Opinion:
¶ “Hurricane Florence: Four Things You Should Know That Your Meteorologist is Truly Too Busy to Tell You” • Florence has an unusual path and conditions are making it powerful. We should keep that in mind as we look at the climate dynamics that make Florence stand out from others in the history of Atlantic hurricanes. [Union of Concerned Scientists]
Atlantic hurricane (NASA image)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Best Way To Capture Carbon Emissions? Don’t Create Them In The First Place” • Researchers at Michigan Technological University studied how many plants like switchgrass or trees it would take to capture all the carbon emissions from coal-fired generating plants in the US. The answer is 62% of all the arable land in the US. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Plan to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is getting underway” • An ambitious project to clean up the ocean’s plastic pollution got underway over the weekend as members of The Ocean Cleanup project began towing their system out to sea. It is being taken 240 nautical miles off shore for a two-week test in the open ocean. [CNN]
Ocean Cleanup System 001 leaving San Francisco
World:
¶ “UN chief Guterres calls on world leaders to prevent ‘runaway climate change’” • Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is facing an existential threat and must shift from dependence on fossil fuels by 2020 to prevent “runaway climate change.” He called the crisis urgent and decried a lack of global leadership. [France 24]
¶ “Renewable energy on a roll in Jamaica” • At a forum at The University of the West Indies, Professor Anthony Chen, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that solar, wind and hydro generation already account for between 15% and 20% of the energy supply in Jamaica. Islanders are concerned about rising seas. [Jamaica Observer]
Wind farm in Jamaica
¶ “Sony, McKinsey, and RBS Join RE100 In Commitment To 100% Renewable Energy” • Global corporate leadership initiative RE100 announced that several big-name companies had joined in commitment to securing 100% of their energy needs from renewable sources. Entertainment and electronics giant Sony Corporation is just one of them. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Nuclear power is being left behind, industry experts say” • The 2018 edition of the Nuclear Industry Status Report says that solar and wind saw its share in the global power mix increase by 35% and 17% respectively in 2017, while the growth of nuclear power was of only 1% last year. Only four reactors became operational in 2017. [pv magazine International]
Workers at Fukushima Daiichi (Image: Flickr | IAEA Imagebank)
Australia:
¶ “More Renewable Energy To Drive Down Power Prices” • The first renewable energy auction in Victoria was initially expected to deliver at least 650 MW of renewable energy. That goal has been smashed, with the auction instead delivering 928 MW of renewable energy, almost 45% more power than originally anticipated. [Mirage News]
¶ “Victorian Government promises half-price solar batteries if re-elected” • The Victorian Government committed to provide half-price solar batteries for 10,000 homes if it wins the election in November. This follows the Labor Government’s $1.3-billion pledge to pay half the cost of installing solar panels on 650,000 homes over the next 10 years. [ABC Local]
Solar panels (Photo: Murray Green)
¶ “Tony Abbott targets renewables subsidies in latest energy intervention” • Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reignited his push to scrap subsidies for renewable energy, taking on the new energy minister, Angus Taylor, at his first meeting of the Australian government’s backbench energy and environment committee. [The Guardian]
US:
¶ “Natural gas line explosion leads to evacuations in western Pennsylvania town” • Dozens of people were evacuated after a natural gas line explosion in a small western Pennsylvania community. There were no injuries as a result of the blast shortly before 5 a.m. ET in Center Township in Beaver County, police Chief Barry Kramer said. [CNN]
Gas explosion in Pennsylvania
¶ “California governor signs law for clean energy by 2045” • California now has a law committing the state to exclusively carbon-free electricity sources by 2045. This is a very big step. If California were it an independent country, it would have the fifth largest economy in the world, trailing only Germany, Japan, China, and the US. [BBC]
¶ “Otis Microgrid: Cape Cod Military Base To Run Fully On Renewable Energy” • The Department of Defense’s first wind-powered microgrid is nearly ready at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The “grid-connected microgrid” will serve as a model for similar Air National Guard and DOD projects. [CleanTechnica]
Otis microgrid wind turbine (Image courtesy of DVIDS)
¶ “‘Million Solar Roofs of Energy Storage’ Bill Approved By California Legislature” • The California legislature approved a bill that will provide up to $830 million in incentives for behind-the-meter storage for residential and small business solar systems. Backers hope to boost such distributed battery storage in the state to 3,000 MW by 2026. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Global Infrastructure Partners Company Acquires 4.7-GW SunPower Solar Pipeline” • Clearway Energy Group, a company formed out of the sale of NRG Energy to Global Infrastructure Partners and one of the largest US clean energy companies, acquired a 4.7-GW pipeline of utility-scale solar development projects from SunPower. [CleanTechnica]
Have a fascinatingly agreeable day.
geoharvey 
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