Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Cheers CW, that's fascinating, and great to see PV and storage already at half the price of new nuclear, despite some overbuilding to deal with lower winter generation.

I will admit that before opening the article I was thinking you'd need around 12GWp, based on a 20%cf, but I believe that single axis tracking is really common in the US, but even so, 26%cf ..... makes me a bit jealous.

So half the cost to build, 8yrs quicker, so 8 less yrs of FF emissions that should, to be fair, be added to the nuclear option, far lower OPEX through the lifetime, and of course the added value that storage brings.

Just imagine what the cost comparison will look like in 2yrs, if we were to start a PV v's nuclear build race, or after 10yrs? Perhaps the most important cost number would be in 8yrs time, when the PV and battery rollout could be started, so as to come on line when the new nuclear (hopes to) comes on line, could the PV + storage be half the price again?

Martyn1981

Over the years we've seen a growing number of RE + storage build outs and PPA's, especially in the US, but they often come with a 4hr storage requirement, presumably to meet demand peaks. But this project in India is for 24hr* RE + storage which reminds me of the iconic quote from Aliens - "Game over man, game over!"

*Bonus joke - Steven Wright - "I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, 'Hey, the sign says you're open 24 hours.' He said, 'Yes, but not in a row."

ReNew Power signs first 'round-the-clock' PPA in India

India-based clean power outfit ReNew Power has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for round-the-clock (RTC) electricity supply, the first-of-its-kind in India.

The 25-year PPA is with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a government-owned entity.

The hybrid project will be designed to operate at an 80% average annual plant load (PLF) factor and will have a minimum capacity utilisation factor of 70% monthly.

ReNew Power said it anticipates the 400MW RTC project will require 900MW of wind capacity, 400MW of solar supplemented by battery storage, because a typical solar/wind firm power renewable energy project in India has a lower PLF depending on site and technology selection.

ReNew Power will set up this capacity through wind and solar farms across Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Total project costs are expected to be $1.2bn,

Martyn1981

I really hope the IPCC report gives the required kick up the bum, to get things moving faster. As it explains, there is no doubt that it's a crisis, there is no doubt that it's caused by human actions. Let's be honest, there hasn't been any serious nor sizeable scientific doubt about the cause for many decades, yet still some folk, companies, and even Governments have used the 'well I'm just not convinced yet' excuse, as if their opinions are worth more than the scientific evidence.

Fingers crossed now for an acceleration of action to mitigate, as much as possible, the growing crisis, and the good news is that technology, at ever lower costs is now available.

Only my personal opinion, but I couldn't agree more with people like Greta Thurnberg who are tired of long term targets, that often fail to materialise. We need real targets, annual targets, and real efforts to meet them, we simply can't waste another 9yrs to announce we won't meet the 10yr target, that we've put off, again.

We also have to stop playing nice with companies, and corporations that will BS and delay, and even spread false information, just to make a quick buck, whilst doing harm to the environment.

I'm so, so hopeful that we will see more action, though in reality I appreciate that excuses, delays and misinformation will help to kick the can down the road ...... again.

Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

According to Prof Ed Hawkins, from the University of Reading, UK, and one of the report's authors, the scientists cannot be any clearer on this point.

"It is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet."

IPCC report’s verdict on climate crimes of humanity: guilty as hell

As a verdict on the climate crimes of humanity, the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report could not be clearer: guilty as hell.

The repeatedly ignored warnings of scientists over past decades have now become reality. Humanity, through its actions, or lack of action, has unequivocally overheated the planet. Nowhere on Earth is escaping rising temperatures, worse floods, hotter wildfires or more searing droughts.

The future looks worse. “If we do not halt our emissions soon, our future climate could well become some kind of hell on Earth,” says Prof Tim Palmer at the University of Oxford.

The key aspect of the IPCC report is that the 42-page summary is agreed, line by line, by every government on the planet, with the scientists vetoing any politically convenient but unscientific proposal.

As a result, governments that continue to fail to take action have nowhere left to hide – the crystal-clear report has bust all of their alibis. “Too many ‘net-zero’ climate plans have been used to greenwash pollution and business as usual,” says Teresa Anderson at ActionAid International.

The report exposes such plans with its stark statement that immediate action is the only way to avoid ever-worsening impacts, of which today’s wildfires in California, Greece and Turkey, floods in Germany, China and England, and heatwaves in Canada and Siberia are merely a foretaste. As Greta Thunberg says, the climate crisis must be treated as a crisis.

Martyn1981

Back to the good/fun news:

GRI to supply 100 towers a year from Humber plant

Spanish manufacturer GRI Renewable Industries will supply initially 100 offshore wind towers a year from its factory to be built at the Able Marine Energy Park (AMEP) on the Humber bank on the east coast of England.

GRI Renewable has signed a memorandum of understanding with Able UK to build the factory for manufacturing and supplying wind towers.

The total investment will reach around €100m and create over 300 direct jobs, the company said.

The UK government has guaranteed support to help boost the project.

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

I really hope the IPCC report gives the required kick up the bum, to get things moving faster. As it explains, there is no doubt that it's a crisis, there is no doubt that it's caused by human actions. Let's be honest, there hasn't been any serious nor sizeable scientific doubt about the cause for many decades, yet still some folk, companies, and even Governments have used the 'well I'm just not convinced yet' excuse, as if their opinions are worth more than the scientific evidence.

Fingers crossed now for an acceleration of action to mitigate, as much as possible, the growing crisis, and the good news is that technology, at ever lower costs is now available.

