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COP21:

¶ Can we avoid climate apocalypse? • Nearly every country in the world has agreed that an increase of 2° C in global average temperature since the Industrial Revolution, is too much. World leaders will meet in Paris starting on November 30 at the COP21 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. [CNN]

A view of Durban, South Africa, if temperatures rise as much as 4° C, according to Climate Central.

¶ COP21: Beginner’s guide to the UN Paris climate summit • World governments have already committed to curbing human activities such as burning fossil fuels that release the gases that interfere with the climate. The difficulty comes when you try to get 195 countries to agree on how to deal with the issue of climate change. [BBC]

Science and Technology:

¶ New onshore wind turbines are coming to market. Senvion’s 3.4M140 is a 3.4-MW example with 140 meter rotor blades. The turbine should be able to generate 12.2 GWh of electricity annually in locations with wind velocities of 6.5 meters per second at hub height, making capacity factor around 41%. [www.renewablesinternational.net]

World:

¶ The Wachau, a picture-postcard river valley in Austria, makes a lot of wine. Soon it could be producing its own electricity too, and in a way that will not spoil the stunning views. People in the valley have found a way to contribute to the fight against global warming by using what is called “river current power.” [CTV News]

The Wachau Valley. Photo by Karl Gruber. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ In 2010, a farmer in St. David’s, Newfoundland, installed an anaerobic digester that turns the waste from his 1,200 cows into electricity. His farm uses only 24% of the power, and the excess is enough to keep the lights on in 400 homes all year long. He wants to sell the power, but red tape has been holding him up for years. [CBC.ca]

¶ Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt said new low-emissions coal power plants were unlikely to be built in Australia, despite experts saying they could help coal remain the dominant global fuel. He expects renewable energy, such as wind and solar, would take up the slack as old coal plant close. [The Australian Financial Review]

¶ Israel hopes to highlight its green technology expertise, with an emphasis on solar energy, as a major solution to global warming at the COP21 talks in Paris on November 30, according to a member of the delegation. Israeli innovation is being highlighted for its potential to help countries achieve climate goals. [The Times of Israel]

An aerial view of the 40 megawatt solar field recently built at Kibbutz Ketura, which provides the one third of the daytime electricity for the city of Eilat. (courtesy Gigawatt Global)

¶ When forest fires roared through Siberia this summer, so vast that the smoke blocked vast Lake Baikal from satellite view, Russian officials blamed the blazes on arsonists and disorganized fire crews. There may be another culprit: global warming, but Russia has little interest in reducing greenhouse gases. [The Journal]

US:

¶ Arizona could meet the requirements of the Clean Power Plan with large-scale solar and wind projects already under review in the state, according to a recent analysis released by Arizona State University’s Energy Policy Innovation Council and the Sonoran Institute, a sustainability group based in Tucson. [azcentral.com]

¶ The California birthplace of a machine that could bring clean power to the developing world and knock a tiny dent in global warming looks like a junkyard. But the Power Pallet, which generates electricity from corn cobs, wood chips, coconut shells and other kinds of cheap, dense biomass is “carbon negative.” [San Francisco Chronicle]

Tom Price, director of strategic initiatives, looks over a PP20 Power Pallet while giving a tour at All Power Labs. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

¶ A new solar plant being built near Florence, Arizona, will reduce carbon emissions equal to removing almost 20,000 vehicles from the road each year, company officials say. The Sandstone Solar ranch, currently under construction, will use 182,000 Jinko Solar photovoltaic modules, mounted on trackers. [TriValley Central]

¶ Research has found that an earthquake fault near California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is linked to another fault farther north, potentially making it capable of stronger shaking. A US Geological Survey scientist says it is not yet known what the implications are for the possibility of earthquake. [KSBY San Luis Obispo News]

Science and Technology:

¶ Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans are changing the makeup of plankton. While the shift in numbers could certainly be fortunate for animals that eat one type with a burgeoning population, researchers are unsure exactly which animals those are. That is worrisome because it shows just how little is known about the ecosystems. [Science Recorder]

Recent research shows that higher levels of carbon dioxide may be leading to a rise in the numbers of tiny phytoplankton known as coccolithophores.

¶ Canadian researchers say they have developed a power cell that generates electrical energy using the photosynthesis of blue-green algae, generating renewable energy while removing carbon from the atmosphere. During photosynthesis, electrons are released and can be drawn off into an external circuit, producing an electric current. [ABC Online]

World:

¶ The prestigious London School of Economics announced this week that it would divest from its £97.2 million in investments in coal and tar sands companies. Research published by magazine Corporate Knights concluded that the LSE endowment had lost $3 million due to not having divested 3 years ago. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Recently, the US released analysis of the country’s 2014 carbon emissions. It showed that growth in carbon emissions is declining even as economic activity expands. A new report indicates the same held true globally. Even though the global economy expanded by 3% last year, carbon emissions only rose by 0.5%. [Ars Technica]

Emissions trends: China flattening, US flat, and EU dropping. But be very afraid of India’s growth. Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

¶ Quenching India’s energy demand will take $140 billion a year in new investments, and while India has deregulated much of its energy sector and has recently issued a “historic climate pledge”, growing demand could prompt policymakers to usher in a broader swath of energy investments, especially in renewables. [Rapid News Network]

¶ In the next five years, China would invest 200 billion yuan ($31 billion) in building power grids in its northwest province of Xinjiang to connect the region to the country’s east, Pakistan and central Asian countries. Resources-rich Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region would create “Power Silk Road” transmission lines by 2020. [Daily Times]

¶ Latin America is one of the fastest-growing solar markets worldwide, spurred on by high solar resources and surging electricity demand, resulting in 280% installation growth in 2015 compared to 2014. The Latin American solar market may dip slightly in 2016, but is expected to rebound strongly between 2017–2020. [CleanTechnica]

Visita Planta Abengoa in Chile. Image by Ministerio Bienes Nacionales. CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ BP’s CEO Bob Dudley talked about climate change and the role oil and gas companies can play in the transition to a low carbon future. BP management believes the best course of action would be for the parties at the UN conference to reach an agreement on carbon pricing, either with taxes or by cap-and-trade. [Business Finance News]

¶ Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said that it has confirmed active faults at the site of the No 1 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co’s Higashidori nuclear plant and will base discussions on the restart of the idled reactor on the assumption that the faults will move. Tohoku Electric denies the existence of such faults. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶ Texas has by far the most potential for solar and wind generation in the United States, which means the Lone Star state might be even more energy-rich in the 21st century than it has been in the past. In addition, the state’s energy sector is trending cleaner due to market forces for a number of important reasons. [Breaking Energy]

Nodding donkey and housing under construction in Texas.

