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COP21:

¶ With COP21 underway in Paris, a conference in Rome on Thursday reflected on Pope Francis’s social encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home. Hosted by the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, the meeting examined what role free markets can play in helping to protect the environment. [Vatican Radio]

A power-generating wind turbine is seen on the Champs Elysees avenue with the Arc de Triomphe in background as part of COP21. – AP

¶ The total contributions of national carbon reduction plans at COP21 now reaches approximately 90% of what is needed prevent dangerous climate change. This is cause for some cautious optimism. However, the reality of how these reductions will be implemented will probably be a significant challenge over the next two weeks. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The International Chamber of Shipping said that, as a representative of the international shipping industry at COP21, it “fully supports” a global climate change deal, adding that the ambitious CO2 reductions aimed for by the industry will be best achieved if regulation is led by the International Maritime Organization. [Ship & Bunker]

¶ Addressing students at the Sorbonne University on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit, Elon Musk, the renowned Tesla innovator, believes the widespread introduction of a carbon price could halve the time it takes the world to transition to clean energy and make a huge difference to the impact of climate change. [The Guardian]

Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk. Photograph: Francois Mori/AP

¶ France has offered provide $2 billion to help develop renewable energy in Africa. French President Francois Hollande disclosed at COP21 that the country has earmarked about $6.4 billion, over the next four years to help with electrification in Africa. Of that, one third is to help develop renewable energy. [Leadership Newspapers]

¶ In the wake of yet another bout of devastating smog, China announced today that it plans cut its power sector emissions 60% by 2020, a promise that puts the US Clean Power Plan to shame. If fulfilled, the pledge would make a major dent in global carbon pollution. China’s cabinet made the announcement at COP21. [Gizmodo India]

World:

¶ Nineteen French cities and the French Parliament announced a commitment to divest from fossil fuels, joining more than 500 institutions holding $3.4 trillion in assets. The number has jumped from 181 institutions representing $50 billion who agreed to divest oil, gas or coal companies from their portfolios in 2014. [eco-business.com]

Protestors campaigning against the further use of fossil fuels hold a demonstration at COP21. Image: IISD Reporting Services

¶ Silicor Materials, which makes silicon for solar PVs, announced its plans to be carbon-neutral at its facility in Iceland. Silicor will fund planting over 26,000 trees to offset the yearly production of 2,800 tons of CO2. As it is, Silicor’s current process uses no toxic chemicals, and produces no waste that winds up in landfills. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Bahamas’ Prime Minister says urgent actions are needed to reverse climate change, or The Bahamas might be no more: “With 80 percent of our land within one metre or five feet of mean sea level, business as usual with regard to climate change threatens the very existence of the Bahamas as we know it.” [St. Lucia Times Online News]

¶ In Ottawa, on Parliament Hill, on November 29, a festive crowd of 25,000 held up white bristol boards spelling out “100% possible,” as in a 100% renewable energy economy by 2050. For planet lovers it was heart-warming sight. Canada’s environmental movement was brimming with an optimism it hadn’t felt in a decade. [NOW Magazine]

Demonstration in Ottawa

¶ While countries consider their climate change options at COP21, forest fires and the ensuing pollution have been growing problems in Indonesia. The scorched forest issue was largely isolated in the western Indonesian islands. However, this year, the issue has plagued both Papua and West Papua, raising concerns among activists. [Scoop.co.nz]

US:

¶ 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News Channel, is first on the list of 73 major companies that have just signed on to President Obama’s “American Business Act on Climate Pledge.” A total of 154 major US and global companies have signed in support of a strong outcome for this week’s COP21 Paris climate talks. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced success with a new method for fabricating “virtually perfect” single layers of so-called white graphene for use in next-generation solar cells, fuel cells, and other clean tech devices. White graphene is a form of boron nitride, which has a distinctive hexagonal lattice structure. [CleanTechnica]

3-D structure of hexagonal boron nitride sheets and boron nitride nanotubes, courtesy of the Shahsavari Group via Rice University.

¶ New York Governor Cuomo sent a letter to the state’s Department of Public Service create a program for 50% renewable energy by 2030. Significantly, the letter includes a timeline: DPS must create this policy by July 2016. The governor also says he believes upstate nuclear facilities must continue operating. [pv magazine]

¶ World leaders are gathering this week in Paris at the COP21 talks in an effort to hammer out a global agreement to combat climate change. But in Ohio, a bill crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council and backed by the fossil fuel industry is preemptively trying to dismantle the work underway. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

COP21:

¶ The bosses have come and gone, and many negotiators will have breathed a big sigh of relief. Everyone said the right things. The prospects of a deal, haven’t been harmed, even if they weren’t hugely advanced. On Tuesday the more regular routines of COP life kicked in. The day started with a plenary session of the parties. [BBC]

Deforestation and forest degradation

¶ The impacts of climate change on forests and agriculture were in the spotlight on Tuesday at COP21, as new alliances among organizations and stakeholders were announced aiming to eliminate natural deforestation and forest degradation, and to prevent threats to sustainable farming and people’s livelihoods. [Sify News]

¶ President Barack Obama said that parts of the global warming deal being negotiated in Paris should be legally binding on the countries that sign on, setting up a potential fight with Republicans at home. Obama’s stand won praise at the COP21 conference from those who want a strong agreement to reduce carbon emissions. [Leader-Telegram]

¶ UK-based activist group Brandalism has peppered the streets of Paris with 600 fake outdoor ads meant to expose the hypocrisy of COP21 Climate Conference corporate sponsors. The fake, unauthorized outdoor ads were strategically placed around Paris this past weekend, and were made to look nearly identical to the originals. [Gizmodo Australia]

Credit: Brandalism

Science and Technology:

¶ Stanford engineers have created underwater solar cells that could play a key role in fighting climate change. They provided design principles to build energy efficient, corrosion-protected solar cells. The impacts of this research are far-reaching for the solar industry and the battle against climate change. [CleanTechnica]

¶ In a paper in the November 27 online edition of the journal Science Advances scientists in Singapore say they have developed new redox flow lithium batteries whose energy densities match those of their lithium-ion counterparts. This means they are about eight to 10 times as high as conventional redox flow batteries. [IEEE Spectrum]

¶ The first sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery in an 18650 format was recently developed by researchers in France. The prototype possesses an energy density of 90 Wh/kilogram, putting it on roughly equal ground with early lithium-ion batteries. It has a lifespan of over 2,000 charge-discharge cycles. [CleanTechnica]

sodium-ion battery © Vincent GUILLY/CEA

World:

¶ SaskPower, Saskatchewan’s public utility, has said it has set a goal to generate 50% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Installing about 60 MW of utility-scale solar power will help achieve it, but the overall strategy will include geothermal, wind, hydropower, and biomass. [CleanTechnica]

¶ With the serious business of negotiation beginning at COP21, Oxfam has published a report showing that, despite the rich causing most of the global warming, it is the poor that must bear the brunt of the consequences. The richest 1% of the world’s population produces 175 times as much CO2 per person as the bottom 10%. [The Independent]

¶ The postal service of Norway, the Posten, will soon possess an electric vehicle fleet enriched by the purchase of an additional 240 new Renault Kangoo Maxi ZEs, according to recent reports. The Norwegian postal service already possesses a fleet of 900 electric vehicles, including electric cars as well as bikes, quadricycles, etc. [CleanTechnica]

Renault Kangoo Maxi ZEs

¶ Wylfa nuclear power plant, in northern Wales, will shutdown at the end of this month. After 44 years producing electricity the plant on Anglesey will start to be decommissioned in the New Year. There will be a 100-day “cool down” period before full decommissioning gets underway and the nuclear fuel is removed. [Daily Post North Wales]

US:

¶ Justin Farrell, assistant professor of sociology at Yale University, writes in Nature Climate Change that semantic analysis and statistical techniques can identify “organizational power” within the contrarian network that has somehow persuaded US voters that scientists are “divided” on the issue of climate change. [eco-business.com]

¶ Hours after President Barack Obama pushed for an international agreement to combat climate change, the GOP-led US House of Representatives voted to demonstrate a lack of support. The House passed two resolutions, largely along party lines, to prevent the EPA from implementing the Clean Energy Plan. [CNN]

Climate change is real.

