Opinion:
¶ “New ‘Affordable Clean Energy’ Plan Lands With A Thud” • The Trump administration announced its new “Affordable Clean Energy” rules for power plants last week, and while coal stakeholders may be excited, the verdict is already in from utilities: meh. Then California set a goal to be 100% free of emissions. [CleanTechnica]
Image in Trump’s dreams
¶ “Can you turn a coal plant ‘green?'” • The owners of the coal-burning Drax power plant, the largest power plant in Western Europe, plan to have it stop burning coal entirely by 2023. It is a story repeated all over the world, including the US. But this leaves a big question: what do we do with all of those old power stations? [BBC]
World:
¶ “Before coal disappears from Germany, more villages will” • The village of Keyenberg is in a German region with a long history of coal mining and the heart of the country’s post-war industrial growth. It is ancient and atmospheric, with ruins dating from the Roman era. But it will be destroyed to extend an open-pit mine. [WBFO]
Garzweiler II mine, covering 48 km², or 18.5 mi² (Wikipedia)
¶ “Europeans Have Spent €150 Billion In Extra Fuel Costs Since 2000” • A study showed that Europeans have had to pay €149.6 billion ($174.9 billion) in extra fuel costs because car makers lied on efficiency tests, promising better performance than was in reality possible. German drivers have been hardest hit, wasting €36 billion since 2000. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Equinor plans to deploy floating offshore wind to power oil and gas fields” • Norwegian energy giant Equinor has revealed plans to build the first floating offshore wind turbine to supply green electricity to its oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This is part of Equinor’s plans to cut emissions across its operations. [businessgreen.com]
Hywind floating offshore site in Scotland
¶ “GE To Supply Turbines & Facilitate €90 Million Financing For 100 MW Ukrainian Wind Farm” • GE Energy Finance Services said this week that it will facilitate €90 million in financing and supply the wind turbines for a 100-MW wind farm in Ukraine. GE’s onshore wind business won the contract to supply 25 wind turbines [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Fukushima fisheries group opposes release of tritium-tainted water into sea” • Tepco has a system to remove most radioactive material from contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi, but not tritium. The suggestion that releasing the polluted water into the sea after it is diluted with fresh water is being opposed by the fishing industry. [The Japan Times]
Japanese fishing boats (Takanobu Shuji, Wikimedia Commons)
Australia:
¶ “Renewables forecast to halve wholesale energy prices over four years” • Australia’s Morrison government has identified lowering power prices as a key early priority, but analysis says wholesale prices will almost halve over the next four years because of renewables, technologies many conservatives in the government oppose. [The Guardian]
¶ “Tesla “Big Battery” Responds To “Power System Emergency” In Australia” • Lightning strikes caused power system emergency across the eastern Australian states. Lights barely flickered in South Australia, as the Hornsdale Power Reserve backed up the grid, and in Queensland, as home battery systems filled the gap there. [CleanTechnica]
Hornsdale Power Reserve
¶ “Queensland says wind, solar key to lower power bills, creates new renewables generation company” • Queensland created a government-owned power company focused on renewables. The state energy minister said CleanCo would help reduce wholesale prices by $7/MWh, which could cut household bills by $70 per year. [RenewEconomy]
US:
¶ “Los Angeles Wants to Use the Hoover Dam as a Giant Battery. The Hurdles Could Be More Historical than Technical” • Los Angeles is looking into whether it should spend an estimated $3 billion on a massive, 20-mile underground pumped hydropower storage system that would be connected to the iconic Hoover Dam. [Government Technology]
Hoover Dam
¶ “ForeFront Power To Install 3.7 Megawatts Of Solar At 13 California School Sites” • ForeFront Power has been selected by three California school districts to install 3.7 MW of solar PV capacity across 13 locations. Over 5 million kWh of electric energy is expected to be generated each year by the solar canopy installations. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Trump donor buys California power plant, asks feds to change energy market” • Last year, a company tied to a Trump campaign donor took possession of a bankrupt power plant in California. They filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, arguing that the state’s policies are killing existing power plants. [San Francisco Chronicle]
La Paloma power plant (Photo: Gary Kazanjian)
¶ “Oklahoma coal plant’s future bleak amid cheaper power” • An independent coal-fired electricity generator and about 100 employees in eastern Oklahoma face an uncertain future as the power market becomes more competitive. The 360-MW AES Shady Point plant could close as soon as January, the Oklahoman reported. [San Francisco Chronicle]
¶ “Xcel to Replace Two Colorado Coal Units with Renewables and Storage” • The Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel subsidiary, will retire 660 MW of coal, and replace it with more than 1,800 MW of wind and solar. The renewable energy will be backed by 275 MW of storage. Xcel’s CEO said time is running out for coal. [Greentech Media]
Have an outstandingly wonderful day.
geoharvey 