Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

This caught my eye, 4.7MW for on-shore wind, that's big, and it's designed for low wind locations, which presumably opens up the options for RE a bit more.

Siemens Gamesa adds 4.7MW unit to 4.X platform

Siemens Gamesa has added a new turbine optimised for low wind sites to its 4MW platform.

The SG 4.7-155 in the 4.X platform has a 155 metre rotor and a nominal power rating of 4.7MW.

The annual energy production in average low wind conditions is 5% higher than that of the SG 5.0-145, Siemens Gamesa said.

The turbine also has a low noise output of 105 decibels, making it suitable for countries with strict noise restrictions such as France.

In addition to these functionalities, the lifetime of the new turbine has been increased to 25 years from 20 years at IEC-Class 3 sites.

Martyn1981

Louisiana looking to mine the Gulf of Mexico, and this time not for black gold.

Red State Sees Green Gold In Gulf Of Mexico Offshore Wind

On Monday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced an ambitious plan to plumb the waters of the Gulf for clean power — with the help of the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, no less.

It may seem odd that BOEM is aiding and abetting offshore wind, considering that President* Trump, who is still President until January 20, 2021, is notoriously not a fan of wind turbines in general, and offshore wind turbines in particular.

Nevertheless, BOEM holds the keys to accelerating offshore wind development through its authority to lease offshore areas. It has been doing just that all throughout Trump’s first and only term in office.

Somewhat ironically, offshore activity languished during the Obama administration, but that was partly due to wrench-throwing by Republican governors in coastal states.

A change in the political guard at the state level helped to turn the tide in several Atlantic coast states during the Trump administration, and Louisiana’s Democratic governor is eager to bring his state to a table that is already set.

[Moved from BEV thread, posted in error. M.]

Martyn1981

Nothing to see here. The quarterly public attitude survey (number 35) continues to show massive support for renewables.

UK poll reveals huge public backing for renewables

The latest Public Attitudes Tracker, published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, shows 80% of people support the use of renewable energy, while only 3% oppose it.

In the tracker, in September 2020, solar scored highest with 85% of support, followed by wave and tidal with 79%, offshore wind with 77%, onshore wind with 73% and biomass with 68%.

Eight in 10 people (82%) in September 2020 were either very concerned (38%) or fairly concerned (44%) about climate change.

Martyn1981

Great article on the mega projects that Australia is planning. Also interesting to see the massive investment in H2/ammonia production. Whilst this is for export, it will still mean lessons learned for other countries (like the UK) considering large scale / long term storage for excess RE.
I liked this bit:

Just four years ago, the Australian Energy Market Operator forecast that the country might have only 4MW of large-scale batteries by 2020, and build no more before 2036.

The reality is a marked contrast. There is already 287MW in operation or committed to construction, including several batteries built alongside wind or solar developments. Last week, the Victorian government announced a contract for a 300MW battery near Geelong – larger than everything built to date and billed as one of the biggest in the world.

Goes to show how fast things are changing now that the economics are on the side of RE and storage. Quite a disruption.

Green giants: the massive projects that could make Australia a clean energy superpower

The world’s largest power station is planned for a vast piece of desert about half the size of greater suburban Sydney in Australia’s remote north-west.

Called the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, its size is difficult to conceptualise. If built in full, there will be 1,600 giant wind turbines and a 78 sq km array of solar panels a couple of hundred kilometres east of Port Hedland in the Pilbara.

This solar-wind hybrid power plant would have a capacity of 26 gigawatts, more than Australia’s entire coal power fleet. The hub’s backers say the daytime sun and nightly winds blowing in from the Indian Ocean are perfectly calibrated to provide a near constant source of emissions-free energy around the clock.

Most of it will be used to run 14GW of electrolysers that will convert desalinated seawater into “green hydrogen” – a form of energy that analysts expect to be in increasing demand as a replacement for fossil fuels in the years and decades ahead.