¶ EDF Renewable Energy has closed structured equity financing for its 175-MW Pilot Hill wind project in Illinois, from two American firms, General Electric and Metlife. The project, situated in Kankakee and Iroquois counties, features 91 of GE’s 1.7-100 turbine models, along with 12 of GE 1.85-87 wind turbines. [Power Technology]

¶ DC Water’s Blue Plains plant treats 370 million gallons of dirty water from more than two million households, purging it with micro-organisms that ingest carbon and transform nitrates into nitrogen gas. The water is clean enough to be released without disrupting fragile ecosystems. Solids yield 10 MW of electricity and compost. [Phys.Org]

COP21:

¶ The 12th part of the second session of the COP21 Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-12) convened a day early. Sunday evening, November 29, 2015, saw the first Paris session of the ADP, which is the body mainly responsible for forging a unanimous declaration of international will. [CleanTechnica]

ADP Contact Group stocktaking in Bonn (October, iisd.ca)

¶ World leaders opened talks Monday in Paris saying the stakes are too high to end the conference without achieving a binding agreement to help slow the pace of global climate change. Their main goal: agree on legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reductions to hold increase in global average temperatures short of 2° C. [CNN]

¶ Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, led a group of philanthropists in vowing to plow $2 billion into clean energy through personal investments and a new fund to be set up next year. Gates will be joined by 26 private investors and the University of California in the so-called Breakthrough Energy Coalition, he said in a briefing. [Independent Online]

Kandi Mossett joins Human Chain, Paris

¶ Indigenous Peoples in Paris at COP21, are exposing the facts of the polluters destroying their homelands, and the green schemes designed for the rich to get richer. “Our world is melting,” said Allison Akootchook Warden from Alaska Arctic village Kaktovik. “Climate change and global warming is a reality in my home.” [The NarcoSphere]

World:

¶ Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Turkey of shooting down a Russian war plane to protect supplies of oil from ISIS to Turkey. On the sidelines of the COP21 conference, Putin said the downing of the plane was a “huge mistake”. It was not the first time that Putin has claimed that Turkey buys oil from ISIS. [News24]

¶ Crude oil just capped off a third straight week of declines, as WTI nears the $40 per barrel threshold. Goldman Sachs is once again raising the possibility of oil dipping into the $20s per barrel. Oil and gas companies have laid off more than 250,000 workers around the world, a tally that will rise if oil prices remain in the dumps. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Dong Energy has agreed to conduct a feasibility study to explore developing a wind farm in Manx waters off the north-east coast of the Isle of Man. Dong Energy will carry out preliminary surveys to determine the practicality and commercial viability of installing wind turbines within the island’s territorial sea. [CleanTechnology News]

Isle of Man is looking to harness offshore wind resources to generate clean electricity. Photo: courtesy of xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

¶ If all coal plants in the pipeline were built, emissions from coal power would be 400% higher by 2030 than what is consistent with a 2˚C pathway, according the Climate Action Tracker. Even without new plants, 2030 coal emissions would still be more than 150% higher than what is consistent with holding warming below 2˚C. [NewClimate Institute]

¶ Ahead of the Japanese prime minister’s India visit in December, 13 villages in Jaitapur, Maharashtra, have declared their opposition to the proposed nuclear project by passing a unanimous resolution. The reactor is to be built by Areva, a French company, but Mitsubishi would supply crucial components. [COUNTERVIEW]

US:

¶ The transportation of people and goods accounts for about 25% of all energy consumption. Passenger transportation, in particular light-duty vehicles, accounts for most transportation energy consumption, and light-duty vehicles alone consume more than all freight transportation, such as heavy trucks, marine, and rail. [CleanTechnica]

Source: US Energy Information Administration, International Transportation Energy Demand Determinants model estimates

¶ Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh became a climate change activist at age 6 when he saw an environmental documentary. Now 15, the long-haired, hip-hop-savvy Coloradoan is one of 21 young activists joining climate scientist James Hansen in suing the Obama administration for failing to ditch fossil fuels, saying it is not doing its job. [CNN]

¶ As COP21 kicked off in Paris on Monday, a key committee in San Diego pushed ahead with a blueprint for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions and powering the city using only green energy within two decades. Members of the City Council’s environment committee unanimously approved the proposed plan. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]

¶ Think of cities across the country where solar power is booming, and some obvious sunny spots come to mind: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Antonio. There’s another city, however, that beats them in solar energy production. Try sunny Newark, New Jersey, which ranks eighth in a survey of 65 large US cities, per capita. [NJ.com]

A 13-acre solar producing 3 MW in Kearny, New Jersey, has been in operation for about three years. (Aristide Economopoulos | The Star-Ledger)

¶ A partnership between NRG Home Solar and Airbnb will deliver incentives to Airbnb members in the form of rebates and/or travel credits. According to the results of a study conducted by Cleantech Group for Airbnb, using a green home sharing service while traveling can create significant environmental benefits. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Obama administration is boosting the amount of corn-based ethanol and other renewable fuels in the US gasoline supply despite sustained opposition by an unusual alliance of oil companies, environmentalists and some GOP presidential candidates. The EPA issued a final rule designed to increase use of ethanol. [NewsOK.com]

COP21:

¶ Leaders from 147 nations are addressing COP21 on its opening day. Negotiators from 195 countries will try to reach a deal during the two-week conference aimed at reducing global carbon emissions. Initiatives to boost clean technologies are due to be launched. But the world’s poorest countries say they fear being “left behind.” [BBC]

The Eiffel Tower was lit up on Sunday evening in support of the climate conference. Reuters

¶ With world leaders converging in Paris today for the start of the long-awaited COP21 climate talks, The Climate Group’s International Communications Director, Eduardo Goncalves, outlines why we should be optimistic about both a successful outcome, and crucially, the months and years that will follow. [The Climate Group]

¶ All eyes are on the French capital, two weeks after extremists killed 130 people around Paris. Fears of repeat attacks have prompted extra-high security and a crackdown on protests, and threaten to eclipse longer-term concerns about rising seas and extreme weather linked to man-made global warming. [Huffington Post UK]

¶ Organisers have said that at least 50,000 people marched through London in what was the UK’s largest ever demonstration for action against climate change. In the run up to the COP21, activists have been marching in cities around the world, and over 2,000 marches are said to have taken place since Friday. [Yahoo News UK]

Climate demonstration in London

World:

¶ Wind farm owners representing 12% of global turbine assets have founded a peer-to-peer online platform exchanging information on operations, with an objective of optimizing turbine yields through information exchange. Members include EDPR, Vattenfall, RWE, Dong Energy, Statoil and Acciona Energia. [reNews]

