PG&E Meets California’s 2020 Renewables Goal 3 Years Early

23.02.2018

renewable-energy — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

California utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E), part of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), announced on Tuesday that it has achieved its home state’s 2020 renewable energy goal three years ahead of schedule.

The company said that 33% of its electricity in 2017 came from renewables such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and small hydroelectric sources. Moreover, some 78.8% of its total electric power mix comes from greenhouse-gas (GHG) free resources including nuclear, large hydro and renewables.

PG&E continues to invest in renewables, the grid and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, and is on track to reach California’s 2030 goal of 50% renewables ahead of schedule. The same goes for the company’s separate target of 55% renewables by 2031, it noted.

The utility’s current renewable power mix includes solar, wind, geothermal, bio-power and small, eligible-renewable hydroelectric energy. It said it has also hooked to the grid over 340,000 customers with private rooftop solar installations.

Source: renewablesnow.com

First Solar To Build 200 Megawatt Solar Project In Georgia, The Largest In Southeast US

23.02.2018

Leading American solar manufacturer First Solar has announced this week it will proceed with the development and construction of a 200 megawatt solar farm in Twiggs County, Georgia, which was first awarded to the company as part of a 525 megawatt Request for Proposals by Georgia Power’s Renewable Energy Development Initiative, or REDI.

Back in early 2016, Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power requested approval from Georgia regulators to procure 525 megawatts (MW) worth of renewable energy through its REDI program. The project is being developed under a Power Purchase Agreement with Georgia Power, which will acquire the electricity and renewable energy attributes of the project.

The unnamed 200 MW solar project is currently in advanced development stage and will be built on 2,000 acres of land in Twiggs County, Georgia, with construction expected to begin in November of 2018, and be completed in late 2019, at which point the project will be the largest stand-alone solar PV plant in the southeastern United States.

“This is a tremendously exciting opportunity for First Solar to demonstrate our capability to develop solar assets in the Southeast and help Georgia Power meet the renewable energy needs of its customers,” said Kathryn Arbeit, Vice President of Project Development – Americas for First Solar. “Georgia Power’s significant commitment to renewable energy, paired with Twiggs County’s strong leadership and supportive business environment, combine to serve as a great example of how solar can be seamlessly included in the region’s energy mix.”

Upon completion, the project will consist of over half a million First Solar thin-film solar modules and is expected to generate more than 450 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity each year. The project is also set to serve as the largest infrastructure project in Twiggs County, which will benefit from 300 to 400 jobs during construction, not to mention ongoing tax revenues from the project itself.

“We are committed to working with the Georgia Public Service Commission to create programs, like REDI, that help grow renewable energy in Georgia and add value for all of our customers,” added Wilson Mallard, Director of Renewable Development for Georgia Power. “Recently completed large-scale solar projects across Georgia are serving customers today, and the Twiggs County project will be the latest addition, allowing Georgia Power customers to benefit from cost-effective, competitive solar as part of our diverse generation mix.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Nation’s Largest Wind Farm Coming to Oklahoma

23.02.2018

The Wind Catcher Energy Connection project, which includes a massive 800-turbine wind farm under construction in the Oklahoma panhandle, is getting closer to lift-off.

Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), a subsidiary of major utility American Electric Power, announced this week a settlement with various parties, including Walmart, allowing the $4.5 billion project to move forward.

According to a press release:
“After a series of negotiation sessions with the [Arkansas Public Service Commission] General Staff, the Arkansas Attorney General and other parties, SWEPCO agreed to provide a number of guarantees, including a cap on construction costs, qualification for 100 percent of the federal Production Tax Credits, minimum annual production from the project, and others.”

The project is subject to approval by utility commissions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma, as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Once getting its legs, Wind Catcher is expected to deliver wind energy to customers in the four states by the end of 2020.

