geoharvey

Science and Technology:

¶ Tens of thousands of dead birds have washed up on the beaches of Alaska’s Prince William Sound, an unexplained mass die-off. They are a sign the ecosystem was being troubled by abnormally warm ocean water off the coast of Alaska, a sign that some experts say may be related to the changing climate. [CNN]

Common Murres are dying. Photo by Richard Crossley.
CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.

World:

¶ Companies involved in the RE100 campaign are, on average, halfway toward meeting their 100% renewable energy goals, according to a new report published by The Climate Group and CDP.Those in the information and communication technology sector are, on average, 64% of the way there. [Solar Industry]

¶ Tasmania is in the grip of an energy crisis as drought reduces output from its hydro-electric dams and an undersea power cable, providing up to 40% of its power needs from Victoria, is shut down. The Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union secretary blames the government’s anti-renewable policies. [Green Left Weekly]

Musselroe wind farm.

¶ The UK government plans to do more to increase the proportion of renewable energy used to heat the nation’s buildings and fuel its cars, trucks and trains as it strives to meet binding European Union targets by 2020. The UK must get 15% of all energy from renewables by 2020 to meet its EU target. [Bloomberg]

¶ Humanity must stop burning coal, oil and gas to power global economies or face an irreversible climate catastrophe, scientists, business chiefs and analysts warned at a gathering in the Swiss Alps. If we can come close to limiting average temperature increases to 1.5° C, we may avoid tipping points. [The Rakyat Post]

Disappearing glacier. A senior insurance executive says nothing will be insurable in 50 years if nations do nothing on climate change. AFP file pic

¶ In an effort to become the largest exporter of nuclear-energy technology, China has started building a reactor housed in a floating vessel, which is scheduled to be finished by 2020. If that sounds alarming, brace yourself: More than 100 additional nuclear reactors are planned for the next decade. [PortNews IAA]

US:

¶ The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission granted a site permit for the 100-MW North Star solar project of developer Community Energy Solar. By law, Minnesota public utilities must produce at least 1.5% of retail electricity sales from solar energy by 2020. The facility would power about 20,000 homes per year. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar panels. Author: Oregon Department of Transportation.
License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

¶ Green Mountain Power, in Rutland, Vermont, offers an “extreme energy makeover” that can go as far as customers want in scaling down their energy use, even going off the power grid, CEO Mary Powell said. At the same time, Green Mountain has lowered electric rates three times in the past four years. [Madison.com]

¶ 2015 marked a banner year for solar power in North Carolina as Duke Energy companies set a record for the solar PV capacity they added in the state. The total comes to more than 300 MW, enough to power about 60,000 average homes at peak production. About half the capacity belongs to Duke. [solarserver.com]

The 13 megawatt Camp Lejeune PV facility is Duke Energy’s first solar
project located at a military base. Courtesy: Duke Energy Renewables.

¶ Building on big plans for renewables unveiled during his recent State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, has announced the New York State Public Service Commission’s approval of a 10-year, $5 billion Clean Energy Fund. The fund is to attract and leverage third-party capital. [Solar Industry]

¶ The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a request from Texas and other states to block President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, leaving the climate change rules in place while courts hear a legal challenge. The court wrote that the stringent requirements for a stay were not met. [Texas Tribune]

Photo by Thomas Bougher

¶ Switch, a Las Vegas data center provider, known there for its massive high-security campus, will buy power for a new data center as bundled energy and Renewable Energy Credits from Consumers Energy, the Michigan utility that serves the area where the new data center is being built. [Data Center Knowledge]

¶ After seven years of promoting the benefits of adding wind energy to the US electricity mix, the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition announced that it will pair its advocacy work for wind with work for solar energy as well. The group has taken a new name, the Governors’ Wind and Solar Energy Coalition. [Windpower Engineering]

The Governors’ Wind and Solar Energy Coalition will join wind and solar
to lower costs, increase jobs, and support the growth of US renewables.

¶ The Town of East Hampton, New York, is commitment to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Now, a study is under way on the feasibility of creating a microgrid that would generate power for critical facilities and have the ability to separate from the electrical grid in the event of power outages. [East Hampton Star]

¶ California-based Pattern Energy has announced it has completed construction on the 150-MW Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge project in Indiana. The 150-MW Fowler Ridge wind farm will provide 100% of the electricity generated to Amazon Web Services to power the company’s datacenters. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ Last year was the warmest since record-keeping began in 1880, according to NOAA and NASA. While many expected 2015 would finish in first place, the margin of victory was startling. Global temperatures were 1.62˚F (0.90˚C) above the 20th century average, passing the previous record by 20%. [CNN]

Arctic sea ice decline September 1979 to May 2015.
Image by NSIDC. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

World:

¶ The Russian ruble has just collapsed to its lowest ever level, as oil sank below $27 a barrel to its lowest level since September 2003. Earnings from oil and gas exports make up roughly half of government revenues. To balance its budget, the country needs to be able to sell oil for $82 per barrel. [CNN]

¶ Falling oil prices are driving investments in renewable power in oil-producing countries. With oil at below $30 a barrel, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran and Kuwait are looking to curb fossil fuel use at home to maximize export profits, and so they seek alternative energy sources for electricity. [The Guardian]

Visitors at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2016. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

¶ Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa SA announced three orders from India totalling 130 MW. The company will supply a total of 65 units of its G97-2.0 MW turbine. Gamesa will build two wind farms, one of 50 MW and one of 30 MW, and will supply 50 MW of turbines to a third wind farm. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ An international consortium has been formed to fund and develop a commercial floating wind farm in the Atlantic waters off the coast of Portugal near Porto. This follows the successful trials of a prototype floating generator unit developed by WindFloat which has been operating for four years. [Maritime Journal]

¶ Australian utility AGL and global solar PV manufacturer First Solar have completed Australia’s two largest solar PV plants, doubling the country’s total solar PV capacity. The 102-MW Nyngan and the 53-MW Broken Hill solar projects, have a total of 2,044,140 solar panels feeding the grid. [CleanTechnica]

AGL solar array

¶ GE Renewable Energy has announced that it secured 1.4-GW of firm and unconditional wind turbine supply orders in the month of December. The agreements call for GE’s wind technology to supply more than 20 new wind projects across seven different countries. About half of the sales were outside the US. [Windpower Engineering]

¶ A former TEPCO executive who feels guilt over the 2011 nuclear disaster is behind the start-up of a tomato farm which opened in the devastated region. Eiju Hangai, whose previous employer operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is now president of Minami-Soma Fukko Agri KK. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶ The Cambodian government should invest more in sustainable energy, with a focus on solar power, experts told a conference on energy security yesterday, adding that this could reduce both the country’s dependence on large-scale hydropower projects and coal-fired plants and its emissions of carbon dioxide. [Khmer Times]

Tangled power cables are commonplace in Phnom Penh,
like the ones above on Street 63. KT/ Mai Vireak

¶ Seven of the 24 countries across the world with weapons-grade nuclear materials scored a zero in their ability to protect their nuclear facilities from a cyberattack, according to a new study by the Nuclear Threat Initiative. This is the first time the NTI included a threat of cyberattacks in its report. [BuzzFeed News]

US:

¶ Oil is in free fall. Last year, 42 US energy companies went bankrupt, owing more than $17 billion, according to a report from law firm Haynes & Boone. The four biggest US banks have set aside at least $2.5 billion combined to cover souring energy loans and may have to increase that amount. [Bloomberg]

¶ UK-based Renewable Energy Systems announced the sale of the 198-MW Bluestem wind project in Oklahoma to a unit of US energy major Exelon Corp. RES will immediately start building the wind farm in Beaver County. Vestas Wind Systems will supply 60 of its V117-3.3 MW turbines for the project. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in Oklahoma. Author: U.S. Department of Agriculture.
License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

¶ A climate change program including New York and other northeastern states won’t be enough for the states to reach 2030 goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unless more is done, a report warned.The report coincided with an announcement that 2015 was the hottest year on record. [Albany Times Union]

¶ US wind and solar developer Apex Clean Energy Holdings LLC said it has signed a power purchase agreement with the US Army for 65.8 MW of wind and solar capacity. The Army will buy electricity for Fort Hood in Texas and is expected to save about $168 million over the contract’s 28-year term. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind turbines in Texas. Author: Will De Freitas. License: Creative
Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic.

¶ Local officials from communities around Vermont are demanding a greater say in the siting of wind and solar energy projects. The Vermont League of Cities and Towns on Wednesday brought local officials and activists from around the state to the Statehouse to express their concerns. [Beaumont Enterprise]

Opinion:

¶ Why An Overflowing Oil Supply Won’t Drown Renewable Energy
Growth • Conventional wisdom posits that continuously cheap oil also poses a threat to the development of renewable energy. But for the most part, oil doesn’t compete with renewables, which are still growing in the face of cheap oil. [Huffington Post]

A barrel lies in a pool of oil at a damaged petroleum plant after an earthquake in Indonesia. Spencer Platt via Getty Images

Science and Technology:

¶ The cost of storing energy in batteries could fall by as much as 70% over the next 15 years as new solar battery technology and other technical advances drive prices down, the World Energy Council said. Grid-scale electricity storage would make the variable supply of renewable sources more flexible. [Times of India]

¶ Carbon capture and sequestration is expensive because each step, capture, distribution, and sequestration, is expensive. According to an organization which promotes carbon capture and sequestration, it will cost $120-$140 per ton of CO2. This means 16.8¢/kWh to 19.6¢/kWh extra for electricity. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ The door is beginning to close on growth markets for small-scale diesel, as the cost of renewable energy has dropped to the point where it meets, and often beats, diesel on both price and performance. IRENA has just announced a new $46 million round of new funding for renewable energy projects. [CleanTechnica]

Solar installation at Vanuatu via IRENA.

