Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

ed110220

Martyn1981 said:

Sounds promising.

Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build homes in England by 2027

Almost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during construction within two years, the government will announce after Keir Starmer rejected Tony Blair’s criticism of net zero policies.

Housebuilders will be legally required to install solar panels on the roofs of new properties by 2027 under the plans.

I'll be interested to see how this works out. It certainly seems like 'no brainer'. I often notice not just that new homes don't have PV but they haven't been designed for PV. Eg there are (presumably non functional) chimneys that will get in the way and/or shade solar, complex roof layouts that will limit the amount of PV that can be installed etc for no obvious reason other than design choices.

Obviously not every site is going to favour a layout ideal for solar, but a lot of this can be avoided.

Martyn1981

Battery storage deployments are growing rapidly in Europe. Last year 22GWh was added, this year is estimated at 30GWh and 2029 est is ~120GWh.

SolarPower Europe forecasts 45% CAGR for battery storage to 2029, urges policymakers to do more

Coastalwatch

Unsure if this is the correct thread to post the below info but it would appear to show that Hydrogen and Gas are struggling to compete with battery's when it comes to transportation.

OMV to retire a third of CNG fuel stations in Austria

Recently, the mineral oil company OMV announced that it would be closing all of its public hydrogen refuelling stations in Austria due to a lack of profitability. Now it is the turn of the natural gas petrol pumps: ten of OMV’s 28 CNG filling stations in Austria will be closed this summer. OMV calculates that out of the over 7.4 million registered motor vehicles in Austria, only around 4,350 natural gas vehicles are currently on the roads.

https://www.electrive.com/2025/05/15/omv-to-retire-a-third-of-cng-fuel-stations-in-austria/

Martyn1981

I mentioned a month ago, that it looked like China's coal generation had possibly peaked, and was now starting to decline.

Here's another article looking into this, and other parts of China's move(s) to reduce FF consumption, and CO2(e) emissions.

Clean Energy Shifts China’s CO₂ Emissions From Growth To Decline

For the first time in modern history, China’s annual CO₂ emissions have dropped—not due to economic turmoil or external shocks, but from a deliberate and sustained expansion of clean energy infrastructure. The significance of this milestone cannot be overstated. China’s emissions had risen relentlessly over decades, driven by rapid industrialization and urbanization. This recent reversal, reported by Carbon Brief from analysis by China-focused energy analyst Lauri Myllyvirta, marks a critical turning point, with emissions now trending downward year over year for a full 12 months. The question is whether this shift signals the start of a sustained and permanent decline, or if it’s merely a transient dip that could reverse itself under changed economic or policy conditions.

The data from Carbon Brief indicate a roughly 1% decline in China’s total CO₂ emissions for the year ending March 2025 compared to the previous year. This reduction primarily stems from an even sharper decline in emissions from the electricity sector, which fell by nearly 6% in just the first quarter of 2025 alone. Importantly, this decrease happened even as electricity demand continued to grow at approximately 2.5%. Renewables, nuclear, and other clean energy sources outpaced this rising demand, systematically squeezing out fossil-fuel-based generation—primarily coal. This dynamic is not a temporary artifact; it reflects the structural changes China has pursued with massive investment and policy support for renewables, which are now consistently cheaper and increasingly more reliable than coal.

This shift aligns closely with forecasts I’ve published over recent years, highlighting China’s aggressive investments in renewable energy. Since the early 2020s, China has built renewable capacity at an extraordinary pace, adding hundreds of gigawatts annually. Back in 2023 and 2024, I projected a scenario where renewables would start sharply reducing the utilization rates of coal plants by mid-decade, eventually cutting power-sector emissions significantly by 2030. Indeed, the recent data confirm this trajectory is beginning to play out. Coal power plant utilization is decreasing markedly, making coal less economically viable as renewables flood the grid. My earlier predictions about peak coal consumption, which I anticipated would occur by around 2024, are now strongly supported by this new data.

Looking at transportation, the story is equally promising. Carbon Brief points out that China’s oil consumption likely peaked around early 2024 and has subsequently declined, driven primarily by the rapid electrification of road transport. Electric vehicle adoption in China has outpaced even optimistic forecasts. By the end of 2024, electric vehicles accounted for over 30% of new car sales in China. The pace of electrification is not limited to passenger vehicles. Commercial vehicles—including buses, delivery vans, and even heavy trucks—are rapidly transitioning to electric. In 2024 alone, China sold over 82,000 electric heavy-duty trucks, a segment almost nonexistent elsewhere in the world. This electrification push is a deliberate strategic move by the Chinese government, supported by robust industrial policy, and it is now directly reducing oil demand and associated emissions.

