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Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4700 on: April 22, 2020, 08:28:58 PM »
In the US, renewables have accounted for more than 85% of new generation added to the grid this year.  Over the next three years, 51 GW of renewables will be added to the grid while fossil fuels and nuclear will decline by2 GW.

https://solarindustrymag.com/solar-adds-more-new-capacity-than-natural-gas

Quote
Solar Adds More New Capacity than Natural Gas
Michael Bates -
April 22, 2020

Solar, wind and hydropower have provided 85.7% of new U.S. electrical generating capacity added during the first two months of 2020 – notably more than natural gas.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) latest monthly Energy Infrastructure Update report (with data through Feb. 29) reveals that wind and solar are on track to each provide more new generating capacity than natural gas over the next three years. Moreover, the mix of all renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) will add nearly 51 GW of new generating capacity to the nation’s total by February 2023 – while that of natural gas, coal, oil and nuclear power combined will actually decrease by almost 2 GW.

Wherestheice

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4701 on: April 22, 2020, 08:52:39 PM »
Happy earth day everyone.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/21/michael_moore_presents_planet_of_the_humans_documentary_we_are_losing_the_battle_to_stop_climate_change.html

I will watch this after morning chores. I think it is intended to ruffle some feathers...it is Micheal Moore and he wanted it released on Earth Day.
I just started it and I had a hard time hitting stop play. How are they going to know it’s their time to go?

I thought it was overall a good documentary. It showed that renewable energy is a myth, and is just another way for the rich to get richer while destroying the living planet
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4702 on: April 22, 2020, 09:28:16 PM »
I thought it was overall a good documentary. It showed that renewable energy is a myth, and is just another way for the rich to get richer while destroying the living planet
Oh good. Nothing can be done. I will stop trying to reduce my carbon footprint then. Hey maybe I could get one of those big trucks to drive around in. I want to clear some of my property. Hey I could just start a fire and burn it down. ....

Phoenix

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4703 on: April 22, 2020, 09:50:17 PM »
Happy earth day everyone.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/21/michael_moore_presents_planet_of_the_humans_documentary_we_are_losing_the_battle_to_stop_climate_change.html

I will watch this after morning chores. I think it is intended to ruffle some feathers...it is Micheal Moore and he wanted it released on Earth Day.
I just started it and I had a hard time hitting stop play. How are they going to know it’s their time to go?

It's harsh.

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4704 on: April 22, 2020, 10:55:59 PM »
It does an excellent job of showing how bad renewables are compared to coal.  And what evil people and organizations like Al Gore, Bill McKibben, The Sierra Club and 350.org are.  We've all been duped.

Hopefully it's not too late to dismantle all of the wind farms and solar panels and to bring back coal.

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4705 on: April 22, 2020, 11:13:35 PM »
Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, the energy transition continues.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/04/22/navajo-power-ceo-sees-10-gw-renewable-potential-across-the-navajo-nation/

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Navajo Power CEO sees 10 GW renewable potential across the Navajo Nation

While an Arizona utility solicits bids for a 200 MW solar project within the Navajo Nation, the near-term potential is 10 GW, says Navajo Power CEO Brett Isaac.
April 22, 2020 William Driscoll

“We believe you can go to 10 gigawatts of renewable resources” across the Navajo Nation, as coal plant retirements in the area open up transmission capacity, said Navajo Power CEO Brett Isaac, in a pv magazine interview. The Navajo Nation extends across parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

Navajo Power is preparing a bid to build 200 MW of solar power, after the Arizona utility Salt River Project issued a bid request specifying solar on Navajo Nation lands. The solar project selected by the utility will help make up for generation capacity lost last November when the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station closed; the utility will pay the Navajo Nation for the use of its transmission lines.

The 10 GW renewables potential, Isaac said, will emerge as three other coal plants in the area retire, largely due to the “price competitiveness” of solar, wind and storage projects. The three plants are the San Juan Generating Station, which is scheduled to close in 2022, the Cholla Power Plant, “just off the Navajo Nation along I-40,” where one of the three units will retire this year, and the Four Corners power plant on Navajo Nation lands. The Four Corners plant is scheduled to close in 2031, but Isaac said “the economics will probably force” an earlier closure.

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Transmission shifting from coal to solar

Coal plants across the Southwest generally “have long transmission lines that connect them to load centers,” and are typically located in ranchland areas suitable for solar development, said Joseph Daniel, a senior energy analyst who conducts studies on coal generation for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

In other parts of the U.S., coal plants may have been built in commercial or residential areas not suited to utility-scale solar, Daniel suggested. Yet in the Midwest and Southeast, large solar farms in states such as North Carolina are in part using the same transmission lines that were once used for coal, he said.

Still, “there is a need for additional new transmission lines to connect the best solar resources to the most densely populated areas,” he said, adding that “there needs to be more investment in national transmission lines.”


Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4706 on: April 22, 2020, 11:33:42 PM »
One of the misleading claims (there were many) in the "Planet of the Humans" was that solar panels only last 10 years.  That's false, based on a backing product on some panels that only lasted 10 years.

The standard warranty in the industry is for 25 years, and many solar panels can last longer than 30 years.

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/europes-solar-market-grapples-with-35-year-plant-lifespans

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Most Solar Panel Warranties Last 25 Years. Europe’s Plant Owners Are Counting on Much More

Keeping plants running for 35 years or longer reduces the levelized cost of energy, but doubts remain about long-run performance.
Jason Deign April 17, 2020

European solar asset owners are grappling with the prospect of longer-lived projects after a 2019 ruling upped the definition of the useful life of plants to 35 years. The figure represents a big increase over the traditionally accepted lifespan of 25 years, which is based on standard PV panel warranty periods.