¶ According to analytics company IHS, battery cost reductions, government funding programs, and utility tenders all contributed to a 45% increase in the global energy storage pipeline in the fourth quarter of 2015. The analysis also says the pipeline of planned battery projects and flywheel projects reaches 1.6 GW. [CleanTechnica]

¶ If Saudi Arabia and the five other Gulf Cooperation Council members make good on renewable energy targets, that would keep 400 million barrels of oil in the desert in 2030. They would benefit by preserving vital water stocks and using solar potentials, the International Renewable Energy Agency says. [Climate Home]

Shams 100-MW concentrated solar plant in Abu Dhabi, UAE (Flickr/ Masdar Official)

¶ China’s emissions of carbon dioxide produced as a result of using coal for electricity generation probably fell 2% in 2015, as a push by the world’s most populous nation to tackle climate change resulted in less of the fuel being burned. Carbon emissions were reduced by 144.9 million metric tons. [Bloomberg]

¶ Russian government officials are revisiting an idea that was all but junked by President Vladimir Putin in 2010: the notion that renewable energy could be profitable business for the country. A Deputy Energy Minister announced a goal of increasing Russia’s reliance on renewables by 10 times by 2035. [Bellona]

The Mikhail Ulyanov Tanker docks with the Prirazlomnaya platform to onload oil. (Photo: Gazprom)

US:

¶ Green Mountain Power announced today the year-end operational results for Kingdom Community Wind in Lowell. In 2015, the 21-turbine project generated enough electricity to power 26,700 homes for a year. That’s an increase of 7% over the previous year or enough energy to power an additional 1,800 homes. [Vermont Biz]

¶ The US DOE announced it will fund up to $220 million of R&D projects to modernize America’s aging power grid infrastructure over the next three years. DOE also released a strategic blueprint that informs and guides a national research and development agenda involving a consortium of DOE National Laboratories. [Energy Collective]

Natural resources at NREL’s campuses are managed appropriately to ensure research needs are met while protecting native wildlife and vegetation. NREL

¶ The US DOE awarded two $6 million cost sharing grants as the first installments of what could be, over time, up to $80 million in funding for design work on advanced nuclear reactors. DOE’s expectations is that these firms, with their multiple partners, will be ready to build prototypes by 2035 or earlier. [Energy Collective]

Amazon windpower

¶ Pattern Energy Group Inc. has completed the 150-MW Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge, located in Benton County, Indiana. The facility will sell 100% of its output to Amazon Web Services, which will in turn supply the electricity to the electric power grids that service its data centers. [North American Windpower]

¶ The legal mandate of reducing Massachusetts greenhouse gas emissions to hit a 2020 benchmark is “achievable” if environmental policies are carried out but imperiled if the state neglects a major importation of renewable energy, according to a Baker administration report released Tuesday. [CommonWealth magazine]

¶ Utility Southern California Edison has signed power purchase agreements to obtain 500 MW of renewable energy from four solar projects being developed by First Solar. The projects are in California, Nevada, and Arizona. First Solar expects to turn all the four projects operational by the end of 2019. [Power Technology]

World:

¶ UK green energy supplier Ecotricity has installed a 800-kW wind turbine in Yorkshire, at a factory of aircrete products maker H+H UK Ltd. Ecotricity will finance and build the turbine, and H+H will use the power on-site, cutting its carbon emissions and sharing in the benefits of green energy. [SeeNews Renewables]

Factory turbine under construction.
Source: Ecotricity. License: All Rights Reserved.

¶ China’s gross domestic product grew 6.9% in 2015 from a year earlier, the least growth since 1990, according to government figures. Power consumption rose 0.5%, slowing from a 3.8% advance the previous year. Coal imports fell about 30% last year, and approval of new mines may be suspended this year. [Bloomberg]

¶ Nordex signed contracts with the Turkish power company Bilgin Enerji for four projects totalling 100 MW. All of the 33 turbines ordered are Delta series, the latest product fleet Nordex is offering on the market. The first project is an extension of the “Bandirma” wind farm in the province of Balikesir. [7thSpace Interactive]

¶ Germany connected a record 2,282.4 MW of offshore wind capacity to the grid in 2015. Just 492.2 MW was installed in 2014, and the industry expects about 700 MW for 2016. At the end of 2014, 1,345 MW were fully installed in German waters and awaited grid connection due to delays. [SeeNews Renewables]

Adwen turbines at Alpha Ventus wind farm in the German
North Sea. Copyright: Adwen GmbH / J. Oelker.

¶ Construction work has begun on Djibouti’s first solar power plant. The $390 million facility is located in Grand Bara, in south of the country. The solar power project will be built in six stages, each one adding 50 MW of power, towards a final capacity of 300 MW. The plant is part of a drive to cut energy costs. [Caj News Africa]

¶ Switzerland’s 1,000-MW Linthal pumped-storage plant has been successfully synchronized to the Swiss grid, according to equipment supplier GE Renewable Energy. The Axpo-owned facility is located in the Linthal Valley in eastern Switzerland, and uses water pumped from Lake Limmern to Lake Mutt. [HydroWorld]

Linthal Valley

¶ Japan has given the go-ahead to 85,550 MW of clean-energy projects since the introduction of an incentive program in July 2012, with solar comprising the vast bulk of the new capacity, at 79,760 MW. Of the approvals, 23,650 MW, or about 28%, had gone online by the end of September. [The Japan Times]

¶ Hexicon is planning to build and operate a semi-submersible platform to support two floating wind turbines at a site approximately 9 km from the Dounreay power station on the north coast of Scotland. The Swedish company is currently in the earliest stages of planning for the Dounreay Tri demonstrator project. [reNews]

Hexicon image

¶ A decision on whether a nuclear power station is built at Hinkley Point could be announced next week. Reports say the board of directors of EDF will meet on January 27. The final investment decision on the project has been delayed due to the lengthy negotiations with Chinese partners. [Central Somerset Gazette]

US:

¶ Public enemy No 1 for climate change and no longer the fossil fuel utilities prefer to burn to generate electricity, coal has few allies these days. But one state is still fighting to save the industry: Wyoming. Not long ago, good times for coal, oil and natural gas created huge budget surpluses. [LancasterOnline]

Loading coal at the Black Thunder Mine in
Wright, Wyoming. AP photo / Matt Brown

¶ El Segundo-based 3 Phases Renewables has contracted with the City of Santa Monica, California, to supply 100% renewable power for all municipal operations. Under the newly signed contract the energy mix will be mostly made up of wind and solar power generated within the state. [North American Windpower]

Opinion:

¶ Clean power: It’s just a click away • While many don’t think of the Internet’s scope beyond their own personal devices, Greenpeace has recently noted that if the Internet were a country, its energy consumption would rank it sixth in the world. Of course this total is only expected to grow. [eco-business.com]

An Apple solar farm in Hongyuan, China. Image: Apple

World:

¶ Oil prices fell below $28 a barrel amid fears the lifting of Western sanctions on Iran could increase the oversupply. Brent crude, used as an international benchmark, fell as low as $27.67 a barrel, its lowest since 2003, before recovering slightly to trade at $28.17. The price of US crude fell to $28.86. [BBC]

¶ The North African country of Morocco has achieved a new low for wind energy costs, securing average bids of just $30/MWh from its tender for 850 MW tender of large-scale wind energy projects, with the lowest at around $25/MWh. Until recently, Morocco sourced all its energy needs from fossil fuels. [RenewEconomy]

Tarfaya Wind Energy Project, Morocco

¶ India is expected to significantly overachieve on its solar power capacity addition target for the financial year 2015-16, a consultancy firm has projected. Solar consultancy firm Bridge to India expects that around 2 GW of solar power capacity is expected to be added between January and March 2016. [CleanTechnica]

¶ In its first year of operation, the so-named Shams 1 plant in Abu Dhabi beat expectations by a wide margin, and its second year figures are also better than predicted. The concentrating solar plant has a nameplate capacity of 100 MW, but in peak summer days during 2015, it often produced 125 MW. [CleanTechnica]

Photo by Tina Casey

¶ On Monday, Toshiba Corp demonstrated a device it believes will be used to remove fuel-rod assemblies from the spent fuel pool in the reactor 3 building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It is still impossible for humans even to monitor the removal of the fuel-rod assemblies safely in the building. [The Japan Times]

¶ Bibby Marine Services has contracted Damen Shipyards Group to deliver a service operations vessel for use in the offshore wind sector. Bibby WaveMaster 1 will be able to remain at sea for periods up to one month, accommodating up to 45 turbine maintenance personnel and 15 crew members. [reNews]

Photo by Bibby Line Group

US:

¶ The newest Solar Jobs Census from the Solar Foundation gives us some interesting insights into the US solar industry. The report notes that the solar workforce in the US grew 20% in 2015 for the third straight year. The US solar industry added jobs about 12 times faster than the other parts of the economy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ In tomorrow’s world, it won’t be just the corn on the great American plains that is as high as an elephant’s eye, but also elephant grass. To deliver on US promises to reduce fossil fuel use, American motorists in future will drive on miscanthus, as elephant grass is also known, and prairie switchgrass. [EcoWatch]

Elephant grass has a high biomass yield and grows rapidly to over
three metres tall. Photo credit: Tony Atkin / Wikimedia Commons

¶ Nevada solar system owners filed a lawsuit against NV Energy Inc accusing the utility of conspiring to reduce or eliminate competition, inflate price and illegally increase revenues. They claim the utility provided false and/or incomplete information to the Public Utilities Commission. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Twelve Nebraska cities and one regional utility decided not to sign new 20-year contracts to buy electricity from the Nebraska Public Power District. The utilities rejecting NPPD’s proposed contract are taking advantage of flexibility the power grid offers today to buy power from another provider. [Omaha World-Herald]

World:

¶ The Canadian Wind Energy Association has reported that Canada closed 2015 seventh in the world for total installed wind energy capacity with 11,205 MW, and sixth in the world for the amount of capacity added in 2015. Over the year, Canada added 36 wind projects totalling 1,506 MW of new capacity. [Windpower Engineering]

Wind energy supplied approximately 5% of Canada’s electricity demand in 2015, or enough to power over three million Canadian homes. CanWEA

¶ Oil prices briefly have fallen below $30 a barrel on international markets for the first time since April 2004, before recovering again. Brent crude, used as an international benchmark, fell as low as $29.96, but bounced back to trade at $30.22. Oil prices have fallen by 70% in the past 15 months. [BBC]

¶ Growth in India’s coal-based installed generation capacity is on a decline, despite an increase in production and availability of coal. The coal-based installed capacity in 2015 grew at 10.77%, a figure that has fallen in each of the past four years. Renewable capacity grew 18.06%, up from 7.57% in 2014. [Business Standard]

¶ Global clean energy investment in 2015 rose to the record-high $329.3 billion (€303 billion). A report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows record investments despite falling fossil fuel commodity prices, weakness of the European economy, and the increasing capacity per investment dollar of PVs. [SeeNews Renewables]

Clean energy investment globally 2005-2015. Figures by BNEF.

