geoharvey

Opinion:

¶ “ISO New England Needs To Admit Gas Is Unreliable” • Winter after winter, when the cold weather returns, New England’s grid operator issues dire predictions of an energy crisis. What causes this? An overreliance on methane gas for power generation and heating. But ISO New England’s rules continue to favor gas over renewables like wind and solar. [CT Mirror]

Gas meter (Doris Morgan, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Soaking Up The Sun With Artificial Intelligence” • Materials that can be used to convert the abundant solar energy into heat or electricity are called solar absorbers. Maria Chan, a scientist in the US DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, has developed a machine learning method for screening many thousands of compounds as solar absorbers. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “‘Doomsday Glacier,’ Which Could Raise Sea Level By Several Feet, Is Holding On ‘By Its Fingernails,’ Scientists Say” • In Antarctica, Thwaites Glacier, called the “doomsday glacier,” has the potential to rapidly retreat in the coming years, scientists say, amplifying concerns over the extreme sea level rise that would accompany its potential demise. [CNN]

Thwaites Glacier (Alexandra Mazur, University of Gothenburg)

¶ “Water From Pakistan’s Largest Lake Threatens To Spill Into Densely Populated Cities” • Water levels at Pakistan’s largest lake remain dangerously high despite efforts to release water and spare nearby cities further flooding, according to officials. Heavy monsoon rains combined with melting glaciers to cover one third of the country in water. [CNN]

¶ “Liz Truss Vows Energy Crisis Action Ahead Of First Day As PM” • Liz Truss has promised to deal with surging energy costs and to cut taxes, after she won the Tory leadership contest to become the next PM. Her plan is to be announced on Thursday. It is likely to include a freeze on energy bills, though precisely how it would work is still unclear. [BBC]

Elizabeth Truss (Freddie Everett, US State Department)

¶ “Toyota Continues Its Fast BEV Development Pace With Battery Investments In US And Japan” • In April of 2021, Toyota announced its plan to introduce a full line-up of 70 EVs, with 15 battery EVs, by 2025. To reach this goal, it is investing about $5.6 billion on battery plants at one location in North Carolina and two locations in Japan. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Renewable Energy From Local Sources Is The New, New Thing In Europe” • There is a quiet revolution taking place that could significantly disrupt the utility industry. Communities in Europe are making plans to create their own electricity from renewable sources. It involves people managing their own supply of electricity. [CleanTechnica]

Cooperative solar plant (Courtesy of Grunneger Power)

¶ “EDF Wraps Up Turbine Installation At 480-MW Saint-Nazaire” • All 80 turbines are now installed at the 480-MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm off France. Turbine installation has taken under six months, starting in April, It is the first commercial offshore wind farm in France. It is expected to enter production by the end of 2022. [reNews]

¶ “100 Percent Renewable Energy Systems Could Power The Globe By 2050” • A review from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers analyses over 600 peer-reviewed articles on 100% renewable energy. “The main conclusion of most of these studies is that 100% renewables is feasible worldwide at low cost,” the report says. [TriplePundit]

Wind turbines (Thomas Galler, Unsplash)

¶ “Zaporizhzhia’s ‘Last Working’ Nuclear Reactor Loses Power After Russian Shelling” • The final working reactor at the vast Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been disconnected from Ukraine’s grid after Russian shelling disrupted power lines, Energoatom said. Ukraine cannot repair the power lines because of fighting raging around the station. [SBS]

¶ “Germany Sticks To Nuclear Power Deadline But Leaves Loophole” • Germany is sticking to its long-held plan of shutting down the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants this year, but the country is keeping the option of reactivating two of them in case there is an energy shortage in the coming months, according to officials. [Voice of America]

Neckarwestheim nuclear plant (thomas springer, public domain)

US:

¶ “Bosch To Invest $200 Million In South Carolina Hydrogen” • It seems like it’s another day, another multinational tech giant investing another massive amount of money into the American South. Now it’s Bosch, who announced plans for a $200 million investment at a South Carolina facility to build hydrogen fuel-cell stacks for Class 8 semi trucks. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “House Runs 100% On DC Power – Purdue University Project” • Purdue researchers, working with Rectify Solar, developed a patented distribution system that enables a house to integrate both DC power, from solar panels, wind turbines or battery storage, and AC power from local electrical utilities. The system is modular, so it is adaptable. [CleanTechnica]

Purdue project house (Jared Pike, Purdue University)

¶ “BlackRock Battles Texas Again Over Divestments” • Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R) concluded that several companies are violating a new state law that requires fossil energy industry investment. If found culpable, BlackRock and nine European firms may be prohibited from conducting significant business with Texas state agencies. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Louisiana Continues To Shift Away From Coal-Fired Power Generation” • Louisiana continues to shift away from coal-fired power generation to renewable sources. Cleco Power and DE Shaw Renewable Investments LLC announced a plan in August to build a 240-MW solar plant on the site of a former coal-fired plant Cleco retired last year. [Biz New Orleans]

Have an admirably outstanding day.

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