Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

News from Germany as they move on to the next stage, and aim to remove coal.

Germany to press renewables accelerator

The German government is to accelerate renewables deployment in line with its 65% 2030 target, as it moves to phase out coal generation.

In a bill launching this month, the country will commit to phasing out coal-fired power generation.

Bit of an American theme for today's lecture, just sit down, grab a giant burger and a 64oz slurpy, and we'll get started:

Two articles covering the same basic issue of how much energy the US uses (always remember that these figures are gross based on the FF extracted, not the net energy that can be usefully consumed), and the shift to RE capacity as we move forward:

How Much Energy Does The US Consume & Where Does It Come From? — Pew Research

I'd risk suggesting that the second chart is terrifying, but again, remember gross energy from FF's v's RE leccy, that RE generation is now winning, BEV's are winning, and heat pumps are growing in popularity. The solutions are better than what exists today, so a natural shift is inevitable ..... just need to ramp up that shift.


Wind & Solar Power Will Dominate 2020 In US, Despite Trump

Note that these are capacity figures not generation, but also remember that some of the net gas capacity increase will be displacing coal generation .......


....... speaking of coal closures, we have this article:

Tri-State G&T To Boost Renewable Energy Goal To 50% By 2024

Tri-State Generation & Transmission serves the needs of 43 electric cooperatives in 4 states. In all, it provides electricity for 1,000,000 customers located across 2,000 square miles of America. Last August, Tri -State’s new CEO, Duane Highley, announced his intention to move the company toward renewable energy and away from coal as soon as possible.

On January 15, Highley’s emphasis on renewable energy became official policy for the Colorado-based company. According to the Denver Post, Tri-State intends to increase the amount of electricity it generates from renewable sources to 50% by 2024. Not so long ago, utility companies were talking about 50% renewables by 2050. But the stark price advantage renewables now have (after all, once a wind or solar farm is constructed, there are no fuel costs to pay), has upset the apple cart in the industry. 2024 is less than 4 years away. Things are starting to move quickly.

Part of the plan is to build 8 new wind and solar installations that will provide enough electricity to power 850,000 homes. In addition, the company plans to add electric car chargers throughout its service area.

It will also close the Escalante coal generating station in northwest New Mexico by the end of this year and shut down other coal plants in Craig and at the Colowyo Mine in northwest Colorado by 2030. One unit of the Craig facility was scheduled to continue operating until 2038 and another until 2044. The Escalante plant could have continued in operation until 2045. In addition, the company has dropped plans to build a new coal-powered facility in Holcomb, Kansas. “We’re committed to not adding any new coal generation in the Tri-State cooperative,” Highley said. It has not ruled out building new natural gas generating facilities to offset closure of several coal plants, however.

Mark Dyson of the Rocky Mountain Institute said Tri-State’s new plan is consistent with a study his organization did in 2018 that mapped out how the utility could save $600 million through 2030 if it replaced coal facilities with wind and solar energy. “Overall, I’d say that what they announced today is consistent with our own analysis with how they can move forward with a lower-cost, clean-energy future,” Dyson said.

In the end, the dramatic decline in the cost of renewables is upending traditional thinking in the utility industry — and not a moment too soon. Notice these changes are being driven by cost alone. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases has little if anything to do with. What better argument for a comprehensive carbon fee could there be?

[My bold. M.]

Strange one this, 'da yuff' lost the case, but the ruling confirmed that they have standing, it's just that the court simply can't demand and enforce the scale of change necessary - Too big to not fail?

Youth activists lose appeal in landmark lawsuit against US over climate crisis

Court confirms government’s contribution to the issue, but judges find they lack power to enforce climate policy decisions

Nevertheless, the court found that the record “conclusively establishes that the federal government has long understood the risks of fossil fuel use and increasing carbon dioxide emissions” and “that the government’s contribution to climate change is not simply a result of inaction”.

The court also found that the youth met the requirements for standing in the case and that some of the plaintiffs met the requirements for actual injury.

Two of the three judges balked at the scope of change required to reverse climate breakdown, finding that halting certain programs would not halt the growth of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere or injuries to the plaintiffs.

“Indeed, the plaintiffs’ experts make plain that reducing the global consequences of climate change demands much more than cessation of the government’s promotion of fossil fuels. Rather, these experts opine that such a result calls for no less than a fundamental transformation of this country’s energy system, if not that of the industrialized world … given the complexity and long-lasting nature of global climate change, the court would be required to supervise the government’s compliance with any suggested plan for many decades.”