¶ Indian Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal today said that Niti Aayog is working actively with the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan for developing a long-term cooperation in the energy sector. This will help India plan its energy security and energy mix for the country in the years to come. [Huffington Post India]

¶ Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon has announced its foray into solar power with projects of 210 MW in the Indian state of Telangana. Suzlon won contracts in a competitive bidding process to install six different capacity projects across the state. They are to be commissioned in fiscal year 2017.[Financial Express]

¶ Taiwan may soon be the first nation in Asia to resolve to become a nuclear free nation after four decades of reliance on nuclear power. Taiwan’s voters will elect a new president on January 16. The leading candidate, by a hefty margin, is committed to turning Taiwan into a “nuclear free homeland” by 2025. [eco-business.com]

A collage of Taiwanese people holding posters protesting against
nuclear power. Image: Hsiangfilm, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

¶ German energy group RWE AG plans to use the proceeds from the listing of a new, renewables-focused unit to expand in new markets and to enter the large-scale solar power segment. Its renewables arm, RWE Innogy, expects to post an operating result for 2015 more than double the prior year’s. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The Ontario Greens are calling for an independent, public review of rebuilding Ontario’s aging nuclear reactors to assess the costs, possible alternatives, and the need to work with the federal government on a national energy strategy that includes an East-West corridor to import energy. [NorthumberlandView.ca]

US:

¶ Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in his annual State of the State speech that the New York will phase out its dirtiest power plants, adopting renewable power. He said clean energy is a business opportunity for the state, as well as an important step to address increasing climate challenges. [Capital New York]

New York City’s first commercial-scale wind turbine at the Sims
Material Recovery Facility. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

¶ The US has seen coal production levels fall to their lowest levels since 1986, dropping 10% in 2015 alone. Production in the Appalachian Basin fell the most last year. Lower natural gas prices and lower international demand for American coal are said to be behind the declining coal production. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Northern Power Systems Corp has announced that its flagship distributed generation wind platform is now available to businesses, farms, and other property owners with a compelling financing solution. It is offering a lease program to allow users to take advantage of wind energy with 100% financing. [Vermont Biz]

¶ After years of political gridlock, San Francisco is ready to launch its green energy community choice aggregation program this spring. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve the first round of energy contracts for the CleanPowerSF program. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Roof of the Sunset Reservoir. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

¶ Renewable energy provider Silicon Ranch Corp, based in Nashville, Tennessee and the Phoenix-based renewable energy team at McCarthy Building Cos say construction is ready to begin on a 52-MW AC solar energy plant planned in Hazlehurst, Georgia. It has a 30-year contract with Green Power EMC. [Solar Industry]

¶ Officials in Cumberland County, Tennessee, announced that Apex Clean Energy is planning to locate a new wind farm on private land in the county. The Crab Orchard project is expected to produce up to 71 MW of power with 20 to 23 turbines. The project is expected to begin operations in 2017. [The Hartsville Vidette]

Opinion:

¶ America’s gathering offshore revolution • An article in Nature asserts that if the US were to exploit all its offshore resources, including in more difficult deep-water sites, it would be able to generate more than 4,000 GW of electricity, about four times more than it needs to power the country. [GCR]

The Walney wind farm, in the Irish Sea. The US wants to follow Europe’s lead on offshore wind. (Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Nuclear no match for renewables • South Africa is in an electric supply crisis. The government’s curiously oblique solution: eight new nuclear reactors, costing about R1 trillion ($60.6 billion). But renewable power costs a third as much and goes in six times as fast. [BDlive]

World:

¶ Avantha Group company CG has won a contract by Energinet.dk to provide power transformers and gas insulated switchgear for the 600-MW Kriegers Flak wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The order includes of two onshore autotransformers and four offshore substation transformers. [reNews]

CG’s technology is already been used on other wind farms. (CG)

¶ The Development Bank of Japan and Japan Wind Development Co will create the nation’s first fund for wind power, the companies announced on Wednesday. The companies aim to introduce the ¥50 billion ($423 million) joint fund in April, according to a statement. [Bloomberg]

¶ The Australian Renewable Energy Agency said Wednesday it will help finance Bombora Wave Power’s detailed cost of energy study for its Wave Energy Converter. ARENA is contributing as much as A$181,000 ($127,100/€117,300) towards the completion of the assessment. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Ormat Technologies Inc said it has started construction work on the 35-MW Geotermica Platanares geothermal project in Honduras. Commercial operation is expected by the end of 2017. The plant is seen to generate an average of $33 million (€30.5 million) in annual revenue. [SeeNews Renewables]

Geothermal power station. (That’s steam, not smoke.)
Image: N.Minton/Shutterstock.com

¶ China was the world’s leading market in 2015, bringing its renewable installed capacity to over 900 GW, says research and consulting firm GlobalData. China led the world for annual capacity additions in solar, biopower, small hydropower, and onshore wind in 2015. [Today’s Energy Solutions]

US:

¶ Hundreds of rooftop solar panels are going up on Fort Carson’s base housing, helping the post reach its goal to get 25% of its energy from renewables by 2025. The panels will generate enough power for 615 homes. They add to an exiting 5 MW of renewables. [Colorado Springs Independent]

Balfour Beatty has installed solar units at the Army post.
Courtesy Fort Carson

¶ According to Utility Dive, renewable electricity accounted for 61% of 2015 electricity capacity additions in 2015 across the United States, while natural gas contributed 35% of the total. This is encouraging news for clean energy proponents concerning climate change. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Vermont is reaffirming its commitment to get 90% of the state’s energy from renewable sources by 2050, and on Tuesday Governor Peter Shumlin, administration officials and lawmakers outlined some of the states plans that are being proposed to help achieve that goal. [Rutland Herald]

¶ Montana’s coal-fired power plants at Colstrip are facing another hit, as utilities and environmental groups in Oregon back a proposal to ban use of coal power there by 2035. The proposal would prohibit Oregon’s two largest electric utilities from using coal-fired power. [KBZK Bozeman News]

Colstrip power plants (MTN News file photo)
(A lot of smoke, with a little steam.)

¶ American Electric Power is turning away from coal, favoring instead wind, solar, and natural gas. The company recommended that West Virginia enact policy to comply with the Clean Power Plan rather than invite the Environmental Protection Agency to devise a plan for the state. [Beckley Register-Herald]

¶ Legislators moved closer toward lifting Wisconsin’s ban on new nuclear power plants, with the Assembly passing a bill that would end the moratorium despite Democrats’ warnings about dangerous nuclear power. The measure now goes to the state Senate. [TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press]

Opinion:

¶ What does solar have to do with the bankruptcy of the second-largest US coal miner? • There is a relationship between both solar and wind and the decline of fossil fuels. As there is no fuel cost for solar or wind, both can bid into competitive electricity systems with no marginal cost. [pv magazine]

Coal power is on its way out in the United States,
and solar can benefit. Wikimedia/Flocko

Science and Technology:

¶ The methane and other pollutants spewing from a gas well in California is invisible to the naked eye, making it hard to comprehend just how large the leak is. Fortunately, the California Air Resources Board has been taking periodic measurements, which we can use to make some comparisons. [BBC]

World:

¶ Lloyd’s Register’s consulting business will be working with Denmark’s transmission system operator to measure underwater sound propagation for the Horns Rev 3 wind-farm substation development. The collaboration will help safeguard marine life and ensure a sustainability. [Windpower Engineering]

The 400-MW Horns Rev 3 wind farm, off the west coast of Denmark, is expected to generate power for some 450,000 households.

¶ The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy has invited bids from prospective project developers to set up a hybrid solar power project. The project will have a total installed capacity of 400 MW and will include both solar PV and solar thermal power generation technology. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Nigeria’s Kainji renewable power plant serves to demonstrate a small-scale electricity solution that combines PV and wind technology, and is able to operate both off-grid and on-grid. Hybrid power systems are especially effective for remote and isolated areas far from grid connections. [Vanguard]

¶ Later this month Vattenfall will start installing the 4.99-MW Parc Cynog solar farm in Wales. The site already has 11 wind turbines, which have operated for 14 years. The solar array and the wind farm will share an existing connection to the grid. The site also has sheep grazing. [reNews]

Entrance of the Parc Cynog wind farm. Photo by lizzie.
CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Latin America is changing. Uruguay gets 94.5% of its energy from renewable sources, including solar. Costa Rica’s numbers are even higher. Brazil and Paraguay source most of their electricity needs from renewables, mostly hydroelectric power. But it is Chile that is the solar leader. [Latin Correspondent]

¶ Ontario Power Generation has announced its plan upgrade the 3,512-MW Darlington nuclear power station located in Clarington, with an investment of C$12.8 billion (US$9 billion). Work on the project planned to commence in fourth quarter of 2016, to be completed by 2026. [Energy Business Review]

¶ A study says that Russia and the countries of Central Asia could become a highly energy-competitive region by getting all their electricity from renewable sources within the next 15 years. So far, most of the region’s governments appear not to have found the will to realise this huge potential. [The Ecologist]

Photovoltaic power station Kosh-Agachsky District, Russia.
Photo: Darya Ashanina via Wikimedia (CC-BY-SA)

US:

¶ Panasonic Corporation of North America and the city of Denver, Colorado (and some other local private entities) will be partnering in order to bring various “smart” city technologies and expertise to area residents and visitors, according to a recent press release from Panasonic. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Solar Foundation, an independent nonprofit solar research organization, released its sixth annual National Solar Jobs Census. The new report found that the solar industry employed 208,859 Americans in 2015, up 35,052 solar workers over the previous year, for a 20.2% increase. [solarserver.com]

¶ Siemens has been awarded an order from Westar Energy, Inc. to supply, support install and provide service for 122 wind turbines for the Western Plains Wind Farm project to be located near Spearville, Kansas, approximately 100 miles west of Hutchinson. Operations should start in early 2017. [Power Online]

Siemens wind turbines.

¶ FuelCell Energy Inc has announced plans for the installation of a 5.6-MW fuel cell power generation system for Pfizer Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, to provide low-carbon electricity and steam for its 160 acre R&D facility in Groton, Connecticut, according to reports. [RenewablesBiz]

¶ The renewable-energy industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors of Vermont’s economy. But as siting of solar and wind projects generates public outcry in the state’s communities, some lawmakers want to give municipalities more control over the fate of projects. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶ SunEdison has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Watervliet, New York for close to 1 MW DC of solar power. The energy will be used in all city-owned buildings, including the City Hall, fire station and library, for an expected saving of about $1 million over 20 years. [PennEnergy]

Opinion:

¶ Nuclear power might be safe or cheap, but never safe and cheap • In spite of the problems of corrosive, hot, cancer-causing, deadly waste, the Wisconsin Legislature has been captured by industry lobbyists who love a good yarn like the one about clean, safe, cheap nuclear power. [Madison.com]

Point Beach nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan.

¶ 8 reasons why building new nuclear power plants is a bad idea • The South African government seems intent on pushing through its plans to build a fleet of new nuclear power stations regardless of mounting public criticism and opposition. Alas, atomic energy remains a poor option. [News24]

World:

¶ Egypt’s feed-in tariff renewable energy program is seen to provide a debt and equity investment opportunity of between $6 billion (€5.5 billion) and $7 billion through 2018, according to investment bank EFG Hermes. The country has a renewables goal of 20% by 2020. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in Egypt. Author: Gigi Ibrahim. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

¶ Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon said it has received a 197.40-MW repeat order from a leading Indian renewable energy independent power producer. The order is for 94 wind turbines with rated capacity of 2.1 MW each and will be executed in Andhra Pradesh by February 2017. [BW Businessworld]

¶ Lightsource Renewable Energy connected 23 new sites in the UK in December, totalling more than 100 MW of new capacity. Lightsource plans to connect a further 14 ground-mount sites totalling 92 MW by March 31, bringing its total installed capacity in the UK to 1.3 GW. [Your Renewable News]

¶ Power output from Scottish wind turbines rose to record levels in 2015, producing enough electricity to power 97% of the country’s homes, a report from WWF Scotland suggests. In six out of 12 months, wind supplied more than 100% of Scottish household needs. [Scottish Daily Record]

Pic: PA

¶ A £1 million project will see the construction of one of the first industrial-scale battery storage facilities in the UK. The joint venture project seeks to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of connecting an energy storage facility at a solar farm to the mains grid. [Energy Matters]

¶ The aging nuclear power plant that provides much of Toronto’s electricity is set to get a new lease on life today. The provincial government and Ontario Power Generation are expected to announce plans Monday afternoon for refurbishing the Darlington nuclear generating station. [CBC.ca]

US:

¶ TXU Energy will soon launch the first electricity plan in Texas backed 100% by solar-generated electricity from within the state, according to a press release from the company. The plan comes soon after the company’s decision to offer high-efficiency rooftop solar options. [CleanTechnica]