The Wind Catcher facility, developed by Invenergy, will be the largest single-site wind farm in the U.S. once complete. The 2,000-megawatt facility will generate power from 800 GE 2.5 megawatt turbines. The project also involves building a 360-mile extra high-voltage 765 kilovolt power line to connect two new substations, one located at the wind facility and a second near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma’s panhandle has some of the best wind in America but is hundreds of miles from larger cities and communities that can benefit from low-cost, clean energy,” the developers tout. “Wind Catcher Energy Connection is a $4.5 billion infrastructure investment that will bring Oklahoma wind power to more than 1.1 million energy customers in the South Central U.S.”

“We are extremely pleased with this settlement agreement because it recognizes the tremendous opportunity the Wind Catcher project provides for clean, low-cost energy and long-term savings for SWEPCO customers,” said Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer.

“Our customers are looking to us to provide clean, reliable and cost-effective power. Wind Catcher will help companies, universities, cities and other customers meet their sustainability and renewable energy goals,” McCellon-Allen said.

SWEPCO says the project will save its customers about $4 billion, net of cost, over 25 years.

The company also promised:
“Cost savings include no fuel cost for wind, which lowers SWEPCO’s overall fuel and purchased power costs; full value of the federal Production Tax Credit, which is available for construction of new wind farm projects; and the cost-efficient delivery of the wind generation to customers through the new, dedicated power line.”

“Customers will see savings primarily through a reduction in the fuel portion of their bills, beginning in 2021.”

“Walmart has a goal to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, and sourcing from wind energy projects—like the Wind Catcher project—is a core component in the mix,” said Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Walmart. “The energy procured from this project represents an important leap forward on our renewable energy journey.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Renault’s ‘Smart Island’ Runs on Wind Power and Recycled Batteries

22.02.2018

Renault has launched a “smart island” in Portugal that uses its Zoe electric vehicle, home batteries, smart charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2E) energy storage to run without fossil fuels. The idea is to make the Madeira island of Porto Santo energy independent and stimulate renewable energy production. “[We want] to build a model that can be carried over to other islands and cities,” Renault Electric Vehicle Director Eric Feunteun told Engadget.

Unlike Tesla’s massive Powerpack installation, the Renault project is more of a community endeavor on the small (16 square mile) and sparsely populated (5,483 inhabitants), tourism-oriented island. It will unroll in three phases: In the first, 20 fortunate Porto Santo volunteers will get 14 Zoes and six Kango Z.E. utility vans to use every day. They’ll benefit from 40 new connected public and private charging stations set up by Renault and local utility Empresa de Electricitade da Madeira (EEM).

“Let’s say you come home from work at 7 PM with a decent charge left, and only need two to three hours of charging,” said Feunteun. “The smart charging system we’re testing will decide when the best time to do that is, based on usage, energy availability and other factors. Then, it can charge up to eight times a day in chunks as small as 15 minutes.”

During phase 2, the EV will become part of the grid by feeding electricity back into it during peak hours. That way, the EV owners will not just benefit from the smart charging network but also pay it back by supplying what are essentially mobile storage batteries. “Electric vehicles have moved from being a constraint, as seen by the energy companies, to an opportunity in the last few months and years,” Feunteun said. “In particular, they provide a way to store electricity, which is one of the key problems on their table with renewable energy.”

In the final phase, Renault will introduce “second-life” stationary “Powervault” and other batteries that have been recycled from its Zoe and other EVs. Those could come from cars that have been in accidents, or from Renault’s recent program that allowed owners to swap the old 22 kWh hour batteries for the new 41 kWh ones. The idea is that even though an old battery isn’t up to the heavy demands of an EV, it’s still plenty useful for supplying homes and power grids.

Those will attach to local solar and wind systems, storing the unpredictable levels of electricity they produce. The energy can then be recovered by the grid as needed, much as Tesla’s Australian Powerpacks can supply energy during peak usage.

Renault teased the idea of combining electric vehicles and homes to form a grid when it launched the Symbioz concept car, complete with its own home. You could pull the vehicle right into your living room (or garage, in the real world), plug it in, and either charge it or give energy back to your home.

Using EVs in a smart charging network makes a lot of sense, as they can absorb energy when supply exceeds demand (at night, or when the sun is shining) and give it back when everyone needs power. “So if there is really a peak at 7 PM, when everyone is cooking, then the battery continues to empty on the grid,” explained Feunteun. “Then, it will recharge at midnight when it is windy and no one is consuming energy.”

