Dems To Debate Climate Crisis Sept.4 On CNN

CNN to host climate crisis town hall with 2020 Democratic candidates Kyle Blaine, July 25, 2019 (CNN)

“…[Breaking the pattern of major media ignoring climate crisis issues, CNN will host a Democratic presidential town hall in September focused on the climate crisis… on Wednesday, September 4, in New York City. CNN is inviting candidates who meet the Democratic National Committee's polling threshold for the September primary debate to participate, meaning they've reached at least 2% in four approved polls by August 28...Eight candidates so far have met the polling threshold: former Vice President Joe Biden, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren…The 2020 Democratic field has been united in promising to combat climate change…

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…[Many Democratic candidates have] policy proposals to address the threat posed by a warming planet. President Donald Trump has pledged to leave the Paris climate accord and has said he does not believe government reports that cast grave warnings about the effects of climate change…The most prominent proposal put forth by Democrats and backed by multiple presidential candidates has been the Green New Deal, the renewable-energy infrastructure investment plan proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York…[The climate town hall will follow CNN’s established format] in which Democratic candidates appeared back-to-back across the course of the evening…” click here for more

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Rooftop Solar Expansion Continues

Of New Power Generation, How Much is on the Roof? Quarterly Update — 2019 Q1

Marie Donahue, 24 June 2019 (Institute for Local Self Reliance)

“The first quarter of 2019 saw renewable resources claim a majority share of new power generation for the second quarter in a row and for eight of the past 12 quarters…Overall, total power capacity clocked in at nearly 7 gigawatts of new generation added during this period — the largest amount of new capacity in any first quarter in recent years…[N]ew capacity from fracked gas plants dropped by more than 50 percent compared to the last quarter of 2018 (2.9 gigawatts from 6.5 gigawatts)…

“…[Its share of total generation declined] by four percentage points…[T]he share of solar from small-scale, distributed power — residential and commercial installation of photovoltaic arrays — continues to see steady growth and has kept pace with growth in larger, utility-scale solar in the first quarter of 2019…[T]he share of small-scale solar gained five percentage points compared to the last quarter of 2018. For the sixth consecutive quarter, small-scale solar added more than 850 megawatts of new capacity nationally…” click here for more

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A Conservative’s Climate Crisis Fight

Against Climate Panic, for Climate Hope

David French, July 25, 2019 (National Review)

“We must craft a conservative, ecomodernist vision of environmental action…[W]e are in a crisis, an emergency. And my kid won’t solve it, and your kid won’t solve it. If they are empaths they will feel just as trapped as I do, just as complicit in something they cannot solve — and they will pollute and harm and gobble up the world because that is what it means to live in the 21st century…I cried two times when my daughter was born. First for joy, when after 27 hours of labor the little feral being we’d made came yowling into the world, and the second for sorrow, holding the earth’s newest human and looking out the window with her at the rows of cars in the hospital parking lot, the strip mall across the street, the box stores and drive-throughs and drainage ditches and asphalt and waste fields that had once been oak groves. A world of extinction and catastrophe, a world in which harmony with nature had long been foreclosed… I could see no way to shield her from the future…

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…I’m reminded of the nuclear fears that haunted my generation…[But] there’s a key difference between climate-change anxiety and nuclear anxiety: There is far more cause for hope for the future now…We did not have concrete reason to hope for the peace that did, in fact, come…[One does not have to buy the doomsday scenarios] to be concerned about humanity’s impact on the climate and the climate’s impact on humans…The same human ingenuity and industry that has extended life expectancies, slashed extreme poverty by 74 percent in 25 years, and also reduced carbon emissions in numerous advanced economies can advance the twin, interconnected goals of human flourishing and planetary flourishing…[There is] ample room for political disagreement about costs, approach, and policy…[A] challenge exists but…panic is counterproductive and polarization should be shunned…[Our] ingenuity and creativity can craft the instruments of our own environmental rescue.” click here for more

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New Energy Holding The Lead

EIA's Latest "Electric Power Monthly" Report: Second Month In A Row, Renewables Top Coal; Year To Date: Renewables Exceed 20.3% Of U.S. Electricity And Outpace Nuclear/Solar Surpasses 2.5% Of Total As Wind Overtakes Hydropower

Ken Bossong, July 29, 2019 (Sun Day)

“Renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for more than a fifth (20.3%) of net domestic electrical generation during the first five months of 2019…[S]olar and wind both showed continued growth…Solar, including small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, increased by 10.9% compared to the first five months of 2018 and accounted for 2.6% of the nation's total net generation…Small-scale solar (e.g., distributed rooftop systems) - which increased by 20.2% - provided a third (33.3%) of total solar electrical generation…U.S. wind-generated electricity topped that provided by hydropower by 2.7%. Wind's share was 8.0% of total electrical output vs. 7.8% from hydropower…

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Combined wind and solar accounted for 10.6% of U.S. electrical generation through the end of May. In addition, biomass provided 1.5% and geothermal contributed a bit more than 0.4%...[F]or the five-month period, electricity from renewable energy sources surpassed that from nuclear power (331,613 vs. 331,200 thousand megawatt-hours). In May alone, renewably-generated electricity exceeded nuclear's output by almost 10% (i.e., 9.9%)…[F]or the second month in a row, renewably-generated electricity exceeded that from coal (73,779 vs. 71,988 thousand megawatt-hours)…[R]enewables for the first time moved into second place [for the month] among the major generating sources…exceeded only by natural gas…” click here for more

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Climate Crisis Requires Ideal Plants

Can 'Supercharged' Plants Solve The Climate Crisis? Crops already suck up a lot of carbon dioxide. One scientist thinks they can do much more.

Ravi Agrawal/ Joanne Chory, July 20, 2019 (Foreign Policy)

“…Every year, humanity emits 37 gigatons of carbon dioxide; photosynthetic life can process and capture nearly half of that amount…[Salk Institute for Biological Studies botantist Joanne Chory is] creating plants that absorb more carbon dioxide—and then hold on to it for longer—than their wild cousins through a larger and deeper network of carbon-storing roots, creating so-called Ideal Plants…[The Harnessing Plants Initiative would genetically modify plants to create] a cost-effective and efficient way of actually pulling carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere and sequestering it down into the soil…

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Our ecosystem can naturally take up 17 gigatons of [the 37 gigatons of the carbon dioxide now generated annually] in the soil and the ocean. But the other 20 gigatons is what’s been heating up the atmosphere and wreaking havoc with our weather systems…The Ideal Plant project [is working to make plants produce more suberin,] a compound that all plants make in their roots…[I]t’s the perfect carbon storage device…[The objective is to] make them about 2 percent more efficient at redistributing carbon than they are right now…[The scientists say pulling] down 10 percent of those 20 gigatons of effect is proven, incentives would be justified] for farmers who have crops that suck up carbon dioxide…” click here for more

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Where New Energy Can Grow

Harnessing Renewable Energy on our Public Lands

Joshua Axelrod, July 19, 2019 (Natural Resources Defense Council)

“…[New legislation] balances renewable energy production with enhanced environmental stewardship and is a key tool to help limit global climate change…[The Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019, introduced by Representatives Mike Levin (D-CA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ),] creates key tools and benchmarks for accelerating the deployment of solar, wind, and geothermal projects [on public lands. It has] bi-partisan support and strong industry endorsement, and it represents a major collaborative effort between conservation organizations, outdoor enthusiasts, the renewable energy industry, states, and counties. Its key provisions provide for… the establishment of a fish and wildlife conservation fund that would support expanding recreational access, conservation and restoration work and other important stewardship activities…[funds] for preserving and improving access, including enhancing public access to places that are currently inaccessible or restricted…

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…[It also includes an ambitious renewable energy production goal for the Department of the Interior to permit and provide incentives for] a total of 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025—nearly double the current generating capacity of projects currently on our public lands…[and] criteria for identifying appropriate areas for renewable energy development…Key criteria to be considered include access to transmission lines and likelihood of avoiding or minimizing conflict with wildlife habitat, cultural resources, and other resources and values…[Revenues] raised from renewable energy development on public lands…[would be shared with] local communities near new renewable energy projects…[and to support] the efficient administration of permitting requirements…[This legislation allows for rapidly deploying renewable energy projects in ways that are thoughtful, efficient, and promote positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes…” click here for more

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Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Shut It Down’ Climate Crisis Solution

Does Extinction Rebellion Have the Solution to the Climate Crisis?