¶ With climate negotiators gathering in Paris, calls are intensifying to make all polluters pay a price for carbon dioxide and other planet-warming emissions. Many economists back the approach as a market-friendly way to cut greenhouse gasses. The US Congress is hostile to the idea, but it’s gaining traction elsewhere. [Voice of America]

¶ For more than three decades, people from the Marshall islands have moved in the thousands to the landlocked Ozark Mountains for better education, jobs and health care, thanks to an agreement that lets them live and work in the US. The connection makes it an obvious destination for those facing a new threat: global warming. [Fox News]

Climate change poses an existential threat to places like the Marshall Islands, which protrude only 6 feet (2 meters) above sea level in most places. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

¶ Six years ago, the owner California’s last operating nuclear power plant announced it would seek an extended license for its aging reactors. Now, with a much changed power landscape, it is evaluating whether to meet the costly state environmental requirements it needs. If it decides not to, California’s nuclear power age would end. [Manteca Bulletin]

¶ Officials in Vernon, Vermont, are shooting for a Town Meeting day referendum on the possibility of building a 600-MW, gas-fired power plant somewhere near the Vermont Yankee site. Officials also are asking the project’s lead advocate, a resident of Winhall, Vermont, to narrow in on a site for the plant by early 2016. [The Keene Sentinel]

Science and Technology:

¶ This year will be the hottest on record and 2016 could be even hotter due to the El Niño weather pattern, the World Meteorological Organization said. WMO director-general Michel Jarraud rejected climate sceptics’ arguments, saying, “It’s not about believing or not. It’s a matter of seeing the facts. The facts are there.” [Free Malaysia Today]

How long will it last?

¶ One significant challenge to lithium-ion EV battery technology is coming from the lithium-sulfur field. A lithium-sulfur battery research project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has had sufficient success that Oak Ridge announced that it has signed an exclusive lithium-sulfur battery agreement with a startup called Solid Power. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Stanford researcher Mark Jacobson has analyzed what it would take for each of the 50 states to go fully renewable. Normally, intermittency issues are expected to be handled by fossil fuel power and batteries. But the new analysis suggests we don’t need any of that, and we don’t need biofuels or nuclear, either. [Ars Technica UK]

World:

¶ German household-scale battery maker Sonnenbatterie will soon provide buyers of the company’s household-scale electricity storage batteries, most of whom also have solar photovoltaic panels mounted on their rooftops, to automatically buy and sell energy from each other directly through a shared online platform. [Deutsche Welle]

German rooftops.

¶ According to a recent report, soon to be released by Dodge Data & Analytics, green building continues to double every three years, with strongest acceleration in emerging economies, and clients and tenants worldwide are increasingly demanding sustainability, for both energy efficiency and occupant benefit. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Early this year, France’s state energy and environment agency was set to publish a study showing the country could actually abandon nuclear power and rely entirely on renewable power in decades to come. But the presentation was scrapped under political pressure, illustrating tensions surrounding French energy policy. [Reuters]

¶ The UK Department of Energy issued a new analysis of energy and emissions projections in 2015. An analysis of the projections by Carbon Brief, shows that the government now expects 22 GW of new renewable capacity to be installed by 2025, down by more than a third from the 34 GW forecast last year. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in England. Author: stephen jones. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

¶ Renewable energy is rapidly becoming the world’s preferred choice for new electricity generation, according to a Climate Council report. “A Whole New World: Tracking the renewables boom from Copenhagen to Paris” reveals how the world is in the midst of a dramatic energy revolution which could still accelerate. [Climate Control News]

¶ A competition to identify the “best value small modular reactor design for the UK” will be launched next year, to “pave the way towards building one of the world’s first small modular reactors in the UK in the 2020s,” the Treasury said. Support for the technology will come through a £250 million research package. [Yahoo Finance UK]

US:

¶ New rules could make it possible to develop more renewable energy in Alaska, by making it easier for independent projects to sell their power to the grid. After two years of hearings, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska issued new rules saying utilities should buy renewable power if it is least expensive. [Alaska Public Radio Network]

Alaska Environmental Power workers and contractors prepare to hoist the hub of a rotor and the three large blades to a hub. Photo: Tim Ellis/KUAC

¶ The energy storage market is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting spaces in all of renewables. Two major developments highlight this. First, even that the most dysfunctional of American institutions, the Congress, is getting interested in energy storage. Second, Wall Street is putting money into energy storage. [OilPrice.com]

¶ Fred Costello, a free-market Republican member of Florida’s House of Representatives, filed a bill last week to open the state’s energy market to solar energy competition by allowing homeowners and businesses to lease their rooftops to companies that generate solar power and sell it back to the grid. [Government Technology]

¶ North Dakota regulators have approved a 100.4-MW community-initiated wind project in Rolette County. The Public Service Commission voted unanimously to grant a certificate of site compatibility authorizing construction of up to 59 turbines. The project is located on a 14,000-acre site in north-central North Dakota [reNews]

Image: G114 (Gamesa)

¶ Developer Cape Wind has urged a US court to dismiss opponents’ appeal of its 468-MW offshore wind project in Nantucket Sound. The appeal is the latest in the plaintiffs “14-year crusade” against the project, which includes more than 30 administrative and court challenges, Cape Wind told a federal Court of Appeals. [reNews]

¶ Biodico announced its new facility in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The plant is purportedly the world’s first biofuel production facility operating entirely on renewable heat and power generated on-site. It will go online the first week of December, to produce 20 million gallons of biodiesel fuel each year. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Opinion:

¶ Australia should back calls to end coal and save its drowning neighbours While all of us of will experience the effects of climate change most are not facing the inevitable disappearance of our country. Yet that is the case for the 92,000 inhabitants of Kiribati, as well as other low-lying island states across the planet. [eco-business.com]

Kiribati, with about 92,000 inhabitants, recently bought land in Fiji to relocate its inhabitants as the sea level rises. Image: Shutterstock

¶ The Climate Talks in Paris Might Actually Work This Time • UN climate talks set to begin in Paris next week promise to produce a landmark deal that has eluded diplomats for more than two decades. All of the G20 nations, including the biggest developing countries, China, India and Brazil, have prepared to limit pollution. [Bloomberg]

Science and Technology:

¶ An accelerated transition to renewable energy could limit the global temperature rise to below 2° C, says an International Renewable Energy Agency report. It says if renewable energy accounted for 36% of the world energy mix by 2030, half the emission reductions needed to limit warming to 2° C would already be met. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ US-based Envirofit was one of the first social enterprises to provide clean cookstoves, and it’s just recently sold its millionth unit. Rocket stoves are wonders of sustainability. They address dangers to human health posed by open-fire cooking; they also burn very small amounts of wood fuel, with low emissions. [CleanTechnica]

Image credit: Envirofit International via Picasa. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

¶ Ireland could install nearly 4 GW of solar by 2030, adding more than €2 billion to its economy and creating more than 7,000 jobs, with modest policy support, a new report produced by KPMG has claimed. The report was produced on behalf of the Irish Solar Energy Association and says the technology should be supported. [Solar Power Portal]

¶ The government of South Australia released the final report from its Low Carbon Economy Expert Panel, which recommends the state’s greenhouse gas emissions be cut by more than half by 2030 and the state be a net zero emitter by 2050. The panel also recommends an emissions trading scheme linked to California’s. [InDaily]

¶ The 300-MW Cestas solar photovoltaic project, located in the Bordeaux region of France, has now been fully connected to the electric grid, according to recent reports. Full grid connection was achieved with the connection of the last 12-MW portion of the project, which has a total of 25 different 12 MW project portions. [CleanTechnica]

Cestas solar project

US:

