Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Coastalwatch

michaels said:

Presumably the coal will be mined and the steel produced whether this scheme goes ahead or not, just whether it is done under stricter UK environmental rules or laxer ones in developing countries - still we can import the finished products and kid ourselves that our carbon footprint is falling whilst working in coffee shops rather than industry.

Or we could invest in producing steel by means other than coal, as has been done elsewhere in the world  rather than keep repeating the same ol', same ol' mistakes of the past before we knew better!

Martyn1981

michaels said:

Coastalwatch said:

Solarchaser said:

They shouldn't even need to waste money on a public enquiry, it's a rediculous proposal in the first place ! 

Agreed entirely,  but its the local councillors who are trying to push it through and were complaining of government over reach in council matters.
But I'm sure if jenrick gets a backhander it will all just go ahead anyway.... and no-one will even be surprised anymore 🙄

Hmmm. Have to confess to wondering if it is just a delaying tactic until COP26 is past then make the decision to go ahead anyway. Obviously I watched too much Yes Minister in the past.

But a delay can at least be viewed as positive for now.

Presumably the coal will be mined and the steel produced whether this scheme goes ahead or not, just whether it is done under stricter UK environmental rules or laxer ones in developing countries - still we can import the finished products and kid ourselves that our carbon footprint is falling whilst working in coffee shops rather than industry.

Spoilsport! You're not even trying to disguise/spin your comments anymore, that paragraph could've been written and posted by cells/GA. So sorry, but no 'nice try' award for that one.

Martyn1981

Same story, but focusing on the jobs angle ...... but green and ethical.

Green jobs in Cumbria could far surpass posts in coalmine, report says

More than 9,000 green jobs could be created in Cumbria, according to a report, far more than the 500 jobs promised by a planned coalmine in the county.

The report said the green jobs in Cumbria would mostly result from a quadrupling of renewable energy and energy efficiency overhauls of 90% of buildings over the next 15 years. All seven councils in Cumbria have pledged to become carbon neutral and a target to be net zero by 2037 has been set by the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, which is co-chaired by the county council.

Creating the jobs would require many billions of pounds in investment, but the report’s backers said the government’s commitment to a green industrial revolution and to levelling up less affluent parts of the country could support this.

The green jobs report, funded by a philanthropic foundation, estimated that 5,800 jobs could be created in renewable energy, mostly onshore wind and solar. Another 2,000 jobs could be in retrofitting most of the 250,000 dwellings in Cumbria, and 500 jobs could be in waste management, increasing the recycling rate to 90%.

Coastalwatch

As the owner of a Nissan Leaf I just couldn't resist posting the item below.

Nissan eyes 20MW of solar PV for Sunderland manufacturing plant

Nissan is to nearly triple the renewable energy generation at its Sunderland manufacturing plant with a proposed 20MW solar farm.

This new 37,000-panel extension would go in alongside the existing wind turbines and solar farm, resulting in 20% of the plant’s energy coming from onsite renewables.

Nissan first began integrating renewables in Sunderland in 2005 with the installation of its first wind turbines, which contribute 6.6MW of power. The existing 4.75MW solar farm, meanwhile, was installed in 2016.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/nissan_eyes_20mw_of_solar_pv_for_sunderland_manufacturing_plant

Martyn1981

Here's a big article on what the US needs to do to get to net zero. Lots of detail on all areas and some good graphics.
I thought the job graphics were eye catching, it projects FF jobs falling from 1.5m to 0.5m, whilst RE and grid jobs rise from 1m to 4.5m. So a net increase from 2.5m to 5m.
Leccy consumption rises from about 4,000TWh to about 10,000TWh.

The race to zero: can America reach net-zero emissions by 2050?

[Opens with.]

If America finally weans itself off planet-heating emissions, the country will look and feel very different.

Landscapes from coast to coast would be transformed, carpeted in wind turbines and solar panels, with enough new transmission lines to wrap around Earth 19 times. The populace would whiz past in their electric cars, to and from homes equipped with induction stoves and heat pumps. The air would be near-pristine. Hundreds of thousands of people who would have prematurely died from the toxic fossil-fuel age would still be alive.

It’s an appealing vision, according to Eric Larsen, senior research engineer at Princeton University. “In general, it will be a more pleasant place to be living in when we get to net zero emissions,” he said. “We will have cleaner air, and [will] have done our part to avoid disastrous climate change. That’s a good thing for us and the rest of the world.”

[Closes with.]