Renault is one of the first companies to test smart charging in a solar and wind energy-powered region, using EVs and home batteries to smooth peak power. The data it gathers will be invaluable when it expands the program to larger eco-districts or cities.

It will even recycle the batteries used on the Porto Santo Zoe and Kangoo vehicles to smooth the power grid, creating a true circular upgrade. “The Madeiro project is one of the most complete electric vehicle green initiatives ever,” said Feunteul. “It brings together all the different ecosystems to create a zero emissions, carbon-free island.”

Source: engadget.com

National Grid Planning Fast Charging Network For UK

22.02.2018

National Grid is contemplating the creation of a fast charging network for the UK and Wales. Scotland may also get a similar system. The chargers would have up to 35o kW of power. The company’s research indicates it would only take 50 charging locations to put high power charging within 50 miles of 90% of drivers in the UK.

“We want to show that infrastructure needn’t be a barrier. This is not about National Grid charging vehicles, but National Grid enabling the charging to happen. Range anxiety is consistently given as a major reason as to what deters consumers from buying EVs and we have a solution that addresses this,” a spokesperson for National Grid has told the Financial Times. That’s according to a report by Autocar, which apparently has a subscription to Financial Times.

What is interesting about this plan is that National Grid has recognized there is a congruence between transportation corridors and high voltage transmission lines. Where there are highways, transmission lines are typically not far away. That means National Grid can tap into those lines to provide power for the charging stations without putting a strain on the local utility grid.

“If you overlay the motorway network over the transmission network, there is a synergy. The electricity transmission network runs close to motorway network and likely to be the most efficient connection at many sites. In terms of how you space rapid chargers; 50 miles was used in the autonomous vehicles bill. When we mapped England and Wales with the grid, 90% of people the user network would be within 50 miles of a rapid charger,” according to the spokesperson.

“We think the rollout of the charging points should be structured and coordinated. Rather than connecting one customer at a time and having a piecemeal approach, provide the infrastructure in a coordinated way. Our solution is about future proofing; not just for cars but for light goods vehicles and trucks in the future.” There would actually be 100 charging locations, 50 on one side of highways and 50 on the other.

National Grid will not operate the chargers themselves. That task will be handled by local providers. But it will get to sell the electricity needed to operate the chargers. Utility companies are in the business of selling electricity. It’s what they do. The system could cost up to £1 billion to install, but National Grid obviously figures upgrading the local infrastructure would cost even more. That cost could come down as new technology becomes available.

Matthew Trevaskis, head of electric vehicles at the Renewable Energy Association, says, “This is an important milestone for the development of a strategic, accessible, and reliable electric vehicle charging network in the UK. National Grid will play an increasingly crucial role in EV rollout and it is excellent to see some big-picture thinking from them on this issue. It is now up to Government and regulators to build on the excellent work done to date and to implement documents such as the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan.”

And so another step forward in the electric car revolution begins. There is a long way to go yet, but linking high speed chargers to high voltage transmission lines is a creative approach that other utility companies should consider.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Oserian Seeks Nod to Produce Solar Power

22.02.2018

solar-cells-2590968__340 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Flower grower and exporter Oserian Development Company has applied for variation of its two megawatt (MW) geothermal power generation licence to include harnessing of solar energy.

The firm, which uses geothermal steam to power business—from lighting hundreds of staff houses to heating its greenhouses at night—plans to utilise roofs for laying solar panels.

It plans to submit its variation request in a fortnight and has invited individual or firms planning to oppose the plan to do so in writing. It will submit to the Energy Regulatory Authority the variation request on March 8.

Oserian becomes the second business to seek a licence to produce solar power on a commercial scale after the 5,000-acre Tatu City in Kiambu.

Tatu City said its venture will help reduce the cost of power for residents and light industry operators as well as generate some income for the upcoming development.

The project will ensure power to Tatu City is guaranteed round the clock for all companies as they enjoy both the connection to the national grid and the alternative power source.

