partnership and created a renewable platform that has received a Rs40bn investment from Blackrock Real assets and Mubadala Investment Company.

    It is also establishing a 4GW solar cell and module manufacturing facility in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, which would involve an investment of around Rs30bn.

    Chandrasekaran also said that Tata Power is on the path to becoming an environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmark in the power industry.

    Last month, the company commissioned India’s largest floating solar power project, with 101.6MWp of capacity, in Kayamkulam, Kerala.

    The project covers a 350-acre offshore area and is equipped with a 5MW floating inverter platform, anchored to the waterbed by 134 cast pile foundations.

    Tata Power said the facility is India’s first floating solar photovoltaic asset to provide power under a power purchase agreement (PPA).

    The Kerela State Electricity Board (KSEB) will use the clean energy generated by the floating solar facility under the terms of the PPA.

    ____________



    All-electric "seagliders" could someday offer fast, low-altitude flights in coastal communities like the Hawaiian Islands.

    Why it matters: Electric aviation is the next frontier in the movement of people and goods.


    • Better batteries, lighter-weight materials and other innovations — plus huge capital investments — are opening the door to novel and lower-emissions transportation solutions like flying taxis, drones and seagliders.
    • "It's a space race all over again," Billy Thalheimer, CEO of seaglider startup Regent Craft, tells Axios.


    Driving the news: Boston-based Regent is partnering with Hawaiian carrier Mokulele Airlines and investment firm Pacific Current to create a seaglider network in Hawaii.


    • Service is expected to begin by 2025 with a fleet of 12-passenger Viceroy seagliders that will fly like pelicans, about 10 to 30 feet over the water, at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour.
    • Hawaiian Airlines recently invested in Regent, with an eye toward building a 100-person version of the craft by 2028.
    • The idea is to offer a cheaper, faster, cleaner alternative to existing ferries and regional air service.


    How it works: The seagliders are designed to operate in what's called "ground effect."


    • Put simply, an aircraft flying close to land (or water) experiences less drag and more lift.
    • Aircraft designers have experimented with "wing-in-ground" (WIG) effect vehicles for decades — the former Soviet Union's Ekranoplan and Boeing's Pelican concept were two examples — but the technology has been difficult to master in choppy seas.
    • New technical innovations will allow vehicles to glide more smoothly across the waves and make the technology more feasible, Thalheimer tells Axios.


    Details: Retractable hydrofoils, for example, lift Regent's aircraft out of the water to navigate the harbor on takeoff.


    • Then a series of small propellers on the wings provides the lift for slow-speed takeoffs over a short distance.
    • This so-called "blown wing technology" is also incorporated into the design of efficient new aircraft being developed by companies like Electra.aero.
    • Even DARPA, the Pentagon’s premiere research agency, is working on a WIG seaplane design to potentially replace the giant C-17 Globemaster cargo plane.


    Seagliders are neither fish nor fowl — while they fly at low altitudes, they're expected to be regulated by maritime authorities, which could mean an easier path to commercialization, says Thalheimer.


    • Operating a seaglider will be more like driving a boat than piloting an aircraft, he says.
    • And digital controls will manage stability, altitude and the transitions between modes in and above the water.
    • Regent's 12-passenger Viceroy would have a range of about 180 miles, based on existing technology, he says. But as batteries improve, it's expected that future aircraft could go as far as 500 miles.


    Yes, but: With $28 million in funding, Regent still has a long way to go. It won't enter full-scale prototyping until the end of 2023.



    https://www.regentcraft.com/seagliders/viceroy

    _____________


    • This 'sand' battery stores renewable energy as heat


    A company in Finland has created an an unusual storage solution for renewable energy: One that uses sand instead of lithium ion or other battery technologies. Polar Night Energy and Vatajankoski, an energy utility in Western Finland, have built a storage system that can store electricity as heat in the sand. While there are other organizations researching the use of sand for energy storage, including the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Finns say theirs is the first fully working commercial installation of a battery made from sand.

    Similar to traditional storage systems for renewables, Polar's technology stores energy from wind turbines and solar panels that isn't used at once. To be precise, it stores energy as heat, which is then used for the district heating network that Vatajankoski services. Sand is inexpensive and is very effective at storing heat at about 500 to 600 degrees Celsius. Polar says its technology can keep sand "hotter than the stoves in typical saunas" for months until it's time to use that heat during Finland's long winters.