Quote
“The fact that plants last longer than 25 years is something that everyone knows,” he said. “You will have to replace certain components, such as inverters, and invest some money, but you can extend the lifespan by five, 10 or 15 years.”

Quote
In the U.S., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory lists photovoltaic plants as having a useful life of 25 to 40 years.

Florifulgurator

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4707 on: April 22, 2020, 11:57:09 PM »
Happy earth day everyone.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/21/michael_moore_presents_planet_of_the_humans_documentary_we_are_losing_the_battle_to_stop_climate_change.html

I will watch this after morning chores. I think it is intended to ruffle some feathers...it is Micheal Moore and he wanted it released on Earth Day.
I just started it and I had a hard time hitting stop play. How are they going to know it’s their time to go?

Reading the YouTube blurb should suffice. Have stopped wasting time after 30min. Is it the channel of Michael Moore of Michigan - or is it the ex Greenpeace industry shill of the same name? Has the former jumped the shark (again) and turned krypto-Trumpist?

I realize this is about the USA, which is a decade+ behind modern nations like Germany (which is also behind with essentials like the grid). But this is defeatist disinformation. E.g. that solar field powering 10 homes only? Seems laughable even for American style energy waste huts. E.g. hydrogen: Everybody knows this is laughable except in niche applications like a Tokyo city bus.

BTW my electricity needs would require 2-3 solar panels plus battery. My biomass home heating is locally sourced carbon negative and way cheaper than fossil fuel heating. If I had a commuting job I would get me an EV which I would charge during peak solar PV production: While at work - and not at night. During night I might sell grid balancing service.
"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or committed communist, but rather people for whom the difference between facts and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." ~ Hannah Arendt
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4708 on: April 26, 2020, 09:54:48 PM »
Michael Moore’s film about alternative energy is being taken down, due to its numerous false and misleading statements.
Quote
Josh Fox EndFossilFuels (@joshfoxfilm) 4/24/20, 2:33 AM

1) I just received notice that the distributor of Michael Moore's #PlanetoftheHumans is taking the film down due to misinformation in the film.

Thank you to @FilmsForAction for responding to our demand for a retraction and an apology from @MMFlint.

See below. And thank you to...
https://twitter.com/joshfoxfilm/status/1253572812591247360 
At the link: text images of the petition, listing complaints about the information presented in the movie.
“The film is dangerous, misleading and destructive to decades of progress on environmental policy, science and engineering.”
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Bruce Steele

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4709 on: April 26, 2020, 10:28:59 PM »
Yes it was a terrible movie and I wasted time watching until I realized up it was never intended to educate. Makes me think far worse of Michael Moore. I would gladly pull my first post . It was
Earth Day, I was hoping for something better.

Phoenix

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4710 on: April 27, 2020, 12:14:26 AM »
Let's be clear. Michael Moore didn't make this movie. He made a mistake by associating himself with it as he did a favor for Jeff Gibbs, a guy who has worked for him for several decades.


Niall Dollard

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4711 on: April 27, 2020, 08:54:46 AM »
Michael Moore’s film about alternative energy is being taken down,

No. Just checked. It is still widely available on You Tube.

gerontocrat

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4712 on: April 27, 2020, 10:33:58 AM »
Michael Moore’s film about alternative energy is being taken down,

No. Just checked. It is still widely available on You Tube.
Anything, once it's out on the internet, can't be taken back.
& lies spread faster than truth.

Even if he didn't make the movie, Michael Moore's name made the movie credible. He has screwed up big time. Yet another hero with feet of clay all the way up to his armpits.

And the lies will have to be debunked again, and again, and again.......
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Bruce Steele

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4713 on: April 27, 2020, 05:35:59 PM »
Filmsforaction , why they took it down and why they put it back up.

https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/films-for-actions-statement-on-planet-of-the-humans/#.XqS8nYXbsD4.twitter

Degrowth should be some part of this discussion but I guess with an ongoing pandemic the means to that end or the reality of how nature may deal with us are too sensitive a subject right now. I happen to agree with the notion that green technology can be coopted by people and corporations who have far more interest in money ,and growth, than saving the planet. To bad this film chose to use false information to promote their message about degrowth.
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vox_mundi

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4714 on: April 27, 2020, 06:27:17 PM »
Sustainable Light Achieved In Living Plants
https://phys.org/news/2020-04-sustainable.html

The movie Avatar evoked an imaginary world of lush bioluminescent jungles. Now the popular fascination for sustainably glowing foliage is being realized through advances in designer genetics. This week in Nature Biotechnology, scientists have announced the feasibility of creating plants that produce their own visible luminescence.

This biological light can be used by scientists for observing the inner workings of plants. In contrast to other commonly used forms of bioluminescence, such as from fireflies, unique chemical reagents are not necessary for sustaining mushroom bioluminescence. Plants containing the mushroom DNA glow continuously throughout their lifecycle, from seedling to maturity.

The new discovery can also be used for practical and aesthetic purposes, most notably for creating glowing flowers and other ornamental plants. And while replacing street lights with glowing trees may prove fantastical, the plants produce a pleasant green aura that emanates from their living energy.

... Little more than a year ago, scientists uncovered the parts that sustain bioluminescence in mushrooms. For the first time, the living light of an advanced multicellular organism was fully defined. In the present report, the authors disclose that mushroom bioluminescence works particularly well in plants. This allowed them to make glowing plants that are at least ten-fold brighter. Using ordinary cameras and smartphones, green illumination was recorded coming from leaves, stems, roots, and flowers. Moreover, the sustained light production was achieved without harming the health of the plants.



Plants With Genetically Encoded Autoluminescence
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-0500-9
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blumenkraft

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4715 on: April 27, 2020, 09:33:43 PM »
... replacing street lights with glowing trees ...