Coastalwatch

Great news from Oz above then Mart!

Not on quite the same scale, but the announcement below heralds a step change in planning law for similar such facilities here. No doubt correct to impose such consent when first introduced but with the technology now maturing, correct also to remove the obstruction given the costs involved in it's pursuance.

I wonder how long it may be before we have something over here to compete with the Hornsdale facility in South Australia. Although even this has now been superceded in scale elsewhere.

Exciting times ahead!

Battery storage legislation officially changes allowing assets over 50MW to bypass national planning

The change to the Infrastructure Planning (Electricity Storage Facilities) Order 2020 has now officially passed into law, as it was made on 4 November and is set to come into force on 2 December.

“A great success for the industry and something the ESN (Electricity Storage Network) has been pushing for some years. Thanks to those at BEIS who've put in a lot of effort to make this happen!”

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/battery_storage_legislation_officially_changes_allowing_projects_over_50mw

Martyn1981

Well that's OK then, he's sorry!
Charles and David Koch were possibly the biggest players in helping to create AGW / science denial in order to maintain their profits in the FF industry. In doing this, they also helped to foster the hard right in the US, who are more than happy to believe their opinions over the scientific facts.
I'm not sure if 'better late than never' covers this, as the climate crisis may well now be heading for runaway global warming, as the damage done, is simply too great to correct fast enough. Oh well!
I wonder if he will be putting his vast fortune to work now, trying to clean up some of his (and his brother's) mess?

Charles Koch says he regrets fueling partisanship: 'Boy, did we screw up!'

The billionaire Charles Koch, who has funneled millions into the GOP and conservative movements, reportedly expressed misgivings over how that money had fueled excessive partisanship.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal's Douglas Belkin published Friday, Koch spoke about his new mission of unification across partisan lines.

He also shared with The Journal parts of his new book, "Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World," in which he said he regretted his partisanship and the divisions it fostered.

"Boy, did we screw up!" he wrote, according to The Journal. "What a mess!"

Coastalwatch

Martyn1981 said:

Well that's OK then, he's sorry!
Charles and David Koch were possibly the biggest players in helping to create AGW / science denial in order to maintain their profits in the FF industry. In doing this, they also helped to foster the hard right in the US, who are more than happy to believe their opinions over the scientific facts.
I'm not sure if 'better late than never' covers this, as the climate crisis may well now be heading for runaway global warming, as the damage done, is simply too great to correct fast enough. Oh well!
I wonder if he will be putting his vast fortune to work now, trying to clean up some of his (and his brother's) mess?

Charles Koch says he regrets fueling partisanship: 'Boy, did we screw up!'

The billionaire Charles Koch, who has funneled millions into the GOP and conservative movements, reportedly expressed misgivings over how that money had fueled excessive partisanship.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal's Douglas Belkin published Friday, Koch spoke about his new mission of unification across partisan lines.

He also shared with The Journal parts of his new book, "Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World," in which he said he regretted his partisanship and the divisions it fostered.

"Boy, did we screw up!" he wrote, according to The Journal. "What a mess!"

Hmmmm, good point Mart. If that's an admission of guilt on the matter, can there be any credible defence remaining then for the FF industry and it's supporters for the many lawsuits filed against them for the damage caused to the planet as a result?

On a similar matter one can only speculate how Trump might escape any repercussions for his many and varied unsubstantiated claims of vote rigging in the recent election.

Mind you, the old saying "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time" was given a severe test.

At least, judging by the 70 million Americans who presumably think otherwise.

Of course, it couldn't happen over here, could it.

ed110220

Martyn1981 said:

Great article on the mega projects that Australia is planning. Also interesting to see the massive investment in H2/ammonia production. Whilst this is for export, it will still mean lessons learned for other countries (like the UK) considering large scale / long term storage for excess RE.