Only my personal opinion, but I couldn't agree more with people like Greta Thurnberg who are tired of long term targets, that often fail to materialise. We need real targets, annual targets, and real efforts to meet them, we simply can't waste another 9yrs to announce we won't meet the 10yr target, that we've put off, again.

We also have to stop playing nice with companies, and corporations that will BS and delay, and even spread false information, just to make a quick buck, whilst doing harm to the environment.

I'm so, so hopeful that we will see more action, though in reality I appreciate that excuses, delays and misinformation will help to kick the can down the road ...... again.

Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

According to Prof Ed Hawkins, from the University of Reading, UK, and one of the report's authors, the scientists cannot be any clearer on this point.

"It is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet."

IPCC report’s verdict on climate crimes of humanity: guilty as hell

As a verdict on the climate crimes of humanity, the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report could not be clearer: guilty as hell.

The repeatedly ignored warnings of scientists over past decades have now become reality. Humanity, through its actions, or lack of action, has unequivocally overheated the planet. Nowhere on Earth is escaping rising temperatures, worse floods, hotter wildfires or more searing droughts.

The future looks worse. “If we do not halt our emissions soon, our future climate could well become some kind of hell on Earth,” says Prof Tim Palmer at the University of Oxford.

The key aspect of the IPCC report is that the 42-page summary is agreed, line by line, by every government on the planet, with the scientists vetoing any politically convenient but unscientific proposal.

As a result, governments that continue to fail to take action have nowhere left to hide – the crystal-clear report has bust all of their alibis. “Too many ‘net-zero’ climate plans have been used to greenwash pollution and business as usual,” says Teresa Anderson at ActionAid International.

The report exposes such plans with its stark statement that immediate action is the only way to avoid ever-worsening impacts, of which today’s wildfires in California, Greece and Turkey, floods in Germany, China and England, and heatwaves in Canada and Siberia are merely a foretaste. As Greta Thunberg says, the climate crisis must be treated as a crisis.

I believe companies sell what people ask for, it is up to us as consumers to make change happen.

Connected to which, has anyone seen any good carbon footprint calculators recently? I was interested to see that apparently the China per capita footprint is now 40% higher than the UK despite our higher GDP per head - this can surely only be because they do the producing and get counted as producing the emissions whilst we do the consuming where the emissions are not counted.  Sadly some will take that as an excuse for the UK not to act as 'other countries are much larger' - personally this is an argument I really hate whether it is for carbon change to littering or whatever.

There also seems to be zero empathy for what climate crisis mean to those impacted - we don't seem to realise that German floods or Greek wild fires could as likely happen to us in the UK and even when we do see UK flooding unless it is our house then we still see climate change as being somebody else's problem, not something that may well will impact all of us.

EVandPV

UK renewable energy: Major expansion confirmed on Humber

A wind turbine blade factory in Hull is to be doubled in size after the government confirmed it would provide financial support for the expansion.

Siemens Gamesa said the £186m upgrade to its Alexandra Dock site, the UK's largest offshore wind manufacturing facility, would create 200 jobs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-58143027.amp

Martyn1981

This article points to just how large the UK's green sector is, despite the patchy support of the Gov, and it's growing (hopefully Gov support too).

UK’s green economy four times larger than manufacturing sector, says report

The UK’s low carbon economy is now worth more than £200bn, four times the size of the country’s manufacturing sector, with growth expected to accelerate in the coming years, according to new analysis.

Despite what experts say has been lacklustre and patchy support from central government, the analysis found more than 75,000 businesses from wind turbine manufacturers to recycling plants employ more than 1.2 million people in the green economy.

Today’s research shows that the low carbon sector is worth £205.7bn in the UK. Using the same methodology, kMatrix found the manufacturing sector is worth £55.6bn and the construction sector is worth £132.9bn.

Wind, wave and tidal, and solar power have all grown rapidly in recent years, according to the data, which shows that overall the low carbon sector grew by 7.4% during the financial year 2018/19 to 2019/20 and contracted by -9.0% during 2019/20 to 2020/21 but is expected to bounce back in the post-Covid recovery.

Martyn1981

Some hydrogen news for the UK.

UK developer files to build 200MW hydrogen hub

Carlton Power subsidiary Trafford Green Hydrogen has submitted plans for a 200MW commercial hydrogen hub in Greater Manchester. 

Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park is set to be one of the largest in the UK to be developed.

It aims to provide businesses in the Greater Manchester region – for example those with transport fleets or with heating requirements – with easy access to hydrogen fuel. 

Hydrogen is expected to play a major part in reducing the UK’s CO2 emissions, helping the country’s journey towards Net Zero.

EVandPV

Energy storage planned for Somerset town as power plant scrapped

Massive batteries could help to cut the risk of blackouts, according to a firm that wants to install them in Midsomer Norton.

Following a backlash against its approved plans for a new gas-burning power plant, Conrad Energy went back to the drawing board and hopes its new proposals will win public support.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/energy-storage-planned-somerset-town-5767660.amp

Coastalwatch

EVandPV said:

Energy storage planned for Somerset town as power plant scrapped

Massive batteries could help to cut the risk of blackouts, according to a firm that wants to install them in Midsomer Norton.

Following a backlash against its approved plans for a new gas-burning power plant, Conrad Energy went back to the drawing board and hopes its new proposals will win public support.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/energy-storage-planned-somerset-town-5767660.amp

That's certainly a good news story, especially as the need for storage is almost equal to that of clean generation itself.

I can't help but wonder if the battery will give a better ROI as well as having zero emmisions, thus making the decision to change tack a little more palatable!