Wow, that's a future to look forward to!

Flowerpower FTW!

Florifulgurator

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4716 on: April 27, 2020, 10:28:02 PM »
Let's be clear. Michael Moore didn't make this movie. He made a mistake by associating himself with it as he did a favor for Jeff Gibbs, a guy who has worked for him for several decades.
Nope. He said "we" made this movie and advocated it on the Colbert show. Michael Moore has jumped the shark. Sad.


"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or committed communist, but rather people for whom the difference between facts and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." ~ Hannah Arendt
"Вчи українську це тобі ще знадобиться" ~ Internet

Florifulgurator

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4717 on: April 27, 2020, 10:46:49 PM »
... replacing street lights with glowing trees ...

Wow, that's a future to look forward to!

Flowerpower FTW!

Florifulgurator protests vehemently. No Frankentrees!
"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or committed communist, but rather people for whom the difference between facts and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." ~ Hannah Arendt
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4718 on: April 28, 2020, 03:50:36 PM »
As long as it couldn't reproduce I would like a glowing tree.

gerontocrat

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4719 on: April 29, 2020, 07:14:40 PM »
That complete & utter fuckup entitled "Planet of the Humans"

For those of you, who like me, have had to respond to people (e.g. my daughter) who, because of the name & reputation of Micheal Moore, have taken this heap of shit seriously, here is the link to skepticalscience's rebuttal.

https://www.skepticalscience.com/planet-of-humans-reheated-myth-lazy-old-myths.html

Trouble is, once this balderdash has hit the cyberstreet, it can't be put back.
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"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
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nanning

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4720 on: April 30, 2020, 03:57:51 AM »
To go a bit against the grain here: I have watched the movie (slept during part of it) and find it bombastic, manipulative and flashy confronting (perhaps this is what blum means with meme's). Clearly meant to shock, which it did. Goal accomplished. Now let's talk about the criticisms of 'green technology' and/or 'green BAU'.

This is not an honest and good movie I think, BUT, it shines an important critical light on:
  • green BAU economic growth
  • the downsides of our extremely high-energy use
  • the humanitary aspects of the mining & production side of 'green technology'
  • the environmental aspects of the mining & production side of 'green technology'
  • the possible collusion of so-called climate heroes and experts with big business (promoting green BAU growth), especially in the U.S.A. where it's become extremely difficult to be an independent academic scientist

I think the (pro-business) reactionary responses from experts and media is telling me this film has hit a vulnerable spot of the 'green bubble' or 'green Business-As-Usual'. Interesting to see how this develops.

That critical light is very good and important imo because many aspects of green tech are hyped up as THE solution, but, there are no long term views on
  • 'green tech' regarding humanitary abuses
  • recycling of obsolete 'green tech'
  • habitat loss (e.g. mining from ocean floor)
  • scarcity of non-renewable mined resources
  • socio-political situation of resource countries
  • the left-out poor countries in the SH
  • in general the whole anti-life and the existentially dangerous paradigm of GROWTH

According to me, a circular and long term sustainable 'economy' can only work with these three things together: no growth, low tech and respect for our fellow lifeforms as equals.
Affluence is unsustainable!


edit: reformatting
« Last Edit: April 30, 2020, 04:05:38 AM by nanning »
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VideoGameVet

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4721 on: April 30, 2020, 07:03:29 AM »
The film reminded me of this Vietnam War quote, modified to suit:

"We had to destroy the Climate Action Movement to save it."

When Alex Jones and a host of climate deniers are praising your film, perhaps some introspection is called for.
"Humans went to the moon on purpose. We destroyed an entire planet by just not caring."

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4722 on: April 30, 2020, 08:19:32 PM »
New US wind installation are almost double the same period last year.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/30/us-wind-industry-installed-over-1800-megawatts-in-first-quarter.html

Quote
The US wind industry installed over 1,800 megawatts in first quarter, but the coronavirus remains a risk
Published Thu, Apr 30 2020
Anmar Frangoul

The first quarter of 2020 saw the U.S. wind industry install more than 1,800 megawatts (MW) of new capacity, a report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has revealed.

According to the AWEA’s report, 11 new projects with a total capacity of 1,821 MW commenced operations in the first three months of the year.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the AWEA noted that this represented more than double the installations compared with the first quarter in 2019.

While there are clear positives in the report – which also said construction activity hit a new record in the first three months of the year – the coronavirus is casting a shadow over the sector.

Quote
Looking ahead, the analysis projected that over 500,000 people working in clean energy — 15% of the sector’s workforce — would lose their jobs in the following months unless “quick and substantive action” was taken by both the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress.

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4723 on: May 01, 2020, 12:47:48 AM »
Global energy demand is down by the amount India, the third largest user, consumes.  Only renewables are seeing any growth, due to their low marginal cost (i.e, the sun and wind are free).

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/30/economy/energy-demand-iea/index.html

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Global energy use suffers 'historic shock.' It's like demand from India has been wiped out
By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business
Thu April 30, 2020

London (CNN Business)Global energy use has been dealt such a huge blow by the coronavirus pandemic that it's like wiping out demand from all of India, a country of 1.3 billion people and the world's third biggest consumer.

Quote
Demand for coal, oil and gas has been slammed as a result of shutdowns aimed at containing the spread of the virus, which have put the brakes on economic activity and brought international air travel almost to a standstill. Oil demand in particular could drop 9%, erasing eight years of growth.

Only renewable energy has held up, with demand for electricity generated from sources such as solar and wind set to rise by 1% in 2020. Low operating costs have provided a boost.

