Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

This seems like really positive news. Survey of Brits shows strong support for upgrading/expanding the Grid, but more important, Conservative voters are even stronger supporters.

Hopefully the Government will lean into this, and see where the 'big' support is, rather than pandering to a small vocal minority (voters and/or MPs).

The revolutions in energy generation, consumption and transportation are huge, and upon us, so it will be great if we grasp the nettle and build appropriately. Fun times.

RenewableUK poll finds support for new UK grid

Nearly two-thirds of people support building new power grid in the UK to boost energy security and decarbonise UK economy, according to a new Survation poll. 

Commissioned by RenewableUK, the poll shows that 64% support the development of new electricity grid infrastructure to enable the decarbonisation of the UK economy and improve Britain’s energy security, while only 5% oppose it.

Support is even higher among those who voted Conservative in the last general election, with 71% in favour and 6% opposed.

Similar proportions of people (59%-62%) said clarity on how the new powerline would increase energy security, maximise jobs and industrial investment, support decarbonisation and tackle climate change would be important to them.

RenewableUK’s director of future electricity systems Barnaby Wharton said: "This polling shows that, contrary to some widespread misconceptions, most people are actually in favour of building vital new grid infrastructure to connect up clean energy projects and enable them to deliver cheap power to British homes and businesses, increasing our energy security.

"It’s interesting for Government to note that Conservative voters support this even more than the general public.

"We now have an opportunity to move forward and reach a greater consensus on how to modernise our grid, so that’s fit for purpose in the twenty-first century, while ensuring that we maintain strong public support for these vital upgrades which will benefit everyone”.

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

This seems like really positive news. Survey of Brits shows strong support for upgrading/expanding the Grid, but more important, Conservative voters are even stronger supporters.

Hopefully the Government will lean into this, and see where the 'big' support is, rather than pandering to a small vocal minority (voters and/or MPs).

The revolutions in energy generation, consumption and transportation are huge, and upon us, so it will be great if we grasp the nettle and build appropriately. Fun times.

RenewableUK poll finds support for new UK grid

Nearly two-thirds of people support building new power grid in the UK to boost energy security and decarbonise UK economy, according to a new Survation poll. 

Commissioned by RenewableUK, the poll shows that 64% support the development of new electricity grid infrastructure to enable the decarbonisation of the UK economy and improve Britain’s energy security, while only 5% oppose it.

Support is even higher among those who voted Conservative in the last general election, with 71% in favour and 6% opposed.

Similar proportions of people (59%-62%) said clarity on how the new powerline would increase energy security, maximise jobs and industrial investment, support decarbonisation and tackle climate change would be important to them.

RenewableUK’s director of future electricity systems Barnaby Wharton said: "This polling shows that, contrary to some widespread misconceptions, most people are actually in favour of building vital new grid infrastructure to connect up clean energy projects and enable them to deliver cheap power to British homes and businesses, increasing our energy security.

"It’s interesting for Government to note that Conservative voters support this even more than the general public.

"We now have an opportunity to move forward and reach a greater consensus on how to modernise our grid, so that’s fit for purpose in the twenty-first century, while ensuring that we maintain strong public support for these vital upgrades which will benefit everyone”.

It's encouraging up to a point but the real question needs to have "would you be willing to pay for it and have a new sub station built in your street" added to it.  It's hard not to be positive about the question that was asked.

gefnew

The Welsh Government trying to help a bit.
Ynni Cymru: New Welsh company to help get green energy off ground - BBC News

Martyn1981

Article covering hydro generation, and the opportunities in Africa for smaller scale, low head, run of river hydro. Although the pic of a turbine doesn't excatly scream 'small scale' to me. 

MyHydro Expanding Geographically In Africa, Looking To Fund Growth

MyHydro, the US distributed hydropower company that is the brainchild of serial energy investor Paul Hinks, is already spreading its wings to new pastures in Africa. While it is developing 33 new small hydro plants in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its engineers are working with partners in Cameroon, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Kenya and they are soon to begin site identification work in Guinea and Uganda.

MyHydro is essentially a water-to-wire utility investment firm for Africa and it wants to bring down the cost of power for Africa’s off-grid communities. MyHydro is banking on the fact that hydroelectricity is still one of the cheapest forms of power in Africa, and indeed globally. Of equal importance, hydropower projects can generate 24/7 electricity if the water source it is using is also continuous and the project is appropriately designed. This help will provide vital continuous access to electricity to many communities on the continent that still don’t have it. According to the February 2021 “Unlocking Africa’s Mini-Grid Market” report, 60% of Africa’s population live in rural areas. Only 5% of this rural population has access to modern electricity services, without which sustainable development cannot take place.

At a time when dam removal calls are growing in various places around the world, MyHydro’s projects will be powered by the low head Restoration Hydro Turbine from Natel, which is a modular low-head machine, meaning it operates with a hydraulic head in the range of 2 to 20 meters and at capacities of up to 3 MW per machine unit. Higher-head fish-safe turbines are also being engineered at the moment. When scaling up is required, multiple units can be installed at the same site, or in a cascade on the same river. This will mean that MyHydro’s projects will minimize impact on rivers and fish life.

This turbine’s modular design low-head turbine opens up a whole new range of opportunities close to major load centers such as small villages, commercial farms, mines, factories, and even large towns and cities that are close to rivers.

Martyn1981

Some utterly huge numbers for PHS (pumped hydro storage) in China. Short article, but packs quite a punch.

