Opinion:
¶ “Wine and the Weather – How Will a Changing Climate Affect Santa Barbara’s Wine?” • Climate change can be very different for neighboring microclimates. With more warming, vineyards near the coast it may see more fog, while those farther inland may see warming weather that requires shading grape clusters. [Santa Barbara Independent]
Santa Barbara County (Courtesy Hilliard Bruce Vineyards)
¶ “Michael Howard: Low-carbon wind is set to power Brexit Britain. The work that Thatcher, Major and I undertook is paying off.” • John Major, and Michael Howard signed the UN climate change convention for Britain 25 years ago. Three years earlier, Margaret Thatcher was the first world leader to call for such a convention. [Conservative Home]
World:
¶ Europe’s race to quit coal has hit a speed bump as energy companies face local political resistance to the closure of power stations burning the polluting fuel. For example, Iberdrola was closing its last two coal power stations in Spain, but the Spanish government reacted by blocking the shutdowns, a result of coal union lobbying. [The Guardian]
German coal-burning power plant (Photo: Martin Meissner | AP)
¶ The re-election of Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Saturday’s nail-biting poll will guarantee the medium term future of the solar industry in Australia, along with several large scale wind developments, hybrid projects, and some key energy storage installations. It is also likely to have a bearing on federal politics. [RenewEconomy]
¶ Cabo Verde is a remote island nation of 550,000 people spread over 10 islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 370 miles from the coast of West Africa. It announced it intends to be 100% reliant on renewable energy sources by 2025, a report in the Independent said. Cabo Verde is considering solar, wind, marine energy, and storage. [TravelPulse]
Cabo Verde (Photo via Flickr | James Whatley)
¶ Efforts under the Fukushima New Energy Society Initiative, intended to revitalize the area from the 2011 nuclear disaster through advances in the field of energy, are starting to bear fruit. With help from the Abe government, Fukushima is becoming known as a pioneer in the field of renewable and hydrogen energy. [New Straits Times Online]
¶ The £10 billion plans to spearhead tidal lagoon power projects in Wales could fall apart after the Treasury vowed to tighten its grip on green spending until the pressure on energy bills eases. The fate of green industrialist Mark Shorrock’s £1.3 billion front-runner tidal scheme in Swansea appear to depend on decisions by the government. [Telegraph.co.uk]
Rendering of the Tidal Lagoon Power project (Credit: PA)
¶ A French renewable energy firm with wind and solar plants across Australia believes federal Labor’s target for 50% clean power is an inevitability. The Turnbull government has called Labor’s pledge for 50% renewables by 2030 as a “road to ruin.” But Neoen’s deputy chief executive believes the target is quite realistic. [DeathRattleSports.com]
¶ Renewable energy company Mytrah Energy Limited, which is based in the Indian city of Hyderabad, has 2 GW of operating and under-construction capacity. It plans to invest ₹18,000 to ₹21,000 crore ($2.7 to $3.16 billion) in wind and solar power over the next three years and to develop predictive tools to maximize efficiency. [Telangana Today]
Myrtah wind farm
¶ Although ¥34.5 billion ($309 million) in taxpayer money has funded building an “ice wall” to keep out groundwater out of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site, after two months of operations the frozen barrier may not be meeting hopes and expectations. In particular, the wall has been vulnerable to heavy rain brought by typhoons. [Asahi Shimbun]
¶ India’s renewable energy ministry announced a tender for 2 GW of wind capacity to be carried out by the Solar Energy Corporation of India. The government will be inviting bids for creating capacity of up to 21 GW of solar and wind power by March 2018, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said. [Newburgh Gazette]
Wind farm in India (Photo: Ponzie wiki, Wikimedia Commons)
US:
¶ Despite President Donald Trump’s intentions of “bringing back coal,” the US coal industry continues to shrink. This is mostly because of issues with the fuel’s environmental ramifications, aging industry infrastructure, and a greater focus on renewable energy. In the US, solar and wind are the fastest-growing sources of electricity. [Pakistan Observer]
¶ A coalition of 13 different environmental groups advocating for “clean” transportation solutions has sent an open letter to the United States Postal Service calling for the next-generation delivery vehicles to be of a plug-in electric design. The USPS fleet currently uses over 180 million gasoline gallon equivalents of fuel per year. [CleanTechnica]
USPS delivery (Image: Elvert Barnes, some rights reserved)
¶ High school students will stay dry and the town will save money, thanks to solar-power carports officially launched at one of the high schools in Fairfield, Connecticut. And another high school will get its shortly. Together, the two solar facilities will save the Town at least $1.2 million in energy costs over the next 20 years. [Fairfield Daily Voice]
¶ More evidence has come to light that Santee Cooper and SCANA acted imprudently by proceeding with construction of two nuclear reactors despite warnings that the project had flaws and was far behind schedule. The Post and Courier reported that important information was scrubbed from a 2015 audit of the nuclear project. [Charleston Post Courier]
One way to one help the people of Puerto Rico is to
donate at [Sunnyside Solar’s crowdfunding website].
geoharvey 
November 26, 2017 at 9:16 am
Reblogged this on AGR Daily 60 Second News Bites.
November 26, 2017 at 2:34 pm
Reblogged this on nuclear-news.