Sounds like an amazing project if they pull it off, though it still seems rather speculative.
But also it sounds as though there's some policy failure there. With such excellent solar and wind resources in the Pilbara, good policy would probably have enabled it to be used for the North West Interconnected System, the smaller of Western Australia's two main grids, centred on Karratha, Port Hedland and various large mines. And then transmitted it to the much bigger South West Interconnected System centred on Perth. 

Martyn1981

Carbon Commentary newsletter extracts:

1, Fortescue Minerals and renewables. Operating principally in Western Australia, Fortescue is one of the largest iron ore miners and a major user of energy. Its areas of production are often also well suited to electricity generation from wind and solar. The founder devoted much of his portion of the presentation at the AGM to a discussion of the company’s proposed move into renewables, including in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, which may eventually have the lowest hydrogen production cost in the world. He targets 235 GW of renewables capacity and is investigating 47 different countries for potential sites for wind and solar but also geothermal energy and hydro power both for electricity and hydrogen. 235 GW is by far the largest ambition I have seen from a private company. (BP, for example, is proposing 50 GW by 2030). The presentation suggests that Chevron and Total have smaller energy production capacities today from oil than Fortescue’s target for electricity. (But, of course, solar and wind do not produce at full capacity all the time).  
 
2, Orkney flow battery + hydrogen. The European test centre for marine energy turbines on Orkney, an archipelago off the north west coast of Scotland, bought flow batteries from Invinity (formerly RedT and Avalon) to combine with a hydrogen production system. Flow batteries probably offer more durability than lithium ion and are better suited to frequent charging and discharging. This makes them logical candidates to work with twice-daily cycles of the Scottish tides, creating a consistent electricity flow into an electrolyser on the island of Eday and thus enabling cheaper production of hydrogen. Eday’s H2 is shipped to a fuel cell installation on the main Orkney island and to other users. (Thanks to Michael King).
 
3, Occidental Petroleum and CCS. Oxy gave more details of its first 1 million tonnes a year Direct Air Capture (DAC) plant, to be constructed with Carbon Engineering technology commencing in 2022. The company intends to inject the CO2 from the air into its Permian Basin oil fields and says that the amount stored will exceed the emissions that arise from customers’ use of the oil that is produced from the reservoirs. So the Oxy view is that full carbon neutrality can be achieved by 2050 using DAC, although the CEO did describe her view as ‘contrarian’. It is the first US fossil fuel company to make an explicit commitment to net zero. To neutralise all the emissions from its fuels, Oxy would need to build over 1000 DAC plants of the same size at its many oil fields around the world. 
 
4, Carbon capture from cement. Major producers Lafarge Holcim and Cemex put forward plans for carbon capture and use. Lafarge is intending to use the approach pioneered by UK company Carbon Clean for a pilot plant in southern Spain. The CO2 driven off in the cement production process will be used in nearby greenhouses to improve plant growth rates. Carbon Clean claims its approach can reduce CO2 capture costs to around $30 a tonne, well below other approaches (including the DAC mentioned in note 3). Cemex has also said it will use Carbon Clean technology in its plants but this week announced funding from the US government to trial a new membrane in a Texas cement factory that can separate CO2.  According to the US firm that has developed the process it may result in only a ‘minimal’ cost premium over venting the CO2 to the atmosphere.
 
5, E.ON gas pipeline in NRW. German utility E.ON said that it would convert the final part of a medium pressure gas pipeline in North Rhine-Westphalia to pure hydrogen. The fuel will be fed to four commercial buildings for heating using hydrogen boilers. The press release emphasises the potential importance of the pipeline network for hydrogen storage. (The main branches of natural gas networks can be run at higher pressure when storage is needed today and any future hydrogen pipelines would have the same useful characteristic).
 
6, INEOS commits to hydrogen. INEOS, the world’s third largest chemicals manufacturer, has been a recent target of climate activists in the UK and has previously shown little sign of participating in the transition from fossil fuels. In perhaps the most surprising news of the week, the company announced its first push towards green hydrogen production for outside markets, particularly in transport. (INEOS already uses electrolysis in its own operations). The company’s experience in using salt caverns for existing petrochemical storage will be particularly useful because most experts conclude that this will be the way that large volumes of the gas will be stored. If the sceptical INEOS is now pushing it, the eventual dominance of green hydrogen seems almost assured.
 