Quote
In the meantime, carbon emissions are dramatically lower. Carbon dioxide emissions tied to energy use are set to drop by almost 8% in 2020 to their lowest level since 2010, according to the IEA. It would be the largest fall in emissions on record.

Niall Dollard

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4724 on: May 01, 2020, 01:16:40 AM »
For the first time (month), the share of solar PV in the NL electricity mix exceeded 10%. The percentages shown are for April.

Shows how quickly things have changed compared to Aprils 2014 & 2015.

Jeff Gibbs, are you out there ?!

Florifulgurator

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4725 on: May 01, 2020, 03:53:35 AM »
For the first time (month), the share of solar PV in the NL electricity mix exceeded 10%. The percentages shown are for April.

Shows how quickly things have changed compared to Aprils 2014 & 2015.

Jeff Gibbs, are you out there ?!
He might find 10% lame. Until he finds out that Amsterdam is north of Vancouver. :)
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4726 on: May 01, 2020, 11:22:18 AM »
50% is from new solar and 50% is from really clear skies. See post #96 in https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2952.50.html.
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4727 on: May 01, 2020, 07:57:39 PM »
As has been pointed out elsewhere, much of the information in Planet of the Humans is more than a decade old.  A lot has changed in a decade.  The following article describes some of the changes since 2010 and what researchers are working on now.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51799503

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A breakthrough approaches for solar power
By Padraig Belton
1 May 2020

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Today's average commercial solar panel converts 17-19% of the light energy hitting it to electricity. This is up from 12% just 10 years ago. But what if we could boost this to 30%?

Quote
Solar is already the world's fastest growing energy technology. Ten years ago, there were only 20 gigawatts of installed solar capacity globally - one gigawatt being roughly the output of a single large power station.

By the end of last year, the world's installed solar power had jumped to about 600 gigawatts.

Even with the disruption caused by Covid-19, we will probably add 105 gigawatts of solar capacity worldwide this year, forecasts London-based research company, IHS Markit.

The article then describes the various ways researchers are trying to increase the efficiency of solar panels.  It's worth the read if you're interested.

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4728 on: May 01, 2020, 08:16:47 PM »
The new world record for lowest cost solar farm is now $0.0135 per kilowatt hour.  At this time last year, it was more than $0.02 per kilowatt hour.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2020/04/28/abu-dhabi-cheapest-solar-power/#22eeef064924

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Apr 28, 2020,12:12pm EDT
Abu Dhabi Lays Claim To World’s Cheapest Solar Power, After Revealing Bids For 2GW Mega-Plant
Dominic Dudley

Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (ADPower) says it has secured the world’s lowest tariff for a solar power plant, as it moves ahead with a planned 2GW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the Al Dhafra region of the emirate. The utility says it has received a bid of just 1.35 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the project.

The Al Dhafra scheme is set to be one of the largest solar PV plants in the world once it is completed by mid-2022. Abu Dhabi is already home to one very large plant, the 1.2GW Noor Abu Dhabi which started commercial operations in April 2019. The UAE is one of the few countries to build a solar PV plant larger than 1GW, alongside the likes of China, Egypt and India.

Quote
“A decade ago, solar generation costs were well above $300 [per MW hour; equivalent to U.S. 30 cents per kWh], while onshore wind power hovered above $100,” says Tifenn Brandily, author of a recent report for BloombergNEF on the tumbling cost of renewable energy. “Today the best solar projects in Chile, the Middle East and China, or wind projects in Brazil, the U.S. and India, can achieve less than $30 per megawatt-hour. And there are plenty of innovations in the pipeline that will drive down costs further.”

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4729 on: May 01, 2020, 08:59:03 PM »
Workers in the Canadian tar sands are already making the transition to renewable jobs.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-oil-industry-swoons-tar-sands-workers-look-to-renewables-for-jobs

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As Oil Industry Swoons, Tar Sands Workers Look to Renewables for Jobs

Long reliant on the vast oil reserves of its tar sands, Alberta is now facing a reckoning as its oil industry is clobbered by the coronavirus downturn. With tar sands operations shedding jobs, a movement is growing to retrain oil workers for the emerging renewables sector.

By Chloe Williams • April 30, 2020

Quote
As Alberta’s oil and gas industry comes to grips with a long-lasting downturn, workers in the oil industry are beginning to look to the renewable energy sector to make up for the jobs being shed in the tar sands. A handful of nonprofit and economic development agencies are starting retraining programs to prepare former oilfield hands to work in solar and wind power. “Most of the workers that reach out to us have been through boom-bust cycles once, twice, three times,” says Andrea Visser, director of operations and administration at Iron & Earth, a nonprofit started in 2015 by oil sands workers to integrate more renewable energy into Alberta’s economy and to help develop retraining programs for former tar sands workers.

Sandmaier says more oil workers are reaching out to him to explore working in renewables. “If presented with an opportunity,” he says, “they would take it.”

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Around 10 percent of Alberta’s electricity generation currently comes from renewable energy sources, according to the Canada Energy Regulator. However, renewables are growing fast: From 2005 to 2018, Alberta’s installed renewable electricity capacity nearly doubled, from 1,484 megawatts to 2,825 megawatts. More than 1,300 megawatts of renewable energy projects are now under construction in the province.

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Market forces are increasingly driving renewables growth in the province. Several major projects have secured funding from private investors despite the lack of support by the provincial government. A 400-megawatt solar project, the largest in the country, received $500 million in backing from a Danish investment group earlier this year, and a North American energy company, TC Energy, agreed to buy more than half of the electricity generated by a 130-megawatt solar project currently under construction in southern Alberta. Across Canada, jobs in the clean energy sector are set to grow faster than in oil and gas, according to a 2019 report by Clean Energy Canada.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4730 on: May 01, 2020, 11:06:51 PM »
Renewables with battery storage have been cheaper than natural gas peaker plants in the US since late 2018, when California cancelled two peaker plants and went with solar plus storage instead.

