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First announced a month or so ago, further information announced to day. Let's hope it doesn't take too long to get up and running!
Wales chosen for lithium-ion gigafactory and 200MW solar farm
The site – a former RAF base at Bro Tathan in South Wales – was chosen after six months of analysis of over 40 potential sites, with South Wales announced as the most likely candidate last month.The gigafactory will produce lithium-ion cylindrical and pouch cells, with a production capacity of 30GWh. It is to service both the energy storage and automotive markets, however Britishvolt said today (17 July) that it will focus primarily on the automotive market.“As the birthplace of lithium ion, the UK remains globally renowned for its academic excellence in research and development – with an abundance of home grown talent for Britishvolt to take advantage of," Orral Nadjari, CEO and founder of Britishvolt, said, adding that Britishvolt plans to encourage other businesses to invest in South Wales in the hopes of creating a battery electrification hub.East coast, lat 51.97. 8.26kw SSE, 23° pitch + 0.59kw WSW vertical. Nissan Leaf plus Zappi charger and 2 x ASHP's. Givenergy 8.2 & 9.5 kWh batts, 2 x 3 kW ac inverters. Indra V2H . CoCharger Host, Interest in Ripple Energy & Abundance.4 -
DiggerUK said:Solarchaser said:Wants something that works 24/7, sites hydro, but doesn't site battery storage.......Iceland has no storage worth talking about and hydro provides the lion's share of their electricity.
"Wind and Solar fail to pass that threshold, without an efficient way to store that power they don't seem likely to ever be an efficient solution." (op cit)
Id have thought that pretty obvious... but seems it needed explaining 🤦♂️West central Scotland
4kw sse since 2014 and 6.6kw wsw / ene split since 2019
24kwh leaf, 75Kwh Tesla and Lux 3600 with 60Kwh storage2 -
Guess another call to the powers that be to ease the path for more onshore renewables won't go amiss. Perhaps like little drops of water, if there are enough fall in the right place, then the blockage may eventually be moved aside!
Government urged to unlock the ‘enormous’ potential of solar and onshore wind
Renewables investor Thrive Renewables is calling on the government to seize what it has identified as a potential £66.5 billion investment opportunity for onshore renewables, including solar.
This breaks down to £4.75 billion per year, which it said could inject £28.9 billion into the economy by 2035 and save consumers up to £1.5 billion annually.
Matthew Clayton, managing director of Thrive Renewables, said that by providing this certainty and creating a “more positive environment for onshore renewables”, the government could unleash “huge private sector investment” and create thousands of jobs, with Thrive finding that 45,000 new jobs could be created. Of these, 22,800 could be created in solar PV.East coast, lat 51.97. 8.26kw SSE, 23° pitch + 0.59kw WSW vertical. Nissan Leaf plus Zappi charger and 2 x ASHP's. Givenergy 8.2 & 9.5 kWh batts, 2 x 3 kW ac inverters. Indra V2H . CoCharger Host, Interest in Ripple Energy & Abundance.3 -
North Wales presents a world-class site for a tidal lagoon
Twice a day, every day, predictable energy, days, months and years in advance.
Harnessing energy from tidal power is not new: tidal mills have been built and used to generate mechanical energy (for milling corn, wool processing and the like) for centuries.
In a similar way, creating a tidal lagoon by building a bund wall from one point on the North Wales coast to another will enclose and hold sea water brought in by the tide.
Generating power by taking advantage of the different water levels (tidal head) inside and outside the lagoon is a robust and simple process. The tidal head can be managed by opening and closing turbines and/or sluices into the lagoon.
https://www.marineenergywales.co.uk/projects/north-wales-tidal-energy/
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Here's an interesting idea, apply advertising restrictions to FF's as per advertising restrictions on tobacco? I've no idea if this would work, but simply preventing political donations in the US from FF interests would almost certainly change the dynamics massively and instantly when it comes to policy.
What If The Restrictions On Tobacco Ads Applied To Climate-Polluting Products?
There are striking parallels between the tobacco epidemic and the climate crisis. Tobacco and greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions both involve the sale, by powerful industries, of products that are commercially attractive, were initially believed to be safe, and yet were found to cause serious harm.