Photo by TXU Energy

¶ Data compiled from daily reports by California’s major grid manager indicate that in 2015, solar became the No 1 source of renewable energy in the state. Not only did solar beat wind power for the first time, but it also topped drought-depleted hydropower, the long-standing leader. [KQED]

¶ IHS Research updated its solar installation outlook based on the US federal investment tax credit extension. The update increases the projected US solar growth for 2017 from 6-7 GW to 15 GW, but actually decreases the outlook for 2016 to 13 GW, from 17 GW. [CleanTechnica]

Image by SolarCity

¶ An Iowa State University agronomy assistant professor, says perennial grasses can reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change and can be harvested to provide fuel. The plants’ deep roots help hold fertilizers, slow rainfall that causes flooding and feed the soil. [DesMoinesRegister.com]

Opinion:

¶ Vermont power line approval big step for Canadian power • The $1.2 billion, privately funded TDI project faced no significant opposition, something unusual for the state. One difference is the entire TDI project, which would power for about 1 million homes, would be invisible. [Rutland Herald]

The Jean-Lesage hydro-electric dam generates power along the Manicouagan River, north of Baie-Comeau, Quebec. AP file photo

Science and Technology:

¶ One researcher from Portsmouth University in England claims that properly implemented artificial “power islands” could solve the world’s energy crisis. An artificial archipelago of power islands could provide a place for energy to be secured from wind, tides, and the sun. [The Inquisitr]

World:

¶ Scientists and conservationists fear China’s ever-increasing pressure to expand the nuclear power sector means not enough attention is being paid to safety. Within a couple of decades, Hong Kong could be in close proximity to as many as 39 reactors. [South China Morning Post]

The dome of a containment structure is hoisted into position
at the Taishan Unit 2 nuclear power plant. Photos: Corbis

¶ Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged Electricity of Viet Nam to develop renewable energy sources including wind and solar power. He made his request at a conference held by EVN to review last year’s electricity sector performance and set goals for this year. [VietNamNet Bridge]

¶ India has taken up a massive energy efficiency mission under which it will switch over to LED bulbs by the end of 2018, which would result in a saving $ 6 billion per annum, says the Union Minister for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy. The plan is to replace 710 million light bulbs. [Indiainfoline]

US:

¶ When the Hoke County commissioners approved plans for a 200-acre solar farm last week, a signal was sent out across the state: North Carolina’s solar boom isn’t over despite the termination of a generous tax credit that sparked rapid growth over the last decade. [Fayetteville Observer]

Solar farm construction in North Carolina. Duke Energy photo

¶ California Governor Jerry Brown is back with his plan to cut petroleum use in California in half by 2030, despite its legislative defeat last year by a faction of pro-oil Assembly Democrats heavily influenced by a big money industry campaign. This year things may be different. [Huffington Post]

¶ Two low-income communities will benefit from new solar power projects due to the efforts of Boston Community Capital, with financing from Eastern Bank. They will almost double the solar capacity associated with the Solar Carve-Out II program for affordable housing in Massachusetts. [CleanTechnic]

¶ West Virginia’s four largest electric utilities revealed plans for what the state’s power production might look like over the next 10 years. All four plan to continue reliance on coal, though Appalachian Power would diversify its energy portfolio with more solar and wind energy. [Charleston Gazette-Mail]

The John Amos Power Plant near St. Albans, West Virginia.
Chris Dorst | Gazette-Mail file photo

¶ The recent Annual Auto Survey from Consumer Reports saw electric cars in the top three positions for owner satisfaction. The Tesla Model S was the most satisfying car for commuting in the survey. It was following closely by the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid and the Nissan LEAF. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Michigan-based NOVI Energy is moving forward with plans to build two anaerobic digester power plants in Sampson County, North Carolina, after county commissioners approved incentives for the facilities. The performance-based incentives would total $522,348 per plant. [BlueRidgeNow.com]

Opinion:

¶ Gas Leaks, the Clean Power Plan & Fracking • California Governor Jerry Brown declared a stage of emergency in the affluent Porter Ranch neighborhood in Los Angeles due to a gas leak spewing about 1200 tons of methane per day. The leak began in October. The LA gas leak provides another cautionary tale on fracking. [Huffington Post]

Equipment on a ridge in Southern California Gas Company’s vast Aliso Canyon facility, site of the gas leak. Photo by Scott L from Los Angeles, USA. CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

World:

¶ Tesla global communications director said Tesla Powerwalls are already being made and shipped. Two models, 7-kWh and 10-kWh are for residential homeowners, to store extra solar electricity or for backup. The cost for Tesla’s 7-kWh Powerwall is $3,000, while the 10-kWh model is priced at $3500. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Indonesian state-utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara is again bumping heads with the government over the country’s renewable energy development, as it holds back $783 million in micro-hydro projects. It has yet to agree to purchasing deals for 114 proposals, which typically produce less than 100 kW. [Jakarta Globe]

¶ The world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, London Array, has set a new record for power generated by an offshore wind farm. December 2015 saw its 175 turbines generate 369,000 MWh of electricity, beating a previous record of 317,000 MWh set last November. The capacity factor for the month was 78.9%. [Windpower Engineering]

The London Array set records. Image from londonarray.com.

¶ Swedish utility Vattenfall said low electricity prices and the country’s nuclear output tax mean its nuclear reactors are operating at a loss. It warns of serious consequences to Sweden’s electricity supply should it be forced to shut down its remaining reactors early. It is already closing two reactors five years ahead of schedule. [World Nuclear News]

US:

¶ Add Sunrun to the list of solar companies ending their Nevada operations in response to a net metering ruling by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. The San Francisco-based company today said it ceased all operations in Nevada, a move resulting in hundreds of job losses. SolarCity is also leaving the state. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Nearly 100,000 solar panels in western Weld County, Colorado, on land equivalent to the size of 48 football fields, have been activated and are generating renewable energy for Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association customers in Northern Colorado. The solar farms will generate enough power annually for 1,300 homes. [BizWest Media]

Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association has brought two new solar farms online. (Courtesy PVREA)

¶ Minnesota Power’s Great Transmission Line has cleared an important hurdle. An administrative law judge recommended approval of a route permit for the line, which would bring renewable hydroelectricity from Canada to northeastern Minnesota. The 500-kV, 220-mile line would run to a substation east of Grand Rapids. [Mesabi Daily News]

¶ Tom Vilsack, secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, went to Vermont to announce a $46 million program funded by his agency to support energy efficiency investments in the state. The Vermont Energy Investment Corp will administer the loans to homeowners, small businesses, and towns. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

¶ The partnership between Panasonic Corporation and Tesla is set to continue for the foreseeable future, based on comments recently made by the Panasonic’s president Kazuhiro Tsuga. The company will reportedly be putting up to $1.6 billion into the Gigafactory being developed with the noted EV manufacturer. [CleanTechnica]

Gigafactory by Tesla.

¶ A report by the US government’s NREL and Berkeley Lab finds a 3.6% reduction in fossil fuel generation and up to $3.9 billion in net savings for electricity customers in 2013, as well as reduced water use and the creation of 200,000 jobs. State-level Renewable Portfolio Standards are important for the benefits. [pv magazine]

¶ EDF Renewable Energy announced that the 150 MW Slate Creek Wind Project in Kansas reached commercial operation on December 29, 2015. The Project, about 50 miles south of Wichita, has 75 Vestas 2-MW wind turbines. The facility will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 55,000 average homes. [PennEnergy]

World:

¶ If Spain had no wind parks, the average annual price on the electricity market would have been 23.8% higher in 2015, according to the Spanish wind energy association. Wind farms offered the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Spain, at about €46.14 ($49.60) per MWh. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind turbines at work. Author: Nick Cross. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic.

¶ The Solar Energy Corporation of India and Russian Energy Agency have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to set up large scale solar PV projects in India between 2016 to 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, initially a 500 MW pilot solar PV project will be developed. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Earnings of utilities in central and northern Europe will fall about 7% in 2016, hampered by a reliance on coal, gas and nuclear generation. Spanish, Italian and Portuguese power companies, accounting for about 60% of Europe’s total renewable production in 2014, will do better. [Bloomberg]

¶ On January 1, strict rules for construction came into effect in Germany. Heating new buildings without using renewable energy is no longer permitted. Oil heaters cannot be used at all anymore. A new primary energy requirement that is 25% lower than the previous threshold. [Sun & Wind Energy]

Heating systems that use fossil fuels will have a hard time complying to new regulations in Germany. (Photo: dpa)

¶ French renewable power plants operator Voltalia is developing a wind power cluster in Brazil with an anticipated capacity of around 1.2 GW. A 52-km transmission line with a 400-MVA capacity will be used to transfer the power generated at the cluster to the national grid. [CleanTechnology News]

¶ Western Australia would not be able to privatize its electricity assets even if they were given away, because the popularity of rooftop solar panels has made state-owned power stations unprofitable, a renewable energy expert has said. The grid is over capacity and solar power is growing. [The Guardian]

¶ Last month, journalist Adrian Levy, working for the Centre for Public Integrity in Washington, reported that a “secret nuclear facility” was being created at Challakere amid concerns over safety from some of the local population. Now, scientists have confirmed the report. [The Indian Express]

US:

¶ EDF Renewable Energy said on Tuesday that its 250-MW Roosevelt wind farm in New Mexico has reached commercial operation in mid-December. The plant is now selling electricity to a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, under a 20-year fixed-price power purchase agreement. [SeeNews Renewables]

Author: MK Group. License: All rights reserved.

