Friday, July 17, 2020
Recycling Renewables and Sustainable Business 44
1 Value of storage goes up with share of renewables but costs declines still vital
https://www.energy-storage.news/news/value-of-storage-goes-up-with-share-of-renewables-but-costs-declines-still
The value of energy storage increases with growing shares of renewable energy on the grid, but the availability and cost of storage will determine how successful decarbonisation with renewables can be.
That’s one of the key takeaways of a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (ACEE), supported by General Electric (GE). Researchers examined battery storage to determine the key drivers behind its present economic value, as well as the likely dynamics of what happens when deployment increases and what that implies for the long-term cost-effectiveness of energy storage.
2 Data Science: The Key Tool Cities Need To Reduce Carbon Emissions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ankitmishra/2020/07/13/data-science-the-key-tool-cities-need-to-reduce-carbon-emissions/
In November 2019, the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Wuhan, China. During the early days of the outbreak, local authorities attempted to clamp downon sharing information about the virus, but as the transmission strengthened in the region, the government imposed lockdown measures across China’s Hubei province to control the spread of Covid-19. On January 22, Wuhan became the first major city under quarantine, and in the months that followed, many cities followed suit that caused a shock to the global economy. In June, the OECD projected that the global economy would contract by 6% this year if the second wave of the virus is avoided. However, in the case of a second outbreak, the global economy would contract to 7.6%.
3 Smart Cities Will Revolutionize Energy Consumption After The Pandemic
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Smart-Cities-Will-Revolutionize-Energy-Consumption-After-The-Pandemic.html
Technology and innovation are an integral part of helping cities to make more efficient use of energy, while many parts of the world are moving toward increased environmental awareness and a strategic push to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
During the pandemic, governments are using investment in technology to help curb the spread of the coronavirus and to help the economy after the COVID-19 fallout, ARC Advisory Group said earlier this month. Despite the current headwinds, many cities continue to pursue investment in ‘smart city’ technology, which could be a boon to economic recovery, the advisory said.
4 Hydrogen: The great energy hope, or a whole lot of hype?
https://reneweconomy.com.au/hydrogen-the-great-energy-hope-or-a-whole-lot-of-hype-16691/
Hydrogen has some very large difficulties to overcome if it is to be successful as an export fuel for electricity production in Asia.
It’s very likely that every Asian country will want to be as energy independent as possible. Locally produced wind and solar [VRE] offers energy independence, but for many Asian countries the land mass or population density does not suit the mass deployment of solar or wind in the way we are rolling it out in Australia. Hence some hydrogen hype.
5 Why The Hydrogen Boom Is Good News For Natural Gas
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Fuel-Cells/Why-The-Hydrogen-Boom-Is-Good-News-For-Natural-Gas.html
After decades of stagnation and multiple false dawns, the hydrogen economy is finally taking off, with some experts predicting that hydrogen could become a globally-traded energy source, just like oil and gas. A growing number of countries and industries are proactively investing in hydrogen technologies; none, however, can rival the EU’s zeal.
The European Union has set out its new hydrogen strategy as part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality for all its industries by 2050.
6 Is This The Best Way To Produce Cheap Hydrogen?
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Fuel-Cells/Is-This-The-Best-Way-To-Produce-Cheap-Hydrogen.html
When the European Union recently announced large-scale hydrogen production plans as part of its green energy future, many in the solar, wind, and natural gas industry rejoiced. But there is also an emerging avenue for hydrogen production and its rubbish. Literally.
7 World’s largest oil firm joins alliance to reduce industry’s carbon emissions
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/16/worlds-largest-oil-firm-joins-alliance-to-reduce-industrys-carbon-emissions
The world’s biggest oil company, Saudi Aramco, has joined an alliance of oil companies to set the first industry-wide target to help tackle the climate crisis by setting carbon emissions goals.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant has agreed to reduce the carbon intensity of its business as part of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) which includes Shell, BP and ExxonMobil.
8 G20 Commits $Billions to Energy
https://www.rigzone.com/news/g20_commits_billions_to_energy-16-jul-2020-162735-article/
G20 countries have committed at least $267.1 billion to support different energy types through new or amended policies since the beginning of the pandemic, as of July 15, according to energypolicytracker.org.
These commitments include $120.56 billion for unconditional fossil fuels, through 129 policies, $72.22 billion for conditional clean energy, through 47 policies, and $30.25 billion for conditional fossil fuels, through 16 policies. They also include $27.66 billion for other energy, through 28 policies, and $16.41 billion for unconditional clean energy, through 47 policies.
9 French developer sees opportunity in using U.S. coal plant transmission infrastructure for solar projects
https://ieefa.org/french-developer-sees-opportunity-in-using-u-s-coal-plant-transmission-infrastructure-for-solar-projects/
A utility-scale solar developer is acquiring land rights near U.S. coal-fired power plants, hoping the facilities will close sooner than expected and open up lucrative transmission connections.
Photosol US, a subsidiary of a French company, has purchased options near plants in Nebraska and Kansas, as well as the San Juan Generating Station in northern New Mexico. While the San Juan plant has approval from state regulators to shut down in 2022, the Nebraska and Kansas plants, completed in the early 1980s, do not have retirement dates.