Oserian started producing its own geothermal power after Geothermal Development Associates (GDA) supplied a nominal two MW steam turbine generator installed by Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) of New Zealand.

Source: businessdailyafrica.com

NGO HEAL: The Amount of Particle Pollution from Air which We Are Exposed to

22.02.2018

The numerous consequences of air pollution, including the contribution to mortality of one million people per year worldwide, are becoming a hot topic in Serbia. Exposure to air pollution is associated with a huge number of acute and chronic diseases, from irritations through respiratory illnesses to cardiovascular diseases, and contemporary science has made a connection between the air pollution and diabetes. The effects of air pollution on health are well documented, though mixtures of pollutants in the air may be complex.

Air pollution is a mixture of liquid and solid phases; a mixture of gaseous, volatile, semi-volatile substances and their ratio is quite variable. The main pollutants are suspended particles such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, methane, mercury and soot obtained by combustion of hydrocarbon gases. There is numerous research on the impact of these pollutants on our health.

In an interview with Vlatka Matkovic Puljic from the non-governmental organization Health and Environment Alliance we found out in what way the air quality monitoring should be performed, whether the pollution measurements are properly carried out and to what extent are HEAL’s measurements different from the measurements of public institutions.

Vlatka Matkovic Puljic was born in Croatia, lives in Brussels and is employed by HEAL. She deals with the air pollution in the Balkans. Her main focus is industrial sources of pollution, given the fact that industry is one of the main air pollutants. Before joining HEAL, she worked for different organizations including Zagreb University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, “CARE International” and Croatian Institute for Public Health. By vocation, she is a defectologist, and she holds a doctorate degree in the field of public health at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Medicine.

The air pollution is a global problem which you can see and feel in Belgrade, too. The data of the World Health Organisation according to which more than 7,000 people die due to air pollution exposure, can serve as evidence. These data put Serbia on the second place in Europe according to the number of premature deaths due to air pollution. In Serbia, there are more than 3,300 cases of premature deaths annually due to only one pollutant – thermal power plant on coal. At a global level, 6.5 to 7 million people die due to air pollution. If this number of deaths were to be transferred into money, we would come to the information that the consequences of air pollution from thermal power plants cost the country between one and four billion euros annually.

“Most people who live in urban areas, live in the polluted environment. The largest sources of pollution are traffic, thermal power plants on coal, house heating on coal, and wood. The total of 50 percent of particle pollution in Serbia come from coal-fired power plants, then from house furnaces, and in the third place are some other sources of pollution”, says Vlatka Matkovic Puljic.

Air quality in Serbia represents a huge problem. Measurements show that citizens across the country inhale the air that is considered harmful to health. For example, the concentrations of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ are significantly higher than the limit values which the European Union and World Health Organisation have set. In the report on air quality from 2013, it is stated that the annual limit value of PM10 particles, which is 40 μg/m³, was exceeded during the course of the year in most locations. During 2013 the quality of air in wider urban areas of Belgrade, Bor, Užice, and Smederevo was rated as III category, which means it was over-polluted. According to the data, 73% of the population in urban and urban-industrial areas were potentially exposed to concentrations of pollutants that are above the reference level in the same year.

In urban areas, in addition to pollution from thermal power plants that pollute the entire country, other pollutants are also present. In Belgrade, that is traffic, and the other problem is thermal power plants that are located near Belgrade and they emit large quantities of different pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and other particle pollution.

HEAL carried out an action for measuring personal exposure to polluted air with the help of small mobile devices “AirBeam” which was proved to be accurate according to the analyses conducted in the USA. There was an open invitation for candidates who wanted to carry these measuring devices and the action was launched in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The idea was that volunteers measure their daily exposure to air pollution, from their exposure when going to work (on foot, by car or bicycles) to staying indoors or during a city walk, etc. The device “AirBeam” measures the pollution caused by PM_2.5particles and it operates on photo laser method which is not that sophisticated as a monitoring station that takes a sample of dust on which basis radioactivity and the origin of pollution can be analysed (whether it comes from a thermal power plants, traffic or some other source).