Sam Knight, July 21, 2019 (New Yorker)

“The success of Extinction Rebellion, a British campaign of civil disobedience aimed at addressing the climate crisis, has been something to behold. In April, the group, which was formally launched only last October, blocked Waterloo Bridge, which spans the Thames, for more than a week. Across London, activists glued themselves to buildings, climbed on trains, chained themselves to company headquarters, and occupied key intersections, leading to some thousand arrests and messages of support from around the world…[By mid July, Extinction Rebellion activists were meeting with Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, Parliament had declared a climate and environment emergency, and had convened] a citizens’ assembly, made up of a representative sample of the British population, to discuss the climate crisis…

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…Extinction Rebellion claims to have affiliates in more than fifty countries. Last week, three American philanthropists—Trevor Neilson, Rory Kennedy, and Aileen Getty—set up the Climate Emergency Fund to support similar protest organizations, and pledged an initial five hundred thousand pounds… [It is] the brainchild of a small group of experienced British radical activists…[including] Roger Hallam, a fifty-three-year-old organic farmer from Wales, who is also a postgraduate student of theories of social change…[and] Gail Bradbrook, a longtime anti-fracking and tax-avoidance campaigner, who has a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics…[The activists] have the facts on their side…[The U.N. IPCC reported ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’ are needed, and the next step for X.R. is withholding] their taxes until the government enacts more urgent environmental policies…” click here for more

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50% New Energy For U.S. By 2030 Is Doable

NextEra Energy: U.S. Can Hit 50% Renewable Energy by 2030

Maxx Chatsko, July 20, 2019 (Nasdaq)

‘…[NextEra Energy 's (NYSE: NEE) June investor presentation predicts renewables in th4 U.S. power supply] could approach 50%...[up] from the 25% share for renewables projected in the company's May investor presentation…[The new foredcast is based on] estimates from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and data from 2018…[NextEra Energy] produces more electricity from the wind and sun than any other company…NextEra Energy Resources (NEER), operates 17,000 megawatts (17 gigawatts) of wind and solar power assets across the country…

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[NEE] is the fifth-largest U.S.] capital investor…[and] plans to build an additional 29,000 megawatts (and counting) of wind and solar power assets…[The 50% estimate] can't really be compared to other projections…[But long term projections from widely cited sources such as EIA and BNEF have left the growth of wind and solar] consistently underestimated…[NextEra Energy’s estimates of the cost of modern renewable energy, with or without storage, show it will] remain competitive with natural gas, which is expected to cost an average of $30 to $40 per megawatt-hour after 2023…[which could allow wind and solar installations to] blow past most long-term projections…” click here for more

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What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

What shapes your beliefs about the climate crisis? It’s not just left vs. right.

Kate Yoder, July 12, 2019 (Grist)

“Unless you’ve lost your home to a super-charged hurricane, evacuated from wildfire country, or survived some other kind of climate disaster, it’s not too hard to [to ignore scientific conclusions and forecasts and] live as if we weren’t in the middle of a planetary crisis…[It’s more difficult] to brush off your friends and family when they start talking about climate change…Liberals and conservatives alike shift their opinions on the subject to align with the people closest to them…[New studies confirm that the influence of close relationships was ‘massive’…

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…[T]he more people discuss the topic with friends and family, the more convinced they become that climate change is happening, caused by humans, and something to be worried about…[Those] discussing the climate more often had developed a slightly better grasp of the scientific consensus around climate change…[and people] who had a better understanding of the scientific agreement ended up discussing climate change more, in a self-reinforcing cycle…There’s one problem here: Most people aren’t talking about climate change at all, so they’re not part of this feedback cycle…[Y]ou don’t have to be fluent in the science to discuss climate change…[It is only necessary to] connect the dots between the values people already have and why they would care about a changing climate…” click here for more

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EVs As Energy Storage

Electric cars could form battery hubs to store renewable energy; By 2050, National Grid predicts, 35m electric cars will supply energy when needed

Jillian Ambrose, 10 July 2019 (UK Guardian)

A fleet of 35m electric vehicles could help the UK reach its net-zero carbon target by forming large battery hubs to store renewable energy…[The country’s energy system operator] predicts that, by 2050, millions of electric cars will use wind and solar power to charge up within minutes to act as battery packs for when the grid needs more energy…[L]ong-range energy forecasts predict that smart charging systems will use algorithms to help cars balance demand and supply on the grid, while making the most of renewable energy and saving customers money…

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[T]he plug-in car fleet could hold a fifth of the electricity produced by the UK’s solar panels, which [is expected by 2050 to] quadruple…[making the UK’s net zero emissions by 2050] achievable because it helps cut carbon from the energy and transport sectors…[Electric vehicles are expected to be] the most popular form of transport between 2030 and the early 2040s. It also predicts that many more homes and communities will generate their own electricity through solar panels or micro windpower projects…” click here for more

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Key To The Climate Crisis Fight

The most important thing you can do right now to fight climate change, according to science; It is "massively important" we all start talking about climate change, a Yale researcher explains.

