Friday, December 6, 2019
Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 12
1 US utilities race to slash emissions as ESG reporting takes off
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/12/03/us-utilities-emissions-esg-reporting/
The year 2019 may come to be seen as pivotal in the transformation of the US electricity sector.
A drive by dozens of US electricity utility holding companies to provide ESG reports has brought to the forefront numerous new commitments to zero carbon emission goals, and an accompanying surge in plans to install thousands of megawatts of wind and solar generation over the next few decades.
2 The European Investment Bank Has Quit Fossil Fuels. What Now?
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-european-investment-bank-has-quit-fossil-fuels-what-now
With an annual outlay in the energy sector of €15 billion ($16.6 billion), the European Investment Bank (EIB) is one of the sector’s biggest lenders.
And for every euro the EIB puts into a project or business, around seven more are invested by the private sector. That’s around €120 billion ($133 billion) of public and private investment in the energy sector that stems from the EIB’s choices. According to the IEA, global renewables investment in 2018 was $300 billion.
3 Repsol to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 at $5.3 billion cost
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-repsol-emissions-idUSKBN1Y6243
pain’s Repsol (REP.MC) pledged on Monday to reduce net carbon emissions from its operations and most of its products to zero by 2050 and absorb a 4.8 billion euro ($5.3 billion) hit to the value of its oil and gas assets in the process.
4 Exclusive: Big four auditors face investor calls for tougher climate scrutiny
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accounts-exclusive-idUSKBN1Y21XK
European investors managing assets worth more than 1 trillion pounds ($1.28 trillion) are pressing top auditors to take urgent action on climate-related risks, warning that failure to do so could do more damage than the financial crisis.
5 Kate Brandt Is Turning Google into a Green Powerhouse
https://www.outsideonline.com/2323696/kate-brandt-google-sustainability
She helped the Navy, the White House, and the entire federal government become more eco-friendly. Now Kate Brandt is tackling her most ambitious sustainability project yet.
She’s now charged with turning Google into the world leader in environmental practices.
6 Grupo Mexico picks Invenergy to develpp 168MW wind farm
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/grupo-mexico-picks-invenergy-to-develpp-168mw-wind-farm/2-1-719938
Mexican industrial conglomerate Grupo Mexico Infraestrutura has hired US developer Invenergy to build a 168MW wind farm in the state of Nuevo León in order to supply power to industries and corporate consumers.
Total investment in the project is estimated at $250m and it includes a 60km transmission line to link the project to Mexico’s power grid.
7 How Much Crude Oil Do You Unknowingly Eat?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/How-Much-Crude-Oil-Do-You-Unknowingly-Eat.html
You may think (or hope) that in your daily life you don’t need to worry about unknowingly eating or otherwise ingesting crude oil or any of its many, many petrochemical byproducts. But you would be wrong. And not just a little wrong–very, very wrong. Petroleum-based substances are in all kinds of innocuous-seeming things that we willingly put into our bodies. Even though petrochemicals are not technically (or really any other adverb you want to insert here) edible, we eat quite a lot of them.
8 New study analyzes viability of sustainable fuels — ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191126091311.htm
A technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and scaled up by Vertimass LLC to convert ethanol into fuels suitable for aviation, shipping and other heavy-duty applications can be price-competitive with conventional fuels while retaining the sustainability benefits of bio-based ethanol, according to a new analysis.
9 Corporate renewable energy on trend as Ralph Lauren joins RE100
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/corporate-renewable-energy-on-trend-as-ralph-lauren-joins-re100/2-1-716540
Ralph Lauren is among the latest recruits to the RE100 group of corporations backing a move to 100% renewable energy use.
The global fashion group is one of three new signatories to RE100, which said its members now number more than 200 as it demanded action to remove barriers to corporate renewable energy by governments attending the COP25 climate summitin Madrid.
10 Europe’s Offshore Wind Market Grapples With New Local Content Demands
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/over-zealous-local-content-rules-could-slow-energy-transition-warns-siemens
Demands for local content and manufacturing are growing louder in many offshore wind markets, and that includes the world’s most advanced and locally supplied market: Europe.
11 Renewable Hydrogen News: Power-to-Gas Mania Hits Maine
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/02/renewable-hydrogen-news-power-to-gas-mania-hits-maine/
Power-to-gas technology has been floating around on the CleanTechnica radar for several years now, and it looks like the great state of Maine could be the first in the US to push it into the mainstream. That’s good news for fans of renewable hydrogen, because renewable hydrogen is what puts the gas in power-to-gas. The question is, why Maine?
12 The Myth of Whole Home Battery Backup
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-myth-of-whole-home-battery-backup
Battery backup systems coupled with solar are being hailed as the best solution to Public Safety Power Shutoffs in California — not to mention our archaic electric grid.