“Air monitoring in Serbia is done and it is relatively good but the number of measuring stations is not sufficient. There are only few monitoring stations for PM_2.5 in entire Serbia but only the data from the monitoring station located in New Belgrade are taken for the annual calculation instead of taking the data from all monitoring stations. Through this project, we tried to figure out what is the difference between personal exposure to particle pollution in relation to what the monitoring stations have recorded.”

While she was in Belgrade in June this year, Vlatka measured the concentration of particles in the city and the average concentration of PM particles from Voždovac to the city centre was 37 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³), and the highest was 57. According to the World Health Organization if you live in a place in which the concentration of PM_2.5 particles is 12 μg/m³it is considered to be healthy, while the concentration of up to 35 μg/m³ is considered to be unhealthy for sensitive groups such as kids, elderly, pregnant women and people with sensitive respiratory system. When the limit of 55 μg/m3 is exceeded, the environment is considered to be extremely unhealthy and the risk exposure is high. At the same time when Vlatka was measuring air pollution for PM_2.5 particles, two monitoring stations recorded the data for PM_2.5 – and they were 11 μg/m3 and 14 μg/m3. The first monitoring station is located in the wider city centre and the latter in New Belgrade. Also, the volunteers who carried these devices with them found out that the highest pollution of these particles was in cafés in which smoking is allowed – the concentration of PM_2.5 particles was 180–190 μg/m³**.

“With this project, we wanted primarily to involve citizens in the active measuring of air quality and monitoring of their personal exposure to air pollution in everyday life, and thus to raise the awareness of what (un)healthy air is,” Vlatka explained to us.

Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) has urged Serbian authorities to make e orts to purify the air in our country within the Campaign “Unmask my City” which was conducted in Belgrade to mark the World Day against Asthma in 2017. The campaign was supported by the Serbian Ministry of Health and the experts from the Medical School in Novi Sad who conduct a pilot study on the exposure to suspended PM_^2.5 particles. “Unmask my City” is a global initiative of health workers, led by HEAL, for the improvement of air quality and the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. Activists of initiatives have invited the city authorities all around the world to adhere to the WHO’s air quality guidelines and to adopt the appropriate policy and program. The global campaign “Unmask my City” was also launched in Warsaw, Adana, Istanbul, Iskenderun, London, Salt Lake City, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Sao Paolo.

Prepared by: Nevena Djukic

* All the data are taken from the official report on Air Pollution and Health in Serbia prepared by NGO HEAL (Health and Environment Alliance).

This content was originally published in the eighth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine ECOHEALTH, in November 2017.

Renewables Meet Equivalent of Entire British Electricity Demand – in 1958

22.02.2018

Wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower now deliver enough green electricity to have powered Britain 60 years ago, according to new analysis published this week by power group Drax.

Britain’s renewables output hit 96TWh in 2017, up 27 per cent on 2016. Total output exceeded the 91TWh consumed by the UK in 1958 under a system dominated by coal-fired generation, Drax said.

But significant growth in electricity demand over the last six decades, as the economy has expanded and power-hungry appliances such as fridges and washing machines have become the norm in British households, mean renewables make up a quarter of UK electricity supply today.

“Sixty years ago, the power system emitted 93 million tonnes of CO2; in 2017 renewables managed to produce the same amount of electricity by emitting just three million tonnes,” said Dr Iain Staffell from Imperial College London, which compiled and analysed the data on behalf of Drax. “The share of fossil fuels on the system has fallen from 80 per cent to 50 per cent since 2010 and the effect that shift in the balance of power is having in terms of lowering our carbon emissions is striking.”

Overall, last year half of Britain’s electricity came from low-carbon sources, Drax said, while coal and gas output fell by a tenth.

The jump in generation from renewables was mainly thanks to stronger winds and new turbines coming online, Drax said, helping carbon emissions from electricity consumption fall by 12 per cent.

Source: businessgreen.com

IRENA: EU can Double Renewables by 2030 and Unlock €368bn Investment

22.02.2018

Obnovljivi izvori energije — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The European Union is capable of doubling the share of renewables in its energy mix to 34 per cent by 2030, delivering deep emissions cuts and economic growth across the continent in the process, according to new research by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA analysis published today argues achieving higher shares of renewable energy is possible with existing technologies and would spur further business opportunities by triggering additional investment of around €368bn through to 2030, equivalent to an average annual contribution of 0.3 per cent to Europe’s GDP.

A doubling of renewables share of the energy mix would also result in further annual savings on energy, environmental, and health costs of between €44bn and €113bn by 2030, IRENA found, as well as a significant boost in the number of people employed in the renewables sector, which currently stands at 1.2 million.

It follows the results of the annual Global Energy Talent Index survey yesterday, which found renewables professionals are among the happiest workers in the entire energy industry, in part due to digital technologies allowing greater flexibility and remote working.

The IRENA research, which was presented in Brussels at the request of the European Commission, also estimates that doubling the share of renewables – across both heat and power – by 2030 would spur deep emissions cuts across the economy of around 15 per cent, equivalent to the total annual emissions of Italy.

It could therefore deliver the added benefit of helping to push Europe towards its goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 40 per cent between 1990 and 2030, a target some observers fear Europe is not on course to meet.

The findings come as Brussels draws up plans to revise renewables targets for 2030, with EU Commission and member states backing a renewables share of “at least” 27 per cent, while some businesses and the EU Parliament have be called for a much more ambitious 35 per cent target. IRENA’s modelling echoes previous reports which have suggested the EU could opt for a significantly more ambitious target without harming its economy.

IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin said ambitious long-term targets had placed Europe at the forefront of global renewable energy development, and called for the bloc to maintain its leadership position when drawing up its new clean energy goals.

“With an ambitious and achievable new renewable energy strategy, the EU can deliver market certainty to investors and developers, strengthen economic activity, grow jobs, improve health and put the EU on a stronger decarbonisation pathway in line with its climate objectives,” he said.

Elsewhere in the report, IRENA estimates delivering a 34 per cent renewables share over the next 12 years would result in 327GW of installed wind capacity, which is an additional 97GW compared to the ‘business as usual’ scenario. Solar capacity would also surge by an extra 270GW compared to a business as usual 86GW over the same period, it adds.

In the power sector alone, that would mean the share of renewables rising to 50 per cent by 2030, compared to 29 per cent in 2015.

Renewables would also account for 42 per cent of energy in buildings, 36 per cent in industry, and 17 per cent in transport – including electric vehicles and advanced biofuels – according to the report.

Accelerating the use of heat pumps and electric vehicles towards a more ambitious 2030 renewables target would be expected to increase electricity to 27 per cent of final energy consumption over the period, up from 24 per cent under a business as usual scenario.

Miguel Arias Cañete, European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, welcomed IRENA’s analysis. “The report confirms our own assessments that the costs of renewables have come down significantly in the last couple of years, and that we need to consider these new realities in our ambition levels for the upcoming negotiations to finalise Europe’s renewable energy policies,” he said in a statement.

As EU lawmakers finalise plans for renewable energy targets to 2030 and beyond, they will likely be facing stiff opposition to greater ambition from Poland and other coal-reliant countries across the Baltic region. IRENA will therefore hope its analysis – presenting a vision of the significant economic, environmental and social benefits that can be unlocked from targeting a higher share of renewables in the energy mix – could help to tip the balance of the current debate in favour of Europe’s green economy.

Source: businessgreen.com

Mexico Becomes 30th International Energy Agency Member Country

21.02.2018

Mexico was officially welcomed as the 30th International Energy Agency member country on February 17, making it the first member from Latin America and helping to increase the impact of the Agency which now accounts for more than 70% of global energy consumption.

While it has come under its fair share of criticism for overly pessimistic predictions concerning the uptake of renewable energy technologies and the long-term need for fossil fuel energy sources, the International Energy Agency (IEA) nevertheless sits as one of the leading forces in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy. From this author’s point of view, some of the aforementioned criticism the IEA has suffered has not been completely fair, fighting as it has for more realistic expectations and predictions. Nevertheless, the IEA has repeatedly failed to properly account for the speed with which renewable energy technology costs would fall — through, in reality, most everyone failed to predict the speed with which the low-carbon energy transition would occur.

On February 17, a new signed treaty was deposited with the IEA’s depository state, Belgium, which had been ratified by the Mexican Senate, elevating Mexico to full official membership status with the IEA and making it both the 30th member country and the first member country from Latin America. This followed a November 2017 IEA Ministerial Meeting at which the rapid steps Mexico was taking to become an IEA member were unanimously endorsed by all IEA members. Specifically, the Meeting acknowledged that Mexico had taken the necessary steps in record time since it first expressed interest in November of 2015.

The move serves as a significant stepping stone to the IEA’s desire to open its doors to more emerging economies and the key energy players of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Before becoming a fully-fledged IEA member, a country must demonstrate that it has:

Crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, to which the government has immediate access (even if it does not own them directly) and could be used to address disruptions to global oil supply;

A demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%;

Legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis;

Legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request;

Measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action. An IEA collective action would be initiated in response to a significant global oil supply disruption and would involve IEA Member Countries making additional volumes of crude and/or product available to the global market (either through increasing supply or reducing demand), with each country’s share based on national consumption as part of the IEA total oil consumption.

“With this final step, Mexico enters the most important energy forum in the world,” said Joaquín Coldwell, Mexico’s Secretary of Energy. “We will take our part in setting the world’s energy policies, receive experienced advice in best international practices, and participate in emergency response exercises.”

“It is a historic day because we welcome our first Latin American member country, with more than 120 million inhabitants, an important oil producer, and a weighty voice in global energy,” added Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director. “The ambitious and successful energy reforms of recent years have put Mexico firmly on the global energy policy map.”

Alongside the now 30-strong Member nations, the IEA boasts seven Association countries — countries that work “hand-in-hand with the IEA on critical issues” that include energy security, data and statistics, and energy policy solutions” — after Brazil was officially designated Association status in early November.

“With today’s announcement of IEA Association, we are taking another important step to place Brazil at the centre of global debate on key energy policy issues including renewable energy, energy efficiency, rational use of fossil fuels, energy security and sustainable development,” said Fernando Coelho Filho, Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy, at the signing ceremony alongside Dr Birol in November.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Climate Change, Conflict Leave 224 Million Undernourished in Africa

21.02.2018

An official with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that climate change and conflict are leading to food insecurity for millions of people living in Africa.

“Undernourishment appears to have risen from about 21 percent to nearly 23 percent between 2015 and 2016,” Bukar Tijani, FAO’s assistant director general for Africa, said Monday at a conference in Sudan.

“Over the same period, the number of undernourished rose from 200 million to 224 million in Africa. This is a cause of concern for all of us,” he said, noting that the continent’s population is expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2030.

This rise in undernourishment and food insecurity is linked to the effects of climate change and natural disasters, Tijani later explained to AFP.

“This very strongly is related to climate change. We had floods, we had droughts and we had crop failures,” he said.

Tijani added that conflicts in Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic further exacerbate food insecurity.

“When you look at those conflicts, it has also brought challenges because even when food is available it is not affordable and it cannot reach those conflict areas.”

A 2017 FAO report shows that, after years of decline, hunger is on the rise again and “visibly worsened in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South Eastern and Western Asia.”

As Leah Samberg, a postdoctoral research associate with the Global Landscapes Initiative, noted from the report: “At the same time, these regions are experiencing increasingly powerful storms, more frequent and persistent drought and more variable rainfall associated with global climate change. These trends are not unrelated. Conflict-torn communities are more vulnerable to climate-related disasters, and crop or livestock failure due to climate can contribute to social unrest.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Singapore to Bring in Carbon Tax from 2019

21.02.2018

Singapore yesterday revealed plans to introduce a carbon tax that will see large emitters charged for the pollution they release into the atmosphere.

The tax rate will start in 2019 at S$5 (US$3.79) a tonne, before then ramping up after 2023 with the aim of hitting S$10-s$15 (US$7.50-$11.37) by 2030.

Announcing the plans in his budget speech yesterday the city-state’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said the tax would apply to facilities producing more than 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.