¶ Tesla just busted through the 50,000/year sales barrier, as it projected it would; Model X production is ramping up exponentially; and the company is now bringing in well over $1 billion a quarter in revenue. Everything seems to be moving along as planned at Tesla Motors. [CleanTechnica]

¶ SolarCity is no longer selling renewable energy in Nevada, after the Public Utilities Commissions decision on December 22 to increase rates for solar energy. Those rates took effect on January 1, and SolarCity announced it would close its Nevada training center on January 5. [KTNV Las Vegas]

¶ The Long Island Offshore Wind Project is designed to generate 350 MW with the possibility to expand to 700 MW. This wind facility operating at half its capacity would generate enough energy for about 112,000 homes. Its developers continue to move it through the permitting process. [Long Island Report]

Offshore wind farm

¶ Vermont regulators granted permission for a 154-mile power transmission line, known as the New England Clean Power Link, designed to bring hydroelectric power from Canada to southern New England. The power line, which has not yet received federal approval, uses Vermont as a corridor. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶ Silicon Valley Power, the municipal electric utility in Santa Clara, California, will become a coal-free utility on December 31, 2017, when it ends electricity imports from a New Mexico coal-fired power plant. SVP will replace the power with cleaner energy from renewable and natural gas. [Solar Industry]

¶ The 300-MW Kingfisher wind project in central Oklahoma has started commercial operations, according to Florida-based Gulf Power. Apex Clean Energy oversaw construction and will operate the $452 million wind farm. Vestas supplied 149 V100 2-MW turbines and will provide service for 10 years. [reNews]

Vestas V100 wind turbines. Credit: Vestas

¶ Environmentalists are expressing disappointment in the new Clean Power Plan Advisory Council that Montana Governor Steve Bullock announced on January 5. The 27-member body includes 17 people either directly tied to the coal-fired energy sector or supportive of it. [MTPR]

Science and Technology:

¶ Thousands of power plants around the world may face severe reductions in their ability to generate electricity by mid-century due to water shortages, new research published in Nature says. Hydro-electric, nuclear, coal, gas, and biomass-fueled power plants are vulnerable to dwindling water supplies. [The Guardian]

The Itaipu hydroelectric dam on the Parana River, Brazil border. Most hydro-plants are in regions forecast to see water shortages. Photograph: Norberto Duarte / AFP / Getty Images

World:

¶ Russia is touting nuclear power as a way to cut carbon emissions, but a study from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology says Eurasia as a whole would be better served by a less expensive, less risky renewable energy “super-grid,” that relies on wind power even over battery storage. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The UK’s government has repeatedly cited official forecasts of rising energy costs to justify cuts to subsidies for renewables, saying consumer bills need to be kept under control. But government emails show a different story. Energy bills would be nearly £100 lower in 2020, despite higher subsidies. [Carbon Brief]

¶ Carnegie Wave Energy has turned on a wave power station it developed in Western Australia and it has been feeding electricity into the local grid. The technology uses underwater buoys that power pumps as waves move them, to push water through a pipeline. This drives a turbine to generate electricity. [CleanTechnica]

Image Credit: Carnegie Wave Technology

¶ Since a specialized recycling facility was opened in 2010 near Cumbernauld, Scotland, food waste from many sources has been processed and converted into energy for the National Grid. In less than five years 15.5 GWh have been generated, producing for annual needs of 2,000 homes. [Engineer Live]

¶ German energy giant E·ON has separated its fossil fuel assets into a new company, dubbed Uniper. The move became effective on January 1st. The energy company focus on renewables, energy networks, and energy efficiency services, as the independent Uniper will assume fossil fuel and hydro assets. [EurActiv]

¶ LWP Property Group, an Australian property developer, has commissioned an $1.1 million (Aus) study to see if 7,500 new homes can run entirely off-grid. Huntlee, a new township planned in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, could soon become Australia’s first off-grid town. [Greentech Media]

Photo Credit: LWP Property Group

¶ Rooftop solar is now Western Australia’s “biggest power station,” consisting of many thousands of households and businesses with solar panels installed. Figures published by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator current show more than 192,000 solar power systems installed throughout the state. [Energy Matters]

¶ Enel Green Power has connected to the grid the first 20 MW of its 97-MW Carrera Pinto solar plant in Atacama in Chile. The remaining 77 MW are expected to be completed and enter into service by the second half of 2016. EGP is investing approximately $180 million in the construction of Carrera Pinto. [reNews]

US:

¶ A natural gas leak in California is a problem for the industry, and so is the latest news from Oklahoma, which has been dealing with its own natural gas issues in the form of unprecedented swarms of earthquakes. Just last Tuesday a big one hit the town of Edmund, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale. [CleanTechnica]

Image: via US Geological Survey.

¶ The US justice department is suing Volkswagen over the emissions scandal that saw the German car giant fit software in millions of cars to cheat emissions tests. VW has set aside €6.7 billion to cover costs worldwide, but experts say the final costs are likely to be much higher than that. [BBC]

World:

¶ The development of wind energy projects in Lennox and Addington County could move forward in 2016 as Ontario seeks to bolster its supply of renewable energy. Proposals from three different companies could see major wind energy projects built at both ends of the county. [The Kingston Whig-Standard]

Wind energy projects in Lennox and Addington County could move forward in 2016. (Whig-Standard file photo)

¶ Qinghai Electric Power, the sub-company of China’s State Grid Corporation, aims to install 7.1 GW of renewable energy in 2016. The majority of the new capacity will be solar PV. Qinghai province’s cumulative capacity of 6 GW, 5.6 GW of which is ground-mounted solar PV, the rest being wind. [pv magazine]

¶ The Irish wind industry launched a publicity campaign to highlight its potential to replace fossil fuels. The Irish Wind Energy Association worked with Rothco to created “Power To Power Ourselves,” a campaign showcasing Ireland’s natural resources for reducing its 85% reliance on energy imports. [reNews]

Image: a 3.6MW GE turbine at Arklow Bank in Ireland (NREL)

¶ Battery storage for domestic applications is relatively common in Germany as a result of government incentives. The rationale was not to encourage PV take-up but to smooth out the spikes in electricity flooding its national grid; on some days, the grid can be stressed by excess power from renewables. [CM]

¶ While renewable energy includes wind, biofuels and hydropower, the main winner for this year has been solar energy. And the main regional winner has been the UAE. After a consortium submitted bids for 100 MW, Dewa announced that it would award the consortium 200 MW at 5.84¢/kWh (US). [The National]

Dewa has ramped up the capacity of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to 5,000 MW. Courtesy Dewa

¶ Zimbabwe’s main hydroelectric power plant at Kariba is failing, forcing the nation to turn to dirtier fossil fuel-based energies to make up for the deficit. The Kariba Hydropower Station has operated at just 63% percent of capacity since early October when the Kariba dam began to dry up. [AllAfrica.com]

¶ Dong Energy, the biggest operator of offshore windfarms in Britain, has said it plans to spend a further £6 billion in the UK by 2020, convinced that the government is serious about supporting wind power. Vattenfall, another significant UK windfarm operator, says it too is optimistic about conditions in 2016. [The Guardian]

Offshore wind turbines off Skegness in Lincolnshire, UK. Photograph: Alamy

US:

¶ Discarded Christmas trees are being collected at trash centers across Beaufort County, South Carolina, and when the bins are full, crews from a local logging company haul them away. The trees are ground up and burned to make steam for industrial purposes or to create electricity at power plants. [Island Packet]

¶ Wärtsilä will supply a 47-MW Smart Power Generation power plant to Rochester Public Utilities in Minnesota. Five Wärtsilä 34SG natural gas engines will replace aged coal and gas turbine-based capacity. Efficiency will be nearly doubled, and hourly carbon emissions are reduced by 50%. [Industrial PRIME]

Wärtsilä 34SG engines at Pearsall Power Plant, located in Texas (Image: Wärtsilä)

¶ Leases the Diablo Canyon need to get cooling water expire in 2018 and 2019. They asked the State Lands Commission, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Newsom, to have the leases renewed, casting the move as a simple administrative step. But he wants a full environmental impact review. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Opinion:

¶ What’s Ahead for Climate Change in 2016? • This year will kick off with a sense of optimism about climate change after the success of the Paris climate talks in December. Here is a set of projections for what lies ahead in 2016, including the possibility of both low oil prices and declining emissions. [Discovery News]

Lightning strikes may increase by about 12% for every degree Celsius gained. Axel Rouvin via Wikimedia Commons

World:

¶ In 2014, the government of India upped the 2022 target of the national solar mission to 100 GW, from the earlier 20 GW. And at COP21, Prime Minister Modi said that India will produce 175 GW from non-fossil sources by 2022. By 2030, 40% of India’s electricity will be renewably generated. [DEALSTREETASIA]

¶ A major EU-funded home-energy project called RealValue has been set up by an Irish consortium led by billion-euro business Glen Dimplex.Exactly 1,250 homes in Ireland, Germany and Latvia will have cutting-edge Glen Dimplex electrical storage systems installed in them as part of the project. [Irish Independent]

¶ WindStream Energy Technologies (India) Private limited, in collaboration with the US company, has started assembling small vertical turbines with imported parts in Hyderabad. The silent turbines can be installed on any rooftop along with solar panels, to produce a hybrid home energy system. [The Hindu]

Hybrid renewable home power generation using solar panels and wind turbines. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

¶ Tamil Nadu, is India’s leader in energy production using biomass fuel, with 200 MW capacity, mostly from sugar molasses as fuel. The state now houses a unique 400-kW plant on a quarter-acre spread at Mahindra World City that runs on food waste.The bio-CNG plant can process 10 tonnes of food waste every day. [Times of India]

¶ India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, said that around 18,500 villages would be electrified in 1,000 days. Now, the Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal, has said he is confident of achieving the target in around 730 days. [CanIndia News]

¶ A City financier supporting a proposed power cable between Iceland and Britain is launching a new venture to build several more links to electricity sources across Europe. Global Interconnection Group is set up to explore trading electricity among the UK and the Channel Islands, Ireland and France. [Telegraph.co.uk]

Nacelle in an Irish wind farm. Photo by Peter Giesbrecht. CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons

¶ Uranium prices are expected to outperform other commodities in 2016 and beyond as a global climate change deal and growing demand from Asia bolster the prospects of the nuclear industry. The metal has been gradually recovering from a sharp decline in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Disaster. [Business Recorder]

US:

¶ Renewables were up to 13.6% of US electricity generation in October, and 13.2% for the year through November. Unfortunately, that’s slightly down from 13.3% in 2014 for the same period, due to a significant drop in hydroelectric generation and a significant rise in natural gas electricity generation. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Maine Public Utilities Commission is refusing to release a set of energy-pricing forecasts that are at the center of allegations that it improperly scuttled a wind power contract. The PUC said it considers the forecasts a “trade secret” of the firm that generated them and will not release them. [Press Herald]

The Mars Hill Wind Farm in Maine has 28 GE 1.5-MW wind turbines. Photo by Michael Surran. CC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Five proposed 20-MW solar projects would boost the amount of renewable power generated in Vermont, but the credit for the solar power is worth far more in other states, a recent analysis found. That means the renewable energy credits will most likely be sold elsewhere. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶ Mary Powell has guided Green Mountain Power as president and CEO, while its industry undergoes massive disruption. For her impact on the power industry and Vermont’s energy future, and for courageously promoting breast cancer awareness, she is the 2015 Vermonter of the Year. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

Opinion:

¶ Paris Fails to Revive the Nuclear Dream • At COP21, nuclear advocates made pitches on climate change, but analysis of the plans of 195 governments that signed the Paris agreement, each with its own plans to reduce national carbon emissions, show that nearly all of them exclude nuclear power. [EcoWatch]

Reactor at Qinshan: Many experts doubt that China can go far to meeting its needs with nuclear power. Photo credit: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited

Science and Technology:

¶ Dr Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, recently tweeted some charts about CO2 and global temperatures. They tell a compelling story. Climate change has not slowed down; it has been unrelenting. The result, unless we act vigorously, is disaster on many fronts. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ In normal times, a months-long slide in energy prices would be enough to rattle a man who makes wind turbines for a living. Yet amid a worldwide glut of cheap fossil fuels, Vestas Wind Systems posted record gains and inked major deals to build wind farms in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. [WatertownDailyTimes.com]

¶ More than 200 winning solar power projects, with 800 MW of total capacity, have been announced by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. The tariff for large rooftop solar projects is €129/MWh with €124/MWh for ground-mounted solar installations. [CleanTechnica]

Image: Laurent Joffre, Wiki Commons

¶ There are plans for nearly 10 GW of capacity to be added in the UAE by 2021. At least 7% of the nation’s total power generation will come from renewable sources by 2020. Some coal-fired generation is also being added. The largest addition to the mix is expected to be four APR 1400 nuclear units. [POWER magazine]

¶ In China, the ruling Communist party is now taking air quality measures very seriously in the wake of the Paris climate talks and growing public awareness. This is a big business opportunity for IBM and Microsoft, both of which have contracts to develop systems for predicting smog problems. [Hexa News]

US:

¶ Developers say solar technology has finally come of age in Idaho, resulting in a shift away from wind turbines in their renewable-energy project applications. This is thanks to a roughly 200% decline in the price of the technology during the past five years and a demand-based change in state policy. [Capital Press]

Courtesy of SunEdison, a 25-MW solar power project near Tucson.