As the price of both renewables and batteries continue to decrease, renewables plus storage are cheaper than natural gas peakers in Europe, Japan and China even at the low prices natural gas was fetching before the Covid-19 recession.

http://redgreenandblue.org/2020/05/01/energy-storage-ramps-bury-coal-natural-gas/

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Energy storage ramps up to bury coal and natural gas
Published on May 1st, 2020

Everybody knows that coal is on the way out, but the latest electricity report from BloombergNEF is something of a shocker. It casts a shadow of gloom over natural gas, too. Low-cost renewables are creeping into gas territory, helped along by falling costs for energy storage. In fact, according to BNEF, energy storage is now a cheaper alternative to building new gas “peaker” plants in some regions. And by some they mean Europe, which was supposed to be a lifeline for US gas exporters.

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BNEF looked at two-hour battery energy storage and found that batteries now beat the cost of building new gas peaker plants in major gas importing regions, including Europe as well as China and Japan.

There’s more where that came from. BNEF makes the point that scale is driving down costs, with the average capacity of battery storage now weighing in at 30 mWh, up  from the 7 mWh average of just four years ago. That’s bringing down the cost of longer-duration batteries, too.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4731 on: May 04, 2020, 12:30:37 AM »
Tesla has a new product: Autobidder, a step toward becoming an electric utility
Quote
Tesla says that Autobidder is currently being used in Australia to manage the Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR), which is also known as the ‘Tesla Big Battery’:

“Autobidder is succesfully operating at Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR) in South Australia, and through market bidding, has added competition to drive down energy prices.”
...
However, the new platform doesn’t only work with Tesla products and appears to be compatible with any type of energy storage.
...
Tesla adds about its Autobidder platform on its website:
“Autobidder has hundreds of megawatt-hours of assets under management that have supplied gigawatt-hours of grid services globally. Autobidder operates at every scale: from aggregations of behind-the-meter residential systems to 100MW utility-scale installations. With seamless integration between hardware and software, Autobidder can be trusted to capture revenues immediately after project energization and 24/7 in dynamic environments.”

The automaker says that it is also using its machine learning expertise to deliver several features:
   •   Price forecasting
   •   Load forecasting
   •   Generation forecasting
   •   Dispatch optimization
   •   Smart bidding

Aside from the big battery system in Australia, Electrek has learned from sources that Tesla is also using Autobidder as part of its Powerwall deployment with Green Mountain Power in Vermont.

Now we also learn that Tesla has taken its first step to become an energy provider in the UK, according to a document reviewed by The Telegraph.

“Another purpose for the licence may be to introduce the company’s “Autobidder” platform, according to a company source. Acting as a middleman, the platform aggregates renewable power generators and trades their energy.” ...
https://electrek.co/2020/05/03/tesla-autobidder-new-product-electric-utility/

https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/support/autobidder
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4732 on: May 04, 2020, 07:05:57 PM »
The City of Houston, TX, America's fourth largest city, has agreed to a seven-year contract for supplying 100% of it's electricity by renewable energy.  Houston is in the heart of the US oil industry, with many refineries and oil producers in the area.  Houston is projected to save $65 million over the seven year contract.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/05/02/city-of-houston-surprises-100-renewable-electricity-65-million-in-savings-in-7-years/

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City of Houston Surprises: 100% Renewable Electricity — $65 Million in Savings in 7 Years
May 2nd, 2020

April 30, 2020 — Mayor Sylvester Turner announced today that the City of Houston has committed to purchasing 100% renewable energy through a renewed partnership with NRG Energy as the City’s retail electric provider.

As part of the contract renewal, the City will power all municipal operations with renewable energy and realize $65 million in savings over the seven-year contract. Through the NRG Renewable Select plan, the City will receive 1,034,399 MWh of renewable electricity annually from a new, third-party utility-scale solar facility in Texas that is dedicated to City operations.




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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4733 on: May 04, 2020, 07:20:39 PM »
The City of Houston, TX, America's fourth largest city, has agreed to a seven-year contract for supplying 100% of it's electricity by renewable energy.
I believe the language was intentionally misleading on this one. They are buying 100% renewable energy, not buying 100% of their energy needs. I could be wrong of course. But how can a new solar facility supply 100% of the city's needs with absolutely no mention of storage or intermittency?

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4734 on: May 04, 2020, 07:38:02 PM »
The City of Houston, TX, America's fourth largest city, has agreed to a seven-year contract for supplying 100% of it's electricity by renewable energy.
I believe the language was intentionally misleading on this one. They are buying 100% renewable energy, not buying 100% of their energy needs. I could be wrong of course. But how can a new solar facility supply 100% of the city's needs with absolutely no mention of storage or intermittency?

Oren,

I'm not sure how they're handling intermittency issues.  The City already contracts with another solar farm for some of its electricity.  This new farm will start providing the balance of the municipal energy requirements starting in July 2020.

Note that this is for municipal operations, which occur mainly during the day.  Texas also is the leading State in wind generation, so they may be able to get some electricity that way.

Here's some more detail about the deal.

https://patch.com/texas/houston/houston-commits-100-renewable-energy

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As part of the contract renewal, the City will power all municipal operations with renewable energy and realize $65 million in savings over the seven-year contract. Through the NRG Renewable Select plan, the City will receive 1,034,399 MWh of renewable electricity annually from a new, third-party utility-scale solar facility in Texas that is dedicated to City operations.