What would it look like if the restrictions applied to lessen tobacco use were applied to GHG-emitting products, to reduce our carbon emissions? Think restrictions on advertising, promotion, and lobbying, as well as public education, warning labels, and restrictions on use.Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.3 -
Time for Chris Goodall and his Carbon Commentary newsletter. [Re #10. Looks like cheap gas and RE is killing coal in Europe even faster than expected.]2, Hydrogen for fertiliser manufacture. Spanish utility Iberdrola will invest €150m in a plant to produce hydrogen for use in a large fertiliser plant. It is constructing a 100 MW solar farm with advanced features such as bifacial panels. Iberdrola will experiment with various electrolysis technologies, such alkaline and proton exchange membrane while also trialling the storage of hydrogen in a liquid carrier. The manufacture of fertiliser is responsible for about 2% of world emissions and Iberdrola comments that moving to renewable hydrogen as its key ingredient would add about 10% to world electricity demand. An article about this project in the Financial Times makes clear that green hydrogen remains more expensive than the alternative made from fossil fuel and Iberdrola will need to sell the product below cost. I think this is the first commercial-scale use of hydrogen from renewables to make fertilisers.
3, Large battery systems. The Californian transmission operator (Caiso) opened the first phase of what will be the biggest battery system in the world. Built by LS Power, the newly connected battery has a capacity to deliver 62.5 MW which will rise to 250 MW by the end of year. That's over twice the size of the Hornsdale site in Australia, which holds the current record. Caiso expects to have at least 1 GW of battery capacity around California by December, up six-fold on the year. Caiso expects the state to eventually need 15 GW to help deal with the oversupply of solar power at the middle of the day. For comparison, weekday peak demand on the Californian system in July is about 36 GW. (Frustratingly, all the CAISO press releases use megawatts as the unit of capacity and do not appear to specify megawatt hours of storage).
4, Blue hydrogen. Australian oil and gas producer Santos announced it was carrying out a feasibility study into making hydrogen from the gas output from a new field in South Australia. The gas from the field has a high CO2 content when extracted and the company was already intending to reinject 1.7 million tonnes a year back into the gas reservoir. What is new is that the CO2 arising from steam reforming of natural gas to make hydrogen could also be injected.
5, Jobs impact of spending on renewables infrastructure and energy efficiency. A largely European group of fund managers managing about $5trn issued a paper arguing for more investment in green infrastructure as part of the COVID 19 recovery programme. This is not an unusual message but the paper did collate useful figures from academic research. It pointed out, for example, that one research project had found that $1m of public support for green infrastructure or energy typically creates almost three times as many jobs as backing for fossil fuels. (About 7.6 jobs compared to 2.6 for support for the brown economy). The paper also noted that only about 4% of announced government support programmes had been explicitly directed towards the green economy (although this was before recent EU announcements).
7, Hydrogen outside Europe. It is easy to dismiss the growth of interest in hydrogen as a particularly European obsession, more concentrated among policymakers than active industrialists. The majority of the largest potential projects, such as the fertiliser plant in note 2 are indeed in Europe. But hydrogen has now begun a move to the centre of attention in India as well, particularly among energy conglomerates. ‘Green hydrogen produced by the splitting water could be the game changer’ said the head of Adani. Unfortunately it is probably too late to stop Adani developing the Carmichael coal mine in Australia, perhaps the world’s single most destructive energy project.
8, Urban farms. Most of the speculative investment flowing into the industry is going into huge indoor ventures focusing on stacked trays of salads and herbs. The underlying profitability of this sector still looks uncertain, partly because of the high costs of lighting and air conditioning. An alternative approach is taken by Paris-based Agripolis, which uses urban roofs for the construction of uncovered hydroponic columns growing 35 types of produce that are sold locally to restaurants. The latest ‘farm’ is on the roof of an exhibition centre on the edge of Paris planning to harvest about a tonne of organic produce a day during the growing season from its 1.5 hectares (about 4 hectares). Total yearly yields of about 150 tonnes would represent a roughly five-fold improvement on intensive field agriculture for a crop such as strawberries. And water needs are minimal compared to conventional agriculture. Prices are said to be below supermarket organic levels. But I was struck by the offer to rent one metre square plots on the rooftop to local residents for €320 a year. That certainly doesn’t look cheap.
9, Tree planting. In most locations, planting trees will add to the net amount of stored carbon. But a recent Scottish study showed the importance of choosing the right location. Tree planting on plots of land that had been covered with heather resulted in the loss of carbon from the soil that was at least as great as the carbon stored in the trees in the first four decades of their life. The hypothesis is that tree roots make the soil more biologically active, resulting in the respiration of CO2. The blunt assumption that most of us have that all tree planting is good may need to be (partially) revised.
10, Closing coal-fired power stations. The current low price for natural gas - now trading at about 0.5 Euro cents per kWh in the UK - as well as higher carbon permit costs and rising renewable output have pushed many European coal-fired power stations into redundancy. Another country stepped into line as Portugal’s biggest utility announced an earlier closure date for the largest power station in the country. The 1.1 GW plant will close early in 2021 once it has used up its stock of coal. The utility also stressed it was investigating the production of hydrogen at the site, powered by 1 GW of solar energy. Users in the Netherlands are the possible market and have been looking around Europe for potential partners. The possible switch from coal to hydrogen in a single location is neatly symbolic.
Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.2 -
Funny coincidence, I was recently thinking that I hadn't heard much from the AGW deniers Nigel Lawson, nor Noel Edmonds and their dodgy named misinformation organisations (Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), and Renewable Energy Foundation (REF)), but it seems Nigel has turned his attention to Africa ..... good luck with that mate!
Africa can become a renewable energy superpower – if climate deniers are kept at bay
The power of climate science denial in the UK, thankfully, has been in retreat over the past decade. Nigel Lawson’s Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) may still boast a prime Westminster address, but its influence has waned. In fact, its decline aptly mirrors the fortunes of the coal industry, including US titans such as Peabody Energy, which saw its share price plunge 99% between 2008 and 2016 before filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
With countries rightly phasing coal out of their energy mix, the GWPF has turned its sights on Africa to peddle its misinformation about the merits of burning fossil fuels. It has published a new report, derisively titled Heart of Darkness: Why Electricity for Africa is a Security Issue, and launched a glossy website for “energy justice”, which uses the language of climate justice campaigners to try to undermine renewable energy.Not only are wind and solar increasingly becoming the cheapest forms of new electricity across the globe, but they are also inherently more agile and versatile than grid-reliant fossil fuels. Pastoralists in remote parts of Africa in need of electricity will not be served waiting for hulking great power grids to be built, cutting a swathe across Africa’s precious natural landscape. They would be better off with solar mini-grids and wind turbines supplying energy exactly where it is needed most.
No continent suffers more from global heating than Africa, yet nowhere has done less to cause it. But despite being victims of a climate crisis they did not create, Africans are smart enough to know that putting more coal on the fire is not the solution.What it does not need is discredited thinktanks such as the GWPF trying to hold back this future by making it the last dumping ground for the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.
Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.3 -
Couple of Guardian articles, one on Joe Biden and his 'green' plans which seem to have grown rather large. And one on removing CO2 from the atmosphere, but that this is no silver bullet and reducing emissions is still crucial.
Joe Biden has endorsed the Green New Deal in all but name
Negative-emissions tech helps, but it's no magic bullet for the climate crisis
Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.2 -
Slight twist on the thread theme, but if we reduce the need for fuel oils, where will the plastic come from. Well, better recycling would be a great start:
More Bad News For Oil & Gas: Plastic Recycling Targeted By University of Delaware
Just in time for Plastic Free July, earlier this month the US Department of Energy earmarked $11.6 million for a new high-impact R&D effort called the Center for Plastics Innovation. The taxpayer dollars will support new transformative plastic recycling technology, which would be a giant step up from good old fashioned shredding and melting. Group hug for taxpayers! If all goes according to plan, CPI’s work will lead to a high value, high efficiency plastic recycling stream that will undercut the use of virgin oil and gas in the chemical industry.Those oil and gas stakeholders better act now if they want to keep a slice of the petrochemical pie. Earlier this year the Department of Energy also announced a new $25 million round of funding for something called BOTTLE, for “Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment,” which undercuts virgin petrochemicals from all angles including the use of bio-based materials as well as support for upcycling technology.
Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.4 -
Here's a great example of how economics will win the day. A power company goes from campaigning against RE deployment, to planning even more than it objected too, in just two years.
Tuscon Electric Power Makes Dramatic Pivot Toward Renewable Energy
Remember just 2 years ago when the utility companies that supply electricity to customers in Arizona went into a tizzy over a ballot initiative that would mandate them to get 50% of their electricity from renewable sources by the year 2030? Oh, the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth could be heard from sea to shining sea. It was a direct frontal assault on the American way of life. It was so dire, the utilities ponied up $40 million of their own money (actually it was their customers’ money) to defeat it.
The curtain falls and time passes. Now just two years later, Tucson Electric Power, one of the utilities that screamed the loudest about the ballot initiative, has had a change of heart and wants to ditch its dependence on coal and transition to 70% renewable energy by 2035, according to Tucson.com. Is it the same goal as that ballot initiative? No, but it is pretty darn close.
The falling cost of solar and wind energy is a big part of the shift in Tucson Electric Power’s (TEP) focus, along with prices for battery storage that are also dropping rapidly. “For the last several decades, coal was the most economical resource. It was the lowest cost resource to supply energy for our customers, and it wasn’t really close. Coal just isn’t the most economical resource now, says Jeff Yockey, TEP’s resource planning director.
Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.
For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.4
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