This moment represents a critical juncture in global climate strategy. If China succeeds in locking in these early emissions declines through sustained renewable expansion, electrification, and industrial restructuring, it will not only reshape its own economic and environmental future but also profoundly impact global climate ambitions. Policymakers and investors worldwide should closely monitor these trends, as China’s evolving emissions story will inevitably influence global climate policy and the pace of global decarbonization. The decline we see now may indeed be the beginning of one of the most consequential turning points in global climate history.

Martyn1981

Bit of green & ethical news, with a very long article from Carbon Brief on UK leccy prices.

Nice to see clear explanations for the various cost changes. Spoiler alert, it's due to gas prices going up (many thanks Mr Putin). But energy prices are expected to fall significantly over the medium and long term (by 2035/2050.)

Worth a read, or at least a good skim. I'll grab a few paragraphs, and copy a few graphs, but far too much detail to abbreviate.

Factcheck: Why expensive gas – not net-zero – is keeping UK electricity prices so high

Prices spiked after Russia cut off gas exports to Europe, precipitating a global energy crisis alongside its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The UK has been particularly exposed, as gas sets its wholesale power prices 98% of the time – and gas remains three times more expensive than before the crisis.

Nevertheless, some have sought instead to misleadingly blame the UK’s high power electricity on “green levies” that support the expansion of clean power, as well as the target for net-zero emissions by 2050.

While the UK is making significant investments in new clean-power capacity and in upgrading its electricity grid, “green levies” and network charges account for just 6% and 20% of the rise in bills since before the energy crisis, respectively, against 53% due to wholesale prices driven by gas.

Moreover, part of the rise in network charges is also down to gas, resulting from utility firms going out of business during the energy crisis, as well as high gas-related costs for managing the electricity grid.

To be clear, it remains the case that major investments are being made in expanding the grid – and that these investments will, ultimately, be paid for via consumer electricity bills.

Yet, to take one example, expanding the distribution network to support the electrification of heat and transport will add just £5-10 to annual household bills by 2030 and £20-25 by 2050, according to a February 2025 report from the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), now part of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.

The relatively low annual cost increase to households is despite these investments totalling as much as £50bn, according to NIC. (This is a good illustration of the way that “scary-sounding numbers” can be used to mislead people about the “cost” of the transition to net-zero.)

Moreover, NIC expects household energy bills to drop significantly overall by 2035, even as electricity network charges rise. (It sees the average dual-fuel bill for electricity and gas falling from just shy of £2,000 a year in 2019 to around £1,300 by 2035 and to less than £1,200 by 2050.)

In broader terms, rising levies and network charges illustrate the changing nature of electricity bills – and energy bills more broadly – as the UK shifts towards net-zero.

gefnew

Bristol: St Michael's Hospital fire 'started in solar panels' - BBC News
How many times have anyone had problems with this.

69bertie

As it says at the bottom... with a regular maintenance schedule in place. Like all electrical items, loose connections, messed up installations, can and do cause fires. 

When was your solar installation last checked over? I seriously doubt if many solar panels installations get it. Me? Mine do but then I'm a maintenance electrician. Once every 6 months. But even then, its only the parts I have access to.

QrizB

Not sure if this is the best thread for this, but it'll do! Also not sure if it's been mentioned previously?

Biggest battery storage site in Europe opens in Scotland. 200MW /400MWh with plans to expand to 300MW / 600MWh.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/blackhillock_europes_largest_battery_scotland/

Edit: that article is from March, so apologies for plugging old news. Not sure why it popped up in my news feed today?

Screwdriva

https://www.ft.com/content/f0675cff-0632-421c-a3d2-538422db5d39

Looks like the Chinese panel manufacturers are continue to experience heavy losses. 

QrizB

Screwdriva said:

https://www.ft.com/content/f0675cff-0632-421c-a3d2-538422db5d39
Looks like the Chinese panel manufacturers are continue to experience heavy losses. 

Per the IEA report that was shared a week or two ago, worldwide PV panel production capacity exceeds demand by quite a large margin. Eventually either demand will increase or production will have to fall. In the meantime there's a saturated market and a lot of cheap panels.

A quick look on Alibaba and I can see vendors offering me solar panels for 7 US cents per watt ($70 a kilowatt) if I'm happy to buy a megawatt or so.