Quote
The plan identified growing Houston's investment in renewable energy as a central goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and called for the City to power municipal operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. Houston is already the top municipal user of renewable energy in the country, according to the US EPA, and has a 50MW power purchase agreement for a solar facility in Alpine, TX.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4735 on: May 05, 2020, 12:51:46 AM »
The City of Houston, TX, America's fourth largest city, has agreed to a seven-year contract for supplying 100% of it's electricity by renewable energy.
I believe the language was intentionally misleading on this one. They are buying 100% renewable energy, not buying 100% of their energy needs. I could be wrong of course. But how can a new solar facility supply 100% of the city's needs with absolutely no mention of storage or intermittency?
In the UK this normally means that the supplier buffers it via their other generation and other customers, either their own or by trading with other utilities. 100% means they generate enough power to cover their "100%" contracts by renewable means, not that they separate out renewable and non-renewable electrons and only put the renewable electrons down the wires to the renewable customers.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4736 on: May 05, 2020, 01:27:43 AM »
^^^
By using PPAs, the customer can fund the construction of new renewable power plants.  The electricity is fed into the grid, which also has electrons generated from non-renewable sources on it as well.  However, the new renewable power plant that is built may have preferential treatment during times of lower demand, which is what we're seeing now.

Coal (and increasingly, natural gas,) is being curtailed when demand is low.  Renewable energy is preferred due to the fact that its fuel (wind and sun) is free.  With the PPA resulting in a new solar farm being connected to the grid in July 2020, that much more coal and natural gas will be shut in.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4737 on: May 05, 2020, 11:48:32 AM »
Making commodity chemicals requires fossil fuels. New devices could do it with renewables

As windmills and solar panels multiply, the supply of renewable electricity sometimes exceeds demand. Chemists would like to put the excess to work making commodity chemicals, such as the raw materials for fertilizer and plastics, which are now produced with heat, pressure, and copious fossil fuels. The electrochemical cells that can harness renewable electricity to make these compounds have been too slow to be practical. Now, two groups report redesigning the cells to achieve a dramatic speedup—perhaps enough to put green industrial chemistry within reach.

“In the future, electrons to molecules will be a major part of how we do chemical synthesis,” says Etosha Cave, chief scientific officer of Opus 12, a startup aiming to turn renewable energy into chemicals. “These two papers help push that vision forward.”

One research group uses carbon dioxide (CO2) as its starting material to make ethanol, a fuel, and ethylene, a starting point for plastics; the other turns nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), a key component in fertilizer. Both owe their progress to advances in the catalyst-coated electrodes that drive chemical reactions between gases and liquids.

For details see:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/making-commodity-chemicals-requires-fossil-fuels-new-devices-could-do-it-renewables
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4738 on: May 05, 2020, 07:34:18 PM »
In the US, renewables have produced more electricity than coal for the past 40 days.

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Renewables-Overtake-Coal-In-US-In-Electricity-Generation.html

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Renewables Overtake Coal In U.S. In Electricity Generation
By Irina Slav - May 05, 2020

Hydropower plants, solar farms, and wind farms generated more electricity than coal in the United States for a record 40 days in a row, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said in a new report.

The IEEFA had earlier forecast that renewables, including hydropower, would exceed coal in terms of electricity generation next year. But if the April trend continues, this target would be reached this year, the organization said.

The article discusses the short term disruptions to the renewable industry and unemployment as a result of Covid-19 stay at home orders, then looks at the forecast for the next few years.

Quote
Despite this danger, the renewables industry in the U.S. has grown strongly during the first quarter. In just January and February, solar, wind, and hydropower accounted for as much as 85.7 percent of new generation capacity, FERC data showed. According to the data, solar, wind, and hydropower will continue expanding while fossil fuel-fired generation capacity will decline over the next three years.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4739 on: May 06, 2020, 12:24:08 AM »
In western Europe, renewables have been supplying around 70% of electric power during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/wind-and-solar-step-into-baseload-role-as-renewables-share-of-power-mix-hits-70-/2-1-803252

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Wind and solar ‘step into baseload role’ as renewables' share of power mix hits 70%

Lower power demand due to Covid-19 lockdowns, coupled with priority grid access for green electricity, pushes up proportion of renewables on European networks

5 May 2020
By Leigh Collins

Wind and solar power have “stepped into the baseload role” in Europe, with “very little coal-fired plant running and less gas-fired plant than usual”, according to UK-based analyst Cornwall Insight.

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“Arguably, renewables have stepped into the baseload role, with gas and limited amounts of coal fulfilling a peaking role both when demand does pick up, and when renewables output dips,” said senior analyst Tom Andrews. “Many system operators are now proving able to manage grids at 70% or more renewable energy and with a much lower level of demand than would — even a few months ago — have been expected.”

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It found that output from gas-fired power plants in the UK slumped by almost 90% during the period; France met its lower power demand “without running fossil fuel plant”; Germany’s power sector cut its carbon intensity by 36%; Italy’s CO2 per unit of electricity fell by 16%; while historic low levels of emissions were seen in Spain.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4740 on: May 06, 2020, 12:32:05 PM »
This is a day by day figure as renewables vary, wildly, day by day.

I checked Gridwatch and our demand is just under 30gw right now.  Of which renewables are delivering 10 gw.

A quick review of the numbers shows that solar is delivering 6gw and our 22gw of installed wind is delivering 0.9gw.

Good news though, the government has committed to 40gw offshore by 2030 driving UK wind deployed to 53 gw.  Perhaps when this is delivered, days like today will deliver 5gw of wind.

A point which is constantly missed in the whole renewables push is that installed capacity is irrelevant as a number when trying to balance the grid.  It is minimum output that is the key figure.

What I do not see is the capability to balance the grid over extended periods of low renewable power.