Joe Room, July 11, 2019 (ThinkProgress)

Americans rarely talk about climate change with family and friends…Tragically, research shows that this climate silence reinforces the dangerously wrong belief that climate change isn’t an existential threat requiring urgent action…[J]ust discussing the issue with friends and family leads them to learn more facts about the climate crisis, which in turn leads to greater understanding and concern…[Climatologist Michael Mann said the study shows that the] more people actually understand about the science of climate change, the more they are likely to accept the scientific consensus — that climate change is real, human-caused, and a threat to human civilization…

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[M]ost Americans ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ talk about climate change with family and friends…[which, according to the research,] leads the public to underestimate how many other Americans realize climate change is happening…[A 2018 study found that] only 11 percent of the U.S. public correctly estimate the scientific consensus on climate change as higher than 90 percent…[Yelling people how big the actual consensus is] increases their perception of the scientific norm by 16.2 percentage points on a 100-point scale…[By tracking awareness over time, the new study showed] increased perceptions of scientific agreement led to increases in discussions about climate change…[and] climate conversations can initiate a positively reinforcing cycle between learning, worry, and further conversation…” click here for more

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Economics Send Red States To New Energy

Daily on Energy: Red states lead the switch to renewables

John Siciliano and Josh Siegel, July 09, 2019 (Washington Examiner)

“State energy regulators in Republican strongholds are forcing utilities to look at the improved economics of solar and wind, facilitating the switch to an electric grid that is reliant on mostly renewable energy…The red states of Iowa and Texas lead the nation as the largest generators of electricity from wind…[Natural gas power plants are dominating the national power mix,] and that will likely continue because of the low cost of shale gas compared to many other resources. Natural gas is also lower in carbon emissions and other pollutants than coal power plants, which makes it even more important for states looking to cut their emissions through 2050…

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[But] in places like the coal-heavy state of Indiana, state commissions are beginning to second guess the natural gas boom, and are making the decision to transition to more renewables…Coal was officially dethroned as the nation’s top power provider in 2016 when natural gas took its place as the dominant fuel for electricity production…[Now,] states are following in Indiana’s path, with Arizona placing a moratorium on new natural gas plants in order to take into consideration the cost reductions coming from solar and wind energy. State energy regulators in Colorado, Virginia, California, and others have taken similar steps to promote energy storage devices like big batteries combined with solar and other low-cost renewable energy…” click here for more

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Scientists Call On Media To Report The Crisis

Cover the climate crisis like it is one

Dawn Stover, July 8, 2019 (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

“…[T]he Paris Agreement is obsolete. The temperature recently reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit in Paris, a city where many buildings don’t have air conditioning. In the United States, more than 70 medical groups urged political candidates ‘to recognize climate change as a health emergency.’…[And] the term ‘climate change’ is not only worn-out and boring, but also politically fraught…Many of the world’s largest news organizations simply aren’t telling the climate story with anything approaching the urgency and attention they devote to a glut of trivial subjects…[What is needed is] a well-funded commitment to publish more and better stories on one of the most important, life-threatening issues of our time…

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…[The UK Guardian newspaper and the Spanish-language network Telemundo have begun regularly] using the term ‘climate emergency’…Environmental groups have been pressuring other news organizations to follow suit. The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, 350.org, and others sent a June 6 letter urging the heads of Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN to ‘call the dangerous overheating of our planet and the lack of action to stop it what it is—a crisis—and to cover it like one.’…[But the giant step is] covering the climate crisis like it is one…Even when there is an event that is obviously related to global warming, such as an extreme heat wave, media reports often fail to connect the dots…[A] genuine crisis merits an increase in both quantity and quality…” click here for more

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The New Energy Transition Documented

FERC's Latest "Infrastructure" Report Includes Major Revisions In Its Three-Year Forecast: Significant Declines Anticipated For Fossil Fuels And Nuclear Power And Even More Dramatic Growth Projected For Enewable Energy - Notably Wind And Solar

Ken Bossong, July 8, 2019, (Sun Day)