¶ The need for new business models is a pressing issue on the minds of utility industry stakeholders. In DNV GL’s second annual Utility of the Future Survey, a third of respondents cited the need to find new business models as the most significant challenge facing the industry over the next five years. [POWER magazine]

¶ In December, the New Jersey Senate passed legislation to require an increase in the percentage of the state’s energy coming from renewables, such as solar and wind, every five years. The portion would reach 80% by 2050. The bill must be posted by January 11, however, or the effort will be for naught. [NJ.com]

A bill has cleared the N.J. Senate that mandates 80% of the state’s energy comes from renewable sources by 2050. (Andre Chung/MCT)

¶ Hawaii’s State Energy Office has released a report on the state’s progress on clean energy. Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative was established in 2008, the state has surpassed all RPS mandates well ahead of time. The target for 2015, 15%, was reached in 2013. In 2014, renewables provided 21.1%. [Biomass Magazine]

¶ An NRC investigation found contractors at Waterford 3 nuclear power plant failed to perform fire inspections and falsified records for at least 10 months to show the inspections occurred. One contract worker admitted to sleeping instead of performing an inspection, but records say it was done. [St. Charles Herald Guide]

Opinion:

¶ Should we solar panel the Sahara desert? • Could one solution to climate change be to harvest the power of sunlight where it shines brightest on the planet? Should we solar panel the Sahara desert? Four experts with four points of view discuss the radical proposal with the BBC World Service Inquiry program. [BBC News]

Rows of curved mirrors capture solar energy at the Ouarzazate plant in Morocco

¶ Martin Luther King III: How the polluter-backed National Black Chamber misleads minorities • The National Black Chamber of Commerce has been warning communities of color that the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan will cause job losses and generate higher energy bills. Neither is true. [Washington Post]

World:

¶ Wind will be the energy source for two of Volkswagen’s factories in Mexico. That is, if all goes through as planned. Spanish turbine maker Gamesa agreed last week to build a 130 MW wind farm to power these two VW sites. Is this part of Volkswagen’s comeback after the diesel scandal? [CleanTechnica]

¶ Propelling a global boost in renewable energy, Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has reported small-scale rooftop solar totaled 4.59 GW in 2015. As reported by pv-magazine, data released by the Clean Energy Regulator shows 119,000 new small-scale PV installations have been built in 2015. [CleanTechnica]

Rooftop solar panels via Shutterstock

¶ As 2015 draws to a close, an academic from Berlin’s Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft compiled data showing that around one-third of Germany’s electricity was supplied by renewable sources in 2015. It shows they supplied 194 TWh of electricity, 32.5% of a total gross consumption. [pv magazine]

¶ Record-low coal prices and increased wind and solar generation that pushed European power prices to their lowest in a decade may cause further declines in 2016. Average day-ahead electricity prices in Germany, Europe’s biggest market, fell 3.2% to €31.70 ($34.65) per MWh in 2015 [Energy Voice]

¶ The total installed capacity of solar PV in Scotland reached 179 MW in 2015, a rise of 28% since last year. Analysis of updated feed-in tariff installation figures from Ofgem for December 2015 showed over 40,000 homes and 850 business premises in Scotland now have solar PV arrays fitted. [reNews]

Scottish PV array near Arbroath (British Solar Renewables)

¶ China, the world’s biggest clean energy investor, plans to increase wind and solar power capacity by more than 21% next year as it works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting its reliance on coal. The nation is targeting at least 20 GW of new wind power installations and 15 GW of solar. [Bloomberg]

¶ According to the director of the Energy Initiative at the University of Queensland, developing countries are looking at nuclear energy for base-load power with low carbon emissions. Professor Chris Greig says nuclear is a zero emissions power source despite its being supplied by fossil fuels. [ABC Online]

¶ Siemens has been awarded orders for three onshore wind projects in Scotland, supplying up to 50,000 households in South and North Ayrshire and Lockerbie. Siemens will install 57 wind turbines in total, with the contracts also including long-term service and maintenance. [Renewable Energy Focus]

Siemens SWT-3.2-101 model (Image courtesy of Siemens AG).

¶ The Roman Catholic Church in South Africa urged the government Tuesday to suspend its nuclear power procurement plans until a referendum on the issue is held., saying in a statement the risks of adding nuclear energy to the national grid outweigh any economic benefits. [International Business Times]

¶ After 44 years of generating electricity reactor one at Wylfa power station on Anglesey shuts down today. It is the world’s biggest Magnox nuclear power station. Originally scheduled for shutdown in 2010 the reactor continued to produce energy for an additional five years but now its term has ended. [WalesOnline]

US:

¶ The State of California Natural Resources Agency funded a report examining renewable energy development and restoration strategies for the drought-threatened Salton Sea, a saline lake in the Imperial Valley. The report estimates the area has more than 1,800 MW of geothermal potential. [Utility Dive]

Image Credit: Wikipedia

¶ The US installed 4.378 GW of wind power and 1.495 GW of solar power capacity in January-November 2015, boosting its cumulative non-hydro renewables capacity to 104.3 GW. Renewable power plants in the US, excluding hydroelectric, account for 8.95% of the total power mix. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Utility-scale solar is reaching “grid parity” (ie, cost equivalency) with traditional generation in more areas across the country. And solar received a major boost when the federal tax incentive was recently extended through 2021. The result is that utility-scale solar can expect a sunny future. [Energy Collective]

Opinion:

¶ Fossil fuels are all but finished: Renewable energies are the future, whether the GOP acknowledges it or not • 2015 can be viewed as the year in which an epochal transition in energy took off. With renewables making significant strides, the beginning of the end of the Fossil Fuel Era has come into sight. [Salon]

All but finished. Shutterstock

¶ Bigger than Keystone – Lawmakers need to take up the cause of the Grain Belt transmission project • Build the Grain Belt Express! That should be the new rallying cry for members of Congress from Kansas and the message from Kansas lawmakers to their counterparts in neighboring Missouri. [Hutchinson News]

Book Review:

¶ Book Review by Ralph Nader • In January of 2016, David Freeman and Leah Y Parks will publish an important book about energy and climate change: All-Electric America: A Climate Solution and the Hopeful Future. The book is scathing but optimistic, and manages to be bold while remaining pragmatic. [Eurasia Review]

World:

¶ Lack of clarity on policy governing privately-owned renewable energy-based mini-grids is preventing investors from expanding their network in the hinterlands of north India. One company that is unsure about its investment operates over 70 minigrids, each with a 25 kW biomass power plant. [Financial Express]

Husk Power Systems’ investment could suffer if the state government decides to install centralized grids in the areas of its operations. (Reuters)

¶ Fortum is starting a wind farm project in Ulyanovsk, Russia with a total capacity of 35 MW. Its investment is approximately €65 million. The wind farm should start production in 2017. The generation capacity receives guaranteed payments for 15 years in order to ensure sufficient return on investment. [Windtech International]

¶ Airports around the world have been installing renewable energy systems, some of which are very innovative. While one airport is running entirely on solar energy, floor tile tech may one day power all of Heathrow just by being walked upon. Airplanes are being filled up on with biofuel, and there is more. [Road Warrior Voices]

Screenshot: PaveGen, YouTube

¶ Tokyo Electric Power Co has unexpectedly been forced to deal with an increasingly large amount radioactive water accumulating at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after seaside walls to block the flow of contaminated groundwater from flowing into sea were constructed in October. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ Hydropower plants have operated on five of the 23 locks and dams on the three major rivers in the Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District since the 1980s. Right now, 13 hydropower projects at some stage of federal permitting review. If all are built, they would have a combined capacity of 212 MW. [PowerSource]

Locks and dams on the Monongahela River. Bill Wade / Post-Gazette

¶ New York climbed the solar charts and witnessed the largest wind power purchase agreement in its history. It has put in place nation-leading policies, creating good jobs, saving consumers money on energy, helping our kids breathe cleaner air, and mitigating the serious impacts of climate change. [Energy Collective]

¶ Already among the two-dozen states suing to overturn new power plant emission rules, North Carolina is picking a separate fight with the Environmental Protection Agency by adopting a plan for compliance the agency is likely to reject.State officials hope that will create a shortcut to a federal appeals court. [WTVD-TV]

The coal-fired Plant Scherer in Juliette, Ga. AP

¶ The NRC is still reviewing plans for addressing concrete degradation at the Seabrook nuclear power plant in New Hampshire. It has said it will not act on the license extension until it is convinced the power plant’s owner has developed a satisfactory long-term plan for the problem. [The Daily News of Newburyport]

Opinion:

¶ Africa’s Cities of Tomorrow Won’t Need Power Stations • Despite renewable energy reducing power cuts by half in South Africa, the government is adamant about its nuclear power program. But successful businessmen are talking about cities that generate their own power. [CNBCAfrica.com]

Every three days a wind turbine is being installed in South Africa. Photo: Wikipedia

¶ Our Energy Transformation in 2015 • Like 1973, the year 2015 marked a decisive shift in the world’s energy economy. 2015 saw what may be profound shifts, even turning points, in the energy sector. The price of oil tanked. Fossil fuels are barely growing, while renewables expand. [MIT Technology Review]

¶ WOW! UK power stations slash CO2 emissions 23% in just two years • There have been lots of interesting energy-related headlines coming out of Britain recently: Renewables beat coal for an entire quarter, Britain pledged to end coal use by 2025, and most major cities are going to 100% renewable energy. [Treehugger]

World:

¶ With climate change now a major global issue, the Indian government has fixed a target to quadruple its renewable capacity to 175 GW by 2022 while supplying electricity to every household. It goal is 100 GW of solar capacity, 60 GW of wind power, and 10 GW of biomass and 5 GW of hydro. [Jagran Post]

Indian wind turbines

¶ SunEdison has signed a 10-year agreement with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator to supply 5-MW/20-MWh of battery storage to the province. Vanadium redox flow battery technology will be provided by Imergy Power Systems. The IESO will use data on the system for grid planning. [CleanTechnica]

¶ China realized universal power access when power was brought to a remote group of 39,800 people without electricity. The light came on Wednesday in the last two villages in the country without power. Two thirds of households are connected to the national grid while the rest use PV devices. [ecns]

¶ The small Alpine town of Albertville, which is best known for having hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, has recently become home to a new type of power plant. Bacteria bred in whey are hard at work generating biogas, a clean, renewable energy source that can also be used to produce electricity. [VICE News]

