U.S. Pres Head In Sand As G7 Leaders Face Climate Crisis

…[U.S. president] skips G7 talks on climate crisis and Amazon fires…[and] misses key meeting as summit agrees €20m fund to fight wildfires

Angelique Chrisafis, 26 August 2019 (UK Guardian)

“…[The U.S. president] did not attend Monday’s crucial discussion on climate and biodiversity at the G7 meeting of international leaders [of the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Canada] in Biarritz, missing talks on how to deal with the Amazon rainforest fires as well as new ways to cut carbon emissions…[When asked why, he seemed to be misinformed about when it was held and French president Emmanuel Macron confirmed that only his team] had been present…[Macron said the U.S. president ‘shares’ G7 objectives and is] ‘fully engaged’ in the joint G7 effort to help Brazil put out the fires and reforest…

click to enlarge

Macron had placed the climate emergency and protection of biodiversity at the heart of the summit, even before the Amazon rainforest fires…Reports in the US said senior [U.S. presidential] aides felt Macron was seeking to embarrass his US counterpart by making the summit focus on ‘niche issues’ such as climate change or gender equality…Macron announced that the G7 had agreed to an immediate fund of at least $20m (£16m) to help Amazon countries fight wildfires and launch a long-term global initiative to protect the rainforest…He said the Amazon was the “lungs” of the planet and leaders were studying the possibility of similar support in Africa, also suffering from fires in its rainforests…Macron had shunted the Amazon fires to the top of the summit agenda after declaring them a global emergency…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Timing A Move To New Energy

Facing Charges: What's your renewable tipping point?

David Fraser, 25 August 2019 (BBC News)

“…The humble battery is emerging as a financially viable pivot around which much of the new energy sources can work…Prices have plummeted and density has soared, meaning battery back-up can compete with more conventional sources of power…New developments include giant industrial battery parks as well as home cells, letting householders automatically sell power into the grid as prices rise…[Also, the high capital and lower running costs of an EV now] undercut the lower upfront and higher fuel costs of an ICE (internal combustion engine)…

click to enlarge

…[Car batteries still must find a way to] offer a longer range, to reassure owners they won't get stuck on a long journey with a powerless car…[and charging infrastructure must be developed and built out so that] the notional 'cost' of finding a charging point, finding it available, plugging in, the time spent waiting, minus the activities to keep you busy while it charges, fall below the alternative ‘cost’ of refuelling at a conventional petrol station…[Estimates range from 3 years to 2 decades for when the EV tipping point will] be reached…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Automakers Risk Business To Back Emissions Cuts

Automakers snub Trump to side with climate crisis, says Obama-era official; Companies are considering years of regulatory uncertainty when aligning with California’s mileage standards deal

Emily Holden, 22 August 2019 (UK Guardian)

“…[Automakers are pushing back against the president’s rollbacks to mileage standards because they are expected to lead to years of regulatory uncertainty that could end with judges deciding against them and producing] cars that use more gasoline could make it harder for American companies to compete in the US and abroad…[Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW are instead] aligning with California for stricter rules [that require them to reach] an average fuel economy for new cars and trucks of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2026…[A presidential tweet criticized the ‘politically correct Automobile Companies’ and argued] his proposal would lower car costs and have ‘very little impact on the environment’...

click to enlarge

The president is seeking to cripple the country’s only significant policy to stem the pollution that heats the planet, which would cut carbon dioxide levels by about 6bn tons – equal to a year of US emissions…Transportation is responsible for 29% of US climate pollution…Increasing fuel economy, as well as expanding mass transit and electric bikes and vehicles, would help reduce that footprint…[I]t would be a win for oil companies and refiners of gasoline…[Some power companies also opposed efforts] to nix a climate rule for coal and gas plants without replacing it with another regulation…[because of the] regulatory uncertainty of Trump’s war against climate policies. And even the most conservative trade groups have not supported his bids to challenge climate science and the legal underpinnings that require the US government to lower emissions…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Research Shows 100% New Energy Works

Opinion: We now have the technology to create a grid of cheap fully renewable electricity; All that’s missing is the political will

David Timmons, August 22, 2019 (MarketWatch)

