Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Been a while I think since we mentioned flow batteries, which is a shame as they hold vast potential (fingers crossed).

Lockheed Martin Testing Innovative Flow Battery Technology

Everyone now realizes that battery storage is the key to decarbonizing the energy sector, and everybody wants a piece of the action. Lockheed Martin said in a press release this week it is partnering with TC Energy to develop large scale, long duration energy storage systems utilizing GridStar® Flow, Lockheed Martin’s innovative flow battery technology, which is capable of storing electricity for 6 to 12 hours and dispatching it as needed.

Got all that? Apparently the difference between the Lockheed Martin system and conventional flow batteries is an absence of ingredients that are toxic and/or expensive while maintaining sufficient energy storage capability to be commercially viable. Apparently TC Energy is convinced, although the press release studiously avoids specifying how large a flow battery will be tested and where it will be installed.

Martyn1981

And a quick thumbs up for Highview (again) as they start work on a LAES project in Vermont.

Coal-Killing Long-Duration Energy Storage For Vermont (Vermont?!?)

The system planned for Vermont will weigh in at 50MW and provide for at least eight hours of storage, or about 400MWh.

Martyn1981

JKenH wrote: »

I imagine land is a bit expensive in Warrington. Isn’t that Footballers Wives territory. NIMBYs perhaps.

Same guys, same plan, same aim, just different tactics - If you can no longer lie about the science, then start on the scientists instead.

Fossil Fuel Giants Claim To Support Climate Science, Yet Still Fund Denial

Most energy companies now acknowledge that burning fossil fuels is warming the planet. And yet many continue to fund disinformation about industry’s role in climate change and its harm to human health.

In the latest example, documents and recordings reviewed by HuffPost show that the Independent Petroleum Association of America has spent almost $2 million a year for the last two years on Energy In Depth, a “research, education and public outreach campaign” that regularly attacks scientists whose research is critical of industry. The campaign has received financial backing from 14 different oil and gas companies including Shell, Occidental Petroleum, BP, Chevron and Halliburton.

EID has posted several pages attacking the research of Harvard scholars Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran, calling their published study that showed Exxon Mobil misled the public on the dangers of climate change “incomplete” and “activist.” In another example, EID points to Exxon Mobil-funded research to undermine the scholars’ studies.

“This EID case demonstrates that although fossil fuel companies now claim to support climate action, they continue to misrepresent scientific work in order to protect profits and protect themselves from liability or responsibility,” said Supran, a research fellow studying the history of science.

“When science threatens their interest, they attack or attempt to undermine it,” said Oreskes, a professor of history of science. “And when they can’t do that, they attempt to discredit the scientists who produced it.”

Hard to believe that anyone on a G&E thread/board could ever (have) stick up for these guys, let alone deny what they've been doing.

Martyn1981

Net zero carbon neighbourhood to be built in south Wales

One of the world’s first net zero carbon neighbourhoods will be constructed in Wales after Neath Port Talbot council approved the development of 35 homes able to generate more clean energy than they use.

Development of the £8m project in Pontardawe in south Wales is expected to begin this spring. The residents of Parc Hadau will pay no energy bills because the development will use a mixture of renewable energy technologies to generate enough clean electricity to power its homes over the year.

The two-, three- and four-bedroom homes will be equipped with solar panels and energy-storing batteries, ground-source heat pumps and innovative ventilation systems.

When Parc Hadau needs to draw on electricity from the grid, such as on cold winter nights, Sero will measure the carbon intensity of the imported electricity and later export enough clean energy in return to balance the overall carbon emissions.

Martyn1981

What do you get if you cross an AGW denier with a pumpkin?

Answer.

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 wrote: »

What do you get if you cross an AGW denier with a pumpkin?

Answer.

Great response from TYT (The Young Turks) to the Don's rant about WT's, also pointing out the vastly greater number of bird kills by tall glass buildings v's WT's, and the far, far greater number of kills from cats.

