Opinion:
¶ “If We Stopped Emitting Greenhouse Gases Right Now, Would We Stop Climate Change?” • What would happen to the climate if we were to stop emitting carbon dioxide today, right now? Would we return to the climate of our elders? The simple answer is no. [ScienceAlert]
Freedom to emit pollution (Aziz Acharki | Unsplash)
¶ “The Hinkley C nuclear power plant will be a costly mistake – we can still stop it” • News that the cost of building the new nuclear plant has risen by another £1.5 billion came shortly after the National Audit Office confirmed that the deal is overpriced and risky. [New Statesman]
Science and Technology:
¶ Over the past several months, historic shareholder resolutions have pushed oil giants, including Exxon, to disclose climate-related risks. Food companies are next, experts say, whether they use or produce palm oil, corn, soy or beef, to name some with the biggest climate impacts. [InsideClimate News]
Cutting forests for palm oil (Credit Dimas Ardian | Getty Images)
World:
¶ Volvo is phasing out cars that rely solely on combustion engines. Every new model launched from 2019 will have an electric motor, as the shift away from the technology dependent entirely on fossil fuels gathers pace. Volvo is owned by Chinese billionaire Li Shuf. [Bloomberg]
¶ Wood Group and Romax Technologies has improved the performance of EDF Energies Nouvelles’ 67.5-MW La Mata y La Ventosa wind farm in Oaxaca, Mexico by changing the control system. High turbulence and wind speeds had caused some turbines to be run at reduced power. [reNews]
La Mata y La Ventosa wind farm (Clipper image)
¶ India’s ambitious aim to install 160 GW of renewable energy by 2022 will have a positive impact on the country’s jobs market, a study showed. It says that more than 300,000 full-time workers will be needed, with a potential to create around one million job opportunities. [EnergyInfraPost]
¶ The European Investment Bank is to loan the Belgian transmission system operator Elia €100 million to help link offshore wind to the country’s mainland grid. The offshore wind energy will be integrated to distribute electricity across the Belgian network by the end of 2017. [reNews]
Offshore wind substation (Elia Group image)
¶ Leading economist Ross Garnaut, who has authored two influential climate change reports, says Australia is being held back by those with “ideological or vested interests in old ways of supplying energy.” He said renewable energy is key to securing the nation’s economic future. [The New Daily]
¶ An investment of over $1 million investment has been “worth its weight in gold” for a Great Barrier Reef island resort that’s leading the charge in renewable power, according to the manager. Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is on track to being 100% renewably powered. [Gladstone Observer]
Lady Elliot Island solar array (Tegan Annett)
¶ NTPC, India’s biggest power producer, plans to invest $10 billion in new coal-fired power stations over the next five years despite objections and the electricity regulator’s assessment that thermal plants now under construction will be able to meet demands until 2027. [The Hans India]
¶ A 42-MWdc solar PV plant is to be built in Nonogasta, a municipality of Argentine province Nueva Rioja, the local government announced. It will have an estimated 132,000 solar PV panels. It will cost $40 million to bring to completion and create 150 jobs. [pv magazine]
Nueva Rioja region (Image: Roberto Fiadone | Wikipedia)
¶ The European Commission has allocated €4 million to a project that will link the French and Irish electricity grids via an undersea cable. The Celtic Interconnector project, called an “obvious solution,” would have a 600-km-long undersea cable with a capacity of 700 MW. [EURACTIV]
US:
¶ A wind power project in California aims to capture the Central Coast’s wind. Trident Winds proposes to build a wind farm of 60 to 100 turbines off the coast, from Cayucos to north of Piedras Blancas. The project would have a capacity of 1000 MW. [The San Luis Obispo Tribune]
Sheringham Shoal Wind Farm (Wikimedia Commons)
¶ Secretary of Energy Rick Perry could order Americans to pay more for electricity to keep his boss’s promises to coal miners, nuclear power plants and electric companies. He has authority to do that under a law that allows him to declare a national reliability emergency. [Houston Chronicle]
¶ Federal real property is getting greener, one system at a time. The Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program recently awarded 21 contracts to energy service companies to help the government increase energy savings and lower operating costs. [FederalNewsRadio.com]
geoharvey 
July 6, 2017 at 4:12 pm
Reblogged this on nuclear-news.