10 Improving electric vehicle economics
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/making-electric-vehicles-profitable
The future looks bright for electric-vehicle (EV) growth. Consumers are more willing than ever to consider buying EVs, and sales are rising fast. Most major markets have consistently registered 50 to 60 percent growth in recent years, albeit from small bases. More new models from a growing cadre of automotive OEMs make finding a suitable EV easier: in 2018 alone OEMs launched about 100 new models and sold two million units in total globally. Likewise, performance improvements continue with respect to range, performance, and reliability. Regulations in major car markets—namely China, the European Union, and the United States—compel OEMs to produce more EVs and encourage consumers to buy them.
11 The Biofuel Boom Was Doomed From The Start
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Biofuels/The-Biofuel-Boom-Was-Doomed-From-The-Start.html
Why haven’t biofuels taken off? For years they have been touted as the fuel of the future, with high-profile commercial aircraft making headlines for pioneering all-biofuel international flights and promising a greener future for air travel. The first transatlantic flight powered solely by biofuel, a Gulfstream G450 owned by Honeywell International Inc., took place nearly a decade ago, in 2011, and was lauded as a harbinger of green jet fuel for all.
12 Car tyres are major source of ocean microplastics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/14/car-tyres-are-major-source-of-ocean-microplastics-study
More than 200,000 tonnes of tiny plastic particles are blown from roads into the oceans every year, according to research.
The study suggests wind-borne microplastics are a bigger source of ocean pollution than rivers, the route that has attracted most attention to date. The analysis focused on the tiny particles produced by tyres and brake pads as they wear down.
It estimated that 550,000 tonnes of particles smaller than 0.01mm are deposited each year, with almost half ending up in the ocean. More than 80,000 tonnes fall on remote ice- and snow-covered areas and may increase melting as the dark particles absorb the sun’s heat.
13 More bad news for BPA: Novel analysis adds to evidence of chemical’s health effects
https://www.ehn.org/bpa-effects-on-human-health-2646417888.html
Exposure to minuscule amounts of bisphenol-A can cause a multitude of health problems, including effects on the developing brain, heart, and ovaries, according to a paper published on Thursday that integrates data from several animal studies.
14 Summers could become ‘too hot for humans’
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53415298
Millions of people around the world could be exposed to dangerous levels of heat stress – a dangerous condition which can cause organs to shut down.
Many live in developing countries, and do jobs that expose them to potentially life threatening conditions.
These include being out in the open on farms and building sites or indoors in factories and hospitals.
15 Joe Biden Promises ‘Historic Investments’ In Clean Energy
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Joe-Biden-Promises-Historic-Investments-In-Clean-Energy.html
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden proposed a $2 trillion clean energy and climate change package on Tuesday, a plan that would overhaul transportation, electricity, and heavy industry. Some of the highlights include making the entire electricity sector 100 percent carbon-free by 2035, retrofitting four million buildings over four years, building 500,000 EV recharging stations, and funding for researching a variety of carbon capture and storage as well as advanced nuclear power technologies.
16 Methane rises to highest level on record
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/14/livestock-farming-and-fossil-fuels-could-drive-4c-global-heat-rise
Animal farming and fossil fuels have driven global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane to the highest level on record, putting the world on track for dangerously increased heat levels of 3C to 4C.
Since 2000 discharges of the odourless, colourless gas have risen by more than 50m tonnes a year, equivalent to 350m cars or double the total emissions of Germany or France, according to the latest Methane Budget study by a global team of scientists.
17 Say Hello to the Biggest Battery in America (for Now)
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/say-hello-to-the-new-biggest-battery-in-the-us
Things are moving fast in the grid battery industry — and nowhere faster than California.
That’s where LS Power, a private equity firm that develops grid infrastructure, hooked up the new most powerful battery in the country last month.
The Gateway Energy Storage Project turned on an initial tranche of 62.5 megawatts/62.5 megawatt-hours near San Diego on June 9, according to the California Independent System Operator.
18 Offshore wind energy investment quadruples despite Covid-19 slump
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/13/offshore-wind-energy-investment-quadruples-despite-covid-19-slump
Global offshore wind investment more than quadrupled in the first half of the year even as the coronavirus pandemic triggered an unprecedented economic shock.
A report has found that investors gave the greenlight to 28 new offshore windfarmsworth a total of $35bn (£28bn) this year, four times more than in the first half of 2019 and well above the total for last year as a whole.
19 IHS Markit: Oil and Gas Operations Turn to Renewables
https://solarindustrymag.com/ihs-markit-oil-and-gas-operations-turn-to-renewables
Oil and gas companies are starting to utilize zero-carbon sources to reduce carbon emissions associated with operations, according to a new database and analysis by IHS Markit of these types of renewable energy projects.
“There is a striking pace of growth over the past few years and a dynamic commercial environment for delivering renewable energy to oil and gas operations,” says Judson Jacobs, executive director of upstream energy at IHS Markit.
