Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

Eric is sort of right! (Wind farm location in Scotland)


The main reason is that the stats for wind speed are generally much better in Northern locations and there are more areas without dense population, i.e. Urban areas are less predominant. So it makes more sense for the wind generators to be sited. Why would they choose lower production or more urbanised areas?

If Scottish wind gen only supplied Scotland, then they would have hit a level of generation already at peak times that they'd be unable to use, so have to constrain a large amount of it.

From the article I posted:

“What a month October proved to be, with wind powering on average 98 per cent of Scotland’s entire electricity demand for the month, and exceeding our total demand for a staggering 16 out of 31 days,” said Dr Sam Gardner, acting director at WWF Scotland.

So Scotland is able to have massive overcapacity by exporting to England, which is excellent news, not a negative. As and when we have too much wind for the UK, then we'll need to deploy serious amounts of short (and possibly longer) term storage, but that's a long way away .... assuming N/S interconnectors are capable of the transference till then.

Zarch

3MW battery to power Emirates Stadium

"We are delighted to announce the installation of a ground-breaking battery storage system (BSS) that will store enough energy – provided by official renewable energy partner Octopus Energy - to run Emirates Stadium for an entire match."

https://www.arsenal.com/news/3mw-battery-power-emirates-stadium

Martyn1981

This is an article on the enormous cost implications of global warming to the US, but it's always interesting to see the other side - the cost of not spending money on AGW mitigation.

Trump on own administration's climate report: 'I don't believe it'

Donald Trump has told reporters he doesn’t believe his own government’s climate change findings that the US economy will suffer substantially with continued warming from greenhouse gas pollution.

“I’ve seen it, I’ve read some of it, and it’s fine,” he said outside the White House on Monday. “I don’t believe it.”

“With continued growth in emissions at historic rates, annual losses in some economic sectors are projected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century – more than the current gross domestic product (GDP) of many US states,” the report says.

Martyn1981

I think we need to clean up our cars!

Health effects of diesel 'cost European taxpayers billions'

Air pollution from roads causes at least €70bn (£62bn) in health damage every year in the European Union, according to a new report, with diesel fumes responsible for three-quarters of the harm.

The research, commissioned by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), found the vast majority of the costs were borne by taxpayers through government-funded health services. But these costs could be reduced by 80% by 2030 if ambitious action were taken, the report concluded.

The total cost to society from all forms of air pollution, not just from roads, is much higher than the figures in the new report and in the UK alone totals £20m* a year.

[*Typo - should read £20bn. M.]

Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution

This report from the RCP and the RCPCH examines the impact of exposure to air pollution across the course of a lifetime.

The report starkly sets out the dangerous impact air pollution is currently having on our nation’s health. Each year in the UK, around 40,000 deaths are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution which plays a role in many of the major health challenges of our day. It has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and changes linked to dementia. The health problems resulting from exposure to air pollution have a high cost to people who suffer from illness and premature death, to our health services and to business. In the UK, these costs add up to more than £20 billion every year.

ASavvyBuyer

Zarch wrote: »

3MW battery to power Emirates Stadium

"We are delighted to announce the installation of a ground-breaking battery storage system (BSS) that will store enough energy – provided by official renewable energy partner Octopus Energy - to run Emirates Stadium for an entire match."

https://www.arsenal.com/news/3mw-battery-power-emirates-stadium

Here is another article about this:
https://www.edie.net/news/8/Arsenal-FC-to-power-Emirates-Stadium-through-battery-storage-system

ASavvyBuyer

Another boosts for renewables:
"UK Power Networks to trial Faraday Grid technology to bolster renewable generation"
https://www.edie.net/news/8/UK-Power-Networks-to-trial-world-s-first-Faraday-Grid-to-bolster-renewable-generation/

Martyn1981

France Announces Cuts To Nuclear & Coal, Boost For Wind & Solar

French President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech on Tuesday in which he announced a raft of new energy policies, including a promise to close the country’s remaining four coal-fired power plants by 2022 and 14 of the country’s 900 MW first-generation nuclear reactors by 2035.

In a speech outlining the country’s “ecological transition,” Macron announced that in addition to confirming the closure of the country’s remaining four coal power plants, France would also begin to close some of its aging nuclear fleet. Specifically, France will close 14 of its first-generation 900 MW nuclear reactors, which were built 40 years ago, and which currently number 34. This will reduce nuclear’s contribution to the energy mix from its current level of 75% to 50% by 2035.

Martyn1981

Big target for the EU by 2050, but pressure already on to aim for 2040:

European Commission Calls For Net-Zero GHGs By 2050

Martyn1981

Just a quickie gleaned from comments on the Navitron site, but UK wind generation recently broke the 12GW mark for the first time for metered wind, and 15GW for all wind. That's a blow! :laugh:

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Just a quickie gleaned from comments on the Navitron site, but UK wind generation recently broke the 12GW mark for the first time for metered wind, and 15GW for all wind. That's a blow! :laugh:

Here's a short article on it:

Windy weather carries Britain to renewable energy record