“…[The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)] has dramatically revised its three-year forecast for changes in the U.S. electrical generating capacity mix. Sharp declines are foreseen for fossil fuels and nuclear power while accompanied by even stronger growth in renewable energy (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) than earlier projected…[Through May 31, data shows] ‘high probability additions’ and ‘retirements’ combined could result in effectively no growth in the generating capacity of fossil fuels (i.e., coal, natural gas, oil) and a net decline of over 7 gigawatts (GW) in nuclear capacity by June 2022. Meanwhile, led by wind and solar, the generating capacity of renewable energy sources is foreseen to grow by more than 45 GW…

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While natural gas generating capacity is projected to increase by 18,158 megawatts (MW), that is almost completely offset by a drop of 17,037 MW in coal's net generating capacity and a decline of 1,040 MW in oil's net generating capacity. Further, nuclear power is foreseen as dropping by 7,286 MW…[W]ind capacity is projected to grow by 26,889 MW and utility-scale solar by 16,302 MW. The other renewable sources would also increase: hydropower by 1,383 MW, biomass by 328 MW, and geothermal by 280 MW. Collectively, they would add 45,182 MW over the next three years…” click here for more

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Trees Are Wonderful But Growth Takes Time

The trouble with trees as a climate crisis solution; Readers respond to a proposal that planting billions of trillion trees worldwide is the best way to save the planet

5 July 2019 (UK Guardian)

“…[Forest restoration at a global scale could help capture emissions and mitigate climate change. Up to 0.9 billion hectares of forest could be added, with over 500 billion trees decreasing emissions an estimated 25%. But the theory challenges] global socioeconomic reality…The Amazon forest is being cleared so that Brazil can produce more beef and soya to send abroad. Much of the trade is handled by multinationals. This will stop only if there is a major shake-up in the world food system. Consumers worldwide must stop eating food that is causing forest devastation…

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[Also, it is likely to] take 50-100 years to have full effect…[but the International Panel on Climate Change warned] we have only 11 years to halve global emissions to meet their 1.5C target…[Also,] billions of trees will accelerate the extinction crisis, since closed canopy forest is not the natural state of most areas of continents…[It] may be one way of solving the problem, but will create more. Perhaps we can just produce less carbon…We have the technology…” click here for more

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At The Verge Of The New Energy Transition

EY blog warns grid operators ‘the clock is ticking’; The energy transition is accelerating, Ernst & Young global energy leader Benoit Laclau has warned grid operators, thanks to the confluence of digitization, decentralization and decarbonization. Traditional utilities must get with the program or be swept aside.

Max Hall, July 5, 2019 (PV Magazine)

“The energy transition is gathering pace faster than ever…[under] the influence of the three Ds: decarbonization, decentralization and digitization…[and, according to global business consultant EY, utilities need] to embrace the switch to renewable energy and storage if they wish to survive…[New analysis of energy markets in Europe, Oceania, Gulf Cooperation Council nations, China, India, Latin America and the United States shows new renewable energy capacity] outpaced conventional power asset additions for the seventh year in a row in 2018 thanks to battery storage, EVs, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning…40 GW of energy storage are set to be added worldwide by 2022 and with the technology already beating natural gas on price in some markets. The role played by AI and machine learning in enabling peer-to-peer energy trading would transform life for surviving power companies…

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[Over 60 nations have] declared plans to totally decarbonize electricity generation…[50 businesses have] committed to powering their operations entirely from renewable energy and more than 200 [have] pledged to source at least half their power from green sources as private power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed direct with generators and on-site installations proliferated…[R]ising costs for the transmission of energy contributed to corporate deals that could cut out power network operators entirely…[Transportation and building electrification] would add further momentum to the new energy landscape…[The only option for generators and distribution network operators] is to embrace the change and get ahead of the game by investing in the electrification of transport, energy storage and microgrids and changing the services they offer…” click here for more

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Greenpeace Grades For Dem Candidates On Climate

Greenpeace releases scorecard for Democratic presidential candidates' commitment to climate change

Adam Wernick, July 1, 2019 (Public Radio International)

“Climate change was barely mentioned during the 2016 presidential election, but this time around many Democratic presidential contenders are pledging climate action…Greenpeace USA put together a climate scorecard, grading each candidate on his or her support for a Green New Deal and for phasing out fossil fuels…[It is based on responses to 21 survey questions from Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee and Elizabeth Warren and every candidate’s] voting records, public statements and the climate platforms they have put forward…[S]upport for the Green New Deal is key…

