Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

ed110220

800 mile, 4 GW HVDC line being built to transmit wind power from Kansas to Indiana. 
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/07/12/whoosh-wind-power-wins-pipelines-implode-in-fossil-fuel-week-from-hell/

DiggerUK

The figures for India's energy output shows that its total production from Coal, Oil and Gas is a massive 91%. Nuclear only accounts for 1%.
If those figures  moved closer towards each other, just imagine how aligned they would be with IPCC showboating to reduce anthropogenic production of CO2. There is a clear picture presented of how toothless the IPCC is.

This article from Vijay Jayaraj on today's GWPF gives a brief portrayal of how India produces its electricity. Less than a tenth of which is Zero CO2..._

Martyn1981

And back to green and ethical energy, we have some promising news for UK storage, and international off-shore wind:

Government hopes cut in red tape will triple UK's battery capacity

Government ministers hope to triple Britain’s energy storage capacity by relaxing the planning rules which threatened to stifle a nationwide battery boom.

The government will pass secondary legislation on Tuesday to allow large-scale energy storage projects to move ahead without the red tape and higher costs of navigating the national planning system.

Instead, large-scale battery developers will be able to apply for permission to build their energy storage projects using local planning rules, which are quicker and easier to manage.

The changes should help unleash a boom in large-scale batteries – those with a capacity of 50MW or more – which could help Britain make the most of its growing renewable energy resources as it works towards its climate targets.

Offshore wind energy investment quadruples despite Covid-19 slump

Global offshore wind investment more than quadrupled in the first half of the year even as the coronavirus pandemic triggered an unprecedented economic shock.

A report has found that investors gave the greenlight to 28 new offshore windfarms worth a total of $35bn (£28bn) this year, four times more than in the first half of 2019 and well above the total for last year as a whole.

The biggest half-year tally for offshore wind investment more than made up for a slowdown in investment for onshore wind and solar farm projects after the outbreak of Covid-19, according to the report by Bloomberg NEF (BNEF).

Albert Cheung, BNEF’s head of analysis, said: “We expected to see Covid-19 affecting renewable energy investment in the first half, via delays in the financing process and to some auction programmes. There are signs of that in both solar and onshore wind, but the overall global figure has proved amazingly resilient – thanks to offshore wind.”

Martyn1981

Not great news, be it the UK or the G20 as a whole, we are not exactly lighting a (renewable sourced fuel) fire under energy saving and renewables:

UK energy efficiency push offers just a third of the investment needed, says report

The government’s new plans to upgrade the energy efficiency of homes will make only a fraction of the progress needed to help the UK meet its legally binding climate targets, according to a new study.

A report by IPPR, a left-leaning thinktank, has found at least 12 million homes will need to be fitted with low-carbon heat pumps and energy efficiency measures, such as insulation, over the next 30 years for the UK to meet its net zero targets.

However, Rishi Sunak’s pledge to fund a new energy efficiency plan with £3bn of spending is less than a third of the investment needed, and its plans to install heat pumps will deliver less than 2% of the number required, according to the report.

Governments put 'green recovery' on the backburner

Governments are spending vastly more in support of fossil fuels than on low-carbon energy in rescue packages triggered by the coronavirus crisis, new data has shown, despite rhetoric from many countries in support of a “green recovery”.

Data from the Energy Policy Tracker, a new research effort by several civil society groups, shows that at least $151bn (£120bn) of bailout cash has been spent or earmarked so far to support fossil fuels by the G20 group of large economies. Only about a fifth of this spending is conditional on environmental requirements such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions or cleaning up pollution.

The G20 countries are directing about $89bn (£71bn) in stimulus spending to clean energy, despite most of those governments being publicly committed to the Paris agreement on climate change.

DiggerUK

We all realise that BOGOF's in supermarkets don't give you anything for free. 

This recent report claiming  savings of £20 a year on fuel bills, shows we  could well face a real increase of up to £200 on fuel bills.
So much for those I fuel poverty..._

Martyn1981

DiggerUK said:

We all realise that BOGOF's in supermarkets don't give you anything for free. 

This recent report claiming  savings of £20 a year on fuel bills, shows we  could well face a real increase of up to £200 on fuel bills.
So much for those I fuel poverty..._

HPC alone will add ~£50pa to every household bill. [Note, direct payment will be about £20pa, but the 65% from non domestic bills, will fall on households as energy costs for manufacturing, retail etc are reflected in product costs.]

DiggerUK

I don't argue that those in charge of expanding nuclear can't add  up, I don't deny that those in charge of RE's can either. I just argue for a CO2 free compromise that works. 

French nuclear energy works, construction problems with reactors coming on line around the world can be overcome and the record of the outstanding majority of the worlds nuclear power stations is beyond acceptable.

It's the objections from your side that are just incomprehensible..._

ed110220

DiggerUK said:

I don't argue that those in charge of expanding nuclear can't add  up, I don't deny that those in charge of RE's can either. I just argue for a CO2 free compromise that works. 

French nuclear energy works, construction problems with reactors coming on line around the world can be overcome and the record of the outstanding majority of the worlds nuclear power stations is beyond acceptable.

It's the objections from your side that are just incomprehensible..._

"Your side" betrays a tribalist type thinking. What is limiting the growth of nuclear power on a world scale is not "objections" but economics. I have no objections to nuclear power in principle, in fact as an idea it's great. Same for most countries - many like the idea of nuclear power but struggle to make it work economically. E.g. South Africa has had all sorts of plans for new nuclear reactors for many years promoted by the government, but nothing has happened as they have been too expensive. Vietnam abandoned plans for its first reactors a few years ago as too expensive. The USA was going to have a "nuclear renaissance" and started building 4 new reactors but two were abandoned mid construction amid mounting costs a few years ago. British governments, the opposition, TUC etc have liked the idea of new nuclear for a long time but have struggled to make it a reality.
I'll say it again - if costs for nuclear power can be brought down dramatically it will have a much bigger future.

Pile_o_stone

DiggerUK said:

I don't argue that those in charge of expanding nuclear can't add  up, I don't deny that those in charge of RE's can either. I just argue for a CO2 free compromise that works. 

French nuclear energy works, construction problems with reactors coming on line around the world can be overcome and the record of the outstanding majority of the worlds nuclear power stations is beyond acceptable.

It's the objections from your side that are just incomprehensible..._

Can you please keep your propaganda confined to your nuclear thread and stop taking other threads off topic. You might want to refer to the moderator warning on the first post on this thread.

DiggerUK

I have read the insert in post one. My conversation with Martyn1981 related to my 
link to a news item less than two weeks old.
Your threats to have me cancelled because of an opposite view point are misplaced..._