Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

QrizB

In other news, according to Electric Insights over the last 24h we've got ~55% of our electricity from renewables and another ~18% from nuclear. Only ~23% was fossil fuels (the balance being imports).

Edited because the forum software doesn't like FF pluralised.

michaels

QrizB said:

In other news, according to Electric Insights over the last 24h we've got ~55% of our electricity from renewables and another ~18% from nuclear. Only ~23% was !!!!!! (the balance being imports).

On the other hand gas has gone over 200p per therm today, compared to lows of under 30p about a year ago....

Martyn1981

QrizB said:

Hmm, now you've got me wondering if it's practical to build a 4GW geothermal station in Iceland?

Yep, I think I mentioned Iceland back when the Morocco news broke, as there was a CfD application or negotiation going back a ways for a 1GW or 2GW 'Icelink' HVDC to the UK.

[Edit - Nope I lied, I mentioned Icelink in a chat on Navitron about the costs of this scheme, I didn't mention Icelink on here (22/4/21). M.]

If I remember correctly, the generation cost was around 2p/kWh, but the cost of the long HVDC meant the CfD would have been around 8p/kWh. Plus the issues raised if it has to cross the Mid Atlantic Ridge.

I really hope the Morocco idea is possible, but I suspect the costs will also reflect the high cost of the interconnector buildout. But the surety of supply from Morocco or Iceland, on a daily basis, must add value?

Martyn1981

Not great news unfortunately

Cop26 climate talks will not fulfil aims of Paris agreement, key players warn

Vital United Nations climate talks, billed as one of the last chances to stave off climate breakdown, will not produce the breakthrough needed to fulfil the aspiration of the Paris agreement, key players in the talks have conceded.

The UN, the UK hosts and other major figures involved in the talks have privately admitted that the original aim of the Cop26 summit will be missed, as the pledges on greenhouse gas emissions cuts from major economies will fall short of the halving of global emissions this decade needed to limit global heating to 1.5C.

Senior observers of the two-week summit due to take place in Glasgow this November with 30,000 attenders, said campaigners and some countries would be disappointed that the hoped-for outcome will fall short.

However, the UN, UK and US insisted that the broader goal of the conference – that of “keeping 1.5C alive” – was still in sight, and that world leaders meeting in Glasgow could still set a pathway for the future that would avoid the worst ravages of climate chaos.

That pathway, in the form of a “Glasgow pact”, would allow for future updates to emissions pledges in the next few years that could be sufficient for the world to stay within scientific advice on carbon levels.

A senior UN official said: “We are not going to get to a 45% reduction, but there must be some level of contributions on the table to show the downward trend of emissions.”

A UK official said: “Cop26 will not deliver all that we want [on emissions].” But the UK, charged as host with delivering a successful outcome, is hoping that progress will be made on other issues, including phasing out coal, providing climate finance to poor countries, and improving the protection of forests.

gefnew

Al Gore company buy stake in octopus.
Al Gore's firm buys £483m stake in Octopus Energy Group - BBC News

NigeWick

Martyn1981 said:

Quick video overview from 'Just Have a Think', looking at the idea and reasoning behind building wind turbine towers out of wood.

Well, the Mosquito was built of plywood...

Coastalwatch

Something of a wake up call to all of us with an interest in future energy generation and the direction it needs take given the bare facts and figures stated in the report highlighted below.

Renewables vs. Nuclear: 256-0

The latest World Nuclear Industry Status Report shows that the world’s operational nuclear capacity grew by just 400 MW in 2020, with generation falling by 4%. By contrast, renewables grew by 256 GW and clean energy production rose by 13%. “Nuclear power is irrelevant in today’s electricity capacity market,” the report’s main author, Mycle Schneider, told pv magazine.

According to the report, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of solar PV dropped by approximately 90% over the past few years, while the LCOE of nuclear energy climbed by around 33%.

“We simply don’t have the time to waste attention, intelligence, manpower and funding for fantasy technologies that might or might not work, more likely, some time in the 2030s or 2040s, while affordable concepts from efficiency to renewables are readily available,” Schneider said, referring to the fourth-generation of nuclear power plants that several governments across the planet are presenting as a viable option. “Gen IV designs are PowerPoint reactors – they don’t exist. And the best example is Bill Gates, who started a company in 2006 to develop and promote a new design. Fifteen years later, he has nothing to show – no licensed design anywhere, no site, no prototype.”

Schneider claimed that the recent Gen IV realizations in Russia and China are perfect demonstrations of the failure of the designs, as the floating reactors in Russia took 13 years to build – almost four times longer than anticipated. The small modular reactors in China also took a decade or more to be built.

“None of these designs are licensed in any Western country,” Schneider explained. “The only design licensed in a single Western country, NuScale in the U.S., is years behind schedule. Construction has not even started and a first unit is not expected to start operating before the end of the decade.”

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/09/28/renewables-vs-nuclear-256-0/

Cardew

'Mycle Schneider, told pv magazine.'

A Mandy Rice Davies moment?

Coastalwatch

Could they have had a sudden change of heart over the CO2 emmisions resulting from burning gas or might it just be its sky rocketing price that seriously affected their bottom line!

Either way it's a win for renewables and storage.:)

TransAlta targets renewable energy growth in Canada, the U.S., and Australia

The company said it had “significant growth aspirations” across Canada, the United States, and Australia and would focus on renewable and energy storage project for large customers. The company said it plans to expand further into contracted renewables with solar, onshore wind, and battery storage.

As part of its new focus, the company said it will suspend a planned 730 MW conversion to natural gas of a former coal-fired unit known as Sundance Unit 5. The company cited what it said were escalating costs, changing supply and demand dynamics, and forecasted power prices in the Alberta market, as well as regulatory risks. It said it planned to use the capital previously targeted for the Sundance Unit 5 repowering to fund renewable energy projects.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/09/28/transalta-targets-renewable-energy-growth-in-canada-the-u-s-and-australia/?utm_source=USA+|+Newsletter&utm_campaign=61feff0076-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-61feff0076-159341337

Martyn1981

Article focusing on the CO2 emissions of domestic gas consumption for space heating, and the local air pollution caused by the NO2 emissions.

Obviously moving over to heat pumps is going to be an enormous task, but other countries are way ahead of us, and it goes to show just how much investment is needed in the UK to raise the quality of our housing stock, and properly insulate most of it.

UK’s home gas boilers emit twice as much CO2 as all power stations – study

The millions of gas boilers in the UK’s homes produce twice as much climate-heating carbon emissions as all the nation’s gas-fired power stations combined, according to an analysis.

The finding highlighted the urgent need for a strong government policy to rapidly introduce low-carbon heating such as heat pumps, the researchers said.

The data also shows that home gas boilers collectively produce eight times as much nitrogen dioxide as the power plants. NO2 is an air pollutant linked to tens of thousands of early deaths a year in the UK.

A second analysis has found that high gas prices mean the energy bills of people living in poorly insulated homes will rise by up to £246 a year. The UK has the oldest housing stock in western Europe but the rates of home insulation installation plunged by 95% between 2012 and 2019. A recent government energy efficiency scheme collapsed after six months, with the National Audit Office blaming ministers for the “botched” policy.

Neil Jones, at the climate charity Possible, which produced the analysis of gas boilers with the social enterprise Scene, said: “Amid a frightening gas price crisis, and a decade of opportunity wasted by the government to insulate our homes, supporting households to begin switching to clean heat pumps has come suddenly into focus.

“It’s high time the government finally gave us all the tools we need to modernise our homes, and ensure a safer, cleaner future.”

The UK is lagging behind most European countries in terms of heat pump installations.