Thread: Fossil Fuel Alternatives

Trump Administration Halts Building of Giant Wind Farm Off N.Y. Coast

Just as construction was starting on a massive wind farm off the coast of Long Island, the Trump administration ordered an immediate halt on Wednesday that could spell a serious setback for hopes of powering New York City with offshore wind.

Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, called for the cessation of “all construction activities” on the Empire Wind project, which was designed to provide enough electricity to power about 500,000 homes in New York.

On the first day of his new term in office, President Trump signed an executive order that limited the approval of offshore wind farms. But Empire Wind had already received all of the permits it needed to get underway.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Mr. Burgum said the halt would allow for “further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”

New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, quickly responded that she would “fight this decision every step of the way.” She called the secretary’s move a “federal overreach” that she would not allow to stand.

The order came two weeks after Representative Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, asked Mr. Burgum in a letter to “do everything in your power” to stop what he called an “underhanded rush” to build the wind farm. Another Republican representative from New Jersey, Jeff Van Drew, has pressed Mr. Trump to put a stop to other wind farms that were planned in the Atlantic Ocean to provide renewable power to New Jersey.

Mr. Trump’s stated opposition to windmills as a source of renewable energy has been seen as a serious threat by the offshore wind industry, which already was struggling to cope with global inflation and supply chain problems. Some projects that had been proposed off the East Coast have been canceled and others have lost financial backing from their sponsors.

Among the criticisms of offshore wind farms are that they are unsightly and that they harm marine mammals and the commercial fishing industry. The offshore wind industry and its supporters dispute those contentions and have pledged to take measures to ensure that whales and other mammals and fish are not endangered by their projects.

Ms. Hochul and New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, have championed the development of offshore wind as a solution to their states’ rapidly growing demand for electricity. Their plans were critical components of the Biden administration’s goal of generating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.

The Empire Wind project was designed to produce 810 megawatts. A sister project, known as Empire Wind 2, was intended to generate 1,200 megawatts, or 1.2 gigawatts.

Equinor, a Norwegian company, is leading the Empire Wind project. It acquired a lease of the site from the federal government in 2017 and placed the winning bid in New York State’s first large-scale competition for a contract to provide electricity from offshore wind.

The company announced in December that it had secured $3 billion in financing for Empire Wind 1. The company said construction of the project began in 2024 and was expected to be completed in 2027.

Equinor is also building a port for its offshore wind project at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, which it said had created 1,500 jobs.

David Schoetz, a spokesman for Equinor, said in a statement on Wednesday that the company had just received notice from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which regulates offshore wind projects, to halt work.

“We will engage directly with B.O.E.M. and the Department of Interior to understand the questions raised about the permits we have received from authorities,” the statement said. “We will not comment about the potential consequences until we know more.”

Jason Grumet, the chief executive of the American Clean Power Association, a renewable energy trade group, said in a statement, “Doubling back to reconsider permits after projects are under construction sends a chilling signal to all energy investment.”

In Mr. Smith’s letter to Mr. Burgum, he said that by moving forward with the offshore project, Equinor was “endangering American lives” and the environment.

“Empire Wind cannot safely proceed until much needed further review be done to protect the public and our eastern seaboard,” Mr. Smith wrote. “I ask that you do everything in your power to halt Equinor’s underhanded rush to begin pile-driving and block construction until the critical assessment can be completed.”

Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, said in a statement that the residents of his county on Long Island were “extremely grateful” to President Trump, Mr. Burgum and Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, “for halting further work on offshore wind turbines which have created serious concerns for our firefighters, health officials and residents.”

Trump Administration Halts Building of Giant Wind Farm Off N.Y. Coast - The New York Times

Miliband accuses net zero opponents of 'nonsense and lies'

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has said the government will "double down" on its environmental agenda and accused those against the move to net zero of "making up nonsense and lies".

Political opponents in the Conservatives and Reform UK - and some trade unions – have argued that his agenda is putting jobs in traditional industries at risk and have urged a change of course.

The UK is legally committed to moving to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – a goal set under a previous Conservative government.

Writing in the Observer, Miliband warned that an anti-net zero agenda would not only risk "climate breakdown" but "forfeit the clean energy jobs of the future".

A green power transition will help secure social justice and national security, Miliband argued.

He said that the UK's reliance on fossil fuels meant "markets went into meltdown and prices rocketed" after Russia waged its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"The cost of living impacts caused back then still stalk families today," he said.

"So the argument for the clean energy transition is not just the traditional climate case but the social justice case too – it is working people who pay the greatest price for our energy insecurity."

On his opponents, he said there are "siren voices that want to knock us off course" and added "they will also make up any old nonsense and lies to pursue their ideological agenda".