8, Energiesprong housing refurbishment. The Energiesprong approach, pioneered in the Netherlands, is capable of dramatically reducing the energy use of older housing. The core feature is the use of external insulation around the whole house plus solar panels on roofs, better windows and doors and the use of heat pumps. The aim is to reduce net energy demand to zero. 5,000 homes have been refurbished in the Netherlands but relatively few in other countries. (Another 10,000 are planned around Europe) The process is costly and requires careful design so that the external panels can be made in a factory and then rapidly fixed to the house to minimise the disruption to residents. But no other approaches seem to significantly reduce the energy needs of inefficient homes. The energy multinational Engie has begun the process of ‘industrialising’ the core aspects of Energiesprong so that it can be rolled out more rapidly and inexpensively. An authority in South London agreed to begin a pilot of eight homes with a view to refurbishing a large proportion of social housing in the borough. Particularly in the UK, with its highly inefficient buildings, the Engie approach is necessary to improve existing properties.
 
9, Record power output from a wind turbine. GE’s new 13 MW offshore wind turbine set another record for 24 hour power output at a trial site at the port of Rotterdam. It produced 100% of its capacity over the course of the day - 312 MWh - in a recent period of heavy winds. This would provide almost all the electricity needed for a year for 100 typical European houses. 
 
10, Green hydrogen for an oil refinery. I wrote a post on the plan by Orsted and BP to use North Sea wind to power a 50 MW electrolyser at the Lingen oil refinery in north west Germany. I suggest that at a European emissions price of around €50 a tonne, twice the current level, green hydrogen produced here may be competitive with the fossil product used in making today’s liquid fuels. The most intriguing part of the press release was the mention of a ten times expansion of the electrolyser capacity in the future, producing more hydrogen than the refinery needs today. BP raises the possibility of using the surplus H2 to make ‘synthetic’ fuels that replace petrol and diesel. I think that this may be the first time the company has ever put this possibility forward. But synthetic diesel may be a long way off; even if the companies get the financial support they say they need, the first electrolyser will not be in place until 2024.  

Martyn1981

Lazard produce reports analyzing and comparing energy costs, and here is their latest, but what they've done this time, which I think is interesting, is that they've included the operating costs of existing gas, coal and nuclear power stations, to show that new wind and solar doesn't just beat new FF / nuclear generation costs, but is competing against existing plants even after CAPEX has been accounted for. In effect, it's getting cheaper to build out new RE generation, than to continue to operate some existing 'old' generation.

Wind & Solar Are Cheaper Than Everything, Lazard Reports

We recently saw the International Energy Agency (IEA) report that solar power offers the cheapest electricity in history. That was a global report. A US-focused report from Lazard recently reported something similar. The highly regarded energy analysts showed that wind and solar offer the cheapest electricity in the country, even significantly undercutting natural gas combined cycle power plants now. But that’s only half of it.

Solar & Wind Energy Are Cheaper — Much Cheaper

Historically, when we write about such reports, we — and the analysts we’re referencing — are comparing estimated electricity costs from new power plants. However, for at least a few of these reports, Lazard has been including average electricity cost from already built power plants — just the operational costs (the brown diamonds in the chart below). The latest report shows that new wind and solar power plants can even provide electricity more cheaply than existing, in-operation natural gas, coal, and nuclear power plants! This is where things get interesting.

We’re at a kind of crossover point right now, but if solar and wind continue to come down in cost while the others stay the same or get more expensive, there will be serious pressure to retire fossil and nuclear power plants early and scale up wind and solar power production even faster. Why pay more for electricity from old, dirty power plants when you can get it more cheaply from new, clean, green electricity?