The Alternative Green Energy Thread

JKenH

Not so grim up north as global warming creates a sunshine boom

Met Office scientists found that parts of the northeast have basked in more rays than the rest of England in the last 30 years

Every cloud…..

The northeast of England has seen a boom in sunshine in the past 30 years compared to the rest of the country, according to scientists studying the regional variations in the impacts of climate change. 

Parts of the northeast, including Durham and Tyne and Wear, have seen annual sunshine hours rise by more than 13 per cent since 1991 relative to the previous 30 years, compared to a rise of 5.6 per cent across the UK as a whole. 

“Examining the pattern of climate change across the UK reveals an interesting pattern of regional variation,” Mr McCarthy said. 

“Over the periods, rainfall has generally increased with the greatest increases in the north and west. Average temperature has increased most in inland counties to the north of London, while sunshine has increased most in the north east of England.” 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/14/not-grim-north-global-warming-creates-sunshine-boom/

JKenH

Gazprom profits as Russia prospers from Europe’s gas crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/gazprom-hits-record-income-as-russia-prospers-from-europes-gas-crisis

How did we get in this mess? In our rush to decarbonise we forgot all about security of energy supply. Next it will be France switching off inter-connectors over some diplomatic spat. 

It’s ironic that Britain, once the powerhouse of the world will now be reduced to adopting rationing (demand side management they call it now) of energy as our strategy to get us through the winter. 

michaels

JKenH said:

Not so grim up north as global warming creates a sunshine boom

Met Office scientists found that parts of the northeast have basked in more rays than the rest of England in the last 30 years

Every cloud…..

The northeast of England has seen a boom in sunshine in the past 30 years compared to the rest of the country, according to scientists studying the regional variations in the impacts of climate change. 

Parts of the northeast, including Durham and Tyne and Wear, have seen annual sunshine hours rise by more than 13 per cent since 1991 relative to the previous 30 years, compared to a rise of 5.6 per cent across the UK as a whole. 

“Examining the pattern of climate change across the UK reveals an interesting pattern of regional variation,” Mr McCarthy said. 

“Over the periods, rainfall has generally increased with the greatest increases in the north and west. Average temperature has increased most in inland counties to the north of London, while sunshine has increased most in the north east of England.” 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/14/not-grim-north-global-warming-creates-sunshine-boom/

I hate journalists who can't understand maths and come up with headlines like 'more rays than' when they mean 'biggest increase'

JKenH

Why Octopus Energy wants to put wind turbines in hundreds of towns

Energy supplier plans to build turbines close to customers' homes and sell them cheaper electricitity when the wind is at its strongest.

Members pay £1 a week to join, get 20pc off electricity whenever their local turbine is turning - which is most of the time - and 50pc off for every kilowatt-hour used when the wind is blowing hard. 

“Essentially it’s based on having local support rather than trying to put a turbine in and fighting people who don’t want it.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/12/24/octopus-energy-wants-put-wind-turbines-hundreds-towns/

JKenH

After the energy market chaos in 2021…expect more of the same in 2022

Review of 2021 and predictions for 2022 from WattLogic. This extract relates to inter connectors. The whole article is worth a read.

In the past few years, many countries have connected their power grids to the extensive Norwegian hydro system, effectively using Norway to balance their electricity needs. As a result, Norwegian hydro levels are now at historic winter low levels, and although in theory these interconnectors should allow Norway to import cheap wind power from its neighbours, this is not happening in practice. 

Even if it did, Norway does not have very much pumped hydro capacity, so cheap imports do nothing to restore the hydro balance even if they take place. Now Norwegian power prices, which have always been among the lowest in Europe, are beginning to rise, and with it fuel poverty is growing. This is creating political tensions in the country, with people beginning to question the wisdom of exporting so much of its hydro capacity.