“The main solution to climate change is…[stop burning fossil fuels,] make electricity with renewable sources and electrify almost everything…That means running vehicles and trains on electricity, heating buildings with electric heat pumps, electrifying industrial applications such as steel production and using renewable electricity to make hydrogen (similar to natural gas) for other requirements…There is debate, though, about whether fully renewable electricity systems are feasible and how quickly the transition can be made…There are a number of ways to make renewable electricity: hydro, wind, solar photovoltaics, geothermal and burning various forms of biomass (plant matter), besides improving efficiency to use less energy. These are mature technologies with known costs…[Unproven possibilities include wave, tidal and concentrating solar power, but] the mature technologies suffice…[Detailed computer modeling shows] the United States does not need nuclear energy to retire fossil fuels…

click to enlarge

...[A] diversity of renewable sources can reduce costs…[A combination of larger scale solar and wind] reduces cost…[In addition, the grid must grow and] some form of electricity storage is needed. Batteries work well for smoothing short-term fluctuations, but for storing energy for many hours or days, pumped hydroelectric storage is less expensive…[That] shrinks the energy storage need and reduces cost…[Environmental effects] must be managed…[Government policies like a price on carbon] are needed to make a transition to renewable energy…[They will return money to the economy and create jobs…[B]arriers to using renewable electricity are more political and cultural than technological or economic.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Climate Crisis Gets Primary Debate – CNN, September 4

8 Democratic presidential candidates will participate in CNN climate town hall

Mark Preston, August 19, 2019 (CNN)

“…CNN is devoting the evening of Sept. 4 to the climate crisis. Eight of the [nine qualifying] Democratic candidates have accepted CNN's invitation to discuss this critically important issue: former Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas; Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; and businessman Andrew Yang…Citing a scheduling conflict, Sen. Kamala Harris of California declined…CNN anchors Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon will moderate individual candidate segments, and CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir will join in the questioning throughout…

click to enlarge

…[In back-to-back appearances, candidates will take questions directly from a live studio audience in New York drawn from Democratic voters and a CNN moderator. A late April CNN poll showed 96% of Democrats favored aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change. The United Nations projects temperatures will rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by as early as 2030 and] has warned that governments must take ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society’…[including sea level rise] leaving hundreds of millions of people displaced and forced to migrate to dry areas…[and plant and animal extinctions and drought causing] lower crop yields…July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Wind Prices Now Beating NatGas

Wind power prices now lower than the cost of natural gas; In the US, it's cheaper to build and operate wind farms than buy fossil fuels.

John Timmer, August 17, 2019 (Ars Technica)

“…[Wind hardware prices are dropping and] new turbine designs are increasing the typical power generated by each turbine…[As a result, wind farms can be built and operated] for less than the expected cost of buying fuel for an equivalent natural gas plant…[Wind’s federal production tax credit (PTC) is phasing out, leading to some long-term uncertainty…[Growth in coal and nuclear are essentially at a standstill. Wind’s new 7.6GW was 20% of new U.S. capacity, third behind natural gas and solar…[ U.S. installed capacity is now] nearly 100GW…[It supplied 6.5% of total electricity in 2018 and Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma get over 30%,] with the two Dakotas not far behind. The Southwest Power Pool, which serves two of those states plus wind giant Texas, is currently getting a quarter of its electricity from wind…[The 2018 national average wind price fell] below $20/MWh for the first time…That puts wind in an incredibly competitive position…

click to enlarge

…[N]atural gas—on its own, without considering the cost of a plant to burn it for electricity—is already over $20/MWh…[Photovoltaics have reached prices that are roughly equivalent to wind…[U]nless natural gas prices reverse the expected trend and get cheaper, wind and solar will remain the cheapest sources of new electricity in the US…[The levelized cost of electricity, which eliminates the impact of incentives and subsidies on the final prices, places natural gas around $50/MWh and] wind below $40/MWh in 2018…[I]t's clear that the economic case for wind energy will remain solid as the tax credits for the construction of renewable energy fade out over the next few years…[but developers are starting projects sooner rather than later to capture them, there could be] a bubble in construction for the next couple of years, followed by a dramatic drop off.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Any Kind Of Intelligence, Even Artificial

Climate Collapse: Is AI The Antidote?