¶ Egypt inaugurated on Sunday the largest wind power station in the Middle East and North Africa region with a capacity of 200 MW, the ministry of electricity and energy said. The project’s cost is estimated at €270 million (roughly $286 million). Egypt has been suffering through increasing power shortages. [Al-Bawaba]

¶ London-based infrastructure group John Laing is “ready to invest” in more Australian renewable energy projects if the Turnbull government gets behind wind and solar farms, its CEO says. Australia was previously not a priority for renewable energy investors because there was a lack of support from the government. [Sydney Morning Herald]

John Laing’s first Australian renewable energy investment is in a wind farm near Adelaide. Photo: Mark Kolbe

¶ The global coal industry is touting “cleaner coal” technology to fight competition from renewable energy. The World Coal Association is pushing technology it says can cut the greenhouse gases emitted from burning coal by up to 30%. But the high costs of greener coal plants are proving a major obstacle for sales. [Huffington Post India]

¶ The largest solar farm in the Philippines will start supplying energy to Meralco on December 4. The new 11-hectare solar power plant has 32,692 solar panels that can generate 8.6 MW, meaning it can supply 61,920 households. The site had been a fish pond, but it ran dry, prompting its former owners to sell the property. [Manila Bulletin]

US:

¶ Climate change takes center stage Monday as a global conversation begins in Paris. But it’s not just international politicians who will lead discussions. US cities like Boulder will have representatives there to share their best practices. Now the city’s strategy includes a job many have never heard of: Chief Resilience Officer. [Colorado Public Radio]

Greg Guibert, Boulder’s first ever Chief Resilience Officer. More US cities are using CROs to strategize for climate change and natural disaster challenges.

¶ President Barack Obama said Sunday that American leadership was helping make gains in the global fight against climate change as he tried to reassure world leaders assembling for a historic conference in Paris that the United States can deliver on its own commitments. Obama is joining other world leaders at COP21. [Albuquerque Journal]

¶ A San Francisco judge urged state regulators to release e-mails about a multibillion-dollar deal with two utilities that shut down the San Onofre nuclear plant. He said the Public Utilities Commission should “do the right thing” and reveal information about what went into a deal that would cost area utility customers over $3.3 billion. [CBS Local]

World:

¶ The north of England is set to be home to Europe’s largest floating solar power system. Water company United Utilities is developing a 12,000 panel system covering an area of more than 45,000 square meters. It will cover about 33% of their electricity needs. The system will be on Godley reservoir in Hyde, Greater Manchester. [CNBC]

Image courtesy of United Utilities

¶ The carbon content of electricity generation in Ireland fell to a record low last year, according to new figures by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. The country avoided 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2014. SEAI said without renewables, power generation emissions would have been around 23% higher. [Energy Voice]

¶ The UK’s Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and campaign group Oil Change worldwide (OCI) have now published a detailed analysis of G20 subsidies to oil, gas and coal production. The G20 countries spent around four times as much to prop up fossil fuel production as they did to subsidize renewable energy. [Financial Company Voices]

¶ In the UK, production subsidies of £5.9 billion have already benefited major fossil fuel companies operating in the country, most foreign-owned, while £3.7 billion is used to subsidise fossil fuel production overseas in countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia and China, the new analysis from the ODI and OCI found. [The Guardian]

Photograph: bluegreenpict/REX Shutterstock

¶ The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Apple to promote the development of ocean energy. Apple has committed a €1 million fund to help developers who receive SEAI grants to test their ocean energy prototypes in the Galway Bay Ocean Energy Test Site. [Your Renewable News]

¶ Lightsource Renewable Energy is spearheading a £2 billion investment in solar energy in India. The firm has announced plans to design, install and manage more than 3 GW of solar PV infrastructure in partnership with Indian companies over the next five years, including SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited. [Your Renewable News]

¶ The cabinet of Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition has endorsed changes to the German electricity market, ensuring their passage into law. The law relies on market mechanisms to foster competition between electricity generation and flexibility options, rejecting generator proposals for an American-style capacity market. [POWER magazine]

US:

¶ More than 7,100 solar panels will provide power to areas of Daytona International Speedway and 400 Florida homes per year, according to officials of the speedway and Florida Power & Light. The FPL Solar Pavilion and FPL Solar Patio project at the speedway will be in the Midway, the Sprint FANZONE and Lot 10 parking area. [Bay News 9]

A total of 7,186 solar panels will make up the FPL Solar Pavilion and FPL Solar Patio. (Daytona International Speedway rendering)

¶ Procter & Gamble signed a partnership with EDF Renewable Energy to build a wind farm in Texas. It will generate 370,000 MWh of electricity per year, enough to meet the electricity needs for all Procter & Gamble North American Fabric & Home Care plants, where Tide, Cascade, and other such products are produced. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Customers of Xcel Energy Inc in Minnesota will have the option of signing long-term deals to get their electricity from wind and solar farms under a proposed program. The program, which requires state regulatory approval, would be open to all customers. But key features are aimed to support corporate sustainability targets. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

A proposal to erect 28 wind turbines in Windham and Grafton drew opposition at a meeting Monday in Grafton. Photo by Mike Faher/VTDigger

¶ Two weeks after a developer came to town to disclose details of what would be Vermont’s largest wind-turbine site, the project’s opponents presented an impassioned case against building any wind farms in Stiles Brook Forest. Opponents to the proposal painted a picture of troubles, at a meeting they organized. [vtdigger.org]

¶ Hillary Clinton outlined a $30 billion plan to help communities and individuals that rely on coal to recover from the industry’s decline. Clinton has said repeatedly she will not forget the coal workers who “kept the lights on” and drove economic growth. Her campaign said the plan fits squarely with her climate priorities. [Rapid News Network]

¶ The New York Department of State has objected to relicensing the Indian Point nuclear plant on the Hudson River, saying it kills millions of fish larvae and sits near seismic faults with an earthquake threat to millions of people. It says the plant is incompatible with the safety of New York City 24 miles downstream. [Albany Times Union]

Opinion:

¶ David and Goliath struggle over solar power • Duke Energy is threatening a small nonprofit and African-American church, as it fights to restrict solar access in North Carolina. Duke Energy asked state regulators to fine Durham nonprofit NC WARN $1,000 a day for selling solar power to Faith Community Church in Greensboro. [News & Observer]

Wilson Ring AP

¶ Why does the IEA keep underestimating solar and wind? • The press release for the latest World Energy Outlook of the International Energy Agency emphasized that they “see clear signs that the energy transition is underway.” The problem is, the numbers they use in the report don’t really match up with this stated optimism. [Business Spectator]

World:

¶ Germany’s transport ministry has said Volkswagen is likely to need to make more than just software changes to nearly a quarter of its 2.4 million diesel cars being recalled in the country as a result of the emissions scandal. The Federal Motor Transport Authority says about 540,000 will also need hardware changes. [The Guardian]

¶ Around four coal-powered plants are poised to come up every week in China. However, chances are they will remain under-utilised given the existing glut. Around 155 projects with a total capacity of 123 GW got the green signal in 2015 alone, despite the fact that China has nearly no need for the energy they will produce. [Yahoo News UK]

Chinese air pollution.