¶ The US DOE announced that a company called Dioxide Materials is getting a slice of the agency’s new $125 million round of funding for “transformational” energy projects. Among its areas of expertise, Dioxide Materials is developing a low cost system that uses renewable energy to produce hydrogen fuel from water. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Vestas is to supply an unnamed client with 200 MW of turbines for a wind farm in Oklahoma. The manufacturer will deliver 61 of its V126 3.3-MW units; it is the first order from the US for that model. Delivery will start in the second quarter of 2016, with completion in the second half of year. Oklahoma has been 2-MW territory. [reNews]

¶ Duke Energy, the largest electric power holding company in the US, has repurposed a retired coal-powered operation in New Richmond, Ohio, in a development partnership with LG Chem, Greensmith, and Parker Hannifin, which provided the 2-MW power conversion inverter. The storage capacity of the unit was not disclosed. [CleanTechnica]

Duke Energy’s Walter C. Beckjord retired coal-powered generating station. Image via Cincinnati Business Courier

¶ Las Vegas is planning to run municipal buildings, fire stations, parks, streetlights and other facilities exclusively with renewable energy, under a deal announced Tuesday with the NV Energy, a utility owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The agreement doesn’t cover the famously bright casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

¶ According to the Environmental Defense Fund, 70% of Hoboken’s population lives in flood zones. The city also has a plan to manage flooding and other disasters. Working with EDF’s Climate Corps program, Hoboken is moving toward building a microgrid to keep the power on at 55 buildings during disasters. [Government Technology]

¶ Alaska is a vast wilderness of natural beauty. But it also holds more coal than all the other US states put together. As world leaders prepare to gather for a major climate change summit, plans to build an open coal mine that would cover 78 sq km (30 sq miles) surrounding a valued Alaskan river could be coming to a head. [BBC]

Photo by Pete Niesen

¶ According to the California Air Resources Board, a leak that started October 23 at a Southern California Gas Company well accounted for a quarter of all the methane released by the state since it started. Estimates are that up to 50 metric tons of the potent greenhouse gas leaked into the atmosphere each hour since the leak started. [KCET]

¶ The US is set to become the first nation to decide whether it’s safe to operate nuclear power plants for 80 years, twice as long as initially allowed. The majority of the nation’s 99 reactors already have 20-year extensions to their 40-year operating licenses. Now, operators led by Dominion Resources want even more time. [Bloomberg]

Opinion:

¶ How Renewable Energy Could Make Climate Treaties Moot • Creating an international agreement is an admirable goal, but notably, countries are not racing to zero emissions on their own. It is amazing that no country has performed a study on the benefits and costs of going to 100% clean, renewable energy. [Scientific American]

©iStock.com

¶ How Virtual Power Plants Can Help Replace Dirty Peaker Plants • A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a common problem: How to pay for aging, mostly coal-fired power plants whose only function is as backup for peak demand? One way is to combine distributed power and loads sources in a “virtual” power plant. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ Sooner than it takes to build a nuclear power station, lithium-air batteries could be helping wind and solar to make coal, oil and nuclear obsolete, according to researchers from the Cambridge University. Five times lighter and five times cheaper than current lithium batteries, Li-air would open the way to our 100% renewable future. [The Ecologist]

World:

¶ A developing country dubbed one of the most vulnerable to climate change has confirmed controversial plans for more coal-fired power stations. The president of the Philippines has told the BBC the new coal plants are needed to meet demands for energy. This comes despite coal’s huge contributions to global warming. [BBC]

The Philippines is regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Kate Stephens/BBC

¶ Richard Branson and other notable business leaders were signatories of a definitive letter of climate action directed to heads of state. Specifically, the letter calls for the Paris (COP21) deal to include a long-term climate goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Their aim in the process is “the end of business as usual.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ Allianz CEO Oliver Baete said the company will no longer invest in companies if more than 30% of sales come from coal mining or if they generate more than 30% of electricity from the fossil fuel. Allianz manages about €1.8 trillion in assets, focusing on the U.S., Germany, France, Italy, Britain and the Asia-Pacific region. [Newser]

¶ A study concludes that long-term ocean warming worsened deadly floods that hit Australia in 2010/11. During that summer, a series of floods hit Queensland, affecting at least 90 towns, over 200,000 people, killing at least 38 people, causing damage of $2.38 billion (Aus), and reducing Australia’s GDP about $40 billion. [CleanTechnica]

Image Credit: Markus Gebauer / Shutterstock.com

¶ LG Chem has announced it will supply Steag with six 15 MW Li-ion battery systems, while Nidec ASI will provide the necessary PCS and EMS solutions. “With 140 megawatt hours of power, the storage systems will deliver enough energy to supply 10,000 households per day with electricity,” said LG Chem. [pv magazine]

¶ Jordan is set to add 1,600 MW of solar and wind power to the national energy mix by 2016. The renewable energy sector needs an investment of $2.4 billion by 2025, in order to increase the contribution of clean energy sources to the Kingdom’s overall power capacity, says Ibrahim Saif, minister of energy and mineral resources. [AMEinfo]

¶ Investment in renewable sources of energy in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by nearly 50% last year to $23 billion, according to a study released by the Inter-American Development Bank and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Brazil accounted for $14 billion of that total; Mexico and Chile followed with $2 billion each. [La prensa]

US:

¶ The EU’s renewable energy requirements are forcing coal-based power plants to use biomass fuel. Swaths of woodlands in Southeastern United States are being cut down to fuel the biomass boom across the Atlantic. A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council points out that 15 million acres of unprotected forests are at risk. [Digital Journal]

Europe’s biomass boom is putting American forests at risk. Photo by cuellar.

¶ To bring the benefits of solar energy to more of people, especially those who are not wealthy and who otherwise lack easy access to solar power, the Obama administration rolled out a national solar initiative last July. One of its key components, a private-public community solar partnership, is now starting to really come together. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Nuclear power plant owners are welcoming reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants state regulators to mandate that half of the state’s energy come from renewable energy sources by 2030 while creating incentives for nuclear to remain viable in the interim. The governor wants to keep the Ginna and Fitzpatrick nuclear plants going. [RTO Insider]

¶ Builders seeking a net-zero energy home showcase can look to BuiltGreen’s zHome townhome complex in Issaquah, Washington. Several year’s later, the country’s first Net-Zero Energy townhome complex, meets expectations on reducing energy and water consumption, according this newly released white paper. [CleanTechnica]

zHome townhome complex

¶ A research study has found that using more solar power in Arizona could save 15 billion gallons of water annually. Most of the water used in Arizona is for agriculture, but another common usage is for cooling natural gas, coal, and nuclear power plants. Obviously, operating rooftop solar power does not require such water use. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ Most people know global oil prices have crashed this year. This was caused by a massive supply glut created by ferocious production from OPEC and near-record US output. The oversupply problem is so bad that oil tankers waiting to be offloaded are piling up off the US Gulf Coast because there’s nowhere to put the crude. [CNN]