Tom Vander Ark, August 19, 2019 (Forbes)

“…The climate crisis is biological, ecological and political. It’s at least catastrophic, if not existential…and it will take a portfolio of efforts to begin mitigating the impending disasters…[There are likely to be] four impacts of the climate crisis on education…[First, it will be the most dominant issue in the lives of young people…[and] monopolize the weather, the science, and—after it becomes painfully obvious to even the climate deniers—the politics of the next 30 years… 55% of teachers don't teach or talk about climate change. However, four in five parents wish they did…[T]he climate collapse will become central to learning in science, math and social studies…[Second, the] global tilt toward populism and nationalism is…a political sugar rush,..

click to enlarge

Education can help young people figure out who they are, what they are good at, what the world needs, and what they care about—and help them make their initial contribution…[Third, artificial intelligence] holds the promise of extraordinary benefits…[It can make] wind energy more predictable…[boost] grid and storage intelligence…[improve weather forecasts to get more value from New Energy…[and help landowners visualize the carbon mitigation potential of the land they manage…AI will help combat the climate crisis, but it won’t save us…[Fourth, educators must] teach young people the design skills to mitigate and adapt to the damage we’ve created…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Rent Solar And Save

Tesla pitches a solar rental program to boost its renewable energy business

Jonathan Sheiber, August 18, 2019 (TechCrunch)

Tesla is pitching customers on a new rental offering for solar power …Tesla has seen its share of the market decline significantly since its acquisition of SolarCity three years ago. In the second quarter Tesla deployed only 29 megawatts of new solar installations, while the number one and two providers of consumer solar, SunRun and Vivint Solar installed 103 megawatts and 56 megawatts respectively…[Tesla said the new program will deliver significant savings] for potential customers who live in states with high energy costs…

click to enlarge

Unlike SunRun and Vivint, which both used partnerships with homebuilders and retailers like Home Depot, BJ’s Wholesale, Costco and Sam’s Club to acquire customers, Tesla ended door-to-door marketing and abandoned its partnership with Home Depot…[It has relied] almost entirely on direct sales…and eschewed the no-money-down lease model, which SolarCity had used so effectively…Under the new system, Tesla is offering customers the option to rent solar systems for anywhere from $65 for a small installation to $195 for its largest installation…[It requires] a fully refundable $100 charge…[and $1,500 to remove the system once it has been installed…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Different Ways To Respond To The Crisis

US states differ wildly in response to climate crisis; New York legislates for ambitious climate action, while Ohio protects failing coal companies

Tan Copsey, 12 August 2019 (ChinaDialogue)

“…[B]attles over climate policy have broken out across the country…[S]ome states have put in place radical and ambitious new climate change laws and targets…[O]thers have given polluting power plants more money…In late July, Ohio passed a bill to rescue three coal and two nuclear plants using money intended for renewable energy and energy efficiency. This may increase Ohio’s greenhouse gas emissions relative to if the money had been used for its original purpose…[D]espite the rapid, nationwide decline in coal use and the bankruptcy of many coal companies…[many Ohio Republicans see protecting] coal jobs seems a more powerful political force than creating new, green ones…[Some Republicans are worried] the state will miss out on renewable energy investment, which has grown rapidly in neighbouring states…

click to enlarge

…New York provides a different vision of the future…Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed into law the country’s most ambitious climate goals. These will cut greenhouse gas emissions 85% by 2050 and require utilities to source 70% of their energy from renewables by 2030…New York is the sixth state to mandate 100% renewable energy, following Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington and California…[They are pushing back against White House efforts] to protect polluters…New York’s new laws will require renewable energy and infrastructure construction at a scale and pace never seen before…[Many, often as a result of partisan politics,] have concerns…[When Oregon] Democrats attempted to pass a cap-and-trade scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050…[But Republican state senators forced a delay. It appears state lawmakers in Ohio and Oregon] will play a disproportionate role in determining all of our futures.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Wind Prices Hit Record Lows As Wind Boom Grows

Annual DOE Report Finds that Wind Energy Is Being Sold at Record-Low Prices

August 12, 2019 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

“…Wind power capacity additions continued at a robust pace in 2018: $11 billion was invested in new wind power plants in 2018…[and] wind energy contributed 6.5% of the nation’s electricity supply, more than 10% of total electricity generation in fourteen states, and more than 30% in three…232 gigawatts of wind are seeking transmission interconnection, 2% of which represents proposed wind plants paired with storage…Bigger turbines are enhancing wind project performance…The average 2018 capacity factor among projects built from 2014 through 2017 was 42%, compared to an average of 31% among projects built from 2004 to 2011 and 24% among projects built from 1998 to 2001… The average installed cost of wind projects in 2018 was $1,470/kW, down 40 percent since the peak in 2009 and 2010…

click to enlarge

After topping out at 7¢/kWh for power purchase agreements (PPAs) executed in 2009, the national average price of wind PPAs has dropped to below 2¢/kWh… These prices, which are possible in part due to federal tax support, compare favorably to the projected future fuel costs of gas-fired generation. Solar PPA prices have declined precipitously, pressuring wind’s competitive position…Wind sector employment reached a new high of more than 114,000 full-time workers at the end of 2018…[F]orecasts for the domestic market show expected wind power capacity additions of 9,000-12,000 MW in 2019 and 11,000-15,000 in 2020, with market contraction anticipated beginning in 2021 as those tax incentives are phased out…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Growing On The Climate Crisis Front Lines