Beaufort Cheese Cave. Photo by Florian Pépellin. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Chinese investments in coal-burning power plants have increased this year. The power market changed dramatically in 2015, an energy expert from the China Electricity Council said, but the central government has not adjusted the five-year investment targets, which it set in 2011, to suit demand. [Caixin Media]

US:

¶ The Narragansett Bay Commission saves $1.1 million a year thanks to three wind turbines, which provide over 40% of the power at the agency’s Field’s Point wastewater treatment facility in Providence, Rhode Island. The agency now wants to get up to 80% of its power from renewable sources. [Rhode Island Public Radio]

¶ EDF Renewable Energy is working closely with wildlife biologists to reduce the ecological impact of turbines at the Altamont wind farm in California. New turbines so efficient that each one replaces thirty old machines are being installed. They are taller, with blades far above where most birds fly. [EarthTechling]

Image credit via Flickr under creative commons license

¶ Demand for electricity on the South Fork peninsula has far outpaced the rest of Long Island, with highest usage in the summer. Residential air conditioning is the primary culprit. Over the last decade, the number of residential accounts has grown by 4%, while peak use has risen 44%. [East Hampton Star]

¶ Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam announced Tuesday that Google will invest $600 million to bring the company’s eighth US data center to Clarksville and create 70 new jobs.Google acquired the former Hemlock Semiconductor site in Clarksville, which it will transform into the data center. [PennEnergy]

Opinion:

¶ Did Woodland, North Carolina really ban solar farms because they “suck up the sun?” • A closer look shows rational reasons why Woodland residents opposed a solar farm. But there are also kooky beliefs, misinformation, and opposition to anything that weans us off fossil fuels. [Treehugger]

Screen capture Google Street View/ Woodland

World:

¶ In a major step towards setting up renewable energy targets, a legislative body in Israel approved a renewable energy bill. It should to help Israel achieve the emissions reduction target it submitted to the United Nations, cutting GHG emissions by 26% from 2005 levels by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Brazilian government launched a national incentive program for distributed electricity generation. The ProGD program will have a special focus on solar and will offer measures to boost the availability of distributed electricity, including tax incentives and credit. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Europe imported more than 4 million tons of wood pellets from US forests last year, classifying it as renewable. A report from Climate Central says 4.4 million tons of wood pellets were cut from American forests last year, and 98% of it was shipped to Europe to be burnt for energy. [Tech Insider]

Biomass, the unused portions of logged trees such a branches and the tree tops, sit at the Old Town Fuel and Fiber mill in Maine.

¶ Taking into account the continuous decline in construction costs for both wind and solar farms, China has decided to cut its on-grid tariffs and narrow the gap between electricity bill surcharges and actual payments for renewable power. The reductions will vary regionally. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ According to Global Village Energy Partnership’s chief executive, 11.7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa now have improved access to renewable energy technologies. This cut carbon emissions by 8.6 million tonnes so far and leveraged $59 million to support business development. [AllAfrica.com]

Solar system in Dakar, Senegal. Photo by Fratelli dell’Uomo Onlus, Elena Pisano. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ A decision in an Australian Federal Court to prevent a “solar tax” being applied in South Australia has implications nationally. A federal justice upheld an earlier decision that would prevent SA Power Networks from introducing a higher tariff, $100 per year, for solar households. [Energy Matters]

¶ The Fukui District Court on Dec. 24 nullified an injunction against restarting two nuclear reactors, paving the way for Kansai Electric Power Co. to resume its nuclear energy operations. A group of residents plans to appeal Hayashi’s decision to the Nagoya High Court. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ SunPower Corp has started commercial operations at the 50-MW Hooper solar power plant in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. SunPower designed and constructed the plant, which covers 320 acres and includes a SunPower Oasis power plant system. It is also operating the project. [reNews]

SunPower’s Phoenix Lake Pleasant PV plant (SunPower)

¶ Westar Energy said it plans to add 480 MW of wind power to its portfolio from two wind parks that could be operational by early 2017, bringing its renewable capacity to over 1.5 GW. It will partner with Infinity Wind Power to install a 280-MW wind farm in Kansas. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Michigan can comply with the Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions without changing anything until 2025, the Michigan Agency for Energy and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced. Michigan has to cut its 2012 emissions 31% by 2030. [MLive.com]

Science and Technology:

¶ The United States and Europe are among the world’s largest emitters of nitrogen dioxide, but both have also shown the most dramatic reductions in these emissions between 2005 and 2014, according to new global NASA satellite maps. Nitrogen dioxide is a major respiratory pollutant in urban smog. [CNN]

This map shows the average concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the lowest parts of the atmosphere in 2014. NASA image.

World:

¶ Australian households and businesses added another 60 MW of rooftop solar in November, taking the overall figure for the year to date to 654 MW. Businesses added 143 MW of rooftop solar capacity. About 510 MW of rooftop solar capacity has been added at households in the year to date. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Cars were forced off the road and factories closed in Beijing on Saturday after the city was again blanketed by hazardous smog. The government issued a level-four red alert, the most serious, on Friday. The alert, the second in as many weeks, means schools have to close and half the vehicles banned. [BBC]

¶ On Friday, workers at Britain’s last operating deep coal mine finished their final shift, emerging, soot-blackened and live on television news channels, to cheers, applause and tears. The last haul of coal from the pit is destined for a mining museum as a once-mighty industry fades into history. [Tampabay.com]

Britain’s last coal miners. Photo by John Giles / PA via AP.

¶ Energy analysts from the UK-based investment bank Barclays gave quick analysis of the results of COP21. Lead analyst Mark Lewis says the implications for the fossil fuel industry are profound, and will likely cause it to suffer a loss in revenue of around $33 trillion (US) out to 2040 over business as usual. [CleanTechnica]

¶ You would think after convening in Paris for a week that the world’s leaders could have reached some sort of consensus about whether nuclear would be part of the climate future. But the issue now seems as murky as ever. Each of the countries is free to choose its own route to lowering carbon emissions. [RealClearEnergy]

¶ The Costa Rican Electricity Institute said it used renewable resources for 99% of its electricity this year and for 285 days renewables covered 100% of energy needs. The small Central American country is aspirational for other countries wanting to cut their fossil-fuel use and reduce global warming. [The West Australian]

Costa Rica boasts 99% renewable energy in 2015

US:

¶ According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, wind turbines in Texas set a state-record for wind generated electricity of 12.97 GW on the day before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day itself, wind power in Texas provided 43.55% of the state’s total electricity demand. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Enel Green Power North America has brought online the 74-MW Little Elk wind farm in Oklahoma. The $130 million Little Elk project, which is located in Kiowa and Washita Counties adjacent to EGP’s existing 150-MW Rocky Ridge wind farm, is able to generate more than 330 GWh a year. [reNews]

Image: sxc5

¶ Vermont’s climate advocates and members of the renewable energy industry are celebrating a move by Congress to renew tax credits for wind and solar projects. Congress reached an agreement this week for a five-year extension of tax credits for installing solar projects and the operation of wind projects. [Rutland Herald]

¶ Looking to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce fuel costs in one blow, UPS Inc will power two of its regional truck fleets with renewable natural gas captured from decomposing landfills, the company said. Trucks in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, will burn the landfill gas. [DC Velocity]

¶ The US lifted a 40-year-old ban on the export of oil, paving the way for energy deficient countries to import oil. The ban was lifted when President Barack Obama on Saturday signed into law the Omnibus US$1.8 trillion spending package and tax bill for the current fiscal ending September 30, 2016. [The Malaysian Insider]

A worker walks past oil pipes at a refinery in China. Reuters / Stringer / Files The Asia File – Nov 11 2015

¶ The plunging price of oil has hurt the stock price of some solar and wind investments, but industry experts say it is having surprisingly little impact on renewable energy industries in the US. The Solar Energy Industries Association reports that 2015 is on track to show record growth for solar power. [Big News Network.com]

¶ Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont, will use more renewable energy to reduce its operating costs while providing new educational opportunities with the installation of a 500-kW solar farm. The solar farm has its Certificate of Public Good and may be complete by February. [Solar Novus Today]

Opinion:

¶ Where in the world have we achieved 100% renewable power? • In a few places around the world, humans have achieved a feat that seemed impossible just a few years ago, and still seems inconceivable nearly everywhere else: They’ve stopped burning fossil fuels for electricity. There are even entire countries. [Quartz]

Bright forecast. AP Photo/Paul Sancya

¶ Can we really generate most of our power from renewables in a few decades? In a word, yes. But to understand further, we must understand how we produce and distribute power today. Part of the difficulty lies in the concepts we use to understand the electrical power system. A simple model is insufficient. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ The Department of Energy and Climate Change, Government of the UK, decided to cut solar domestic tariff by 64% to 4.39p/kWh instead of the original proposal of cuts of up to 87% to 1.63p/kWh. The rate cut is not as severe as the government proposed, but is still bound to result in significant job losses. [Greentech Lead]

Kencot Hill Solar Power Plant

¶ The historic developments in Paris have highlighted green alliances such as RE100, which was formed by 53 companies (to date) with a target of using 100% of renewable electricity in their day-to-day operations. The RE100 alliance includes corporate giants such as Google, Nike, Microsoft and Coca Cola. [OilPrice.com]

¶ German wind power is at record levels. Its production tied with lignite-burning power plants in the month of November. Both were reported to have generated 11.4 TWh, though the final official stats won’t be published until 2016. For the month, wind generated about 23% of Germany’s electricity. [CleanTechnica]

German wind farm via Shutterstock

¶ The government of the Australian Capital Territory will subsidize battery storage for 5000 Canberra homes over five years in its latest push towards a target of 90% renewable energy by 2020. The $20 million program will subsidize 36 MW of battery storage, and will allow them also to sell power back into the grid. [The Canberra Times]

¶ A Welsh tidal stream technology company has installed the country’s first tidal energy generator in Ramsey Sound, Pembrokeshire. Developed by Tidal Energy Ltd, the DeltaStream device will become one of the first grid-connected demonstration devices of its type to generate green tidal power. [Renewable Energy Focus]

The DeltaStream is the first tidal energy generator to be deployed in Wales. Tidal Energy photo.