¶ German utilities giant E·ON recorded record losses of €5.7 billion ($6.1 billion) for the first nine months of 2015 as its older fossil fuel power plants declined in value amid a switch to renewable energy. There was a write-down of €8.3 billion due to the recent decline in fuel prices, with energy plants barely turning a profit. [Europe Online Magazine]

¶ In its latest planning for the transmission network, Australian Energy Market Operator, which runs the grid, looks at one scenario where 33.3 GW of rooftop solar is installed on homes and businesses by 2034-35, 40% of all homes have residential battery storage totalling 19.1 GWh, and 20% of homes have an electric vehicle. [RenewEconomy]

¶ Tasmania’s King Island was powered by 100% renewable energy for a period of 33 hours non-stop this month, another huge milestone for the renewable energy system established on the island as part of a project by Hydro Tasmania. The project is a prototype combining solar panels, wind turbines and energy storage. [One Step Off The Grid]

¶ South Australia stands at the forefront of the renewable energy transition. Soon, 28% of all households will have residential solar power and 1,473 MW of onshore capacity, representing 25% of the state’s total generation capacity, is online. Balancing the load can be done with transmission and energy storage. [Triple Pundit]

South Australian wind project Mount Bryan. Image credit: Flickr/Ian Sutton

¶ The government of the UK gives the fossil-fuel industry nearly £6 billion a year in subsidies, almost twice the financial support it provides to renewable-energy providers, according to a study by the Overseas Development Institute. The study challenges the popular idea that green energy requires extra taxpayer support. [The Independent]

¶ Mexico will start soliciting bids later this month in its first auction of renewable energy certificates, part of an electricity sector overhaul that ends the state-owned power company’s monopoly. Up to 6 million of the certificates will be awarded in the first auction via 20-year contracts seeking up to 2,500 MW of renewable power. [Reuters]

¶ Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd, a unit of machinery giant Hitachi Ltd, will start a business to decommission boiling water reactors at Japanese nuclear power plants. In Japan, fourteen reactors at seven nuclear plants, including all six of the reactors at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi, are currently set to be scrapped. [The Japan News]

US:

¶ Hawaii’s largest solar power project was dedicated November 7 by the Lihue-based Kauai Island Electric Cooperative. The array is 12 MW, and is sited on a gently sloping 60-acre site. The goal for the island of Kauai is to get 50% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2023, it will be at 37% by the end of this year. [Electric Co-op Today]

Kauai Island Electric Cooperative’s new 12-MW solar array. (Photo By: Shelley Paik/KIUC)

¶ Low-income and mid-income New York residents will find it a bit financially easier to get a home solar power system, thanks to the launch of a new program from NY-Sun called Affordable Solar. This program will effectively double the incentives for solar installations on homes they own, in a bid to expand renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Mississippi Public Service Commission unanimously approved three solar projects. Collectively, the three facilities will produce 105 MW of electricity for Mississippi Power Co’s 190,000 ratepayers, most of whom are in South Mississippi. Ratepayers will not bear any project costs, the PSC said in a news release. [Hattiesburg American]

¶ In the fourth Republican presidential debate, which was hosted by the Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night, viewers finally got to hear some discussion of energy policy and the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s major effort to curb carbon emissions. Too bad it was totally misleading. [Grist]

World:

¶ Researchers may soon be able harness the power of undersea waves. Carnegie Wave Energy and Western Power are working together to create the first wave energy island microgrid in Australia. This technology, known as the CETO 6 Project, will be built six miles off the coast of Garden Island, a small Australian Island near Perth. [Nature World News]

CETO 6 units (one of which is pictured here) may be able to harness the energy of undersea waves. (Photo : Carnegie Wave Energy)

¶ The UK’s rating for the security of its energy supplies has been cut. In its latest ‘trilemma’ report, the World Energy Council reduced the UK’s rating from AAA to AAB. It also warned that recent ‘unexpected’ moves by the Government to remove subsidies for wind and solar power would hinder future investment in the sector. [This is Money]

¶ It was widely reported last month that Chinese President Xi Jinping and UK Prime Minister David Cameron had struck a deal to try to reinvigorate UK’s stalling nuclear ambitions. But the reality is nothing has been signed yet, despite the huge financial incentives being offered by the Treasury to French and Chinese nuclear corporations. [The Ecologist]

Xioa Yan Kou Farm, China. Photo: Danish Wind Industry Association / Vindmølleindustrien via Flickr (CC BY-NC).

¶ A newly signed deal will create of Kuwait’s first solar-thermal energy generation station. The $385m solar-fuelled plant will be built close to the border with Saudi Arabia and Iraq. With the capacity to produce up to 50 MW, the station is expected to be integrated into Kuwait’s existing electrical network by December 2017. [Oxford Business Group]

¶ Scotland will miss its 100% renewable electricity target without further investment in onshore and offshore wind, according to a report by Scottish Renewables. It shows Scotland is on course to generate the equivalent of 87% of its power from renewables by 2020, and highlights the need for further support from the UK government. [reNews]

¶ Governments should ban inefficient coal power plants, according to the chief of the International Energy Agency. They also need to boost support for renewables, regulate to improve energy efficiency and crack down on methane leaks from oil and gas production. Those were the top four recommendations to limit global warming. [Climate Home]

Low oil prices choke investment, increasing reliance on Middle East suppliers (Flickr/Paul Lowry)

US:

¶ SunEdison announced that it has completed construction on New Hampshire’s largest solar power plant, a 942 kW solar power plant for the town of Peterborough. SunEdison will supply solar energy generated by this system to the town over the next 20 years, saving taxpayers an estimated $250,000 per year on energy. [AltEnergyMag]

¶ This 17th straight month of low oil prices has remained a boon for drivers, manufacturers and refineries, but the International Energy Agency warned it will also likely force importers like the US, EU, China, and India to rely increasingly on low-cost producers in the Middle East at a scale not seen since the 1970s. [U.S. News & World Report]

¶ Strata Solar will start in the first quarter of 2016 installation of two 10.6-MW solar plants for Alabama Power at the Anniston Army depot and Fort Rucker Army base. The build date was set following the go-ahead from the Alabama Public Service Commission. Alabama Power awarded Strata Solar the contract for the projects. [reNews]

The McKenzie solar project (Strata Solar)

¶ Denmark-based DONG Energy said it plans to build a wind farm with up to 100 wind turbines and capable of generating as much as 1,000 MW of electricity on a leased site, south of Martha’s Vineyard, that the federal government put up for bid in January for development of offshore wind power. [Martha’s Vineyard Times]

¶ A sweeping plan to regulate development of renewable energy in Southern California deserts designates 388,000 acres for potential solar, wind and geothermal plants and millions more acres for conservation and recreation. Much of it is along Interstate 10 west of Blythe near the Arizona border and in Imperial Valley. [Manteca Bulletin]

¶ An Entergy spokesman, speaking of the decision to close the FitzPatrick nuclear plant near Oswego, New York, said “This decision, we view it as a final decision.” He went on, “It’s one the company made reluctantly, because the plant is very well run. It’s just not economically viable.” Operating the plant has cost $60 million. [WRVO Public Media]

Science and Technology:

¶ Global temperatures are set to rise more than one degree above pre-industrial levels according to the UK’s Met Office. Figures from January to September this year are already 1.02° C above the average between 1850 and 1900. If temperatures remain as predicted, 2015 will be the first year to breach this key threshold. An increase of 2° C is considered dangerous.[BBC]

Global temperatures reached high levels in 2014 but 2015 is expected to be the warmest since records began.

