Science and Technology:
¶ Global temperatures are set to rise more than one degree above pre-industrial levels according to the UK’s Met Office. Figures from January to September this year are already 1.02° C above the average between 1850 and 1900. If temperatures remain as predicted, 2015 will be the first year to breach this key threshold. An increase of 2° C is considered dangerous.[BBC]
Global temperatures reached high levels in 2014 but 2015 is expected to be the warmest since records began.
¶ Researchers have designed and patented a floating platform for offshore wind turbines that they believe can reduce costs up to €0.12 per kWh. A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya developed the new model of a floating structure for offshore wind turbines that is capable of being anchored at much greater sea depths. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ Renewable energy accounted for almost half of all new power plants in 2014, representing a “clear sign that an energy transition is underway”, according to an International Energy Agency report. Green energy is now the second-largest generator of electricity in the world, after coal, and is set to overtake the dirtiest fossil fuel in the early 2030s, the report said. [The Guardian]
¶ In October the ground was broken for one of Australia’s most innovative biogas projects. In the next 14 months, German biogas plant manufacturer Weltec Biopower and its project partner Aquatec Maxcon will establish a biogas plant in Aurora, Victoria, a Melbourne suburb. The 1-MW plant for digesting organic waste will be one of the first in Australia. [PennEnergy]
¶ Low oil prices may undermine efforts to reduce pollution. If the cost of crude remains near $50 a barrel until the end of the decade, cheaper conventional fuels would hold back the development of electric cars and biofuels that are helping curb carbon emissions. The IEA estimated about $800 billion of efficiency improvements in vehicles would be lost. [Livemint]
Oil pump. Reuters photo.
¶ Britain will miss a major legally-binding renewable energy target, Amber Rudd, the Energy Secretary, has admitted in a letter to other cabinet ministers. The letter, however, was leaked to the press. She warned that the “absence of a credible plan” to meet the target could trigger repeated fines from the EU Court of Justice and a judicial review. [Telegraph.co.uk]
¶ Catastrophic global warming can be avoided with a deal at a crunch UN climate change summit in Paris this December because “ultimately nothing can compete with renewables,” according to one of the world’s most influential climate scientists. Professor John Schellnhuber said the best hope of making nations keep their promises was moral pressure. [The Guardian]
US:
¶ Trident Winds has filed early paperwork with Morro Bay, California, city officials for a plan to install 100 floating turbines, each up to 636 feet tall, about 15 miles off the San Luis Obispo County shoreline. The project would generate 1,000 MW of electricity, enough to power 300,000 homes. Some parts of the environmental movement may object. [Bakken.com]
Offshore wind at night.
¶ After apologizing for two months, Volkswagen is finally putting its money where its mouth is, forking over $500 to VW car owners hit by its emissions cheating scandal. But the payout has not had the intended effect for many owners. Angry VW customers who wrote to CNNMoney used terms like “slap in the face” and “scandalous” to describe the payout. [CNN]
¶ The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has held the nation’s fifth competitive lease sale for renewable energy in federal waters. Nearly 344,000 acres off New Jersey’s coast were offered for potential wind energy development. Fully developed, the area could support about 3.4 GW of commercial wind generation. [North American Windpower]
¶ Aggressive energy efficiency efforts and new distributed generation capacity, mostly solar projects, are combining to put a lid on growth in peak demand and electric use in New England, ISO New England said in its newly released system plan. The transmission company is working with utilities and other of stakeholders to improve the system. [Platts]
ISO New England’s control room. Photo Credit ISO-NE
¶ Advanced Microgrid Solutions announced that it will supply and operate batteries for a very large California customer, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. It’s a large municipal water treatment and distribution agency serving San Bernardino County, where it has 850,000 customers. An array of renewable energy types will be in the system. [Washington Post]
¶ The Administration has underlined its vision of a strong role for nuclear in the country’s clean energy strategy. It announced actions to sustain and finance nuclear energy, including supplements to the DOE’s federal loan guarantee solicitation to support nuclear energy projects. The existing solicitation of $12.5 billion would be supplemented. [World Nuclear News]
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