Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

EVandPV

Battery storage 30% cheaper than gas peaker plants for firming renewables

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/04/12/battery-storage-systems-30-cheaper-than-rival-gas-peaker-plants-for-firming-renewables/

Martyn1981

silverwhistle said:

Martyn1981 said:

I suppose this is energy avoidance, which is cool (literally) too.

Whitest-ever paint could help cool heating Earth, study shows

Which reminds me of this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10333304

Unfortunately, like many items of news the media never follows up and I've been unable to find, after a cursory search, any further news about how this worked.

Anybody who skis or mountaineers will know how snow melts around an exposed rock, so it would be an interesting experiment to spray a few such rocks, which are often glacial erratics in the middle of the piste, to see what localised impacts there are.

That's so interesting. I know that a lot of geo-engineering ideas are pretty scary, but something like that would be interesting to know if it works. There's also been a policy of painting some LA local streets with white paint (since 2017(ish)) to reduce the heat island effect.

There was a really good serious about 10+yrs ago that tried on a small scale to experiment with some ideas, one per episode.

They covered part of a melting glacier with white sheets, and when they checked back it was about 1ft higher than the surrounding area which was melting.

They tested the idea of making CO2 'torpedoes' (large fat spikes) which they dropped off the side of a ship, and they shot downwards at terrific speed - the idea is that they are dropped in very deep ocean areas and will bury themselves in the seabed where the higher pressure raises the boiling point, so they stay as solid CO2.

They dropped 1,000's of plant 'bombs' from a helicopter, onto coastal areas with mangrove seedlings and fertiliser to see if you could find a cheap and quick way for coastal protection and carbon sinks.

There was a test to send an energy beam (perhaps microwave, I can't remember) about 100 miles between two Hawaii islands, this was to test the idea of solar panels in space that then beamed the energy to Earth, through approx 100 miles of atmosphere.

I forget the rest, but interesting, and I don't recall any follow up.

Exiled_Tyke

QrizB said:

Martyn1981 said:

I suppose this is energy avoidance, which is cool (literally) too.

Whitest-ever paint could help cool heating Earth, study shows

The new paint reflects 98% of sunlight as well as radiating infrared heat through the atmosphere into space. In tests, it cooled surfaces by 4.5C below the ambient temperature, even in strong sunlight. The researchers said the paint could be on the market in one or two years.

I don't wish to seem too sceptical, but I'm pretty sure "In tests, it cooled surfaces by 4.5C below the ambient temperature, even in strong sunlight" violates one (or more) of the Laws of Thermodynamics.

I suspect this is a case of bad journalism rather than bad science. Perhaps the article meant to explain that in the conditions of their experiment painted surfaces were 4.5C cooler than unpainted?

silverwhistle

I'd have to re-read it, but isn't some of the heat is in wavelengths that get reflected out into space?

silverwhistle

Martyn1981 said:

They covered part of a melting glacier with white sheets, and when they checked back it was about 1ft higher than the surrounding area which was melting.

This is still being done at a number of locations in the Alps; certainly in Switzerland but I think also in Italy and Austria.

Martyn1981

The US will be announcing climate plans and trying to persuade the major World economies to follow suit (though Europe is doing well already). Looks like we are out of time in meeting the Paris Accord and giving us a 2/3rds chance of avoiding runaway heating, unless we act now, so this will, at the very least, be interesting!

Joe Biden to reveal US emissions pledge in key climate crisis moment

Joe Biden faces a key test of his commitment to climate action this week, when he sets out his core plans for tackling the climate crisis and calls on all of the world’s major economies to join him in bold action to slash greenhouse gas emissions in the next ten years.

The US president has made the climate emergency one of his administration’s top priorities, and stated that clean growth must be the route for the US to rebound from the coronavirus crisis.

Biden and his climate envoy, John Kerry, will host a virtual summit of 40 world leaders to discuss the climate crisis and seek new commitments from the world’s biggest carbon emitters to fulfil the 2015 Paris agreement.