We are never getting off coal and gas until that is done.  So far all the effort is going into ever bigger installed capacity numbers.  Or put another way, all the effort is going into something which is, at the end of installation, irrelevant for removing coal and gas.

I would love to see a much bigger push on balance and conservation of renewable energy.  Today I see no balance, I just see people focused on big numbers when it is the small number that is going to invalidate all that effort.

Far more coal and gas could be removed with a balanced system than will ever be reduced by making the peaks and valleys ever further apart.

Just my view.  I do get it that without the installed capacity you can't remove coal and gas anyway.  But in terms of speed of removal of FF altogether, a balance is far faster, as you can confidently remove the emitters and guarantee supply.
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4741 on: May 06, 2020, 07:09:43 PM »
One of the positive feedbacks of all the big numbers of projects, installed capacity and actual generation of new renewable power in the past decade is that investors have increasingly seen revenue and profits from new renewable projects.  And they are starting to use that revenue in the traditional ways that corporations do in democracies, lobbying for more investment in their projects.

https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4014732/investors-holding-trillions-dollars-assets-join-calls-green-covid-19-recovery

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Investors holding trillions of dollars of assets join calls for green Covid-19 recovery
Michael Holder
4 May 2020

A coalition of major green investors backed by trillions of dollars of assets under management worldwide have joined growing calls for a green economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing governments "should not lose sight of the climate crisis" as they seek to restart their economies.

In a joint statement issues today, a raft of green investor organisations - including the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Asia Investment Group on Climate Change, CDP, and Ceres - argued economic stimulus efforts should accelerate the net zero transition.

Quote
The intervention joins growing calls for green economic recovery across Europe, where the EU Commission's Green Deal and stated commitment to using stimulus packages to drive decarbonisation in line with a net zero by 2050 target has picked up strong support from leading corporates. Similar sentiments have been expressed by both the German and UK governments, while in France, the government is expected to tell Air France it will only receive a €7bn bailout if it commits to new carbon reduction targets.

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CDP's CEO Paul Simpson said long term renewal packages should "accelerate our economy into one that is more resilient, inclusive, and zero carbon".

"It must work in harmony with nature, and not take us back to the production and consumption we know are unsustainable and leave us exposed to increased risk of future crises," he added.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4742 on: May 06, 2020, 07:26:47 PM »
Speaking of big numbers, the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, a 15GW wind and solar project in Western Australia, cleared a major environmental hurdle this week.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/04/massive-renewables-scheme-recommended-for-environmental-approval.html

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A massive renewable energy scheme in Australia has been recommended for environmental approval
Published Mon, May 4 2020
Anmar Frangoul

A vast renewable energy scheme has been recommended for environmental approval by Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

The Asian Renewable Energy Hub is a planned development in the East Pilbara area of Western Australia. Set to cover 6,500 square kilometers of land, it’s envisaged that the project will produce as much as 15 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar power, with as many as 1,743 wind turbines being used.

Quote
The scheme’s website states that up to 3 GW of power will be set aside for energy users in the Pilbara area, while the “bulk of the power will enable large scale production of green hydrogen products for domestic and export markets.” According to the EPA, a subsea power cable will be used to send energy to both Indonesia and Singapore.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), hydrogen is a “versatile energy carrier”. Generating it does have an environmental impact, however. The IEA has said that hydrogen production is responsible for around 830 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. It’s within this context that the idea of green hydrogen, produced using renewable sources such as wind and solar, is so attractive.

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While Monday’s news is a boost to the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, the scheme is still some years off. A final investment decision is expected in 2025, with construction slated for 2026 and the first exports expected in 2027.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4743 on: May 06, 2020, 07:48:15 PM »
Forbes, a very conservative business oriented news source (its owner, Steven Forbes, was a Republican candidate for President in 1996 and 2000), would have published stories similar to the misinformation that Neil T regularly posts in this forum.  However, they are now on board with the energy transition. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2020/05/03/in-a-post-pandemic-world-renewable-energy-is-the-only-wayforward/#3d9e908217b6

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Editors' Pick
May 3, 2020
In A Post-Pandemic World, Renewable Energy Is The Only Way Forward
Enrique Dans

The Economist’s regular cartoonist, KAL, summed it up neatly in his cartoon last week: the battle humanity is waging against the coronavirus is only the preliminary round, and after that, we have a much bigger and stronger opponent waiting for us, called the climate emergency. That some people still may think that something as objectively and scientifically proven is still up for debate could be seen as one of the greatest achievements of the fossil fuel industry. It’s not. It’s the greatest threat to human life.

Pollution affects us all, very much so. In addition to being responsible for some seven million deaths annually, it makes us more vulnerable to all kinds of respiratory diseases, including, of course, those caused by viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, which could also become seasonal and repetitive. Not only do we know that we need to fix this problem: we also know that not doing so is killing us, and we now have a pressing example of this.

Electricity generated by fossil fuels accounts for 25% of harmful emissions in the world, while manufacturing and transport, also big consumers, are responsible for 21% and 14% respectively. If one change could have a major impact on the climate emergency, it would be the pivot to renewable energy. And the news in this regard could not be more propitious: the two fundamental components needed to do so, solar panels and batteries to store energy, are subject to economies of scale that make them increasingly efficient and affordable.

Quote
Renewables accounted for 72% of new energy sources installed in 2019, backed by investments that could achieve returns of 800%. Coal, on the other hand, is a money-losing machine, and its economics are as toxic as its emissions. Reconstructing the energy supply map of a country, even those in the developing world, has never made more sense. Even a major coal producer like Australia plans to make huge savings from falling costs of renewables, and estimates that 90% of its energy supply could be based on solar and wind energy by 2040 without charging consumers to pay for installation. Norway aims to electrify all its domestic flights by 2040. Some oil companies are now investing in solar energy, partly as greenwashing, but partly just because it is profitable.