[Disclaimer - all of the cats at the small rescue I help out at, get a stern talking too before they leave, and all pledge never to hurt any birdies, though I can't guarantee that they keep their word. M.]

Trump Is A Windbag Who Doesn't Get Wind

Martyn1981

Lots of promising news for on-shore wind across Europe:

Latest European Onshore Wind Auctions Prove Technologies’ Importance

WindEurope, the European trade association for wind energy, has highlighted several recent onshore wind energy auctions which all delivered competitive prices — an important data point for European Union Member States as they have less than two weeks before they must submit the final versions of their 2030 National Energy & Climate Plans to the European Commission.

Unsurprisingly, WindEurope took the recent auction results as an opportunity to further highlight the importance of onshore wind to the energy transition. Specifically, WindEurope believes that “Onshore wind energy will make a key contribution to fulfilling the 2030 targets cost-effectively” and that “This month’s latest onshore wind auction results from across Europe proved again that onshore wind remains the cheapest form of new power generation.”

Martyn1981

Some 2019 leccy records for the UK grid:

National Grid Electricity System Operator data shows record breaking year for Britain’s electricity

2019 records in full:

December 10 2019 – highest ever level of wind powered electricity generation, 16873 MW

May 14 2019 – highest ever level of solar powered electricity generation, 9550MW.

Longest ever period of operation of GB’s electricity system without using coal power to produce electricity (437.5 hours) ending on June 4 2019

August 17 2019 – lowest ever carbon intensity 57 gCO2/kWh (carbon intensity of electricity is a measure of Co2 emissions produced per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed)

Martyn1981

More RE and cheaper, what's not to like!

With Most Electricity From Renewables, South Australia Has Lowest Utility Cost

The government of South Australia has supported renewable energy for years, and its efforts have begun to bear fruit. The latest report on emissions published monthly by the Australia Institute shows that over the past two months, South Australia has derived 65% of its electricity from wind and solar — more than any other state.

Hugh Saddler, the author of the monthly audit and an associate professor at the Australian National University, tells The Guardian that wind and solar power supplied more than 50% of the electricity generated in South Australia for most months over the past two years. “That’s made electricity in SA the cheapest in the national electricity market and dramatically increased reliability.”

According to the website Open NEM, 25.9% of electricity in the five eastern states has been from renewable sources over the past month. There was 100% clean generation in Tasmania, which runs on hydro power, 60% in South Australia, 25% in Victoria, 18% in NSW, and 16% in Queensland.

Overall, utility customers in South Australia will pay about $65 less for their electricity this year thanks to the availability of renewable energy. If you think that seems like a paltry amount, ask yourself this: When was the last time your utility bill went down?

Martyn1981

Greener and cheaper ..... what's not to like (again)!

Washington State Ferries — Second-Largest Ferry Network — Switching From Diesel To Batteries

Washington State Ferries will be following Ellen’s example near the Danish island of Ærø. Washington often leads and succeeds where other states hover, discuss, and are quite too slow to transition. Washington also runs the second-largest ferry system in the world, so switching from diesel to batteries in the early part of a trend toward electrification in shipping is vital to set better standards in marine shipping. All the more helpful considering how large system is.

Yet again, we have Washington Governor Jay Inslee to thank for his climate change leadership. Inslee is behind the mandate.

“Ian Sterling, public information officer for Washington State Ferries, said the move would cut the cost and pollution caused by the current annual consumption of almost 20 million gallons of diesel across a fleet of 22 vessels ferrying 25 million people a year,” Greentech Media reports.

“The government-owned ferry operator’s annual fuel consumption is on par with that of a ‘midsize airline,’ he said, making it the state’s biggest diesel polluter.”

Sterling added that switch to batteries is “not just because the governor said [to do] it.” It makes financial sense. “But even if you’re not an environmentalist, this is a good idea for the taxpayer because we expect it to pay for itself relatively quickly, based on the price of fuel. It saves millions of dollars annually.”

The constantly declining cost of batteries prompted the state to take a second look, and a more serious look, at electric shipping. They expect the ferries to go into operation within a couple of years.