Opinion:
¶ “Renewable Energy Proves A Sound Investment For Nebraska” • With abundant windpower potential, Nebraska has appreciable room to grow to meet both corporate and residential energy needs. Windpower is now meeting nearly 20% of our state’s total electricity demand, and an additional 1,000 MW are under construction. [Omaha World-Herald]
Grande Prairie Wind Project (The World-Herald)
Science and Technology:
¶ “This Startup Wants To Turn Dubai’s Desert Into Farmland” • At the beginning of March, a team from a Norwegina company, Desert Control, traveled to Dubai and planted zucchini, pearl millet, and watermelon in a plot of desert. Five months later, the arid land is filled with rows and rows of green leaves, punctuated by freshly grown fruits and vegetables. [CNN]
¶ “CEO Of DeepGreen Metals Talks Mining Nickel And Other REEs From The Seafloor” • DeepGreen is a deep-sea mining company with a vision of a zero-carbon, circular economy. Its goal is to source metals with the least environmental and societal impact. I had an opportunity to interview DeepGreen’s CEO, Gerard Barron. [CleanTechnica]
Polymetallic nodule from the ocean floor
¶ “The Arctic Could Be Free Of Sea Ice By 2035, Latest Climate Model Predicts” • An international team of researchers headed up by the British Antarctic Survey estimate that the Arctic could be sea-ice free by as soon as 2035. Their estimate was developed using a cutting-edge climate modelling system developed at the UK Met Office’s Hadley Center. [BBC Focus Magazine]
¶ “Science Has A New Tool In The Fight Against Climate Change: Good Data” • The Integrated Carbon Observation Systems is a network of 130 carbon-measuring stations, with expertise centers and laboratories, for measuring concentrations of greenhouse gases, as well as how carbon fluxes between the atmosphere, the Earth, and the oceans. [Wired.co.uk]
Measuring station (Konsta Punkka)
¶ “Scientists Fear Climate Change May Bring Back Dormant Viruses” • Climate change, already wreaking havoc with 1°C of warming, is also emerging as a driver of common infectious diseases. Climate change could also emerge as a driver of such diseases as smallpox, malaria, dengue, and zika virus as a result of global warming, scientists say. [Geo News]
World:
¶ “India Extends Crucial Incentive For Solar And Wind Power Projects” • As India struggles to achieve its ambitious 160-GW solar and wind power target by 2022, it has once again extended a crucial incentive. Projects commissioned before 30 June 2023 will not be required to pay any inter-state transmission charges for a period of 25 years. [CleanTechnica]
Solar farm
¶ “India Auctions 1.2 GW Of Solar Capacity At 3.24¢ Per Kilowatt-hour” • India saw another competitive solar power tender with participation from major project developers, floated by NTPC Limited, its largest power company. It sought bids tp develop of 1.2 GW of PV capacity. The maximum allowed tariff bid was ₹2.78/kWh (3.71¢/kWh). [CleanTechnica]
¶ “One Sun, One World, One Grid: All You Need To Know About Mega Solar Plan” • OSOWOG is a plan floated by Indian Prime Minister Modi in 2018 to connect 140 countries to a common grid to transfer solar power. In June, the ministry of new and renewable energy issued an RFP to hire consultants for turning this idea into policy. [Business Standard]
Large solar array
¶ “One Of England’s Last Coal Mines To Close Near Durham” • This week, one of the few remaining UK coal mines is closing in Bradley near Durham. The owner of the surface mine, the Banks Group, said Bradley will extract its last coal on Monday 17 August, two months after its sister site in Northumberland ended its own coal production. [The Guardian]
¶ “‘Costly And Dangerous’ – Brideshead Revisited Actress Diana Quick On Why She Opposes Sizewell C” • Actress Diana Quick, well known for her work on “Brideshead Revisited,” may have one of her most important roles yet – as a leading campaigner against Sizewell C, a £20 billion nuclear power station on the coast of England. [East Anglian Daily Times]
Diana Quick (Photo: Sarah Lucy Brown)
US:
¶ “Bill McKibben Sees ‘Vivid Possibilities For A Rapid Energy Transformation'” • Bill McKibben describes the current state of energy as if we were at a precipice. He says we can make sure the planet’s a hospitable place for future human habitation. To do so, he beckons us to develop a stronger collaboration toward the common good. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “This Renewable Energy Company Sees A Bright Future For Solar” • Brookfield Renewable has 7.9 GW of hydropower plants, accounting for 64% of its cash flow. Its 4.7 GW of wind capacity contribute 27% of its cash flow. But management believes that solar energy could soar past them in importance to the company in the coming years. [Nasdaq]
Solar array in the late afternoon (Getty Images)
¶ “Kansas Leaders Embrace Wind Energy” • Governor Laura Kelly issued a statewide proclamation announcing this week as American Wind Week. Kansas is ranked second in the US for its share of electricity coming from wind. State and industry leaders took part in a virtual panel discussing the many ways wind is helping build the future in Kansas. [FortScott.Biz]
¶ “Apollo To Acquire Stake In Renewable Energy Developer US Wind For $265 Million” • Apollo Global Management Inc said that it agreed to invest $265 million in offshore wind developer US Wind Inc, the private equity firm’s first foray into the field. The investment is to fund construction of an offshore wind project off the coast of Maryland. [EnergyInfraPost]
Have an utterly super-duper day.
geoharvey 