The Alternative Green Energy Thread

JKenH

joefizz said:

Hearing rumours of a couple of things in the upcoming budget. With the current uk governments govern by twitter policy and scribble it all down 20 mins before the press conference, I take them with a pinch of salt.

Anyway one of them is a scheme to fund planting trees on privately owned land, anyone heard anything (or point to current, open, real schemes - jkenh?)

One of the other rumours is a land value tax... give with one hand, take away with the other ;-) Not sure how that would go down with their traditional voters but a winner with their new ones...

I haven’t  read much of today’s news yet but not seen anything about grants or land tax. 

I was given 1200 trees in 1990 by the Trent Vale Countryside project. At the time there were also forestry grants but they came with a few strings attached. I imagine there are still schemes around.

JKenH

Wind and Solar Profits: The Race Between Falling Costs and Declining Revenue

Earlier today I posted in the green and ethical investment thread about John Laing Group pulling out of wind and solar generation as they do not see future investment in these technologies as offering a worthwhile return. While I could understand why they would wish to dispose of old less efficient assets built when solar panels cost 5 times what they do today I was surprised that they did not see a case for investing in more up to date technology. This did prompt me to look into the matter a little more and rather than pursue the matter further in the investment thread I felt it would be more appropriate to continue here.

While the presumption on this board has always been that as wind and solar get cheaper less or no subsidy is needed, the article below suggests that “unless we change electricity systems” the opposite might in fact be the case, i.e. in future wind and solar may in fact need more subsidy rather than less. Without subsidy investment in solar and wind might stall.

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/wind-and-solar-profits-the-battle

joefizz

JKenH said:.

While the presumption on this board has always been that as wind and solar get cheaper less or no subsidy is needed, the article below suggests that “unless we change electricity systems” the opposite might in fact be the case, i.e. in future wind and solar may in fact need more subsidy rather than less. Without subsidy investment in solar and wind might stall.

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/wind-and-solar-profits-the-battle

You mean the presumption of some ;-)
Subsidy for energy will always be required as its not just the panels and the non-recyclable turbine blades that are the issue but the infrastructure, maintenance, etc etc.
Essentially this is a call out to government to implement its green new deal properly and take ownership of all generation and for all governments to run energy as a national utility. Ive mentioned the surplus energy blog a number of times and hes done a few refresher articles recently which touch on this.

Everything runs on energy and although time and again you see 'big oil' and 'fossil fuel' companies getting mentioned by the ill-educated the majority of these companies are energy companies. Dig deep into a lot of the green energy stories and eventually you will find links to Shell, BP, Equinor, Repsol and even Exxon. Simply put, they have known they are are supply of energy companies, like the Laird comments, BP and Shell have written down their costs recently based on low oil prices whilst holding their hands out for covidbucks (maybe not directly but the implication is there). Get the bad news out of the way now along with everyone else and if the governments are giving out free money be the first in the queue with the loudest voices and the references to Dimitri Orlovs 5 stages of collapse where above all else you need to keep the lights and heat on ;-)

This is all about tapping the suddenly found magic money forest, why pay for something when the government will do it for you (and perhaps take part ownership).
As Ive mentioned before, if the government take ownership then its probably the kiss goodbye for the fit/rocs and feed in tariffs etc because they own it.

Interesting times indeed!

JKenH

The quote below is copied from the solar In the news thread. 

Coastalwatch said:

Could perhaps have posted elsewhere but came across this in PV Magazine so posted here. Interesting the progress being made in Countries who have FF biassed governments yet renewables still manage to make the headlines on the road to net Zero.

City of Sydney flicks the switch to 100% green power

» show previous quotes

» show previous quotes

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/07/02/city-of-sydney-flicks-the-switch-to-100-green-power/

This would be great if it were true. The reality is of course that 

The energy company, Flow Power, has agreed to purchase an amount of electricity equivalent to 100% of the city’s usage, then add it to the grid.

https://www.energylivenews.com/2020/07/02/the-aussie-big-bang-sydneys-local-authority-is-now-powered-by-100-renewables/

This is similar to sourcing electricity in the UK from companies such as Good Energy or Ecotricity. Yes you are buying an amount of electricity equal to your usage from renewable sources but you get the same electricity down the wires as your neighbours on a cold foggy winter evening when the nuclear and gas plants are keeping the lights on. 