At the meeting, or shortly before, the US is expected to unveil its national plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years. If the plan – which the Paris accord refers to as a nationally determined contribution or NDC – is bold enough, and other countries follow suit, the world has a chance of meeting the Paris goals and avoiding dangerous levels of heating. If not, it will face a deepening climate crisis as carbon emissions rebound from their lull during the pandemic.

Dr Niklas Höhne of NewClimate Institute believes it is urgent that governments focus on implementing targets via concrete policy measures. “There is not a single government that has the policies needed,” he said.

Renewable energy is now cheap, and clean technologies such as electric vehicles widely available, so the tools to make the transition to a low-carbon economy are there. “The past is not a good indicator for how fast we can go … we’ve seen exponential growth in renewable energy, so we can go much faster today than we did in the past,” he said. “But governments need to change their approach. We have to flip to emergency mode and act accordingly.”

But sticking with my positive approach (well ..... I try to appear positive) this article may tie in well, as we see that the cost of financing coal is rising fast as confidence in the industry and its future is falling. RE costs are falling.

Coal financing costs surge as investors opt for renewable energy

Coal financing costs have surged over the last decade as investors demand returns four times as high as the payoff required from renewable energy projects to justify the risk of investing in fossil fuels, as the world moves towards cleaner energy sources.

A University of Oxford study found that over the same period the cost of investing in renewable energy sources, such as windfarms and solar arrays, has tumbled as the clean energy technologies prove they can be cost-effective and lucrative investments.

The research analysed the cost of financing energy projects by tracking the “loan spreads” offered by lenders which determine how high they expect their returns to be to cover the risk of investing.

Investors typically require wind and solar energy projects to make returns of at least 10% to 11% to account for the low risk of the investment. But for investments in coal, returns need to rocket to 40% to justify the rising risk that a high-polluting project might be left stranded as governments ramp up their climate action ambitions.

EVandPV

Gravitricity battery generates first power at Edinburgh site

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-56819798

Martyn1981

Good news from the UK regarding emission acounting, but are we really the third highest emitter from air travel ..... did not know that.

Big News: UK Closes Loophole On Plane & Ship Emissions

The UK’s decision to include its share of international aviation and shipping emissions in its Carbon Budgets is a very positive step towards reducing carbon pollution from planes and maritime transport, green NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) has said. It finally closes a loophole which has let these major emitters escape climate action for years.

The UK is responsible for the third-highest amount of CO2 emissions from aviation globally, behind only the United States and China. Globally, aviation is responsible for 5% of global warming. Shipping accounts for about 13% of greenhouse gas emissions from European transport.

Martyn1981

Just some numbers, but nice numbers. [Note 39% of UK households, not 39% of all UK leccy demand.]

Offshore wind powered 39% of UK homes in 2020

The UK offshore wind sector generated enough green electricity for 39% of UK homes (40.7 TWh) in 2020, up from 30% (32TWh) in 2019. 

According to The Crown Estate's ninth Offshore Wind Operational Report, the market is progressing at pace to deliver a strong and sustainable pipeline in support of the nation’s net zero ambitions.

The study found that 3,000 turbines are now either in operation (76%) or construction (24%), a remarkable journey from when the first turbine was installed just over 20 years ago

Project capacity under construction increased by over 60% from 4.4GW to 7.2GW, the report found. 

This capacity is almost 70% of the existing operational fleet, signalling an extremely busy and significant period ahead

Martyn1981

Credit where credit's due, as Ikea continues to work on emissions.

Ikea to invest £3.4bn in renewable energy by 2030

Ikea plans to accelerate its investment in renewable energy by spending an extra €4bn (£3.4bn) by the end of the decade to build wind and solar farms, while fitting its stores with electric vehicle charge points.

Ingka Group, the owner of most Ikea stores, spent €2.5bn over the last decade installing 935,000 solar panels on the roofs of its stores and warehouses, and investing in 547 wind turbines and 10 solar parks to more than cover its own electricity use.

The fresh investment will bring Ikea’s clean energy spending to €6.5bn by 2030 and include its first steps into energy storage, to help make better use of its renewable energy generation, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure and hydrogen fuels to help cut the emissions from its fleet of delivery vans.