    As the BBC explains, the resistive heating process used to warm the sand generates hot air circulated inside the structure. When it's time to use the stored energy, the battery discharges that heated air to warm water in the district's heating system, which is then pumped into homes, offices and even pools. At the moment, Polar's sand battery only serves a single city, and it's still unclear whether the technology can be scaled up. The BBC also says that its efficiency "falls dramatically" when it comes to returning electricity to the grid instead. It's early days for the technology, though, and other companies and organizations might be able to find solutions for those issues. https://www.engadget.com/sand-batter...124512914.html


    Last edited by S Landreth; 13-07-2022 at 03:25 PM.

  24. #574
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Sounds promising. Looper’s new government is moving forward.




    SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised a "new era" of climate action and energy innovation under his centre-left Labor government, despite criticism from activists and Greens Party lawmakers who say that his planned cuts to emissions don't go far enough.

    Speaking to the Sydney Energy Forum on Tuesday (July 12), Albanese said Australia's current energy infrastructure and policies are inadequate to handle the global fuel crisis which has been sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

    Albanese reiterated his promise to introduce new climate legislation, including a target of 43 per cent cuts by 2030 and net zero by 2050, when Australia's Parliament sits for the first time under his leadership this month.

    "This is a new day. It is a new era. We need to act - and we will act," he said.

    Albanese took power at an election in May where Australia's lack of action on climate change was a major issue. While Labour won government with a majority in the lower house of Parliament, Albanese will be held to account by a wave of new lawmakers who were elected after campaigning for tougher action on climate change.

    The Australian Greens Party and pro-climate action independent David Pocock hold the balance of power in the Australian Senate, leaving the new government highly dependent on them to pass legislation.

    The Greens and Pocock have called for emission cuts of at least 60 per cent by 2030. Greens leader Adam Bandt has also called for a moratorium on any new coal or gas mines in Australia.

    Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has described the government's 43 per cent emissions target as a floor rather than a "ceiling" for Labour's climate ambitions. However, Albanese has been clear he will not legislate a higher target in his first term of government.

    Global peers

    Albanese's target brings Australia into line with nations including Canada, South Korea and Japan, though the plan remains less ambitious than action pledged by the United States, the European Union and Britain.

    Bowen and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm were scheduled on Tuesday to discuss collaboration on climate technology on the sidelines of the two-day forum. Ministers handling energy policy from the Quad nations - which also include India and Japan - are meeting for talks in Sydney alongside executives from companies including Siemens, Fortescue Metals Group and Mitsui & Co.

    Australia has already seen the impact of climate change-fuelled natural disasters, including severe flooding in the state of New South Wales over the past month.

    In his speech on Tuesday, Albanese said the extent of the flooding in Sydney has previously been described as a "once-in-a-thousand-year event". "Guess what? It's now an annual event," he said.

    Albanese said Australia can become a renewable energy "superpower," describing the coming years as a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.

    "Our government's policies are designed to seize that opportunity with the determination and resolve it demands," the prime minister said.

    Climate change is also a major issue among Australia's neighbouring Pacific nations, who have long criticised Australia for not living up to its climate action obligations. Canberra is working to burnish its credentials in the Pacific among a growing battle for influence with Beijing in the region.

    Albanese is expected to head to the Pacific Islands Forum on Wednesday to meet with regional leaders.

    "Australia will once again be a trusted global partner on climate action. I am ambitious about what we can achieve together," he said.

    _________


    • Albanese and the Greens party are squabbling, but should try to work together.






    ___________

    In other news……


    Last edited by S Landreth; 16-07-2022 at 02:48 PM.

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    General Motors (GM) plans to build a network of fast electric vehicle charging stations at truck stops across the country to bolster the nation’s EV infrastructure and enable long-distance electric travel from coast-to-coast.

    The automaker on Thursday announced it is partnering with the Pilot Company to install a network of 2,000 DC fast charging stalls at up to 500 Pilot and Flying J truck stops at 50-mile intervals along major U.S. highways in an effort to accelerate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. The stations will be capable of offering charging speeds of up to 350kW, which can give an EV about 100 miles of range in about 10 minutes.

    The stations will be operated and maintained by EV charging network EVgo and open to all electric vehicle brands, although GM customers will receive special benefits such as exclusive reservations and discounts on charging.

    The first charging stalls are expected to begin operating sometime in 2023.

    “We are committed to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, and ensuring that the right charging infrastructure is in place is a key piece of the puzzle,” Mary Barra, GM Chair and CEO, said in a statement.

    “With travel centers across North America, Pilot Company is an ideal collaborator to reach a broad audience of EV drivers.”

    The collaboration is part of a $750 million effort by GM to build a fast-charging network as the carmaker is set to roll out new electric vehicles over the next several years. The carmaker has also partnered with EVgo to build out a network of 3,250 charging stations in major metro areas by 2025.