I wasn’t going to mention this but after a comment (quoted below) was made on another thread about spin and misinformation (which of course we all deplore) I felt obliged to put the record straight.

With such obvious misinformation / spin, it's incredible that people still fall for this.

JKenH

Bit surprised no one else has posted this. Seems like an interesting development perhaps linked to Tesla’s application to OFGEM for a licence to generate electricity.

Giant Tesla batteries to store green power in Dorset

Tesla’s systems - connected to the Southern Electric Power distribution network - will form the backbone of Harmony’s battery storage site in Poole, and represents the company’s opening salvo in the UK’s battle for supremacy in new, low carbon technologies.

The California-based company’s lithium-ion batteries will provide a combined capacity of 15 megawatts (MW) to Dorset and its surrounding areas, storing energy and providing flexibility to the grid.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/07/06/giant-tesla-batteries-store-green-power-dorset/

Simon_P_123

It might be of interest to some on this forum to know that the cooperative society I am working with has launched a share offer for a wind turbine project in S Wales.  Shareholders get their share of the power supplied to them via the grid, and savings due to the value of the power they generate applied to their bills.  It's never been done in UK before and is an entirely new ownership model for subsidy-free renewable energy.  Much better than green tariffs that just buy certificates to say the power is green (at a cost of about £1.50 per household for a year!).  Lots of information about the model and share offer at Ripple Energy website.

JKenH

Tesla valuation

As Tesla’s share price reached new highs this week (making it not only the world’s largest auto-manufacturer by market capitalisation but momentarily the tenth largest company in the U.S.) experts (pundits) are still divided on what the company is worth. Here are two very contrasting opinions both published today on Seeking Alpha.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4358356-3-reasons-to-buy-tesla-stock-1400

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4358438-math-behind-teslas-2041-breakeven-projection

Pile_o_stone

Interesting news on proposed 1GW subsidy free solar and battery projects in the UK. 
https://www.greeninvestmentgroup.com/news/2020/gig-and-enso-energy-form-joint-venture-to-develop-large-uk-solar-and-battery-portfolio.html
"Many of these projects will use newly available tracking and bifacial solar technology to ensure that the energy produced per hectare is maximised thereby reducing the physical footprint of each project2. By combining the solar farm with battery storage technology, the project can provide a more flexible output, address demand during peak periods, as well as providing auxiliary services and stability to the grid to facilitate increased levels of renewables on the system."

JKenH

JKenH said:

Tesla valuation

As Tesla’s share price reached new highs this week (making it not only the world’s largest auto-manufacturer by market capitalisation but momentarily the tenth largest company in the U.S.) experts (pundits) are still divided on what the company is worth. Here are two very contrasting opinions both published today on Seeking Alpha.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4358356-3-reasons-to-buy-tesla-stock-1400

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4358438-math-behind-teslas-2041-breakeven-projection

Continuing on the Tesla theme there was an interesting Seeking Alpha article today: 

Small biotech takes a ride higher with Tesla

Tiziana Life Sciences (TLSA -1.4%) is cooling off a bit after a 40% jump in a week and reaching a new high of $10.00 earlier today.

The stock saw a 40% increase in accounts holding the stock on Robinhood over the last few days, which curiously coincided with Tesla's (TSLA -0.9%)dazzling run.

If there was some ticker confusion behind the sudden intertest in TLSA, those investors will be holding stock of a company pursuing inhalation technology for COVID-19 patients instead of making electric vehicles.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3591551-small-biotech-takes-ride-higher-tesla

It does make me worry about what is driving the Tesla share price when stories like this crop up.

DiggerUK

JKenH, I haven't visited s Seeking Alpha in a month of Sunday's.
This guy used to write a lot about batteries, the science of battery storage problems and shortcomings that the world would need to address if EV's were to replace FFV's. Have you read any of his early stuff..._