Quick thoughts, hydro provides a lot of power and energy in many countries. PHS can provide large amount of storage, with power to fill in gaps, though energy will typically be a smaller multiplier than 'normal' hydro. For instance, Dinorwig gives us 1.8GW and 9.1GWh, so roughly 5hrs of max power.

I don't have the energy numbers for these Chinese PHS, but will assume they are at the 'shorter' end, like Dinorwig.

So, the numbers for China are currently 50GW in operation, with another 89GW under construction. For scale, UK average power demand is about 35GW, so that means China will have roughly 4x that much power from PHS. So 4x the UK's power demand, but just from one form of storage. That's rather big! And they are considering another 276GW of projects.

That's not just a huge amount of storage and power, but will also allow for simply massive amounts of excess RE generation, that can be absorbed and time shifted.

New Pumped-Storage Hydropower In China Helping To Integrate Wind & Solar Power

China is building pumped-storage hydropower facilities to increase the flexibility of the power grid and accommodate growing wind and solar power. As of May 2023, China had 50 gigawatts (GW) of operational pumped-storage capacity, 30% of global capacity and more than any other country.

China’s pumped-storage capacity is set to increase even more, with 89 GW of capacity currently under construction. Developers are seeking governmental approvals, land rights, or financing for an additional 276 GW of pumped-storage projects, according to the data from Global Energy Monitor.

Martyn1981

Apologies in advance for what is going to be a very messy, and heavily caveated post, but the underlying news is good. I was going to post this on the BEV news thread, but in reality it's about the consumption of FF's, so more about green leccy, displacing FF's (including FF leccy generation).

So, peak oil, not that again! I'm sure I first heard of this as a kid, though that was the expectations that production would fall, but our ingenious minds just found ever more of it, or ways to extract tougher and more expensive sources, like tar sands, and shale oil.

So, peak oil 'demand', this article suggests that it may arrive later this decade.

There have already been some milestones from road transport (since that's where the majority of oil is consumed).

Firstly we reached 'peak' ICEV sales around 2017. But bad news, oil demand didn't drop, as even the lower number of ICEV sales, where still higher than the even lower sales around 10-20yrs earlier, which are the vehicles being displaced.

But good news, secondly, it looks like we hit 'peak ICE fleet' around 2021/22. But bad news again, still not peak oil, as the newer ICEV's being sold are typically heavier than the older ones being displaced, as tastes changed, and SUV's (or similar) became more popular..

So, peak oil demand, is it now really on the horizon? Yes, as the ICEV fleet* now starts to reduce, demand will fall. So thoughts, opinions and estimations are ever more now based on the actual shift away from oil, rather than just theories. Suggestions are that oil demand may peak in 2027.

A drop in demand could be devastating for nations that rely on oil revenue. A small drop in demand will most likley result in a larger drop in price. This can be managed by restricting supply, but if you know that demand is only going to keep falling, then you need to extract and sell your reserves asap. So oil cartel agreements may not hold.

[Note - Don't take the dates, nor my thoughts, too seriously, they are just estimations.]


*As cars/light vehicles make up the majority of FF consumption, I've used car numbers as a guide. Trucks and buses (for instance) are now following cars, China alone has about 1m electric trucks and buses. Two and three wheelers are moving to BEV's. Shipping is tougher, but as about 40% of international shipping (by weight) is for FF's, there will be a natural reduction in the fleet's oil consumption. Aircraft is harder, and whilst shorter flights will (eventually) move to electric, fuel consumption is expected to rise in line with demand.

IEA & Oilprice.Com See Peak Oil Happening This Decade

Back in 2019 — before the Covid pandemic hit — the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it had peered into the future and could see no sign of “peak oil” happening any time soon. There was simply no end to the demand for oil and other fossil fuels in sight. A lot has happened since then. Covid brought a sharp decline in economic activity. Then the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted Europe’s decades-long dependence on cheap Russian methane gas.

In June, the IEA took another look into the future and announced “peak oil” was in fact on the horizon. Here’s what its latest prognostications had to say.

“Growth in the world’s demand for oil is set to slow almost to a halt in the coming years, with the high prices and security of supply concerns highlighted by the global energy crisis hastening the shift towards cleaner energy technologies, according to a new IEA report released today.

“The Oil 2023 medium-term market report forecasts that based on current government policies and market trends, global oil demand will rise by 6% between 2022 and 2028 to reach 105.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) — supported by robust demand from the petrochemical and aviation sectors. Despite this cumulative increase, annual demand growth is expected to shrivel from 2.4 mb/d this year to just 0.4 mb/d in 2028, putting a peak in demand in sight.

“In particular, the use of oil for transport fuels is set to go into decline after 2026 as the expansion of electric vehicles, the growth of biofuels and improving fuel economy reduce consumption.”

Exiled_Tyke

Did someone forget to oil the bearings? 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-66510193

Let's hope the RE haters and silly tabloids don't use this as an excuse to fan the flames of their pathetic arguments. (Do you see what I did there?) 

thevilla

Shows the advantage of such a distributed architecture. Wind farm hoped to be back online today. Any glitch in a traditional generator would likely take weeks or months.

( fan, flames....very good 😊)

Martyn1981

Also works well during construction, as the modular nature of wind and PV farms, often means that they start generating, long before they are completely finished and fully commissioned.

Plus servicing and upgrades can be done piecemeal without shutting down all generation.

silverwhistle

thevilla said:

Shows the advantage of such a distributed architecture. Wind farm hoped to be back online today. Any glitch in a traditional generator would likely take weeks or months.

( fan, flames....very good 😊)

Also an opportunity to repower with a bigger turbine! ;-)