Scientists say farmers could grow their way out of the climate crisis

Bill Weir, August 8, 2019 (CNN)

“…[Farmers are struggling with trade wars, the climate crisis] and the worst income-to-debt ratio in a generation…[Now, a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds] that growing food around the world will only get harder as weather gets harsher and more unpredictable…[But every plant] moves heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the air and into the ground…[With innovation, conservation and financial motivation, modern farmers can fight the climate crisis] while still making a living and feeding the world…[The IPCC found] almost three-quarters of the Earth's ice-free surface has been paved, plowed or deforested…[This supercharged global economies and lifted millions out of poverty and starvation in just a few generations, but] humanity is at risk of losing all those gains…

click to enlarge

…[As temperatures rise at a speed unprecedented in human history, vegetation] loss, fire damage, coastal degradation, soil erosion, water instability and lower crop yields are among the Industrial Revolution side effects already being felt from India to Iowa…[T]he number of days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Des Moines could jump from 17 to 70 by mid-century…[But] farmers could be key allies in the climate crisis fight…[A]lmost a quarter of greenhouse gas pollution comes from agriculture, deforestation and land use…But there seems to be a quiet agriculture revolution going on, even among conservative farmers…[They are embracing] wind energy, Earth-friendly cover crops and soil conservation…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Where The New Energy Jobs Are

These are the top sectors for jobs in the renewable energy industry

Anmar Frangoul, August 7, 2019 (CNBC)

“…Eleven million people worked in renewable energy in 2018, according to recent analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This represents an increase of 700,000 compared to 2017, when 10.3 million people worked in the sector…[Five technologies led employment of ] clean energy workers…[Solar heating/cooling had 801,400 jobs, with Asia accounting for] 711,000…[T]here were 12,100 solar heating and cooling workers in the U.S…[Wind energy had 1.16 million jobs with 44% in China and] Germany and the U.S. making up the top three…

click to enlarge

...[The offshore sector has ‘especially attractive’ potential] for leveraging domestic capacity and exploiting synergies with the oil and gas industry…[Hydropower had 2.05 million jobs and is the] biggest source of renewable electricity…[O]ver 70% of hydropower jobs were in the operations and maintenance sector, while construction and installation contributed 23% of its workforce…[Liquid biofuels include ethanol and biodiesel and] had 2.06 million jobs, which] increased by an estimated 6% in 2018. Brazil was the biggest employer…[Solar photovoltaic had 3.61 million jobs in 2018, which] increased in India and Brazil…[but fell] in China, the U.S., Japan and the European Union…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

The Climate Crisis And High Finance

How Climate Change Could Trigger the Next Global Financial Crisis; The Federal Reserve should act aggressively to reduce that risk, a leading economic historian argues.

Robinson Meyer, August 1, 2019 (The Atlantic)

“…[The U.S. Federal Reserve needs to battle climate change in the same way it responded to the 2008 recession, according to Columbia University Professor of History Adam Tooze. Policymakers] will need to pull every lever at their disposal…[Jerome Powell, the Fed chairman] is probably the most powerful person in the American government who affirms climate science. Yet he has taken a subdued approach to mitigating climate change…[He has written that] addressing climate change is a responsibility that Congress has entrusted to other agencies…[His British counterpart has convened 33 central banks to investigate how to ‘green the financial system’...and every powerful central bank is [reportedly] working with him—except for Banco do Brasil and the Fed…

click to enlarge

[The head of the Bank of England has raised the possibility that the climate crisis is a Minsky moment in which] an asset’s price suddenly collapses after a long period of growth…[That means there could be] some kind of subprime-like scenario…[It could be created if fossil-fuel assets were] on the balance sheet of actors who were under huge pressure in a fire-sale situation and who couldn’t deal with a sudden revaluation…[The sudden revaluation could happen if climate nonlinearities kick in and create] a Fukushima-style event…[That leads to nervous democratic politicians] suddenly deciding that we have to [immediately] stop doing one or another part of our carbon-based economy…[That leads to] big shocks…[and] sudden revaluations…[Because one-third] of equity and fixed income assets issued in global financial markets can be classified as belonging to the natural resource and extraction sectors, as well as carbon-intensive power utilities, chemicals, construction, and industrial goods firms…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

The Energy Sector Holy Grail Found!

