Opinion:
¶ “‘The atmosphere is being radicalized’ by climate change” Climate change’s impacts on extreme weather and society are becoming increasingly clear and undeniable. While we are making progress in solving the problem, one of the two political parties governing the world’s strongest superpower continues to deny the science. [The Guardian]
Hurricane Matthew (Photo: NASA / EPA)
¶ “Oil industry must back workable climate policies” • If the oil industry does not support sensible climate policies, it will suffer from stupid ones. Rex Tillerson, chief executive of ExxonMobil, last week complained about a “hodgepodge” of climate policies. But large oil companies have only themselves to blame for lack of clarity. [The National]
Science and Technology:
¶ SunCulture Solar is introducing an innovative patented all-in-one solar power unit: the SolPadTM, a panel that integrates a PV panel, battery, charge controller, and flexgridTM inverter. The modules are modular, so they can be installed individually to power stand-alone circuits, or they can be combined into larger systems. [ENGINEERING.com]
A SolPad Mobile unit
World:
¶ Greece will run its first renewable energy tender on December 12. It is a pilot tender for a total capacity of at least 40 MW which is reserved solely for solar PV projects. The country’s energy regulator said about 130 MW of PV projects had already received grid connection licenses before the approval process was suspended in 2012. [pv magazine]
¶ UK-based company Offshore Design Engineering has been selected to work on an offshore wind project in Taiwan, owned by Northland Power Inc and Enterprize Energy. Enterprize Energy announced the launch of the Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project, in which it holds a 40% stake through subsidiary Yushan Energy. [SeeNews Renewables]
The Ormonde Wind Farm (Source: Vattenfall)
¶ Gods and the governments have always been the first and last refuge of the farmers in India’s northern plains when it comes to irrigating their fields. They hold the fate of the crops in the balance. But now, troubled with the unscheduled power cuts, the farmers are increasingly looking towards solar-powered water pumps. [ETEnergyworld.com]
US:
¶ Target has hit a solar energy bullseye. The Minneapolis-based retail giant topped all other American big businesses going solar, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association. In the 2016 Solar Means Business report, Target knocked out former champion Walmart. It was a close race, however. [CleanTechnica]
Target solar installation (Image via SEIA)
¶ About 18 weeks after the board of directors of the Omaha Public Power District voted unanimously to pull the plug on the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, operators are powering down the reactor there for the final time. After reducing the output slowly since September 29, the final shutdown will happen at 1 pm on October 24. [Omaha World-Herald]
¶ With the Omaha Public Power District’s closure of its Fort Calhoun nuclear plant clearing the way, renewable generation will fill the void left by the 478-MW plant. OPPD will virtually double the portion of renewable energy it receives by the time the new year rolls around, as newly built sources come online. [Omaha World-Herald]
Grande Prairie wind farm
(Megan Farmer / The World Herald)
¶ A Chicago green-energy developer is proposing the largest infusion of renewable power yet for Long Island, a mix of wind and solar sources in disparate locations as far away as North Carolina and West Virginia. Invenergy already has LIPA approval for a large commercial solar array in Shoreham, New York. [Newsday]
¶ In order to comply with a new regional rule to cut another pollutant that often leaves Southern California blanketed in a layer of smog, the oxides of nitrogen, or NOx, a Riverside County landfill has decided to shut down its generators and will simply flare the methane, emitting the carbon dioxide alone. [Los Angeles Times]
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