    Investment in EV infrastructure comes as major automakers are shifting away from traditional gas-powered cars to electric vehicles to curb harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Electric vehicles are steadily increasing their market share, accounting for about 4 percent of all car sales in 2020 and growing to more than 5 percent in 2021.

    ____________



    The US Department of Interior (DoI) on Thursday gave Starwood Energy Group approval to construct the 125-mile (201 km) Ten West Link transmission project with capacity to deliver power from 3.2GW of new solar capacity from Arizona to California.

    The 500kV alternating current overhead line will traverse a region in the Sonoran Desert with some of the nation’s highest levels of insolation, providing critical transmission infrastructure to support the development of future utility-scale solar energy resources.

    Once operational in 2023, it will also improve reliability of the bulk power system for millions of customers in Central Arizona and Southern California.

    “Approving this new transmission line on our public lands will accelerate our nation’s transition to a clean energy economy by unlocking renewable resources, creating jobs, lowering costs, and boosting local economies,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

    The greenlight for Ten West Link follows recent approvals for construction of the Oberon, Arica, and Victory Pass solar projects in California with 965MW of nameplate capacity and will add 600MW of battery storage.

    Ten West Link is among 64 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects proposed on federal lands in the western US being processed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of DoI. BLM administers 244 million acres (99 million ha) of lands owned by the federal government.

    DoI estimates these projects have the combined potential to add more than 41GW of renewable energy to the western electric grid. They include geothermal, solar, and wind, as well as interconnect gen-tie lines that are vital to clean energy projects proposed on local, private, and state lands.

    BLM is also undertaking the preliminary review of 90 applications for solar and wind development, as well as 51 more for testing of those resources for other potential projects.

    DoI was among five presidential cabinet departments – the others were Agriculture, Defence, and Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency – that signed an agreement to improve federal coordination and streamline reviews to spearhead a lead-off 25GW of renewable energy project developments on federal lands.

    The 25-page document follows on from the US Energy Act of 2020's requirement that the DoI establish a programme to improve interagency cooperation for this purpose.

    The plan also supports President Joe Biden’s goal of clean electricity by 2035 and builds on his January executive order which gave priority to improved permitting as part of “tackling the climate crisis”.

    _____________




    ESB has opened a new 19MW battery storage plant opened at Aghada Co Cork. It is the first of a number of new plants to be opened in Co Cork and Dublin.

    The new plant will aid in increasing the quantity of fast-acting energy storage to enable greater stability of the national grid. It will also increase the delivery of renewables to the State's electricity system.

    In a statement, ESB said the series of new battery plants will go some way in facilitating Ireland's climate action targets.

    The plants contain new technologies and high-capacity batteries that will store excess renewable energy for discharge into the national grid when required.

    The state-owned electricity company has partnered with Fluence to help deliver the project.

    Welcoming the opening of the plant, Michael McGrath, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform said: “This technology will play an important role in facilitating more renewable sources of energy onto the electricity system as we continue our aim in Government to deliver the targets set out in the Climate Action Plan.

    I am delighted to be here today with ESB and their partner Fluence, who with the help of several Irish companies have launched the first in a series of battery storage projects. ESB has a strong history in Co Cork and with projects such as this, the region will play an important part in delivering its Net Zero strategy into the future.”

    Paddy Hayes, Chief Executive, ESB said: “ESB’s Aghada site has a longstanding history of innovation, and its variety of efficient gas generation technologies continue to play a crucial role for Ireland’s electricity system. Today marks another important milestone for Aghada and ESB, in commissioning this fast-acting battery unit that will support the national grid."

    Mr Hayes added: "This is ESB’s first battery project in Ireland – this and four other battery projects now in development by ESB will deliver 300MW of battery capacity within the next two years. These projects will support the delivery of a stable and cleaner electricity grid, which is set to be powered by 80 per cent renewable generation by 2030.”

    Irish companies Powercomm Group and Kirby Group are also working in partnership with ESB in the delivery of these battery plant projects at Aghada, Inchicore, South Wall and Poolbeg.

    The new plant in Co Cork brings Fluence's total battery-based energy storage projects deployed or contracted globally to almost 5,000MW, making them a global market leader in energy storage.

    _____________

    • Germany installed 997MW of onshore wind in the first half of 2022, similar to the same period in 2021, according to analysis by Deutsche WindGuard, carried out on behalf of BWE and VDMA Power Systems.


    The associations said the capacity addition from January to June of this year is not enough for the country to meet its decarbonisation goals.