¶ Researchers have designed and patented a floating platform for offshore wind turbines that they believe can reduce costs up to €0.12 per kWh. A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya developed the new model of a floating structure for offshore wind turbines that is capable of being anchored at much greater sea depths. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ Renewable energy accounted for almost half of all new power plants in 2014, representing a “clear sign that an energy transition is underway”, according to an International Energy Agency report. Green energy is now the second-largest generator of electricity in the world, after coal, and is set to overtake the dirtiest fossil fuel in the early 2030s, the report said. [The Guardian]

¶ In October the ground was broken for one of Australia’s most innovative biogas projects. In the next 14 months, German biogas plant manufacturer Weltec Biopower and its project partner Aquatec Maxcon will establish a biogas plant in Aurora, Victoria, a Melbourne suburb. The 1-MW plant for digesting organic waste will be one of the first in Australia. [PennEnergy]

¶ Low oil prices may undermine efforts to reduce pollution. If the cost of crude remains near $50 a barrel until the end of the decade, cheaper conventional fuels would hold back the development of electric cars and biofuels that are helping curb carbon emissions. The IEA estimated about $800 billion of efficiency improvements in vehicles would be lost. [Livemint]

Oil pump. Reuters photo.

¶ Britain will miss a major legally-binding renewable energy target, Amber Rudd, the Energy Secretary, has admitted in a letter to other cabinet ministers. The letter, however, was leaked to the press. She warned that the “absence of a credible plan” to meet the target could trigger repeated fines from the EU Court of Justice and a judicial review. [Telegraph.co.uk]

¶ Catastrophic global warming can be avoided with a deal at a crunch UN climate change summit in Paris this December because “ultimately nothing can compete with renewables,” according to one of the world’s most influential climate scientists. Professor John Schellnhuber said the best hope of making nations keep their promises was moral pressure. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ Trident Winds has filed early paperwork with Morro Bay, California, city officials for a plan to install 100 floating turbines, each up to 636 feet tall, about 15 miles off the San Luis Obispo County shoreline. The project would generate 1,000 MW of electricity, enough to power 300,000 homes. Some parts of the environmental movement may object. [Bakken.com]

Offshore wind at night.

¶ After apologizing for two months, Volkswagen is finally putting its money where its mouth is, forking over $500 to VW car owners hit by its emissions cheating scandal. But the payout has not had the intended effect for many owners. Angry VW customers who wrote to CNNMoney used terms like “slap in the face” and “scandalous” to describe the payout. [CNN]

¶ The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has held the nation’s fifth competitive lease sale for renewable energy in federal waters. Nearly 344,000 acres off New Jersey’s coast were offered for potential wind energy development. Fully developed, the area could support about 3.4 GW of commercial wind generation. [North American Windpower]

¶ Aggressive energy efficiency efforts and new distributed generation capacity, mostly solar projects, are combining to put a lid on growth in peak demand and electric use in New England, ISO New England said in its newly released system plan. The transmission company is working with utilities and other of stakeholders to improve the system. [Platts]

ISO New England’s control room. Photo Credit ISO-NE

¶ Advanced Microgrid Solutions announced that it will supply and operate batteries for a very large California customer, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. It’s a large municipal water treatment and distribution agency serving San Bernardino County, where it has 850,000 customers. An array of renewable energy types will be in the system. [Washington Post]

¶ The Administration has underlined its vision of a strong role for nuclear in the country’s clean energy strategy. It announced actions to sustain and finance nuclear energy, including supplements to the DOE’s federal loan guarantee solicitation to support nuclear energy projects. The existing solicitation of $12.5 billion would be supplemented. [World Nuclear News]

World:

¶ The world will pump out 748 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from 2012 through 2030, the UN said Friday in an e-mailed report that analyzed emissions pledges by 146 nations. The World Energy Council is dismissing climate change plans as not good enough and says it plans to write to all participants of upcoming climate talks in Paris. [TV Newsroom]

Photo from the United Nations Climate Report 

¶ In India, electric transmission and distribution losses, the majority of which pertains to sheer theft of electricity, had been varying between 17% and 35% percent. Financial losses for electricity distribution companies in India reach a staggering ₹3.8 trillion ($58 billion). The states have endorsed a central government plan to deal with distribution. [Greentech Lead]

¶ Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has set a target of providing 24×7 power around the year across the country by the time India celebrates its 75 years of independence. He said 18,000 villages continue to be deprived of electricity across the country and his dream was to provide them uninterrupted power supply in next 1,000 days. [Times of India]

¶ David Cameron’s chief climate change adviser has warned that the government is “clearly failing” in key policy areas and needs to regain the confidence of investors in green technology, in the runup to next month’s crucial global summit in Paris. Lord Deben is particularly concerned about air sealing draughty homes and utilizing renewable heat. [The Guardian]

A wind farm in Scotland. The onshore wind power industry fears it is being sidelined by the government. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

¶ The government of Bangladesh set a target to have 3,168 MW electricity from renewable energy sources by 2021. Of that, 1740 MW will come from the solar power while wind-based power generation will be 1370 MW, according to officials concerned. The rest will include 47 MW of biomass and smaller amounts of biogas and mini-hydro. [Financial Express Bangladesh]

¶ AES Philippines has started construction of its first energy storage facility in Asia. The plant, which will be the first battery-based energy storage facility in the Philippines, will be located next to the Masinloc power plant in Zambales. Called the Masinloc Advancion Energy Storage Array, the facility will provide 10 MW to the Luzon grid as needed. [Philippine Star]

US:

Pennsylvania’s Joyce Kilmer Natural Area, already heavily infested with the hemlock woolly adelgid. Photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli. CC BY-2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ The majestic forests that Pennsylvanians are familiar with today won’t be the forests that future generations know because of global climate change according to the Secretary of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. Several species of trees are likely to disappear from the forests: sugar maple, black cherry, and hemlock. [Citizens Voice]

¶ The EIA predicts that because of additional new wind generating capacity coming online in Texas, coupled with the seasonal increase in wind conditions (autumn and spring are typically high wind generating months in Texas), the most recent record set for instantaneous peak output will “very likely be surpassed in the near future.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ The closing of the Fitzpatrick nuclear plant comes after failed negotiations with the state of New York over ways to avoid a shutdown. The plant generates 838 MW of electricity, enough to power more than 800,000 homes. The move means New York would be down to five power plants. State officials vowed to fight the company’s plans. [Poughkeepsie Journal]

Indian Point nuclear plant, which the government of New York would prefer to close. Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News

¶ Oil companies of all hues loaded up on massive amounts of debt to fund rigs and fancy new drilling equipment. The problem is the companies were banking on oil prices closer to $100 oil when they took on the debt. Now oil is around $45 and no one is expecting prices to hit $100 any time soon. What that means is the likelihood of defaulting has increased. [CNN]

¶ In 2015, the EPA has honored 22 Green Power Partners and three renewable energy suppliers across the country with its annual Green Power Leadership awards. The award winners include Apple, Microsoft, TD Bank, Intel, Kohl’s, Kaiser Permanente and Northwestern University. These companies have led the way in cutting emissions. [Justmeans]

World:

¶ Irish company Amarenco is planning a €200-million-plus investment in 35 solar farms, the first five of which will be built in County Cork. Planning applications will be lodged shortly with Cork County Council for five solar farms, which form the first phase of the development. The solar farms will generate enough energy to power 35,000 homes. [Irish Examiner]

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

¶ Renewable energy company Building Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Serbian town of Kruse for construction of a €27 million ($29.4 million) woodchip-fired biomass power station. The plant will have 4.8 MW of electric capacity and 20 MW of thermal. It will generate 38.4 GWh of electric power each year. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ New figures released quietly by the Chinese Government this week shows that China has been burning up to 17% more coal per year than the government had previously disclosed, laying to rest many hopes that the country was on a fast track to carbon dioxide emissions decline. The extra coal would emit a billion more tons of carbon dioxide each year. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The UK’s Labour Party has slammed changes to the tax relief system for community renewable projects, claiming the government is taking away certainty at a time when the industry needs it most. The UK government announced last month that community energy projects will be excluded from two investment schemes from next month. [reNews]

Image: FreeImages

¶ The Asian Development Bank has announced plans to help the country’s biggest wind farm in support of efforts to cut the Philippines’ carbon footprint. In a statement, the Manila-based multilateral lender said it would lend $20 million to Energy Development Corp, which operates the Burgos wind complex in Ilocos Norte. [Inquirer.net]

US:

¶ President Obama took advantage of low gas prices and the resulting decline in US oil production to reject the construction proposal of the Keystone XL pipeline. Since coming into office, Obama has made a strong push for a clean energy future, and shutting down Keystone XL after a 7-year battle could well be the capstone on that effort. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Renewable energy advocates are encouraged by a recent push to expand wind energy in Nebraska. According to John Hansen of the Nebraska Farmers Union, the state is on track for more than 1,300 MW of wind capacity by 2017. Although that amounts to nearly triple what the state had two years ago, Hansen said it isn’t enough. [Sioux City Journal]

Wind turbine near Lincoln, Nebraska. Photo by Blamphoto. CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Driven by growth in renewable energy and energy efficiency, California’s natural gas demand will steadily fall over the next 15 years, according to a draft state assessment. Gas-fired power generation will also decline, California Energy Commission staff said in a workshop discussing the Integrated Energy Policy Report. [Natural Gas Intelligence]

¶ In the almost three months since the EPA finalized its groundbreaking Clean Power Plan, broad support for the plan and state efforts to make it work continues to be voiced throughout the electric utility industry. More time to review the final standards has yielded more positive power company responses. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶ Power companies are working with states to craft compliance for the Clean Power Plan. Major companies see opportunities available with flexible home-grown plans. Xcel, for example, just announced plans to cut carbon emissions across its Northern States Power system by 60% by 2030, at negligible cost to consumers. [Environmental Defense Fund]

¶ The NRC will update proposed guidelines for assessing the safe life span for nuclear reactors by the end of the year. It is a central issue for the nuclear industry, the nation’s future electric power supply and the Clean Power Plan. The NRC’s current judgment that there are as yet no “aging” issues with reactors’ structures. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

World:

¶ Two stunning auction results in India and Chile in the last week have underscored the gains that large-scale solar has made against its fossil fuel competitors. In both countries, solar is now clearly the cheapest option compared to new coal-fired power stations. In Chile, the auction produced a record low price for unsubsidised solar, 6.5¢/kWh. [RenewEconomy]

¶ Electric vehicle and battery storage developer Tesla Motors says it is receiving “very strong” demand for its new battery storage products in Australia, which are due to be rolled out in the next month or two. Australia has been chosen as one of the first countries for the Tesla Energy “Powerwall” product, a 7-kWh lithium-ion system. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Rocky Mountain Institute’s new casebook, Renewable Microgrids: Profiles From Islands and Remote Communities Across the Globe, profiles 10 islands and remote communities actively embracing this transition in order to provide examples for other communities looking to make the switch away from oil to efficiency and renewables. [CleanTechnica]

¶ While the developing world is ditching the diesel and embracing solar, often with the direct financial assistance of British companies and the government, ministers in the UK are set to grant vast subsidies to support the creation of 1.5 GW of diesel power capacity to plug the country’s growing energy gap. Meanwhile, subsidies for solar are being cut. [pv magazine]

¶ Enbridge has bought a $750 million stake in a UK project that was developed and is being constructed by E·ON Climate & Renewables UK Limited, one of the world’s largest utilities and a leading developer of wind energy projects. The project will utilize 116 Vestas V112-3.45 MW turbines and is expected to reach full commercial operation in 2018. [Junior College]

Enbridge buys a 750 million stake in United Kingdom project

¶ The largest state in Austria now runs on 100% clean and renewable energy, officials have confirmed. The premier of Lower Austria, which has a population of 1.65 million, told a news conference that the state is now generating its electricity solely from renewable sources, led by hydroelectric power, which supplies 63% of the state’s energy. [pv magazine]

¶ Lekela Power, a pan-African renewable power company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the governmental-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company for a 250-MW wind farm. The project will be situated in the Gulf of Suez area to capitalize on Egypt’s unique wind resources. It is Lekela Power’s third project in Egypt. [Sun & Wind Energy]

¶ According to market research of Deutsche Bank, solar energy is now the cheapest source of electricity in Chile and newly installed PV capacity could exceed 1 GW in 2015. In a round of tender in October 2015, renewables won 100 % of the contracts. The reason being that right now both solar and wind power are cheaper than fossil fuels in Chile. [Sun & Wind Energy]

US:

¶ A3.91-acre, 230-kW solar farm was built on a former municipal landfill-turned neglected park in Newark, Delaware, using money from the state’s Green Energy Program. The intent was to save the city money and make solar energy available to residents who don’t have the means to install their own panels. In its first year, it outperformed hopes. [Cecil Whig]

Newark Post File Photo by Josh Shannon.

¶ Plans for what is being billed as “the world largest fuel cell power plant” in a former gravel pit west of the Naugatuck River got some up-close and personal scrutiny during a pair of hearings held by the Siting Council in Beacon Falls, Connecticut.Council members heard testimony from the president of the company that will own the facility. [New Haven Register]

¶ Michigan Democratic lawmakers won amendments adding more energy efficiency and a renewable goal to the energy overhaul package passed out of the House Energy Policy Committee.The bill package includes two house bills to amend broad energy policy including that surrounding renewables, energy choice, energy efficiency and rate processes. [MLive.com]

¶ The recent news of yet another pending nuclear-plant closure means that Entergy will be juggling three complicated, expensive decommissioning projects in New England and New York.Company administrators and federal officials say the coming shutdowns of FitzPatrick and Pilgrim won’t negatively affect decommissioning work at Vermont Yankee. [vtdigger.org]

FitzPatrick Nuclear in New York. Courtesy photo

¶ New York’s Attorney General is investigating whether ExxonMobil Corp lied to the public and investors about its knowledge of climate change and its risks. This follows articles published by InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times saying their investigations showed Exxon concealed its own scientist’s work on climate science. [The Hill]

¶ Southern California Edison plans to spend $12 billion over the next three years to modernize the electric grid. Critics say the costs are misplaced, as the company is seeking the state’s approval to replace the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant with three natural gas-fired plants, rather than looking into local renewables and battery storage. [L.A. Biz]

Anniversary of Note:

¶ 50 years ago today, President Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee sent him a report, “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment,” which included a warning on carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. It was written by prominent climate scientists Roger Revelle, Wallace Broecker, Charles Keeling, Harmon Craig, and J Smagorisnky. [The Guardian]

Opinion:

¶ “How the World Is Saving Itself From Coal Even Without a UN Prod” • The energy industry is easing away from coal and will keep moving in that direction regardless of what happens at the United Nations climate talks in Paris next month. That’s the view of Michael Liebreich, the founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [Bloomberg]

Emissions rise from a coal power station in Indiana. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

World:

¶ Envision Energy, a leading smart energy providers, has acquired a 600 MW portfolio of wind projects in development stages in Mexico. Working with ViveEnergia, Envision Energy is committed to bringing the entire portfolio into a “ready to build” stage by the end of this year, and with construction starting in early 2016. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Renewable energy in eight major economies will collectively more than double by 2030 due to new national climate and energy plans, according to a study by the World Resources Institute. Total clean energy supply from eight of the world’s 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters will jump to 20,000 TWh from around 9,000 TWh in 2009. [Yahoo News]

¶ Vancouver’s Renewable City Strategy has been released. The city currently obtains 31% of its energy from clean energy sources. The target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels. This means 80% below the benchmark set by the Kyoto Accord. The city is already 7% below this benchmark. [CleanTechnica]

Vancouver. Photo by Kyla Duhamel via Flickr. CC BY SA, 2.0

¶ Brookfield will test the case for taking entire suburbs off grid, in a $1.1 million study that could see a NSW development become Australia’s first off-grid suburb. The $1.1 million study is to determine whether renewables, battery storage and other enabling technologies can power suburbs reliably and cost effectively. [The Fifth Estate]

¶ Renewable energy is supplying power to South Africa at prices that are around 40% cheaper than electricity prices forecast for the Medupi and Kusile coal powered plants which are still under construction. The average price for wind energy in South Africa has come down R0.71/kWh (5¢/kWh) this year, a decrease of 50% from 2011. [Independent Online]

¶ The Iranian Ministry of Energy says it signed a $6 billion agreement with a European company to build 4,250 MW of capacity. The agreement envisages developing gas-powered plants for 3,250 MW and wind farms for 1,000 MW of electricity. Media sources suggest the company is Belgian UNIT International SA. [Press TV]

Iranian Government says it signed an agreement to generate 4,250 megawatts of electricity.

¶ Nearly six decades after it was first conceived, and after over ¥1 trillion has been poured into it, the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture has yet to supply electricity commercially. Now it has suffered a possibly fatal blow, as the Nuclear Regulation Authority called for it to have another operator. [The Japan Times]

¶ The operator of a nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture filed a formal request for nuclear regulators to conduct safety screening, despite expert opinion that it sits atop an active geological fault line. Japan Atomic Power Co filed the request with the Nuclear Regulation Authority for a reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶ Work on Tesla’s Gigafactory is running ahead of schedule, with a production line for Powerpacks and Powerwalls even being moved from the Fremont facility to an automated assembly line at the Gigafactory early in Quarter 4, according to Tesla’s most recent shareholder letter. Production began at the Fremont facility in Quarter 3. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Gigafactory from the air.

¶ An 18-state coalition led by New York and California has begun taking on a block of 26 states including Texas and Florida in a court fight over the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The states defending the federal plan are joined by the District of Columbia, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia in seeking intervener status. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

¶ Duke Energy said it will scale back its plans to convert its coal-fired Asheville, North Carolina, power plant to natural gas and scrap a bitterly fought transmission line. Instead the company will build two smaller 280-MW gas units and won’t need the new transmission line. A third, 190-MW gas unit may be added in 2023 or later. [WBTV]

¶ Arizona utility regulators are defending their decision to let a utility call burning garbage a “renewable resource” for electricity. The Arizona Corporation Commission urged the state Supreme Court to reject claims by the Sierra Club that a trash-burning incinerator does not qualify for the same legal status as solar and wind. [Sierra Vista Herald]

¶ A federal judge in Nevada has thrown out federal approval of what was to be the state’s largest wind power project, ruling that the Interior Department did not properly evaluate potential impacts to golden eagles and Mojave Desert tortoises. The ruling may be the first rejection of an environmental impact statement. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

Science and Technology:

¶ Researchers at the UK’s Manchester University say they have discovered a property of graphene that could lead to an advance in battery technology. Their study, published in the journal Nature, says graphene membranes could be used to sieve hydrogen gas from the atmosphere, which could lead to generators powered by air. [CNN]

Molecular structure of a graphene crystal. Hydrogen atoms are red, and carbon atoms are blue.

World:

¶ As November begins, promises from individual countries to the United Nations have addressed nearly 90% of the world’s current greenhouse gas emissions. The world consensus aims to reduce and stabilize them in order to keep earth’s temperatures from climbing higher than two degrees Celsius by 2100. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Still reeling from the diesel emissions scandal, VW said it had set carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption figures too low when certifying some models. It said about 800,000 mainly diesel vehicles were affected, and put a preliminary estimate of the cost to the company of the new admission at about €2 billion. [CNN]

¶ Norway was once at risk of losing its forests. After centuries of logging for timber and firewood, the country had consumed much of this previously vast natural resource. All that has changed, as forests recover. In fact, Norwegian forest growth is enough to offset roughly 40% of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. [BBC]

Norway has taken drastic steps to protect its forests. Credit: Michael Becker

¶ UK government policy to end new subsidies for onshore wind farms could see residential energy customers pay £500 million more for electricity, warns Citizens Advice. The consumer group says onshore wind is one of the cheapest renewable technologies, and excluding subsidies will reverse cuts made to energy bills. [reNews]

¶ In a giant leap forward, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission approved feed-in tariff regulations for renewable energy sourced electricity. As per the provisions of the regulations, electricity distribution companies will be required to source at least 50% of their total procurement from renewable energy sources. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Renewable sources are predicted to account for one-third of all electricity used in Germany in 2015. An initial estimate shows that wind, solar and other renewable sources will have generated 193 billion kWh of electricity during 2015, up from 161 billion in 2014 and representing 27% of gross electricity consumption in that year. [reNews]

German renewables share hits 33%

¶ US-based SunEdision Inc has won a bid to sell solar power in India at a record low tariff of ₹4.63 ($0.0706) per kWh, which could make the renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuel-derived electricity. The company won the auction for a 500-MW project in Andhra Pradesh. The previous low was 5.05 rupees per kilowatt-hour. [Reuters]

¶ With little progress on ground since the 2008 Indo-US nuclear agreement, the Indian government has cut the nuclear energy target from 63,000 MW by 2032 to just about 14,500 MW by 2024. Officials officials at the Department of Atomic Energy now say the higher figure was only “an expression of intention,” not a target. [Deccan Herald]

US:

¶ Canadian energy company Capital Power aims to start construction by early 2017 on the stalled 200-MW Black Fork wind farm in Ohio. Capital took over the project in 2014, when it acquired Element Power US in a $69 million deal that included 10 wind and four solar developments. The developer is contacting all property owners. [reNews]

¶ US Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have announced the formation of a Senate Energy and Environment Working Group that will focus on ways to protect the environment and climate while backing clean energy innovation that helps drive job creation. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Thunder Mountain Energy has finalized a $5.2 million sale of its portable solar powered energy units, the world’s most powerful portable solar powered energy unit, to Blackcomb Group of Nevada. Blackcomb Group has purchased several T3000 power units for their ongoing mining operations in Nevada, Utah and Idaho. [Your Renewable News]

¶ A solar array proposed for Brattleboro’s closed landfill, an installation that would be Vermont’s largest by current standards, could lead to a big payoff for Windham County municipalities. Estimates show that a typical town signing on to the project could see electric-bill savings of more than 60% by the end of a 20-year contract. [vtdigger.org]

Headquarters of Windham Solid Waste Management District. Photo by Mike Faher/VTDigger

¶ By the end of this year, 37% of the electricity generated on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai will come from a mix of renewable resources, including solar, hydropower and biomass. Located in the small town of Anahola, along the island’s eastern coast, a 12-MW, $54 million facility is being built on 60 acres of land. [Huffington Post]