Quote
Changing the world’s energy map seems like a costly thing to do, but in practice, it is cheap, especially if we factor in the disasters caused by fires, hurricanes, floods and so on. If we include the cost of treating the diseases it causes, or if we simply put a price on the viability of the human species as a whole, it’s clear that pivoting to renewables is a no-brainer.

A post-pandemic economic reconstruction based on restructuring the energy map makes sense. We know we have to do it, and we know the reason we haven’t done it so far is because it challenges the interests of a powerful few. The time has come to abandon outdated concepts, to change our mindset, and to put the use of renewables at the top of our list of priorities.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4744 on: May 07, 2020, 03:03:06 AM »
Excuse me, what misinformation.

I posted hard stats which contradicted what you had posted.  Granted it was only for one day but without storage one day counts.

My main point was that big numbers will never get rid of coal and gas until. We have some buffer in the system.

That is Fact and not disinformation and I am not the only one saying it.

Just because you don't like the facts, don't call them disinformation. The UK has tens of GW of renewables installed but regularly struggles to get over 10gw of real world power out of it.  Another direct fact.

The other downside is that if you install 50gw of wind with 10gw of solar and several GW of biomass, when wind is blowing strongly in the daytime, the value of renewable energy is negative. Destroying the very business case you are making.

We cannot just sweep these realities under the carpet, we have to address them.
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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4745 on: May 07, 2020, 05:28:38 PM »

The other downside is that if you install 50gw of wind with 10gw of solar and several GW of biomass, when wind is blowing strongly in the daytime, the value of renewable energy is negative. Destroying the very business case you are making.


Big swings across the day are what makes storage economic. Most storage options are pretty inefficient in energy terms, so they need a big margin between the price they buy at and the price they sell at. Big price swings need to happen regularly and reliably to make the business case for storage. They are a sign that the market is functioning the way it needs to, not that there is an insurmountable problem for renewables.

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4746 on: May 07, 2020, 06:30:07 PM »
Excuse me, what misinformation.

I posted hard stats which contradicted what you had posted.  Granted it was only for one day but without storage one day counts.

My main point was that big numbers will never get rid of coal and gas until. We have some buffer in the system.

That is Fact and not disinformation and I am not the only one saying it.

Just because you don't like the facts, don't call them disinformation. The UK has tens of GW of renewables installed but regularly struggles to get over 10gw of real world power out of it.  Another direct fact.

The other downside is that if you install 50gw of wind with 10gw of solar and several GW of biomass, when wind is blowing strongly in the daytime, the value of renewable energy is negative. Destroying the very business case you are making.

We cannot just sweep these realities under the carpet, we have to address them.

Cherry-picking is a classic denier tactic.

You respond to a post showing that renewables supplied 70% of western Europe's electricity over the past month with data from one hour in the UK. 

The post you replied to indicated that gas use in the UK was down by 90% and that coal hadn't been used for three weeks.  You continue to imply that gas and coal are necessary to address intermittency issues.  It's been demonstrated that they aren't.

You continue to post myths about renewable intermittency that have been shown to be wrong.  These are the same myths used by fossil fuel companies to pressure governments for subsidies to keep them in business even though they are no longer needed.

You're basically continuing to spread propaganda for oil, gas and coal companies.  Do you think that's in any way helpful?

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4747 on: May 07, 2020, 11:49:10 PM »

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4748 on: May 08, 2020, 06:53:28 PM »
For those curious about wind droughts in the UK, here's an article on what happened during the last extended one, in 2018.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2174262-weird-wind-drought-means-britains-turbines-are-at-a-standstill/

Quote
Weird 'wind drought' means Britain's turbines are at a standstill
17 July 2018

Britain is experiencing a “wind drought” that has slowed or halted the blades on turbines around the country.

July’s wind energy output so far is down 40 per cent when compared to the same period last year – despite more wind turbines having been installed in the interim, according to new figures.

“We’ve been typically doing between 2 to 3 gigawatts of wind [generation],” says Rob Gross of Imperial College London, which complied the data, “At a windier time of the year we might be doing 9 or 10.”

An unusually prolonged period of high pressure is to blame for the drought, says Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the UK Met Office.

The jet stream has remained further north, meaning an area of dense, high pressure air over the UK hasn’t budged.

So during the drought, wind turbines still produced about 60% of their expected output, not no electricity.

And high pressure generally means enhanced solar output.

Combine that with plentiful sources of renewable energy available in the European grid (geothermal from Iceland, hydropower from Scandinavian countries, solar and wind in other European countries) and short term battery storage, and you can see how Europe can easily get 70% of it's power from renewable energy now, in 2020, during this period of lower electricity demand.

And with new wind farms and solar installations being favored in the Covid recession economic recovery package, the transition to 100% renewable in Europe may be accelerated.

Sciguy

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #4749 on: May 08, 2020, 07:04:45 PM »
And here's a good reminder that there are many rooftops that can still hold solar panels, so concerns about the area required for renewable energy are overblown.  (Warning, big numbers ahead!)

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/05/04/ikea-put-1-million-solar-panels-on-370-stores-in-2019/

Quote
IKEA Put 1 Million Solar Panels On 370 Stores In 2019
May 4th, 2020 by Johnna Crider

In 2019, IKEA invested $2.8 billion in renewable energy infrastructure. IKEA put 1 million solar panels on 370 0f its stores and warehouses, and also built 535 wind turbines and 2 solar parks. The goal is to be climate positive by 2030. IKEA shows that we have the solutions. So, what’s stopping us from implementing them?