The federal government estimates that renewable energy is currently on track to double to 42% of electricity generation by 2050 – which won’t be enough. Even the slump in emissions from pandemic shutdowns last year won’t make much of a dent, with a 4% rebound in emissions forecast for 2021. Getting “back to normal” after the pandemic spells utter catastrophe in a decade where scientists have said emissions must be cut in half to avoid dangerous global heating.

“We only have so much time left,” said John Kerry, Biden’s new climate envoy. “A small window within which to make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. Americans understand this is a crisis and we need to address it.”

Martyn1981

Bit of more news on wave energy.

Wave consortium secures research cash

A European consortium has secured more than €3m in funding for a new wave energy research project.

IMPACT (Innovative Methods for Wave Energy Pathways Acceleration through Novel Criteria and Test Rigs) is a new collaborative research and innovation project that will develop and demonstrate a next generation testing approach.

The three-year €3.3m project aims to accelerate testing device development and reduce the technology cost as part of a global advancement in wave energy converter technologies.

gefnew

A new way to fuel aircraft from your kitchen.
Climate change: Jet fuel from waste 'dramatically lowers' emissions - BBC News
may go some where.

Coastalwatch

Wow! This is a fresh take on the virtual battery theme, although whether it could ever be unveiled over here is another matter.

But it is certainly an interesting prospect depending on the cost of course. If we could utilise 100% of our output it would cover all our domestic needs and 75% of EV mileage also. I guess the difference in cost between FIT/Export and normal utility rates is the level of figure they would need to be below in order to make such a scheme attractive. Although it does remove the cost of a domestic battery purchase also together with storing the excess for winter retrieval too. Something that is not really practicable with normal home storage capacities!

French self-consumption specialist launches virtual battery for PV system owners

France-based MyLight Systems, a solutions provider for monitoring and managing solar self-consumption, has launched a new digital tool to improve the self-consumption of PV system owners.

Called MySmartBattery, the virtual battery system developed by the company claims to ensure 100% self-consumption and to maximize energy savings in prosumers' bills.

“Users can benefit from a real-time virtual battery, which works as a physical battery would do but with a cost that us 100 times lower,” the company stated. Beyond the cost, virtual storage may also make it possible to overcome the constraints of the physical battery: size, ecological footprint, drop in performance over time, safety, and limited capacities.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/03/16/french-self-consumption-specialist-launches-virtual-battery-for-surplus-solar-power/

Martyn1981

Is it just me or is the news a bit 'samey' lately? This may even be a good thing, as I seem to be normalizing items / articles on PV farms, wind farms, battery developments etc etc.. They just don't jump out at me (lately) as news in the sense of new. I remember when every PV farm announcement was big(ish) news for the UK, but now I just read/skim headlines.
I suppose that is good news as 'new' becomes 'normal'.
A lot of the stuff I read now is more about numbers and statistics, and how much progress we are making, and/or how far behind we are. We know there's a problem, we know what the solutions are, now we just have the long slog to get there, which doesn't make for great news.
It's almost like no news is good news. 

Coastalwatch

Martyn1981 said:

Is it just me or is the news a bit 'samey' lately? This may even be a good thing, as I seem to be normalizing items / articles on PV farms, wind farms, battery developments etc etc.. They just don't jump out at me (lately) as news in the sense of new. I remember when every PV farm announcement was big(ish) news for the UK, but now I just read/skim headlines.
I suppose that is good news as 'new' becomes 'normal'.
A lot of the stuff I read now is more about numbers and statistics, and how much progress we are making, and/or how far behind we are. We know there's a problem, we know what the solutions are, now we just have the long slog to get there, which doesn't make for great news.
It's almost like no news is good news. 

Thought it had gone a little quiet on the news front Mart, but I understand what you're saying. I don't know if it's because larger countries have projects seemingly huge compared to the UK's efforts, so that ours appear barely worth reporting. Perhaps we need to introduce a ratio system similar to our O's when reporting domestic solar generation figures.

Certainly international battery storage facilities are frequently measured in multiples of 100 MWh's or even GW's internationally whereas ours rarely exceed 50 MWh's. Now that the max 50 MWh limit has been raised for local decision making over here, things may change in that area at least.

When I read that China erected more wind turbines last year than the rest of the world put together I struggle to understand how we can still be termed a world leader, especially when design and manufacture is completed mostly abroad. Oh, apart from the blades being manufactured in the UK and presumably under licence, or am I being unkind?