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[Greenpeace also] evaluated each candidate on their support for the Paris Agreement, their commitment to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions, their stance on labor protections and climate resiliency and their commitment to moving toward zero emissions in the transport, power, building and industrial sectors, among other things…As part of this, Greenpeace and a coalition of many other environmental groups are asking every candidate to pledge not to accept any campaign money from the fossil fuel industry. So far, 18 of the leading Democratic presidential candidates have taken the pledge…[The lowest grades went to candidates who have either not released a plan on climate change or who have said things that Greenpeace believes are counter to positive climate action…” click here for more

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Wind And Solar Together

A Fine Couple They Are (Wind and Solar Power)

Jim Romeo, July 1, 2019 (Power)

"The pairing of wind and solar is emerging as a smart strategy to implement renewable energy sources with better economic feasibility…The pairing of wind and solar power is an advantageous complement; the two benefit each other. The synergistic combination is an emerging trend in renewable energy and power generation as costs drop…[But it] is in early stages…And the configuration still has challenges regarding return on investment (ROI), ease of implementation, and storage…In western Minnesota, a 2-MW wind turbine and 500-kW solar installation—wind-solar hybrid project—is an early entrant…The pioneering project got a boost amid the lower costs of solar. The power generation from both renewable sources is calculated to provide dividends on its investment…

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…[H]ybrid solar-wind projects are expected to grow by 4% in the U.S. over the next five years to join a $1.5 billion global market…Because wind turbine power and solar both have excess capacity, together they offer far greater possibilities…Renewables especially make economic sense in non-urban areas, where costs per kWh are higher…When it comes to combining both wind and solar with storage, however, the list of locations is even smaller…[T] here are very few locations that meet the geographic requirements…even as the price continues to drop…A storage option is an essential component…[T]he most common combination today is solar plus battery storage, thanks to investment tax credit and incentive programs in certain markets that provide clear lower costs and better revenue streams…[W]ind power energy storage has challenges…” click here for more

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Climate Crisis, Health, And Economy Colliding

Climate crisis: Al Gore says global economy needs major upgrade, fast; Ex-US vice-president says only big solutions can offset impact of systemic shifts and avert disaster

Jillian Ambrose, 25 June 2019 (UK Guardian)

‘…[T]he global economy requires a fundamental upgrade to become more sustainable in order for the world to survive an environmental crisis and widening social divides…[According to Al Gore, the changes have the magnitude of the Industrial Revolution and the speed of the digital revolution and incremental] improvements to address these challenges are no longer enough…[The] economic system requires a fundamental upgrade to sustainability…[because, according to the Generation Investment Management annual report, the] world’s rising use of fossil fuels and unsustainable food and meat production is accelerating the climate crisis while driving a global healthcare breakdown…

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...90% of children now breathe toxic air, according to the report...Meanwhile, global obesity levels are rising in line with a growing global appetite for meat and packaged foods despite warnings that healthcare is an unsustainable cost for most governments...The dual impact of a health and climate breakdown could be made worse by a growing divide between rich and poor, which risks encouraging populist politics and global geopolitical instability. This political upheaval could spell bad news for global markets...[The good news is that] the cost of renewable energy and electric cars is falling, while meat substitutes and alternative proteins have broken through into the mainstream. Meanwhile, investors have divested more than $7tn from fossil fuels...[but a] sustainable economy would require even greater shifts..." click here for more

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Remaking Power Markets For New Energy

U.S. Electricity Markets Aren't Designed To Handle 100% Clean Energy. Here's How To Fix That.

Silvio Marcacci, July 1, 2019 (Forbes)

“Wholesale electricity markets, which serve two-thirds of the United States, are at an evolutionary point as fading economics push coal and nuclear offline while state-level clean energy targets and fast-falling renewable energy prices push clean energy onto the grid…But these seven U.S. wholesale electricity markets were designed around fossil fuels, and without reforms, they will become increasingly ill equipped to handle the influx of renewable energy and flexible distributed energy resources (like battery storage)…Markets were originally designed to incorporate some demand-side flexibility in addition to their primary function of managing supply-side generation…

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…[R]egulatory, economic, and technological barriers have largely precluded demand resources like batteries and smart thermostats from participating in wholesale electricity markets…With limited participation from demand resources, the wholesale market has functioned primarily with grid operators dispatching large central station plants to meet unalterable demand…[With high penetrations of variable renewables, rules, products, and software for short- and long-term markets must allow shaping of] customer-side flexibility…Smart thermostats, water heaters, and the “internet of things” can turn electricity demand into a grid resource to soak up large amounts of variable renewables…” click here for more

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