    The federal government’s passing of a package of climate legislation creates ambitious targets for renewables and “offer the industry orientation and planning security”, the associations stated.
    Obstacles remain, they also said, with the average duration of licensing procedures increasing by almost 60% over the past five years.

    “We expect urgently further bills to strengthen and accelerate for more areas and permits.

    The European manufacturers of wind turbines and their suppliers are experiencing cost increases and insufficient market momentum, under significant economic pressure.

    “The addition of wind energy can no longer wait - all hurdles must be cleared as quickly as possible and create a long-term industrial policy strategy for the European wind industry,” said Dennis Rendschmidt, Managing Director of VDMA Power Systems.

    ____________




    Renewable energy accounted for 49% of German power consumption in the first half of 2022, up 6% percentage points from a year earlier thanks to favourable weather conditions, industry groups said on Tuesday.

    Both higher sunshine intensity and wind speeds were behind the trend, utility industry association BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) said in a statement.

    The preliminary figures were calculated under European Union requirements that base market share of individual electricity sources on usage rather than production, a basis also adopted by Berlin for its climate target definitions, they said.

    The share of renewables in German power consumption hit 50.2% in the first half of 2020.

    Germany's power consumption overall declined by 0.8% to 281 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in the first six months of 2022.

    Domestic electricity production, meanwhile, rose 1.7% to 298 billion kWh, boosting Germany's role as a net exporter of power, the data showed.

    _____________


    • VW turns to electric Scout brand to win back Americans


    Volkswagen's plan to roll out a new line of sporty electric trucks and SUVs under the resurrected Scout brand is a rare chance to win back Americans' hearts, Scout's new boss tells Axios in an exclusive interview.

    Why it matters: Despite its global standing as the world's second-largest carmaker, Volkswagen is a chronic underachiever in the United States. Admitting in 2015 that it had been cheating on diesel emissions standards only worsened its reputation.


    • Now, amid a historic shift to electric vehicles (EVs), VW sees an opportunity to reconnect with U.S. consumers by offering EVs in the segments they care most about: pickup trucks and large SUVs.


    Driving the news: Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, will become president and CEO of Scout on Sept. 1, Axios is first to report.


    • He will be succeeded by Pablo Di Si, currently the executive chairman of Volkswagen's South American Region. Di Si will oversee the entire North American region, as did Keogh.
    • The leadership change was approved by Volkswagen AG's management board, which is meeting this week in Chattanooga, Tennessee — home to the German automaker's growing U.S. manufacturing base.


    What they're saying: "It's time now to concentrate more on the U.S. market and the U.S. customer, and one piece of the puzzle, for sure, is Scout," Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess said while chauffeuring me in one of his company's first U.S.-built EVs, the ID.4 compact SUV.


    • Between Scout and further growth of the Volkswagen and Audi brands, the VW Group aims to double its U.S. market share, which currently stands at about 5%.
    • "America is probably the country where we have the biggest potential worldwide," Diess told me.


    Details: Scout will be an independent U.S.-based company, which will allow it the flexibility to take on partners or other investors — or even go public some day, Volkswagen execs said.


    • Scout will develop what the company calls a “true American” electric SUV and pickup truck designed for rugged, off-road use.
    • With a dedicated engineering platform, Scout expects to provide new conveniences and connectivity to meet different needs, like camping, off-roading or work site use.
    • The hope is that the iconic Scout name can help the company penetrate the highly profitable American market for big SUVs and pickup trucks, which is currently dominated by U.S. brands like Ford, Chevrolet, Jeep and Ram.
    • Production will start in 2026, and the aim is to sell up to 250,000 Scout-branded vehicles annually in the U.S.


    Flashback: The Scout was developed in 1961 by International Harvester as a precursor to the modern SUV.


    • It was marketed as an all-terrain family recreational vehicle and eventually came in several body styles, competing with Land Rover, Jeep and the Ford Bronco. Production ended in 1980, but Scout SUVs remain popular with collectors.


    The back story: The rebirth of Scout as a rugged EV brand was a fortunate accident for Volkswagen.


    • The company acquired the rights to the Scout brand name in 2021 when its commercial vehicle subsidiary, Traton, bought truck manufacturer Navistar International (the successor to International Harvester, which went out of business in 1985).
    • Keogh, on a trip to the beach with his kids, came across a fully restored Scout and fell in love.
    • When he realized "the rights to the brand were just sitting there," he started advocating for a new electric truck line.


    The bottom line: As VW sees it, electrification is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redefine itself.


    • "Electrification, to me, is a reset," says Keogh.

    https://www.axios.com/2022/07/19/vol...vehicles-truck

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