Opinion:
¶ Climate talks, climate action • It is no secret that in a rural state like Vermont, transportation is the biggest contributor of global warming pollution. Vermont joined eleven other countries, states and provinces to announce new efforts to put more zero-emission vehicles on the road. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]
Activists in white bear costumes during the COP21 Conference. (Photo: Matt Dunham/AP)
¶ Why the freakishly warm December? • In Central Park, the daytime high on Christmas Eve was 71 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s 8 degrees over the previous record for the day. The big El Niño currently in place is very likely one significant factor. Human-induced climate change is most likely another. [CNN]
¶ US uses more energy on Christmas lights than some nations do all year • Overall, the amount of electricity used to power Christmas lights in the US each year is pretty minimal, just 6.6 billion kWh. El Salvador uses 5.7 billion kWh a year, Cambodia uses 3.6 billion, and Nepal uses even less at 3.3 billion. [AOL News]
Christmas lights in Urbana Illinois. Photo by Daniel Schwen. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.
Science and Technology:
¶ Scientists have developed a new organic aqueous flow battery that offers low-cost energy storage based on organic compounds and will be cheaper than such existing batteries. The battery is expected to cost $180 per kWh, which is 60% less than today’s standard flow batteries, once the technology is fully developed. [Business Standard]
World:
¶ Africa could be the first region in the world to power its economic development on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, according to the head of the International Energy Agency. He said government pushes to get electricity to Africans without access will help support this, as will falling costs of renewable energy. [Climate Central]
Wind farm in Cape Town, South Africa. Credit: jbdodane/flickr
¶ In the Philippines, Universal Robina Corp is building a point-to-point transmission facility to connect its 46-MW biomass power plant in Kabankalan to the grid. The 46-MW plant will use bagasse, a by-product of URC’s sugar mill in Kabankalan, which has a capacity of about 9,000 tons per day. [Philippine Star]
¶ Hard on the heels of the COP21 climate conference, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka rejected the Ceylon Electricity Board’s Long-term Generation Expansion Plan, which was based on coal. The utility was told to make provision for renewable energy like wind and solar power. [The Sunday Times Sri Lanka]
¶ Sustainable Green Energy (Pvt) Ltd, a Sri Lankan company, has received the green-light from the government to launch its ambitious industrial venture of going green with a bamboo cultivation project in the North. The Bamboo will initially supply biomass for a 10-MW power project. [The Sunday Times Sri Lanka]
A bamboo plantation in India
¶ Bangladesh and Russia have signed a general contract for the construction and commissioning of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna at a cost of $12.65 billion. Speaking at the ceremony Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit said: “A very old dream has come true today.” [DhakaTribune]
US:
¶ To avoid getting overcommitted to wind and solar, Rocky Mountain Power is asking regulators to shorten required contract terms with green-energy producers from 20 years to just three. Critics have blasted the idea as policy aimed at thwarting competition from renewable sources. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Courtesy | sPower The Latigo Wind Park in Utah
¶ The Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the Western Area Power Administration are proposing a new transmission line in California with the goal of bringing more clean power to customers. The proposed line would cost the utility district roughly $257 million, with construction done by a US DOE agency. [Sacramento Bee]
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