Why Energy Storage Is Proving Even More Disruptive Than Cheap Renewables

Jeff McMahon, August 2, 2019 (Forbes)

The falling price of renewable energy has been dominating the headlines, but more dramatic change is happening behind the scenes, where battery storage is disrupting the way utilities provide power…[The key is] the electronics…[In the past, utilities relied on] slow, inflexible fossil-fuel plants…[for] enough energy to meet peak demand…Now, utilities will have abundant cheap power from renewables. Paired with batteries, that power can be deployed by computer in microseconds to ensure reliability or fulfill other ancillary services…

click to enlarge

[Tightly coupled storage and solar PV is] a solid-state computer-controlled power plant…[and a shift] from slow and heavy to fast and light…[With cheap renewables, energy will be abundant and the grid reliability will be for] flexibility and balancing…That reliability will be watchdogged by the resources themselves, networked across the grid..[In July,] NextEra announced a new 700 MW renewables+battery hybrid plant—described as America's largest so far—in Anadarko, Oklahoma, the heart of oil country.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Eating Out Of The Climate Crisis

We must transform food production to save the world, says leaked report; Cutting carbon from transport and energy ‘not enough’ IPCC finds

Robin McKie, 4 August 2019 (UK Guardian)

“Attempts to solve the climate crisis by cutting carbon emissions from only cars, factories and power plants are doomed to failure…A leaked draft of a report on climate change and land use, which is now being debated in Geneva by the [IPCC], states that it will be impossible to keep global temperatures at safe levels unless there is also a transformation in the way the world produces food and manages land…Humans now exploit 72% of the planet’s ice-free surface to feed, clothe and support Earth’s growing population…[and] agriculture, forestry and other land use produces almost a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions…[A]bout half of all emissions of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, come from cattle and rice fields, while deforestation and the removal of peat lands cause further significant levels of carbon emissions…

click to enlarge

The impact of intensive agriculture – which has helped the world’s population soar from 1.9 billion a century ago to 7.7 billion – has also increased soil erosion and reduced amounts of organic material in the ground…In future these problems are likely to get worse…[The analysis comes when rising greenhouse gas emissions have made news…[including arctic sea-ice coverage reaching] near record lows for July…[heatwaves in Europe last month] between 1.5C and 3C higher because of climate change…[and global temperatures for July] 1.2C above pre-industrial levels…[which near the 1.5C rise that risks] triggering climatic destabilization…The new IPCC report emphasises that land will have to be managed more sustainably so that it releases much less carbon…Peat lands will need to be restored…[M]eat consumption will have to be cut…[and] food waste will have to be reduced…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

U.S. Wind Growth Breaking Records

Record US wind farm development activity in 2Q driven by Fortune 500 brands, utilities, and state calls for offshore projects

August 1, 2019 (American Wind Energy Association)

“…Key findings of the US wind industry second quarter 2019 report…[include record wind capacity under construction or advanced development, reaching nearly 42 GW…Long-term contract volume for wind capacity is up 10 percent over the first half of 2018, buyers include Hormel Foods, Walmart, and Target…Three states set new offshore wind targets and N.J. greenlighted the largest offshore project in the country to date…[and a] growing number of wind farms are selecting turbines nearly twice as powerful as the recent fleet average…The record 41,801 megawatts (MW) of U.S. wind capacity currently under construction or in advanced stages of development [in over 200 projects in 33 states] represents a 10 percent increase over the level of activity this time last year…Texas currently hosts the most activity (9,015 MW), followed by Wyoming (4,831 MW), New Mexico (2,774 MW), Iowa (2,623 MW), and South Dakota (2,183 MW)….

click to enlarge

…[There are offshore wind targets legislated in Maryland (1,200 MW), Connecticut (2,000 MW), and New York (9,000 MW)…[New Jersey’s 1,100 MW Ocean Wind project will be] the largest offshore project planned in the U.S. so far…[T]otal U.S. wind capacity is] 97,960 MW, with more than 57,000 wind turbines operating in 41 states and two U.S. territories. American wind farms now produce enough electricity to power over 30 million average homes…[Businesses and utilities] announced new long-term contracts, called Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), totaling 1,962 MW in the second quarter. Non-utility corporate customers signed up for 52 percent of second quarter PPA capacity…[In Q2 2019, wind turbine manufacturers publicly reported nine orders totaling 2,049 MW for turbines ranging in capacity from 4.2 to 4.5 MW…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet