Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Another milestone has been reached, a full calendar month without coal generation. In total we are at about 55 days, so closing in on the equivalent of 2 whole months too. No idea if coal has any contracts to supply some leccy in the summer, but if not, there might be a chance we will see another 3+ months of coal free leccy.

UK electricity coal free for first month ever

The UK’s electricity system recorded its “greenest” ever month in May after running without coal-fired electricity for a full calendar month.

The National Grid, the energy system operator, said the country’s sunniest spring on record helped generate enough solar power to reduce the carbon intensity of the grid to its lowest level ever recorded.

The bright and breezy weather helped wind and solar power make up about 28% of Britain’s electricity last month, narrowly behind gas-fired power generation, which made up 30% of the energy mix. 

Meanwhile, the record low demand for electricity during the coronavirus lockdown has left little room for the UK’s last remaining coal power plants to play a role.

Since April the UK’s electricity system has run without coal-fired power for about 54 consecutive days, which has helped the carbon intensity of the electricity grid fall to the lowest average carbon intensity on record at 143 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour.

Martyn1981

Nice surprise, in 2019 it seems RE marginally beat coal in the US.

Renewables surpass coal in US energy generation for first time in 130 years

Coal consumption fell by 15%, down for the sixth year in a row, while renewables edged up by 1%. This meant renewables surpassed coal for the first time since at least 1885, a year when Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and America’s first skyscraper was erected in Chicago.

Electricity generation from coal fell to its lowest level in 42 years in 2019, with the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasting that renewables will eclipse coal as an electricity source this year. On 21 May, the year hit its 100th day in which renewables have been used more heavily than coal.

“Coal is on the way out, we are seeing the end of coal,” said Dennis Wamsted, analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “We aren’t going to see a big resurgence in coal generation, the trend is pretty clear.”

Here is the link to the EIA report:

U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 said:

In fact, there may be a good chance that the Government will start raising money instead, by charging for leases to permit off-shore wind deployments, so we may see auctions that bid up the price for a lease, rather than bid down for a subsidy ..... that would be nice.

Just to show that even a blind dog can find a bone every so often, this has been announced:

Merkel cabinet shocks sector with proposal for negative bidding at offshore wind auctions

Note however the criticism, and the comparison made to UK CfD's, and the savings from reduced finance costs of a scheme being part of a subsidy scheme, even if it's net zero.

Martyn1981

Same story again (sorry) but just to show that the pressure still remains, may even be growing to invest/target some stimulus monies towards RE, efficiency and other green aims.

Boris Johnson under pressure to ensure green recovery in UK

Boris Johnson and his cabinet are coming under increasing pressure to ensure the economic stimulus helps to shift the UK to a low-carbon future, as green campaign groups set out their demands and the Prince of Wales weighed in on the need for a green recovery.

The prime minister has given vague assurances that the economic recovery will be “sustainable”, but despite urging from the government’s statutory advisers, there has been little detail so far on how green measures could be used to stimulate the economy.

Greenpeace published its manifesto for a green recovery on Wednesday, calling for investment in cleaner transport; renewable energy and a smart grid for electricity; refurbishing buildings to improve their energy efficiency and move to low-carbon heating and cooling; reducing waste and improving recycling; and protecting nature and wildlife, especially through restoring degraded habitats.

Coastalwatch

Not good news I'm afraid! The report below details the extent of the oil spill and the effects that global warming is having. It serves as a reminder that a Green recovery from recent events is not just desirable, it's essential if our offspring are to inherit a planet capable of supporting life upon it!

Russia's Putin declares state of emergency after Arctic Circle oil spill

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tonnes of oil leaked into a river within the Arctic Circle.

The spill happened when a fuel tank at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk collapsed last Friday.

The accident happened when the pillars supporting a fuel tank at a power plant began to sink. The area is built on permafrost which has been melting as the climate warms.

The leaked oil drifted some 12km (7.5 miles) from the accident site, turning long stretches of the Ambarnaya river crimson red.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52915807

Martyn1981

And now we have central bankers on board too:

The world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challenge

As current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers a unique chance to green the global economy

This crisis offers us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild our economy in order to withstand the next shock coming our way: climate breakdown. Unless we act now, the climate crisis will be tomorrow’s central scenario and, unlike Covid-19, no one will be able to self-isolate from it.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis the international community rallied together to reform the financial system. These reforms have enabled the financial system to be part of the solution rather than the problem. Once again we have reached a fork in the road. We have a choice: rebuild the old economy, locking in temperature increases of 4C with extreme climate disruption; or build back better, preserving our planet for generations to come.

To meet the climate crisis challenge, we must learn from the Covid-19 pandemic. Let us make a green recovery the first step down that road.

• Andrew Bailey is governor of the Bank of England; François Villeroy de Galhau is governor of Banque de France; Frank Elderson is chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System and executive board member of the Nederlandsche Bank; Mark Carney is UN special envoy for climate action and finance

Martyn1981

Nice article simply listing results and lifting smiles.

'Falling like dominos': Renewables records continue to topple across Europe

On a Sunday late last month, 55 per cent of Europe's power was delivered by wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources.

That is the headline conclusion from a new update from the Wärtsilä Energy Transition Lab, which confirms renewables records have toppled right across Europe in the past few weeks, with levels of clean power that were once widely regarded as incompatible with current grid architecture seamlessly integrated into the continent's energy system.

Martyn1981

Some international off-shore wind news:

Denmark has assessed off-shore wind potential, and the article sent me off Googling as the figure seems very high (for a relatively small population). It seems they currently consume ~33TWh pa, and at a 50%cf, 18GW of off-shore wind would generate ~79TWh. Certainly no scale-ability issues there then.

Denmark maps out 18GW offshore potential

Denmark has completed an initial assessment of potential new offshore wind sites off its coasts that could deliver up 18GW of new capacity.

US dishes out offshore wind R&D support

Research projects by GE and Principle Power are among 12 to share over $10m of funding from the US National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium.

And whilst not (just) off-shore wind, this article fits nicely with the US plans/research for more RE:

US renewables groups make delivery pledge

US renewable energy trade bodies have pledged to work together to ensure clean power supported by energy storage delivers over half of the country's electricity in the next decade.

The pledge was made this week by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), National Hydropower Association (NHA), and Energy Storage Association (ESA) at the Cleanpower conference.

AWEA chief executive Tom Kiernan said the collaborative promise sets the stage to deliver on the American electric grid of the future powered by wind, solar, hydropower and storage.

He said: “Market opportunities for projects that include a mix of technologies have opened up that didn’t exist even a few years ago. And demand is growing for integrated renewable energy options.”

Coastalwatch

Martyn1981 said:

US renewables groups make delivery pledge

US renewable energy trade bodies have pledged to work together to ensure clean power supported by energy storage delivers over half of the country's electricity in the next decade.

The pledge was made this week by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), National Hydropower Association (NHA), and Energy Storage Association (ESA) at the Cleanpower conference.

AWEA chief executive Tom Kiernan said the collaborative promise sets the stage to deliver on the American electric grid of the future powered by wind, solar, hydropower and storage.

He said: “Market opportunities for projects that include a mix of technologies have opened up that didn’t exist even a few years ago. And demand is growing for integrated renewable energy options.”

Thanks for posting the above Mart. Reading through the article I came upon the final paragraph and was surprised that Dams already exist with no means of generation harnessed to them.

But even more so when the figure mentioned as a result of hooking them up might be 15GW!

Retro fitting would obviously present its problems and perhaps not feasible in some cases but surely better than starting from scratch!

Unless of course I'm reading it wrong(quite likely) and they merely plan to add pumped storage to replenish the water already harnessed on the most appropriate sites!

NHA CEO  Malcolm Woolf said: “By adding new generation onto existing non-powered dams and developing 15GW of new pumped storage hydropower capacity, we can help accelerate the development of a clean energy electricity grid.”

zeupater

One to keep an eye on .....

Rumours outside MSM ... Has Elon been in the UK for a few days looking at potential Tesla R&D & manufacturing site somewhere in the SW (who'd have thought!!) ?? ..... Battery Gigafactory/Terafactory for batteries and/or solar PV production?; possibly commercial vehicles? ... whichever it could be a good strategic move for balancing the effect of currency exchange rate fluctuations on BEVs!

HTH - Z (If it's true, possibly the owner of a really powerful crystal ball, or just a strategic thinker! .. )