Other countries are also looking at the extent to which subsidised renewable generation is being used to support consumers in other countries: Denmark exports around half of its subsidised wind power. As prices rise across the continent, this is an area which is going to attract attention, and may lead to countries reviewing their position on electricity exports and potentially restricting cross-border capacity or charging additional fees in order to ensure that the economic benefits of energy investments remain in the country which made those investments and are not realised by consumers in other countries.

https://watt-logic.com/2022/01/01/energy-market-outlook-2022/

JKenH

Water shortage threatens critical hydroelectric power supplies in Northern Europe

Continuing on the Norway theme, the country is facing an electricity supply crisis, having put all its eggs in the one, hydro, basket. 
“The idea of us being a green battery for Europe kind of falls flat on its face this winter,” said Andre Gustavsson, an analyst at Swedish utility Skelleftea Kraft AB.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/water-hydroelectric-norway-energy-crisis-b1931946.html

Similar issues are being faced in Turkey, Zambia and parts of the U.S. https://www.powermag.com/hydropower-experiencing-climate-impacts-from-drought-flooding/

michaels

JKenH said:

Water shortage threatens critical hydroelectric power supplies in Northern Europe

Continuing on the Norway theme, the country is facing an electricity supply crisis, having put all its eggs in the one, hydro, basket. 
“The idea of us being a green battery for Europe kind of falls flat on its face this winter,” said Andre Gustavsson, an analyst at Swedish utility Skelleftea Kraft AB.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/water-hydroelectric-norway-energy-crisis-b1931946.html

Similar issues are being faced in Turkey, Zambia and parts of the U.S. https://www.powermag.com/hydropower-experiencing-climate-impacts-from-drought-flooding/

Would be interesting to hear how things have panned out in Norway since the start of October (in article above).  How much of their storage is pumped, can they use our excess wind to replenish reservoirs?

JKenH

EU green finance rules to include nuclear and gas projects

In a statement, the European Commission said: “Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, as well as varying transition challenges across member states, the Commission considers there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based future.”

Gas plant projects would need to receive construction permits before the end of 2030 to receive the green label. Plant designs would need to produce less that 270g of CO₂ equivalent per kilowatt hour, while allowing the plants to burn low-carbon gases in future. They would also need to demonstrate their ability to displace equivalent coal projects, alongside other requirements.

https://www.power-technology.com/news/industry-news/eu-energy-taxonomy-green-finance/

JKenH

EU red tape forces thousands of planes to fly across Europe with no passengers

Airlines and environmentalists have lashed out at rules that push firms to run flights just to keep landing rights

The Lufthansa Group, which includes Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss, will have made a total of 18,000 unnecessary flights from mid-December to mid-March to comply with Brussels' rules, according to the company.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/01/07/thousands-planes-forced-fly-across-europe-no-passengers-eu-red/

JKenH

Electricity Market Report

The IEA has just published its report on the state of the electricity market in 2021.

Coal-fired electricity generation reached an all-time peak, growing by 9%, the fastest since 2011, propelled by the exceptional demand and coal’s cost competitiveness in some markets compared to gas.

Total thermal electricity generation increased by almost 6% (980 TWh) in 2021, the highest growth since 2010. After declining in 2019 and 2020, coal-fired electricity generation increased by around 9% and reached a new all-time high. Coal served more than half of the additional demand in 2021, growing in absolute terms faster than renewable energy for the first time since 2013. 

[China]

Despite a diversifying generation mix, China's electricity system remains largely coal-dominated. In 2021 coal made up 64% of power generation, followed by hydropower with a share of 16%, wind at 7% and nuclear at 5%. By 2024 we expect the share of coal in the mix to decline to 59%. Renewable energy sources are set to meet the majority of additional demand during 2022-2024 (over 70%), while coal meets 25% of the increment.

Although coal consumption will be limited under the 14th five-year plan for 2021-2025, and despite the coal supply shortages in autumn 2021, new coal-fired units will continue to be built. Neither the coal shortages nor the national emissions trading scheme launched on 16 July 2021, where the price range is CNY 40-60/t CO2 (around USD 8/t CO2), are expected to contribute significantly to switching away from coal generation.

[India]

As India’s demand for electricity continues to grow, the expansion of generation capacity accelerates from 2022 onwards. While we expect 48% of new demand to be met by coal-fired generation, low- carbon sources provide about half of the additional supply. New records for renewable capacity addition are expected in 2021 and 2022, principally wind and solar PV. Consequently, renewables provide 35% of the incremental demand, with nuclear largely accounting for the balance. 

https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/d75d928b-9448-4c9b-b13d-6a92145af5a3/ElectricityMarketReport_January2022.pdf