Tanker loading oil. US Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Andrew M. Meyers. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ UK-based project developer Lightsource has announced its expansion into the rapidly growing solar power market of India, as it has signed an agreement to invest $3 billion to develop 3 GW solar power capacity in the country. The agreement was signed during Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United Kingdom. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Wind turbine blade manufacturer LM Wind Power is setting up a blade factory in Vadodara in the Indian state of Gujarat in response to increased domestic demand, the Danish company said. The plant is scheduled to start operations in March 2016 and will supply blades to wind projects in the northern part of India and beyond. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ An 8.5-MW solar power plant in Rwanda is designed so that, from a bird’s-eye view, it resembles the shape of the African continent. The $23.7 million (£15.6 million) solar field went from contract signing to construction to connection in just a year, defying sceptics of Africa’s ability to realise projects fast. [The Guardian]

The 8.5-MW solar power plant in Rwanda’s famed green hills. Photograph: Cyril Ndegeya / AFP for the Guardian

¶ Battery costs are falling to the point that they are becoming increasingly viable as an option for uses such as supporting the stability of power grids. New electricity storage installed on to the grid to support renewables is likely to grow more than 60-fold from 196 MW of capacity now to 12,700 MW in 2025, according to Navigant. [Irish Times]

¶ For the first time ever, over half of all new annual investment into clean energy power generating projects globally went toward projects in emerging markets, rather than toward wealthier countries. Emerging market investments in renewables hit a record annual high of $126 billion in 2014, up $35.5 billion from 2013 levels. [Jakarta Post]

¶ Alberta will speed up the phase out of coal-fired power and move to more renewable energy by 2030, according to its newly released climate change strategy. The plan suggests that two-thirds of coal-generated electricity will be replaced by renewables, mainly wind power, with natural gas generation for load reliability. [Calgary Herald]

A wind farm near Fort MacLeod, Alberta. Leah Hennel / Calgary Hearald Archives

¶ Just a few weeks after the UK’s Prime Minister announced a deal with the Chinese to build the Hinkley Point nuclear plant, Baroness Jones, a Green party London Assembly member, asked London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, whether he supported it despite the cost. In reply, he said, “It’s a disgrace.” [The London Economic]

US:

¶ In Climate Science, two of the three Democratic presidential candidates are ‘A’ students, while most of the Republican contenders are flunking, according to a panel of scientists who reviewed candidates’ comments. The climate and biological scientists did the rating at the request of The Associated Press. [Watertown Public Opinion]

¶ In the face of growing safety problems, cheap natural gas and the rising use of renewable energy sources, aging nuclear power plants are closing down across the US, raising questions about the future viability of nuclear energy production. Pilgrim and Fitzpatrick are both old and expensive to run, but they typify nuclear problems. [Jefferson Public Radio]

The Entergy Corporation will close Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, on Cape Cod Bay, within four years. Entergy Nuclear / Flickr

¶ Danish wind turbine blade maker LM Wind Power is increasing the number of employees at a North Dakota plant by 100 to almost 700 in coming months. The company wants to be competitive in the labor market and lifted its starting wage for production employees. The plant has been retooling for longer blades. [SeeNews Renewables]

Opinion:

¶ Good news: Big companies are using a record amount of clean energy • In the United States, clean energy is already a booming business. Solar is the fastest-growing energy source in the country, and in 2015, total investment in renewable energy projects here reached nearly $40 billion. And big companies are getting involved. [Grist]

Shutterstock image.

¶ The broken promises, politics of corn ethanol • The federal corn ethanol mandate, also known as the Renewable Fuel Standard, exemplifies how national politics play into an issue that makes absolutely no sense. The case against it is so strong that groups ranging from the Sierra Club to Americans for Tax Reform agree on it. [Modesto Bee]

World:

¶ With just a week to go until a crucial global warming summit begins, 170 countries have submitted pledges for greenhouse gas curbs to underpin a 195-nation climate pact. Those countries account for about 93% of the world population and produce roughly 93% of emissions driving dangerous levels of climate change. [The Japan Times]

¶ Two years ago, a global energy company abandoned plans to build a $120 million pilot wind farm off Maine’s coast following opposition from the Governor Paul LePage. Now it is moving ahead with a similar project in Scotland. The decision is inviting an examination of what Maine may be losing in terms of jobs and investment. [Press Herald]

Floating wind turbines.

¶ Electricity coming to Crimea from Ukraine was cut shortly after midnight on Sunday, local time, according to the Crimean branch of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. The ministry said 1,896,000 people were without power, and that emergency supplies had been turned on for hospitals and other important facilities. [Deutsche Welle]

¶ The government of Bangladesh approved construction of a large-scale solar park in an effort to increase the share of power from renewable sources in this electricity-starved country. The new solar park, which is due to begin generating within the next 18 months, will supply up to 200 MW of electricity to the national grid. [DhakaTribune]

¶ The Greens will seek to build momentum for more ambitious action on climate change by calling for the creation of a new government authority to help Australia reach a 90% target for renewable energy by 2030. The party has already adopted the goal, but the new policy document spells out how this could be achieved. [The Guardian]

Wind farm near Merredin, Western Australia. Photograph: Calla Wahlquist for the Guardian

¶ Residents of rural China have fears about the proposed expansion of the country’s nuclear program. Ask villagers in the Chinese village of Hubin what they think of proposed nuclear plant, and talk quickly turns to the Communist government’s dismal record of industrial accidents, as well as the Fukushima Disaster of 2011. [New York Times]

US:

¶ Republicans are taking aim at a new “Green Climate Fund,” as they look to weaken President Obama’s hand in global climate talks later this month. The pot of money, a $3 billion climate change pledge the administration made last year, is something officials hope to bring to the negotiating table at United Nations summit in Paris. [The Hill]

¶ A proposed solar energy project in Bethel, Connecticut, that has been entangled in bureaucracy for years could finally get underway early in 2016. Officials expect that a proposal to build a 954-kW solar farm on the site of the town’s old landfill will finally come to a vote soon, allowing construction to begin in the spring. [Danbury News Times]

Opinion:

¶ Nuking Clean Energy:  How Nuclear Power Makes Wind and Solar Harder • Nuclear is a barrier to a clean-energy future, not a piece of it. Nuclear is so expensive that there’s little room left in a utility budget to build wind and solar, but more importantly, it makes high levels of wind and solar become harder to achieve. [Energy Collective]

Science and Technology:

¶ By adopting bicycles and electric bikes for just 10% of urban trips, we would save some $24 trillion between now and 2050, as well as reducing GHG emissions from motor vehicles by about 11%, according to a report from the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy. About 6% of urban trips are already on bicycles. [CleanTechnica]

Commuter bikes at Alewife Station, near Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by agr. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons. 

¶ Though many believe the lifetime of a solar panel is twenty-five years, a number of older models have exceeded this. When Kyocera tested a 30-year-old module last year, it discovered it was still operating at 90.4% of capacity. There are 37-year-old Arco Solar (now SolarWorld USA) panels in operation. [CleanTechnica]

¶ After a staggering 90% decline, it is hoped that the population of the iconic monarch butterfly will recover following coordinated efforts of North American governments. The insects have been damaged by illegal logging and pesticide use that have destroyed the milkweed plants they depend on for food and to lay their eggs. [Columbus Dispatch]

World:

¶ Spain has made renewable energy a top priority, and the investment has paid off: 42% of Spain’s electricity came from renewable sources in 2013. The majority comes from wind power, but solar provided 13% of the country’s energy and is growing. Spain is also home to the largest solar farm in the world, Andasol. (Photos) [Tech Insider]

International Energy Agency photo

¶ South African utility Eskom, which is known for regular power outages, has gone 104 days without any load shedding, leading observers to comment that it is now relatively stable. Important among the leading causes of the new stability are various renewable sources of electricity, which have recently gone online. [The Citizen]

¶ Thanks to the abundance of hydropower in Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia, Canada already obtains 65% of its electricity from clean energy sources. But a report from the Canadian Council on Renewable Electricity concludes that to meet its climate targets, Canada needs to double its renewable capacity. [CleanTechnica]

Image from Powering Climate Prosperity: Canada’s Renewable Electricity Advantage

¶ Coal plants in Thailand cause an estimated 1,550 premature deaths every year, according to new research by Harvard University and Greenpeace Southeast Asia. That number of could climb to 5,300 per year if plans to expand electricity production by building new coal-fired plants go ahead, the study found. [ThaiVisa News]

¶ Luxembourg will join Austria’s legal challenge to the UK’s support package for the Hinkley C nuclear power station, which totals €108 billion. Meanwhile EDF has laid off 65 engineers working on the project in Paris, and the EU Commission has initiated proceedings against Hungary over its Paks II nuclear project with Rosatom. [The Ecologist]

¶ Irish wind hit a new peak output earlier this week with favourable weather conditions helping wind farms to supply almost 50% of electricity demand. Wind output hit some 2035 MW or enough to meet 46% of the country’s electricity demand. It is the first time that the country has broken the 2-GW barrier. [reNews]

Gaelectric wind farm (Gaelectric)

US:

¶ A smart home service, OhmConnect, launched an online store offering California customers cash back rebates on such products as smart thermostats, smart plugs, home automation, and EV charging brands. OhmConnect can sync with all these products, sending users cash back rebates for automatically using less energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The city of Portland, Oregon, has unanimously passed a new resolution to block the expansion of new fossil fuel storage and transport activities in the city. The resolution is the first of its kind to be passed in the US, and represents a pretty big victory for activists concerned about climate change. It can serve as an example. [EV Obsession]

¶ It appears the wind industry is not at a complete standstill in northwestern Ohio. Amazon Web Services announced Thursday it is partnering with EDP Renewables to build and operate a 100-M wind farm in Paulding County. The power would be enough to provide electricity for 29,000 homes in the US in a year. [Times Bulletin]

Ohio wind farm.

¶ Cheaper Canadian power is a myth, according to two former Maine public utilities commissioners who spoke about Maine’s energy future at the University of Southern Maine. The panelists agree that Maine should take another approach for its energy future: invest in energy efficiency and foster offshore wind development. [Maine Public Broadcasting]

¶ The Massachusetts legislature recessed formal sessions for the year earlier this week without renewing a solar power incentive program. It leaves many solar power projects across the state in limbo. Lawmakers were torn between arguments from environmental activists and solar developers and lobbying by utility companies. [WAMC]

World:

¶ A massive solar farm the size of more than 175 football pitches is to go ahead on farmland in East Cambridgeshire, with the District council’s planning committee approval. The farm’s capacity will be nearly 39.5 MW, enough for 11,000 homes, and its energy will feed directly into the local power grid network. [Newmarket Journal]

Solar farm approved. SUS-150325-142109001

¶ The Clean Energy Finance Commission in Australia has reported that its recently launched solar financing program has attracted a substantial amount of interest; in fact it is enough to boost the country’s large-scale PV capacity 10-fold. The CEFC program will offer loans of AU$15 million and above, for projects over 10 MW. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The world could be powered almost entirely by clean, renewable energy sources in the space of a few decades, and two US engineers say they have figured out exactly how it can be done. One of them, Mark Jacobson, a civil and environmental engineer at Stanford University, has been granted two opportunities to speak at COP21. [ScienceAlert]

¶ ScottishPower Renewables submitted its plan to build a 1,200-MW wind farm off the coast of Suffolk, after UK Government clears that it will provide support to such projects. The project called East Anglia THREE will feature up to 172 wind turbines and generate enough energy to meet the power needs of more than 850,000 homes. [Power Technology]

¶ The Scottish Government refused consent earlier this week for two separate wind farms intended for the county of Sutherland. Specifically, the two wind farms were said to have “an unacceptable impact” on the nearby wild land areas, and that such impact would not be outweighed by any wider policy benefit. [CleanTechnica]

Countryside near a refused wind farm, Head of Loch Long with Beinn Mheadhoin. Photo by Richard Webb. CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Russia has signed two agreements with Egypt to build the North African country’s first nuclear power plant in a televised ceremony attended by the Egyptian president. The deals were signed by the Egyptian Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister and the head of Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation in Cairo. [APA]

¶ In Australia, 1320-MW coal-fired power station has been sold by the NSW Government for just $1 million to a former ERM Power chief and a coal mining executive. As an illustration of how cheap this purchase price is, to replace such a coal power plant with a newly constructed plant would cost well over $2 billion. [Business Spectator]

US:

¶ While many countries continue to drag their feet on reducing emissions, individual cities are taking the lead and setting ambitious renewable energy targets. Some have already made the transition to 100% renewable energy. Here in the US, four cities or population centers stand out as having gone 100% renewable. [EcoWatch]

Burlington, Vermont, runs on a mix of biomass, hydroelectric, solar and wind. Erika J Mitchell / Shutterstock.com

¶ Environmental groups will rally in Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday, asking the governor to invest in clean energy, not gas pipelines. With the gas boom, major new pipelines are being built in Connecticut to carry gas to consumers and for export. But the groups say getting 100% renewable energy should be the goal. [Public News Service]

¶ EDF Renewable Energy announced that the 175-MW Pilot Hill Wind Project in Illinois has reached commercial operation. The project was made possible through Microsoft Corporation’s commitment to a long-term purchase agreement. The project will power 100% of the energy needs of Microsoft’s data center in Illinois. [AltEnergyMag]

¶ Texas homeowners and business owners can keep more money in their pockets, and Texas ranchers and family farmers can receive millions of dollars more a year in land lease payments by building new wind farms and using more wind resources. That’s according to a new report, “A wind vision for new growth in Texas.” [Windpower Engineering]

Texas already leads the nation in wind energy production.

¶ A Public Citizen report, “Clean Power, Clear Savings,” shows that energy bills will fall in every state by 2030 as a result of the Clean Power Plan compared to a business-as-usual scenario, including the states contesting the plan. The Clean Power Plan, finalized in August, sets targets for reducing carbon pollution in each state. [citizen.org]

¶ The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has begun a process for a creating community-based renewable energy program to bring the benefits of renewables to more people in Hawaii. The Lihue-based nonprofit co-op submitted its projected rates and guidelines to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission for commission approval. [Pacific Business News]

¶ Analysts at the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory devised a method for measuring the economic potential of renewable energy across the US. Using it, NREL has found that renewable generation is economically viable in many parts of the country primarily because of declining technology costs. [Windpower Engineering]

¶ After five years, all preliminary reviews are complete and it is now up to two federal boards whether PSEG Nuclear gets one of the key permits it needs to build a new reactor in Salem County, New Jersey. The NRC and the US Army Corps of Engineers have issued a final Environmental Impact Statements. [NJ.com]

World:

¶ Locally-produced renewable power met nearly 30.3% of Italy’s electricity needs in the first 10 months of 2015, according to data by power grid operator Terna SpA. Excluding hydropower, the share of wind, solar and geothermal energy sources was a bit over 15%. Meanwhile, thermal power plants produced 56% of Italy’s power. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar park in Italy. Author: Solar Farm – Solar energy power plants. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

¶ The UK’s remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut by 2025 with their use restricted by 2023, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd announced. Ms Rudd wants more gas-fired stations to be built since relying on “polluting” coal is “perverse.” Additionally, she wants to prioritize nuclear plants. She had little support to offer renewables. [BBC]

¶ Battery storage could be just five years away from being an economic no-brainer for some Australian solar households, according to a new report. It predicts grid-connected battery storage will be economically attractive for many homes from around 2020, though Sydney and Adelaide could be at this point as early as 2018. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Hydro Tasmania is to add 600-kW of solar PV and some smart controls to Rottnest Island, helping the tourism resort supply 45% of its electricity and desalinated water from renewable energy. The new installations will supplement the single 600-kW wind turbine on the island, which Tony Abbot famously complained about. [One Step Off The Grid]

Wind turbine on Rottnest Island.

¶ Skylark Energy filed a planning application to the Scottish government for a 64.6-MW wind farm in Argyll and Bute. Skylark is a joint venture between Ecotricity and Swedish construction company Skanska AB. As the project is larger than 50 MW, it needs to be considered by the Scottish government. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Costa Rica is on track to double the amount of wind power it generates in the coming years. The launch of operations in October of the Orosi power plant and the upcoming inauguration of the Vientos del Oeste project in December will soon supply Costa Rica’s electrical grid with an additional 59 MW from wind power. [The Tico Times]

¶ A two-year pilot project will store a tiny bit of Toronto’s excess energy underwater in giant balloons. Local energy firm Hydrostor and Toronto Hydro are partnering on the project. The Hydrostor system is expected to improve power quality for residents of the Toronto Islands while engineers monitor and test its performance. [Toronto Star]

Construction in progress earlier this year of the first Hydrostor station on the Toronto Islands. Hydrostor photo.

¶ After a concerted push from the United States, members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development agreed to cut subsidies aimed at exporting technology for coal-fired power plants. The policy would effectively cut off public financing for 85% of coal plants currently in the pipeline, an official said. [Washington Post]

¶ Brazil’s power sector watchdog Aneel has approved 290.6 MW of winning energy projects from an earlier auction this summer. The projects include eight wind farms with 231.6 MW of combined capacity, two small hydropower plants of 23 MW in total, one 8-MW biomass plant, and one 28-MW natural gas plant. [PennEnergy]

US:

¶ The Republican-run US Senate adopted two resolutions to shoot down key rules Barack Obama’s administration wants to limit greenhouse gas emissions by power plants. The president will veto the move. The 52 to 46 vote was largely meant to draw attention to the hostility of the Republicans to Obama’s efforts on climate change. [Business Recorder]

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2015

¶ The United Illuminating Co will start work next spring on a state-of-the art micro-grid supplying key town buildings in Woodbridge, Connecticut. The system would keep power on during grid outages. The utility has finalized an agreement with the town to build the micro-grid and it should be completed next year. [New Haven Register]

¶ At a National Community Solar Summit at the White House, the Administration announced 68 cities, states, and businesses are joining together to promote community solar. Community solar allows multiple households and businesses to pool their resources and invest in shared solar systems to reduce costs. [Newsroom America]

¶ The Massachusetts House has passed a bill to boost the state’s reliance on solar energy. The measure increases the cap on the state’s net metering program, which allows homeowners, businesses and local governments to sell excess solar power they generate back to the electrical grid in exchange for credit. [wwlp.com]

AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File

¶ The Mississippi Public Service Commission approved the largest solar installations in Mississippi, making Mississippi Power the largest partner in renewable energy in the state. Strata Solar is collaborating with Mississippi Power and the US Navy to build a 450-acre 50-MW solar project in Hattiesburg. [Your Renewable News]

¶ Governor Cuomo’s office has sent a letter to the NRC about the dangers of allowing the reactors at the Indian Point nuclear power facility to continue operating. One of several concerns raised in the letter was metal fatigue and the safety of non-replaceable metal components that might have grown brittle with age. [NewsLI]

World:

¶ The task of electrifying Sarawak is no mean feat. Hampered by a lack of infrastructure, Malaysia’s largest state by land mass remains without constant supply of power in rural areas with a reported 33% of the state remaining off the grid. Now, one village will have a solar microgrid, the first of its kind in the state. [The Malaysian Insider]

Solar panels being installed in Sarawak. Malaysian Insider pic by Renai Mattu.

¶ New fast-charging lithium-in batteries were recently unveiled by workers from Watt Lab, an arm of the Central Research Institute at Huawei Technology Corporation, at the recent 56th Battery Symposium in Japan. The newly unveiled batteries reportedly charge ~10 times faster than conventional lithium-ion batteries do. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Indian solar could scale up substantially to be a significant energy source by 2025, with the market penetration of solar power expected to be 5.7% (54 GW) by 2020 and 12.5% (166 GW) by 2025. Solar power prices are expected to be approximately 10% lower than coal power prices by 2020, and rooftop solar is already competitive. [Indiainfoline]

¶ Despite the general public impression of Russia as being relatively opposed to renewable energy and electric vehicles, the city of Moscow will actually be getting a fleet of electric buses in 2016, according to the head of the Department of Transportation and Development of road transport infrastructure, and the deputy mayor. [CleanTechnica]

Russian electric bus

¶ A record $391 billion flowed into low carbon and climate-resilient growth in 2014, according to a report released today by Climate Policy Initiative. The fresh figures come just two weeks before the COP21 climate talks begin in Paris, where finance is expected to play a pivotal role in scoring a robust global deal for a safe climate. [The Climate Group]

¶ The C20 Sustainability Working Group is asking the G20 to stop fossil fuel subsidies. The G20 promised to phase them out in 2009, but they still pump $452 billion annually into exploration for and production of fossil fuels, according to a report from the Overseas Development Institute released last week. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

US:

¶ French renewable energy producer Akuo Energy has wrapped up the development stage for a 30-MW first phase of its 300-MW Sterling wind power project in Tatum, New Mexico, and plans to start construction in 2016. Akuo Energy USA has secured all the key elements to develop the 30-MW first phase. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind park in the US. Author: CGP Grey. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic.

¶ Changes to solar net metering policies are being studied or have been enacted in over half of the states, the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center’s latest “50 States of Solar” report says. The NC Clean Energy Technology Center is administered by the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The city of Lebanon, Tennessee, has broken ground for a new waste-to-energy gasification plant at the city’s waste water treatment facility that will be capable of processing 64 tons per day of sewer sludge, used tires and industrial wood waste. The facility is being designed and built by PHG Energy. [Renewable Energy from Waste]

¶ Tesla Motors CTO JB Straubel told engineering students at the University of Nevada that the gigafactory is designed to be a net-zero building with zero carbon emissions. What’s makes this statement more special is that this building will reportedly be one of the largest manmade structures on Earth when it is completed. [ValueWalk]

Tesla Gigafactory under construction.

¶ Under current Wisconsin law, state regulators can’t grant permission for a new nuclear power plant unless a federal storage facility for the waste from nuclear plants across the country exists and the plant wouldn’t burden state ratepayers. Now, a Republican legislator is renewing a push to lift the state’s moratorium. [seattlepi.com]

¶ Clean Line Energy will focus again on persuading Missouri’s utility regulators to approve the $2 billion, 780-mile Grain Belt Express transmission line that would carry wind-generated electricity from Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to Indiana. Missouri landowners are the only remaining group in the way. [Columbia Daily Tribune]

¶ Halfway into the University of Iowa’s 10-year sustainability initiative, officials say it has reached its progress target and remains on track to achieve 40% renewable energy consumption by 2020. Part of the success comes from the growing use of giant miscanthus grass. [The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines]

The University of Iowa and Iowa State University are partnering to grow giant Miscanthus. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

¶ News of yet more microgrid activity in Pennsylvania came today with the announcement of an urban microgrid planned by Duquesne Light and the University of Pittsburgh. Their project will be to design and install the urban microgrid at its Woods Run Facility, a six-building campus in Pittsburgh’s North Shore. [Microgrid Knowledge]

¶ Deepwater Wind and GE are establishing a new temporary facility at the Port of Providence for the assembly of turbine components for the Block Island wind farm. GE, which recently joined forces with Alstom’s offshore wind unit, is supplying the 6-MW Haliade 150 offshore turbines for the Block Island wind farm. [reNews]

Science and Technology:

¶ Human societies will soon start to experience adverse effects from manmade climate change, economist Richard Tol warned. He predicts the downsides of warming will outweigh the advantages at a 1.1° C increase, which we have nearly reached already. He had previously commented on positive effects of climate change. [BBC]

AFP photo

World:

¶ Apple announced a deal that will see its Singapore operations fully powered by solar energy, expanding on similar efforts in countries like the US and China, and also confirmed an upcoming local Apple Store that will be the first in Southeast Asia. Developer Sunseap Group will supply Apple from panels on 800 roof tops. [Apple Insider]

¶ Automotive giant Daimler announced that it plans to connect the old lithium-ion cells to the grid in Lünen, Germany, building the world’s largest stationary storage facility made out of re-used electric vehicle batteries. The system will allow excess renewable energy from the area to be stored and returned to the grid later. [Ars Technica UK]

¶ Iran has a package for $25 billion of investment in its booming power industry, the head of Iran Power Transmission, Generation and Distribution Company says. It is a key to the country’s economic recovery. Iran needs to invest $7-8 billion a year in its power generation and distribution sector to keep pace with demand. [Payvand]

Wind turbines in Manjil, Iran

¶ As Germany executes what may be Europe’s most ambitious transition to clean energy, the dirtiest form of coal-fired power has held fast to a major share of the country’s power supply. Meanwhile, some of the most efficient gas plants in Europe are shutting down. New legislation aims to correct the situation. [Big News Network.com]

¶ Six large LG Chem lithium-ion battery storage units will be put into service at Steag power plants in Germany. The €100-million project will see 15-MW energy storage systems installed in power stations at Herne, Lünen and Duisburg-Walsum, Bexbach, Fenne and Weiher. The batteries will be used for grid stabilization. [Energy Matters]

¶ India announced conclusion of a civil nuclear deal for buying uranium from Australia to increase conventional fuel supplies to overcome chronic shortages. The announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey. [Livemint]

US:

¶ A joint project of Roeslein Alternative Energy and Smithfield Food Hogs Production will convert manure from hogs on nine farms into renewable natural gas. Gas sales should start in 2016. A second phase would add native prairie grasses planted on erodible or marginal farm land to the manure to increase the biomass. [The Rakyat Post]

Bio-gas storage.

¶ Findings from real estate appraisal experts and a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggest that adding a photovoltaic solar power system to a home increases the home’s value across six states. The study looked at markets in California, Oregon, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. [Daily Californian]

¶ Green Cow Power, a large digester facility, is now converting off-farm organic wastes and dairy manure into energy with two Two-Stage Mixed Plug Flow digesters from DVO Inc. The Goshen, Indiana plant it is the largest waste-to-energy facility in Elkhart County and the eighth largest digester operation in Indiana. [Renewable Energy from Waste]

World:

¶ Sri Lanka will build a final large scale hydro power plant at an estimated cost of $60 million, the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy said. The proposed hydro power plant will be constructed on the Seethawaka River and will add 20 MW to the national grid. The project will be developed as a mini-hydro plant. [Colombo Page]

View of the Randenigala Dam and its spillways from downstream. Rantembe, Sri Lanka. Photo by Rehman Abubakr. CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Portugal’s EDP and Spain’s Gestamp Wind were among the companies awarded contracts to build and operate wind farms in Brazil. The contracts were for 20 wind farms with a combined capacity of 929.3 MW, and 33 solar plants with a combined capacity of 548.2 MW. All must be operational within two years. [Latin American Herald Tribune]

¶ Britain will no longer pursue green energy at all costs and will instead make keeping the lights on the top priority, energy secretary Amber Rudd, will vow this week. The energy department is understood to be considering announcing a closure date for Britain’s remaining coal plants, replacing them with gas and nuclear. [Telegraph.co.uk]

¶ It has been revealed that Coal India, which is state-run, would invest ₹60 billion ($910 million) to set up 1,000 MW of solar power units over the next five to six years, according to the Economic Times, an Indian business newspaper. The government has set a target of generating 100 GW of solar power by 2022. [The National]

A solar power microgrid in the village of Dharnai in Bihar. Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg

¶ A record oil glut is set to continue into next year, maintaining pressure on prices. According to the International Energy, stockpiles stand at a record three billion. The report follows disappointing eurozone growth figures and a slump in commodity prices on the back of weaker demand from China, all of which sent stock prices lower. [BBC]

¶ France plans to go ahead with a global climate change summit in Paris at the end of the month, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Saturday, despite a wave of deadly attacks on Friday night that killed nearly 130 people in the capital. The conference “will be held because it’s an essential meeting for humanity,” Valls explained. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶ A new $25 million plant under construction in North Carolina will convert turkey waste into industrial steam for energy. Prestage AgEnergy is being built off NC 24 in the rural community of Moltonville. It will use 55,000 tons of turkey litter a year to produce the equivalent of 95 million kilowatt hours of electricity. [Fayetteville Observer]

Turkey. Photo by Malene Thyssen. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Connecticut’s push to bring more natural gas into the state to heat homes and produce electricity is drawing fire from environmentalists, who say an expansion in pipeline construction means declining focus on renewable energy. The Algonquin pipeline, which runs from Danbury to Putnam, is a target of their protests. [CT Post]

¶ Bernie Sanders opened Saturday night’s Democratic debate by vowing to rid the world of ISIS. Following up, the moderator pointed out that during a debate last month, Sanders had identified “climate change” as the greatest threat to national security and asked whether he still believed that. “Absolutely,” replied Sanders. [Grist]

¶ A warming Arctic climate and lengthening summer growing season in recent decades have led to changes in vegetation on Alaska’s North Slope, extending the habitat of wildlife like snowshoe hares and moose farther north than they were seen previously, according to a study in Global Change Biology. [Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]

World:

¶ Coal consumption is poised for its biggest decline in history, driven by China’s battle against pollution, economic reforms and its efforts to promote renewable energy. Global use of the most polluting fuel fell 2.3% to 4.6% in the first nine months of 2015 from the same period last year, according to a report released by Greenpeace. [The Australian Financial Review]

A woman in China wears a mask to counter pollution. Getty Images

¶ As Zimbabwe seeks to boost power generation, it finds the option of hydro-power provides little guarantee for power now and in the future. The 750-MW-capacity Kariba Hydro Power Station is an example, falling to 63% of capacity following just two consecutive drought seasons. Climate change is making hydro power unreliable. [AllAfrica.com]

¶ The first turbine at Zuidwester wind farm in the Netherlands started operation. Along the shore of the IJsselmeer, RWE Innogy replaced 50 older models with 12 of the world’s largest onshore wind turbines with a capacity of 7.5 MW each. Each of the new turbines can generate as much electricity as all 50 turbines of the old ones combined. [Sun & Wind Energy]

¶ South Korea’s leading battery-maker LG Chem said it has secured a deal worth millions of dollars to supply its batteries for a project to build the world’s largest energy storage system for frequency regulation in Germany. The company’s lithium-ion batteries will be used for frequency regulation in Nordrhein-Westfalen and Saaerland in 2016. [The Korea Herald]

¶ China has changed course and emerged as a leader in curbing greenhouse gas emissions six years after it was accused of obstructing the last high-level climate talks in Copenhagen. Beijing “recognizes it should take a different responsibility than a few years ago,” said Li Shuo, senior climate officer for Greenpeace East Asia. [Himalayan Times]

Wind turbines are built on a hill along a highway near Jiamusi, in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province on July 30, 2015. Photo: AP

¶ A majority of the UK public backs subsidies for renewable energy, according to a report. It says around 83% of over 2,000 people surveyed support subsidies for wind and solar. The support for coal is at 23%, and for nuclear power it is 33%. The UK Government is planning to scrap support for renewables. [Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy]

¶ Vestas has won a firm and unconditional order for turbines totaling 200-MW from Inner Mongolia Hanas Wind Power for two Chinese wind power projects. Under the deal, the Danish power equipment manufacturer will deliver 75 of its V110-2.0 MW and 25 of its V100-2.0 MW models. Commissioning is to be in the second quarter of 2016. [Power Technology]

¶ Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power held a ceremony Monday to mark the official operation of two reactors at its New Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju. The New Wolseong No 1 and No 2 reactors are each capable of generating 7.9 billion kWh of electricity annually. The No 1 reactor began producing power in 2012, and the No 2 in July. [Korea Times]

US:

¶ More Wisconsin farmers are letting the sun shine in – by bringing solar photovoltaic systems into their farming operations. Incentives and the falling prices of hardware have helped shorten return on investment periods for solar installations. Still, changes in net metering policies could reduce payouts to producers for the excess power they create. [Agri-View]

A 20 kWh solar panel system is installed on the south side of Han Breitenmoser’s free-stall barn.

¶ Legal professionals are warning that ongoing investigations of ExxonMobil practices could drag other oil businesses. The firm is the subject of controversy over allegations it mislead the public about climate change. But prosecutors are thinking about investigating all businesses that chose to fund organizations that promoted climate change denial. [California Turkish Times]

Opinion:

¶ “Renewables key in race against climate change clock” • Humanity has dithered for so long in the fight against global warming that the window of opportunity for decarbonizing the global economy fast enough to avoid devastating climate change is barely ajar. And fossil fuels get four times the subsidies of renewables. [The Nation]

Wind turbines and sustainable transportation

World:

¶ Figures from China’s National Energy Administration proclaim that the country installed 9.9 GW of new solar PV capacity in the first nine months of 2015. The National Energy Administration says China new solar PV capacity so far this year included 8.32 GW in solar PV power stations and 1.58 GW of distributed PVs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Around 8.5 million diesel vehicles sold by Volkswagen over the past few years in Europe will be recalled, following the testing scandal of a few weeks ago, according to reports. A recall timeline has bee approved. The company is apparently currently considering the option of simply buying back affected vehicles in the US. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Scottish government has approved Statoil plans for the 30-MW Hywind 2 floating offshore wind project some 25 km off Peterhead. The Norwegian company was issued with a marine licence to build five Siemens 6-MW turbines on spar foundations. Statoil plans for final commissioning of the project before end-2017. [reNews]

Hywind 1 off Norway. Statoil Image.

¶ Bio2Watt is producing power from its first plant at a Beefcor feedlot in Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa, making it the country’s first viable commercial biogas project. The plant produces 4.4 MW, but that could be increased to 10 MW in the future. Most of the power it produces is going to a BMW plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria. [Independent Online]

¶ The Australian Financial Review told readers that South Australia’s large renewables share could cause blackouts. There were blackouts. They blamed renewable energy for volatile power prices that were spiking to A$13,800/MWh (A$1.38/kWh). As it turns out, the problems were caused by aging equipment. [Business Spectator]

¶ Africa’s largest solar car park opened recently at the Garden City Mall in Nairobi. It aims to cut carbon emissions by 745 tonnes annually from non-renewable energy sources. The car park has a total of 3,300 solar panels, which are capable of generating 1,256 MWh of electricity annually. It also provides shade to the cars. [The Straits Times]

Photo: Agence France-Presse

¶ The UK’s climate change credentials are under fire again after it emerged it had spent £2.2 billion in poor countries to help build coal power plants and other fossil fuel energy projects responsible for global warming. That is more than double the £1 billion spent on cleaner, renewable sources of power in developing countries. [Financial Times]

¶ Kyushu Electric Power Co said the No 2 reactor of its Sendai nuclear plant began full-capacity operation on Sunday, with its thermal output reaching the maximum level, about two weeks after it was reactivated. The reactor will be in commercial operation after examinations by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. [The Japan News]

US:

¶ Public Service Electric and Gas Company is halfway through the construction of a 12.93-MW community solar farm at the closed L&D Landfill in Burlington County, New Jersey. The facility is on property of over 50 acres in three communities. It will be made up of 41,720 solar panels and will become operational later this year. [reNews]

PSE&G’s Jacksonville solar facility (PSE&G image)

¶ Hanwha Q Cells USA Corp said start construction of a new 170-MW solar plant in the US after sealing a power purchase agreement with Austin Energy. The company says the solar plant will be built on roughly 580,000 square meters of land in western Texas to generate enough electricity to supply around 1 million people. [The Korea Herald]

¶ While New Jersey is stepping up its reliance on natural gas, most residents would instead prefer it ramp up its use of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, according to a recent poll. More than three-quarters of those responding said they favor a pending bill that would require a target of 80% renewables by 2050. [NJ Spotlight]