Despite her party committing to net zero while in government, current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said this cannot be achieved without potentially bankrupting the country.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has criticised what he calls "net-zero lunacy", told the Sun on Sunday that the policy could become "the next Brexit – where Parliament is so hopelessly out of touch with the country".

Miliband has been concerned that political opponents have been blaming his green policies for the well-publicised difficulties at British Steel, when in fact the trade body UK Steel has said high industrial energy costs are due to the price of gas, and not renewables.

The government passed an emergency law to take control of British Steel amid accusations that its Chinese-owner Jingye was planning to switch the furnaces off.

Beijing has accused the government of "politicising trade co-operation" and said this situation had raised doubts about Chinese investment in the UK.

Parts of the labour movement, including unions such as the GMB and Unite, have warned of risks to thousands of well-paid jobs in the oil and gas sector.

But Miliband has attempted to reassure them by declaring that green energy generation will provide the good unionised jobs of the future.

Ed Miliband accuses opponents of net zero carbon emissions '''nonsense and lies'''

Chart of the day: Australia tops the world on solar generation per capita

Australia is generating more solar energy per capita than any other country according to the latest data from Ember. Australia is in 4th place for combined solar and wind generation.

The other top-ten countries for combined solar and wind generation are in Europe, where they can share electricity across borders. Australia must go it alone.

Combined global solar and wind generation has passed global hydro generation. This year, both solar and wind generation will catch global nuclear generation, which has been almost static for 30 years. At current growth rates, combined global solar and generation will pass combined global coal and gas generation in 2032.

The current Australian Government has a target of 82% renewable electricity in 2030, which corresponds to 75% from solar and wind (plus some hydro and bio). This entails doubling current solar and wind generation.

The Capacity Investment Scheme and other policies are aimed at delivering this outcome.

Provided that there is no change of government policy at the May election, Australia will remain as the global renewable energy pathfinder: self-sufficient; located at moderate latitudes (like 80% of the global population); and demonstrating that high levels of solar and wind generation deliver a reliable and resilient grid with low prices, low emissions, low local pollution, low land use and low water use.

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Britain will accelerate push to net zero, Starmer tells energy summit

Britain will go “all out” for a low-carbon future and accelerate the push to net zero instead of slowing down as some have demanded, the prime minister said on Thursday.

In his strongest declaration yet of support for the net zero agenda, Sir Keir Starmer told a conference in London of more than 60 countries that tackling the climate crisis and bolstering energy security were “in the DNA of my government”.

He said: “This government is acting now, with a muscular industrial policy, to seize the opportunities [in low-carbon technology] to boost investment, build new industries, drive UK competitiveness, and unlock export opportunities. That is the change we need. We won’t wait – we will accelerate.”

Starmer’s speech – made in front of the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the US senior energy official, Tommy Joyce – made clear that the prime minister sees renewable energy as core to the UK’s future prosperity and national security.

“We’re paying the price for our over-exposure, over many years, to the rollercoaster of international fossil fuel markets, leaving the economy and therefore people’s household budgets, vulnerable to the whims of dictators like Putin,” he said. “It’s our determination that working people should not be exposed like this any more.”

Boosting renewable power generation would, he said, “make energy a source not of vulnerability, but of strength. We will protect our critical infrastructure, energy networks and supply chains, and do whatever it takes to protect the security of our people. Energy security is national security.”

Britain will accelerate push to net zero, Starmer tells energy summit | Energy | The Guardian

Spain hits first weekday of 100% renewable power on national grid

Spain’s grid ran entirely on renewable energy for the first time on April 16, with wind, solar, and hydro meeting all peninsular electricity demand during a weekday. Five days later, solar set a new record, generating 20,120 MW of instantaneous power – covering 78.6% of demand and 61.5% of the grid mix.

Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica has confirmed that renewable energy sources fully met electricity demand across the country’s peninsular system for the first time on April 16.

Wind generated 256 GWh, accounting for 45.8% of total output. Solar followed with 151 GWh, or 27%. Hydroelectric sources added 129 GWh, making up 23.1% of the mix. Solar thermal contributed 11 GWh, or 2%, while other renewables added another 11 GWh, or 1.9%. Renewable waste generated 1 GWh, or 0.2%.

At 11:15 a.m. that day on April 16, wind and PV combined to generate 100.63% of total demand – a first in Spain’s energy history. Unlike previous milestones, this occurred on a weekday.

On April 21 at 1:35 p.m., solar reached a new record for instantaneous power, generating 20,120 MW – 0.7% higher than the previous record set on July 12, 2024. At that moment, PV accounted for 61.5% of the national mix and 78.6% of demand.

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