Author: Admin

Server Racks on Data Center
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Hungry for Clean Energy, Facebook Looks to a New Type of Geothermal

ByAdmin

EcoTech Note:   Here’s a good example of a “power purchasing agreement,” probably at above-market rates, whereby Facebook (Meta, Inc.) will buy power from Sage Power in Texas.  Sage uses the same “enhanced geothermal” technology, borrowed from the fracking used in oil-and-gas drilling, that is used by Fervo, which is doing something similar in Nevada.  These new projects are bringing down the Green Premium, with a “levelized cost of energy” (LCOE) of about $0.06/kwh.  See also the promise of even better geothermal in the Quaise project in California.

Big tech companies across the United States are struggling to find enough clean energy to power all the data centers they plan to build.

Now, some firms are betting on ….

Clean Electricity Breaks New Records

Clean Electricity Breaks New Records

ByAdmin

The global transition to clean electricity has reached important new milestones and is set to continue at the current pace. According to a pair of new reports by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF), for the first time ever, zero-carbon sources made up over 40% of the electricity the world generated in 2023. Hydro power accounted for 14.7%, while wind and solar contributed almost as much at 13.9% – a new record high. Nuclear’s share was 9.4%.

These findings emerge from two reports published today by BNEF: Power Transition Trends 2024, and the 2H 2024 Renewable Energy Investment Tracker, which indicate that momentum towards clean power has also accelerated, with wind and solar representing nearly 91% of net new power capacity additions in 2023 – up from 83% the year before – while fossil fuels including coal and gas represented just 6% of net new build – the lowest level ever.

Germany shows how permitting reform works
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Germany shows how permitting reform works

ByAdmin

EcoTech Note:  Here’s a mangled meme — “Necessity is a mother.” Germany faced an energy crisis after the Russia-Ukraine war interrupted their supply of natural gas. Needing more energy, fast, they reformed their permitting process … and, predictably, clean energy supplies poured onto their grid.

In the Fall, we in the US have a similar opportunity. See Big News: Bipartisan Permitting Reform Legislation Is Moving!

Talk to renewable-energy executives for long enough and almost everyone will complain about the time it takes to get government permits to build their power plants. Unless you’re operating in Germany these days.

“We’re quite pleased,” said Karsten Brüggemann, vice president of Nordex, which manufactures wind turbines. Particularly since 2022, he said, Nordex has seen a rapid rise in the number of turbines deployed and future wind farms permitted.

US Snowboard Champ Pitches Green Shipping for Maersk

US Snowboard Champ Pitches Green Shipping for Maersk

ByAdmin
EcoTech Note:  Ocean shipping has long been considered “hard to abate,” but here’s the 4th of 12 new container ships from Maersk using sustainable fuels composed of “green methanol.”  The Green Premium is about 15% – 20%.

Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc called on the Biden Administration to make the incentives for sustainable fuels provided by the Inflation Reduction Act available to maritime fuels, too.  For now, companies like Amazon, Nike, H&M, Volvo, and Nestle have agreed to pay the premium in order to help meet their own GHG goals.

Snowboarder Chloe Kim may not be an obvious patroness of green shipping. But it makes sense: The two-time gold medalist shares her hometown with the busiest port complex in the US. She’s also a climate advocate.

Finalized federal plan outlines future of Nevada, Western solar development
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Finalized federal plan outlines future of Nevada, Western solar development

ByAdmin

Nearly one-fifth of Nevada’s public lands could open up to utility-scale solar development under the Bureau of Land Management’s final Western Solar Plan — drawing the support of solar developers and the ire of conservationists.

The document released Thursday designates about 18,000 square miles or 11.8 million acres — roughly 17 percent — of the state’s public lands for possible large-scale solar projects, identified as 5 megawatts and larger.

Currently, only about 15 percent of the state’s BLM-administered land is available for possible solar development. In addition to calling for nearly 12 million acres in Nevada to be open to solar development, the final plan increases the total acreage available across the West from 22 million to 31 million acres.

Most Climate Policies Don’t Work. Here’s What Science Says Does Reduce Emissions.

Most Climate Policies Don’t Work. Here’s What Science Says Does Reduce Emissions.

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An evaluation of more than 1,500 climate policies in 41 countries found that only 63 actually worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

“The commonality in those successful cases is where we see subsidies and regulations being combined with price-based policy instruments,” said Nicolas Koch, senior researcher at the Berlin-based Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change and an author of the study. “This means carbon pricing, and it could be energy taxes, it could be vehicle taxes.”

Earth broke all-time heat record two days in a row, scientists say

Earth broke all-time heat record two days in a row, scientists say

ByAdmin

Global temperatures hit the highest levels in recorded history on Monday — breaking a record set only 24 hours earlier, according to preliminary data from Europe’s top climate monitor. The consecutive historic days — which came on the heels of 13 straight months of unprecedented temperatures and the hottest year scientists have ever seen — are yet another worrying sign of how human-caused climate change is pushing the planet to dangerous new extremes, scientists say.

Before July 2023, Earth’s daily average temperature record — set in August 2016 — was 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit). But in the past year, the global temperature has exceeded that old record on 58 days.

New Rhodium Report Shows GHG Declines based on Policy Choices

New Rhodium Report Shows GHG Declines based on Policy Choices

ByAdmin

Rhodium Group has a new report out, Taking Stock 2024: US Energy and Emissions Outlook. Consistent with other analyses, they anticipate that US climate pollution will reach 32–43% below 2005 levels by 2030 based on current policies. Rhodium concludes:

“Developers face challenges with long interconnection queues, increasing local opposition to installations, onerous siting and permitting processes, lack of sufficient transmission capacity, continued supply chain constraints, and inflation … [rapid clean energy deployment] will not happen without additional policy action to overcome the non-cost barriers facing clean electricity deployment today, such as siting and permitting, interconnection, and supply chain challenges.”

Don’t blame clean energy for rising electric bills

Don’t blame clean energy for rising electric bills

ByAdmin

Rising electricity costs are putting American households under increasing financial stress. But clean energy isn’t to blame — even if Republican lawmakers and pro-fossil fuel advocates say otherwise.  :See example.

The real drivers of climbing electricity rates are spikes in fossil gas prices, rising costs to maintain and rebuild aging and stressed grid infrastructure, and a utility business model that incentivizes big capital investments that customers have to pay off over decades.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from think tank Energy Innovation, which takes on one of the favorite talking points of those striving to reverse renewable energy mandates and climate change policies across the country.

Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom

Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom

ByAdmin

Storage capacity in the U.S. has grown enough in recent years to be able to power many millions of homes, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. California and Texas dominate the industry, but projects are in the works in Nevada, Arizona and elsewhere to help meet growing power demand from artificial-intelligence data centers and manufacturing plants.

Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management recently agreed to a $315.5 million debt investment in Eos Energy Enterprises, a startup producing zinc batteries that could store energy for longer periods. A developer called rPlus Energies just raised over $1 billion for a big solar and storage project in Utah. 

Saguaro Cactus: The slow death of a desert giant

Saguaro Cactus: The slow death of a desert giant

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Climate change is pushing the Sonoran Desert to the brink, with saguaro cacti as a bellwether of the impending disaster.

… In fact, since the Desert Botanical Garden’s founding in 1939, there is no record of a loss equal to this one. Among the over 1,000 saguaros on the grounds, perhaps a single arm is lost in a given year, and even then it’s generally from storm damage. This summer, a total of 13 arms dropped, and not one fell during a storm. Within days, some of these mutilated giant cacti had collapsed entirely.

The detached giant arms lying on the ground made for riveting video on news programs. But saguaros are only the most recognized species suffering, and the problem goes far beyond …