¶ Plans have been approved for construction of a 10-MW solar power project at Fort Rucker, one of two major solar projects just approved by the Alabama Public Service Commission. The project supports the DOD Performance Goal and Master Plan, which calls for Army facilities to be 25% renewably powered by 2025. [Dothan Eagle]

Science and Technology:

¶ Germany’s dash away from nuclear power and toward renewables has helped to create new industries. About 370,000 Germans work in the renewable energy industry, twice the number who work in fossil fuels, according to the Heinrich Böll Foundation. In the change, cities with employment problems are being revived. [The Guardian] ‘

Solar panel roofs in Vauban in Freiburg, Germany Photograph: Imagebroker/Rex Shutterstock

¶ Ravaged by months of war, Yemen is now being battered by the first tropical storm on record to make landfall in the impoverished Arab country. Tropical Cyclone Chapala slammed into Yemen’s central coast early Tuesday, lashing the area with maximum sustained winds of around 85 mph and over a year’s rain in one day. [CNN]

World:

¶ A study published in Nature by scientists at Stanford and UC Berkeley has made waves for its finding that thus far we have badly underestimated the damage human-caused climate change will do to the global economy. It says wealthy countries are nearly as vulnerable to temperatures warming beyond 13°C as poorer countries. [CleanTechnica]

¶ BP published its first Technology Outlook, an 82-page report outlining how technology has the potential to unlock the world’s energy resources over the next 35 years. BP predicts the global energy system will remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels for decades to come. But the details of the report show renewables with a strong edge. [Business Green]

¶ Scatec Solar, a Norwegian solar power developer, has signed agreements for five solar projects totaling 250 MW in Egypt. The projects will be covered by Egypt’s solar FiT program. Some preparatory work like land and geotechnical studies has already been completed. Social and environmental impact studies are under way. [CleanTechnica]

Cairo. Image Credit: Luc Legay, Wiki Commons

¶ China is becoming a hotbed for the $100 billion market in bonds tied to green investments as authorities and developers seek alternatives to loans for funding a transformation to clean energy supplies. Green bonds aim to fund low-carbon transport, renewable energy and technologies to curtail climate change. [Bloomberg]

¶ Spanish wind power company Gamesa said it will build two 100-MW wind parks in India under a turnkey contract with renewable energy firm Ostro Energy. Gamesa will supply and install 50 pieces of its G97-2.0 MW class S turbines at the site of the future Amba wind park in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The UK Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change, Sir David King, warned that countries building new coal-fired power stations could well be building “stranded assets.” Britain’s former Chief Scientific Adviser said any country still building coal-fired power stations was building “white elephants.” [Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly]

US:

¶ Altamont Winds Inc wrote in a letter to the US Fish & Wildlife Service that it had decided to “permanently shut down and cease operations” of all 828 of the wind turbines at Altamont Pass. The company has applied for a permit to replace the old equipment with 33 larger, state-of-the-art turbines that kill far fewer birds. [SFGate]

Outdated wind generators dot the hills of Eastern Alameda County along the Altamont Pass in Livermore, California. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

¶ Many drivers assume that gasoline taxes completely cover the cost of road maintenance, and are perhaps even too high, but that appears not even to be close to the truth of the matter, according to a report from the Frontier Group, in cooperation with the US PIRG Education Fund. And that does not address other social costs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ US investment bank The Goldman Sachs Group Inc said Monday it has lifted its clean energy financing and investments goal for 2025 to $150 billion (€136 billion). The new target was set in an update of the firm’s Environmental Policy Framework. It expands a $40-billion clean energy target announced in 2012. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The company behind the Keystone XL pipeline asked the US government to put its review of the controversial project on hold. TransCanada says the pause is necessary while it negotiates with Nebraska over the pipeline’s route through the state. The move came as a surprise as TransCanada executives have pushed hard to get approval. [BBC]

Gas pipes ready for installation.

¶ According to model by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication of state-level public opinion, a majority of the public in 23 out of the 26 states filing suits actually support setting strict limits on coal-fired power plants. Across all 26 suing states, an average of 61% of the public supports the policy. [Huffington Post]

¶ The US DOE and the Minnesota Department of Commerce has issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Great Northern Transmission Line. The power line will be used to deliver hydro power from Canada to Minnesota Power customers in the United States, reducing the state’s carbon emissions. [FOX 21 Online]

¶ Entergy Corp, which owns two nuclear plants in New York, said Monday it will close the James A FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant near Syracuse. Entergy said it would close the Oswego County plant late next year or early 2017. State officials, including Governor Cuomo, vowed to fight the company’s plans. [Rochester Democrat and Chronicle]

World:

¶ Turkana County, an underdeveloped, remote and impoverished part of Kenya has now become the centre of interest for multinational investors. East of Lake Turkana, the largest wind farm in Africa is under construction. On the other side of Lake Turkana, in the west, the area has attracted international oil companies. [Global Risk Insights]

Erecting a wind turbine in Kenya.

¶ To reduce carbon emissions and conserve energy, the Visakhapatnam Port will set up a 10-MW solar system to become the first solar powered port in India. The first phase of the solar power plant with a capacity of 2 MW will be commissioned by Jan 15 and the second phase with 8 MW will be completed by March 20, 2016. [The New Indian Express]

¶ With the rains not having fallen as they normally do, water levels have dropped in a dam that supplies electricity to Zambia and Zimbabwe, causing power blackouts, business closures and consternation. Some traditional chiefs are blaming an angry river god, who may be upset over a failure to conduct traditional rites. [NBCNews.com]

¶ Speaking at a commissioning of a solar system, the Jamaican Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining talked about growth of renewable energy in his country. To date, the Ministry has issued over 366 net billing licenses. Of the total, just over 300 are already operational. [Jamaica Information Service]

¶ The Australian government insists it’s brought a new approach to climate change but the Greens say the new Prime Minister is still beholden to coalition “dinosaurs.” The Environment Minister points out that the government has a new office of climate change. But Australian Greens say it continues Tony Abbott’s policies. [Sky News Australia]

The government insists it’s brought a new approach to climate change

¶ India’s renewable energy sector reported significant growth in cumulative renewable energy capacity during the first half of this fiscal, with addition of 1,629 MW in April-September 2015-16, a 49% increase compared with the addition of 1,094 MW in the same period of the previous year. Growth was short of the target, however. [domain-B]

¶ Deadly radiation levels of 9.4 Sieverts per hour have been recorded at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It is enough to kill a person in less than an hour if directly exposed. The reading was taken in a small room, using a remote-controlled robot, where a pipe leads to the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor. [RT]

US:

¶ Utah Red Hills Renewable Park is a solar power generating facility being developed by Scatec Solar in Parowan, Utah, with an estimated investment of $188 million. It will be Utah’s biggest power generating facility and will be one of the biggest solar power plants in the country. It should be completed in December of this year. [Power Technology]

Solar plant under construction in Utah.

¶ Battery prices are dropping, but utilities aren’t quite fully comfortable with them yet, as revealed by Southern California Edison’s recent proposal to buy electricity from a new natural gas-fired power plant in Stanton, California, rather than install additional battery capacity as ratepayer advocates and environmentalists want it to. [OCRegister]

¶ Thousands of acres of once-abandoned mines are now wildlife preserves or slowly reviving parklands, but can mined land be put to economic use? With the help of a relatively new and little-known EPA initiative, “RE-Powering America’s Land,” transitional assistance for taking brownfields to greenfields is now available. [POWER magazine]