¶ Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, expects to post a profit next year even if unable to restart any reactors, according to a plan given to its creditor banks. TEPCO will likely turn a profit for the fourth straight year due to cost-cutting efforts and reduced fuel costs. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶ After many long months of deliberations and lobbying, the US Congress has approved five-year extensions to the hugely successful Investment Tax Credit, which has given incentives for solar power projects, and to the Production Tax Credit, which has similarly supported for the country’s wind energy industry. [CleanTechnica]

¶ US renewables developer Sustainable Power Group (sPower) is on track to start commercial operation on 31 December at a 62.1-MW wind project in Utah. GE supplied 27 2.3-MW turbines and will handle operations and maintenance for the first five years. The project employed up 100 workers for construction. [reNews]

Latigo wind farm (sPower)

¶ New York state regulators approved upgrades to 156 miles of high-voltage transmission lines running from Utica to New York City via the Capital Region, part of the governor’s Energy Highway program. Bidding for contracts will be overseen by the New York Independent System Operator. [Albany Times Union]

¶ Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have requirements that utilities get a certain amount of their electricity from renewable sources. Nine additional states have goals for renewable energy, while a dozen others have no targets. Here is a state-by-state look at renewable energy policies. [EagleFordTexas.com]

World:

¶ There was no gnashing of teeth in the Canadian energy sector as details of the Paris agreement came out. Shares in energy companies were down on the TSX, but that had more to do with the sliding price of crude than concerns about climate change policy. The sector had already digested Alberta’s carbon tax. [CBC.ca]

Even with the Paris Agreement on climate change, the oilpatch expects the sun will not set on it. (Matthew Brown/Associated Press)

¶ Suzlon Energy, a dominant company in the Indian wind energy market, is now in the solar power market. It has signed a landmark agreement with independent power producer Axis Energy Limited, under which it will develop 4 GW of solar and wind energy capacity for Axis Energy in the state of Andhra Pradesh. [CleanTechnica]

¶ India’s Minister of New & Renewable Energy has reported progress on the ambitious program of setting up ultra mega solar power projects across the country. He said the government has given in-principle approval to 27 ultra mega solar power projects across 21 states with a cumulative capacity of 18,418 MW. [CleanTechnica]

India One Solar Thermal Power Plant. Photo by Bkwcreator. CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Russia’s planning accounts for oil prices to drop to $30 per barrel in 2016. The country’s top finance official said the government must be prepared for prices to fall further in 2016 as the global glut grows and new supply – for example from Iran – enters the market. He said the country must prepare for difficult times. [CNN]

¶ The man leading the daunting task of dealing with the Fukushima nuclear plant that sank into meltdowns in northeastern Japan warns with surprising candor: Nothing can be promised. “This is something that has never been experienced. A textbook doesn’t exist for something like this,” he told the Associated Press. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ Invenergy LLC held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of its 200-MW Buckeye Wind Energy Center in Kansas. The wind complex is located in Ellis County and consists of 112 General Electric turbines of 1.79 MW each. It has a power purchase agreement for much of its output with a Nebraska utility. [SeeNews Renewables]

GE turbine of the type 1.6/1.7-100. Source: General Electric Company. License: All Rights Reserved.

¶ A town council in North Carolina rejected plans to rezone land for a solar farm after residents voiced fears it would cause cancer, stop plants from growing, and suck up all the energy from the sun. The council later voted to put a moratorium on future solar farms in the area, according to the local newspaper. [Huffington Post]

¶ US technology materials company Corning Inc on Monday said it has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for solar electricity with Duke Energy Renewables. Corning said it will buy 62.5% of the output of a 80-MW solar farm Duke Energy Renewables is building in Conetoe, North Carolina. [SeeNews Renewables]

Yeah!

¶ The Detroit Zoological Society says it will power the Detroit Zoo with 100% renewable electricity from wind farms. The organization says its commitment to sustainable electricity with the purchase of renewable energy certificates is through the support of ITC Holdings Corp until the end of 2018. [North American Windpower]

¶ Lifting the 40-year ban on oil exports is the top priority in a $1.15 trillion spending bill for many Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, because it would offer new markets to drillers suffering from a glut of crude. A trade to extend renewable support may be in the works. [Dickinson Press]

¶ Electricity generated from renewable sources accounted for more than 50% of all new US energy capacity installations in 2014, growing to 15.5% of total installed capacity and 13.5% of total electricity generation, according to a report from an annual report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. [MIS Asia]

Renewable energy capacity growth from 2004 through 2014. Click on image to enlarge. Credit: NREL

¶ Marylanders who rent apartments or have shaded roofs will be able to buy solar energy under rules being finalized this week by the Maryland Public Service Commission. Under the program, any business, utility, individual, organization or nonprofit can install solar panels on its property and sell the energy. [Baltimore Sun]

¶ A New York microgrid demonstration project will use an energy storage system from Eos Energy that the company describes as the lowest-cost battery storage on the market. The microgrid battery will be 250-kW, 1000-kWh. Eos Energy says that the battery can be manufactured in quantity at a cost of $91-$116/kWh. [Microgrid Knowledge]

¶ Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co, has announced that its first wind project, the 299-MW Kay Wind facility in Oklahoma, is now fully operational. The project has 130 Siemens turbines and is will generating enough electricity for the energy needs of about 100,000 average homes. [North American Windpower]

COP21:

¶ A draft of the COP21 agreement was released in the afternoon for delegates to review. Following a break for last-minute corrections from the legal and linguistic group and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, the body adopted it “with legal force” by acclamation. [CleanTechnica]

Laurence Tubiana, Christiana Figueres, and Laurent Fabius applaud the Paris Agreement

¶ The climate deal reached in Paris is “the best chance we have to save the one planet we have”, US President Barack Obama has said. He said it could be a “turning point” for the world to take on the challenge of a low-carbon future. China, the world’s biggest polluter, also hailed the deal. [BBC]

¶ Scientists point out that the Paris accord must be stepped up if it is to curb dangerous climate change. Pledges thus far could see global temperatures rise by as much as 2.7° C, but the agreement lays out a roadmap for speeding up progress. This article lists its key points. [BBC]

¶ “This is the end of fossil fuels” • For Selina Leem, an 18-year-old from a tiny part of the Marshall Islands in the middle of the Pacific, the adoption of Saturday’s “Paris Agreement” on climate change wasn’t about wonky diplomacy. It was about the survival of her country. [CNN]

Most of the land in the Marshall Islands is no more than three feet above the high tide mark. Photo by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons

¶ Earlier UN climate summits tried to impose targets on countries. This conference was different because it used “bottom-up” systems that allowed nations to volunteer their targets, reducing the chance any one country would walking out of the process. [The Australian Financial Review]

World:

¶ In a major shift in government policy, Australia’s prime minister lifted a ban on investing public funds in wind power. The sails of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation are back in motion as a new mandate reversed Tony Abbot’s restrictive practices. [9news.com.au]

¶ Plans for a 1.2-GW wind farm have been submitted by ScottishPower Renewables. The project is called East Anglia Three, and it is proposed for a location in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk. It would have up to 172 turbines with capacities ranging from 7 MW to 12 MW. [CleanTechnica]

Image Credit: ScottishPower Renewables

¶ Several Asian nations announced independent measures to curb climate change as 195 countries signed a deal in Paris this weekend that will change the world’s energy policies in a bid to limit fossil-fuel production. Governments in China and India are also taking local action. [Bloomberg]

¶ The chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia says the COP21 agreement will increase demand for Australian coal, as Australia’s “high energy, low impurity coal” will be considered more desirable, even the renewables sector advances. [The Australian Financial Review]

¶ In India, the energy deficient state of Uttar Pradesh has drafted a solar mini-grid policy to provide electricity to rural areas while reducing burden on the main grid. It has also initiated deliberations on electrification of remote villages through solar-powered mini grids. [Business Standard]

Solar array in India

¶ Capping years of negotiations, the prime ministers of India and Japan on Saturday sealed a broad agreement for cooperation in civil nuclear energy with the final deal to be signed after certain technical and legal issues are thrashed out. [Financial Express Bangladesh]

US:

¶ With the approval by Illinois regulators for its part of a 780-mile transmission line to carry wind power from the Kansas high plains to Eastern power grids, Missouri farmers are the only ones standing in the way of the $2.2 billion project. The farmers vow to remain steadfast. [Salina Post]

¶ SunEdison announced that it has signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with the city of San Diego that will see 6.6 MW of solar installed across 25 city-owned sites. The city estimates that over the life of the agreement the solar systems will save its taxpayers $22 million. [AltEnergyMag]

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development building in San Diego. Photo by SolarWriter. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ A large number of residents from Porter Ranch and surrounding areas of Los Angeles staged a major protest Saturday. They are angered by a continuing gas leak at Aliso Canyon that has forced many from their homes. The protesters called on SoCal Gas to shut the facility down. [CBS Local]

¶ The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy today announced $33 million in funding for 12 innovative projects as part of its Network Optimized Distributed Energy Systems program. Teams will develop technologies to match grid generating with demand. [Imperial Valley News]

COP21: Agreement!

Adieu Fossil Fuels

Eiffel Tower light show

¶ The world now has its first universally accepted plan to limit climate change! The agreement will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human activities to curtail dangerous atmospheric warming and related climate changes, BBC News reported at 3:40 am. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Organizers of COP21 say a final draft text has been reached after two weeks of intensive negotiations. An official in the office of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the draft would be presented to ministers at 10:30 GMT. No details of the draft have been released so far. [BBC]

¶ Campaigning organization Friends of the Earth Scotland has launched Fossil Free Scotland, a campaign to end the use of fossil fuels, in Paris during the final days of COP21, with a tagline to ensure “A just transition to a 100% renewable, nuclear-free, zero-fossil-fuel Scotland.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ Greenpeace activists poured yellow paint on the Arc de Triomphe’s famous roundabout to turn it into the sun when seen from the sky. At the top of the Champs Elysees, activists used bikes to pour the paint on the cobblestone street. Paris traffic spread it around the monument. [CNN]

Arc de Triomphe

¶ The Philippines announced at COP21 that it will launch an investigation into whether fossil fuel companies are to be held responsible for the impacts of climate change. This follows a petition was made by Greenpeace Southeast Asia, which had over 100,000 signatures. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ The Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition has been grading the solar industry since 2009, and SolarWorld aside, they started with very little disclosure. A lot has changed and the newly released sixth annual solar scorecard shows a marked improvement over last year. [CleanTechnica]

SolarWorld Recycling solar panels in 2009 from Spot Us via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

¶ SunEdison Inc has signed a 10-year agreement with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator to supply 5-MW/20-MWh of battery storage to the province. In addition to leveraging the battery’s storage capability, the IESO will learn from the project. [North American Windpower]

¶ China’s central government wants to transition away from coal, but local officials are resisting. That’s one reason why heavy smog frequently blankets major cities despite talk of building an “eco-civilization.” This week saw Beijing issue its first-ever red alert for air pollution. [Deutsche Welle]

¶ Already battered by plunging oil prices, Western Canada has another big problem: the collapse of coal. Alberta and British Columbia are suffering from the fallout of a severe downturn in global coal markets, brought on partly by China’s rapidly cooling industrial demand. [The Globe and Mail]

Coal terminal in Delta, BC. Jeff Vinnick / for the Globe and Mail

US:

¶ Hundreds of members of the Young Conservatives for Energy Reform and the Christian Coalition brought a pro-environmental message to Washington, DC at a summit co-sponsored by the American Wind Energy Association, saying renewable energy resources strengthen US. [CleanTechnica]

Ford Focus charging in Germany. © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC-BY-SA-3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Just in time to undercut the threat of an “affordable” Tesla EV, the Ford Motor Company has pledged a massive five year, $4.5 billion investment including 13 new EVs and plugin hybrids, bringing its electrified vehicle portfolio up to more than 40% of its global nameplates. [CleanTechnica]

¶ A former coal-burning power plant in western Massachusetts, is being considered as a site to produce renewable energy. A year-long study into redeveloping the Mount Tom Power Station has come up with three reuse options for the 128-acre property. Each includes solar power. [WAMC]

¶ The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Entergy Corp’s request to change Vermont Yankee’s emergency planning requirements, allowing for the discontinuance of the 10-mile emergency planning zone required of operating nuclear plants. [The Keene Sentinel]