Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

zeupater wrote: »

Hi All

Interesting comments from Rolls Royce following the offshore wind price mic drop ...



www.reuters.com

... don't think it'll fit at the back of my garage though! ...

HTH
Z

Some light reading on nukes if you can stay awake, but here's the bit on SMR's:-

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017

Conclusion on Small Modular Reactors

Since 2015, when WNISR included a section on small modular reactors, there have been two kinds of developments. First, as we have documented above, a few SMR designs have progressed towards construction as well as completion; one SMR project (in China) is reportedly to start up in 2018. But the implication of this progress is questionable because of the second development, namely the decline in even the stated interest, let alone the actual market for SMRs that can be backed up with financial commitment. A good example of the decline in interest can be seen in the case of the HTR-PM being built in China. When construction of that reactor started, there was talk about building 18 more such reactors. That has vanished, presumably because of the realization of the high costs of electricity from these power plants. Unfavorable economics is also the reason for there being no market for the SMART reactor in South Korea.

The decline in interest in SMRs is, of course, related to the decline in the interest in large nuclear reactors as well. The problems associated with mPower and the Westinghouse SMR are, in the final analysis, related to the absence of a market for SMRs in the United States. Likewise, many developing countries claim to be interested in SMRs but few seem to be willing to invest in the construction of one.

This latter factor has made it more difficult, perhaps impossible, for any SMR design to become a commercial success. This is clearly illustrated by the saga of mPower. Despite the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars, some of the biggest companies in the nuclear business could not succeed in commercializing a reactor design that had been described by The New York Times as being in the lead in the race to develop SMRs, in part because it had “the Energy Department and the T.V.A. in its camp”.

Of course, with powerful entities like the U.S. Department of Energy continuing to financially support the construction of SMRs, it is possible that one or two SMR projects might even start getting built over the next decade or beyond. But it appears that such projects would have to be supported by government funding in a major way if they are to be completed. There is no sign at this point that SMRs could play any major role in tomorrow’s electricity generating business.

Martyn1981

Renewable Energy Sources To Account For 85% Of Global Electricity Production By 2050

“Until 2050 the electricity share of energy demand will grow from 18% to 40% yet this transformation is not happening fast enough. Speeding up the acceleration of electrifying sectors like heat and transport will be one vital measure to put the brakes on global warming. The climate challenge is not an engineering challenge, but one of governance. We call upon all stakeholders to maximise the electrification of their operations.”

So leccy is just a small(ish) part of the problem, but 85% of 40% is a massive increase by 2050.

Martyn1981

RE plus storage getting cheaper, and options greater than just Li-ion.

VIZn claims to deliver energy storage for renewables at record low price

Installing a 30MW, 4-hour duration VIZn zinc-iron battery storage system to a new 100MW solar PV plant could, through a US$0.04 power purchase agreement (PPA), result in a 7% internal rate of return (IRR), VIZn claimed. Energy-Storage.News was told by the company’s spokesman that this IRR included total turnkey costs and ongoing operational costs.

Martyn1981

For a quick(ish) lesson on RE today and the future, this article is absolutely great. Worth a read, and a click-on and ponder of each graphic, which are very educational.

Also worth noting the IEA projections. They expect solar to become the leading source of leccy in the future, despite all of their projections being linear, and massively wrong. Even in 2016 they were projecting annual deployments of PV of approx 50GWp pa through to 2040, but 2017 will be around 100GWp.

Epic — Wind Turbines On Steroids, + Idiotic Clean Energy Forecasts (Charts)

Exiled_Tyke

Martyn1981 wrote: »

For a quick(ish) lesson on RE today and the future, this article is absolutely great. Worth a read, and a click-on and ponder of each graphic, which are very educational.

Also worth noting the IEA projections. They expect solar to become the leading source of leccy in the future, despite all of their projections being linear, and massively wrong. Even in 2016 they were projecting annual deployments of PV of approx 50GWp pa through to 2040, but 2017 will be around 100GWp.

Epic — Wind Turbines On Steroids, + Idiotic Clean Energy Forecasts (Charts)

Very interesting. And does make one wonder what on earth the government was thinking when it pulled the plug on much of it's RE support and threw it's weight behind Hinckley Point.

michaels

Industrial policy init.

This is curious:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-41346998

Environmental protesters have climbed on to a ship at a Kent port transporting diesel cars from Germany.
Greenpeace said campaigners had boarded the ship at Sheerness in Kent and were preventing the unloading of the cars.
The group said it would not leave the ship until Volkswagen agreed to return the cars to Germany.
More than 40 people are "attempting to immobilise all the VW diesel cars by removing their keys", a Greenpeace spokesman said.

zeupater

michaels wrote: »

Industrial policy init.

This is curious:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-41346998

Hi

How things change .. I remember when you'd only ever see GreenPeace activists in VW Campers or Beetles, many sporting an eclectic mixture of necklace jewellery including the obligatory VW & CND logos ...

Z

silverwhistle

You're showing your age dear.. I believe VW had a new potential vehicle for that demographic at the recent motor show - an EV called Buzz, or something similar, ISTR. Those of us who wait for the second-hand market may have a long wait.

And thinking of waiting a bit, has anyone built an electric hearse yet? Ideal use, I'd have thought, not many motorway miles there..

Martyn1981

silverwhistle wrote: »

And thinking of waiting a bit, has anyone built an electric hearse yet? Ideal use, I'd have thought, not many motorway miles there..

The technology keeps coming to a dead end, sometimes several times a day.

lstar337

michaels wrote: »

Industrial policy init.

This is curious:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-41346998

Dupes falling for the anti-diesel manure being spread by the government and the press. Funny how government/press jump sides between which is more evil diesel or petrol, and the rubes simply follow, forgetting that only a few years ago it was a completely different story.

I drive a diesel, it has a lower C02 output than equivalent power petrols, does many more miles to the gallon, and has a pretty sophisticated particulate filter system too. I don't feel guilty for driving it. I spent every penny I had to buy a car that I was told at the time was the best for the environment at the price point, and I get pretty annoyed when people try to make out I'm doing something wrong. I did the best I could (I fit into the category of fuel poverty) at the time. I would love an EV, it would be perfect for my short daily commute, but how can a poor person manage it?

Still this current demonising of diesels while seemingly ignoring the equally awful petrol cars does a good job of drawing peoples attention away from government failures on the environment.

I am rapidly losing respect for Greenpeace. Each story I read smacks of an organisation that is more interested in making headlines than making a difference.

Sorry for the rant everybody.