“Singapore produces less carbon emissions per dollar of GDP than most countries,” Swee Keat said in his budget speech, according to AFP. “We intend to further reduce our emissions intensity to make a bigger effort to combat climate change.”

The move will mainly impact Singapore’s refineries, chemicals and semi-conductor companies, and should encourage firms to make their operations more energy efficient, Swee Keat added.

But the planned Singapore tax is still well below the €30 (US$37) per tonne climate scientists and economists believe is necessary to cover the environmental costs of pollution.

An OECD report last week concluded energy taxes around the world are far too low to deliver environmental benefits or deep emissions cuts, despite rising political interest in such policies.

Source: businessgreen.com

Climate Change To Lead To More Frequent UK Flooding, Warns Environment Agency

21.02.2018

Climate-changes — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

5.2 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, and increases in the frequency of intense bouts of flooding are expected across England due to changes in the country’s climate, warns the nation’s Environment Agency.

The UK Environment Agency last week launched its Flood Action Campaign after warning that intense bouts of flooding are set to become more frequent across the country after changes to the country’s climate. Specifically, the UK Met Office records show that since 1910 there have been 17 record-breaking rainfall months or seasons and 9 of them have occurred since 2000. Increases in extreme weather events have long been a sign of the impacts of climate change and now Englanders must begin to prepare for more frequent intense storms and rising sea levels.

Hence the launch of the Environment Agency’s Flood Action Campaign, an advertising campaign using social media and online advertising to warn of the increased risks of intense flooding, and to encourage younger people to check their flood risk at GOV.UK, sign up for free warnings, and to be prepared to take action if and when flooding hits.

The focus is targeted on younger people as recent research has shown that 18 to 34-year-olds are currently the least likely to perceive flood risk in their area, know how to protect their homes, or know where to go for information. As such, this age group is at highest risk of fatality because they are less likely to understand the risk to their own lives.

“Climate change is likely to mean more frequent and intense flooding. Floods destroy — lives, livelihoods, and property,” explained Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency. “Our flood defences reduce the risk of flooding, and our flood warnings help keep communities safe when it threatens. But we can never entirely eliminate the risk of flooding. Checking your flood risk is the first step to protecting yourself, your loved ones and your home.”

The social media campaign has gone all out seeking to inform and warn people of the risk of flooding in England. The Campaign website provides information and resources for people to determine the potential risks to their property, and what to do in the case of an emergency.

Those of us outside the UK might not necessarily think of England as particularly prone to flooding, and, as has already been shown, obviously a lot of people within the UK and England are similarly unaware of the dangers, but after the lengthy drought came to an end in 2012 in a torrent of water, almost 8,000 homes and businesses were flooded across England. This was followed in the winter of 2012-14 with coastal surge and record sea levels on the north and east coast, which led to 12 storms in succession helping to make it the wettest winter for 250 years, with 11,000 homes flooded.

Things only got worse in the winter of 2015-16 with widespread flooding affecting 17,000 properties across northern England. The named storms Desmond, Eva, and Frank helped December 2015 to go down in history as the wettest month ever recorded in England.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Energy Taxes Too Low To Avoid Extreme Anthropogenic Climate Change, OECD Study Finds

21.02.2018

The energy taxes that are currently in place in the world’s top economies aren’t extensive enough to aid in the mitigation of anthropogenic climate change to a large degree, according to a new study from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In other words, these energy taxes aren’t curtailing energy use to much of a degree, nor are they driving a shift toward lower carbon-intensity energy modalities, nor are they spurring large-scale energy efficiency improvement efforts.

The findings are the result of a study that analyzed the use of energy taxes in 42 different OECD and G20 economies between the years of 2012 and 2015. The economies in question collectively represent around 80% of global energy use and anthropogenic carbon emissions.

The study reads: “A bird’s eye view of effective taxes per ton of CO2 across all countries reveals that there is hardly any change in the tax rates on emissions outside the road transport sector…Taxes continue to be poorly aligned with environmental and climate costs of energy use, across all countries.”

Reuters provides more:

“The study did not include carbon market prices, such as in the EU’s Emissions Trading System, but the OECD said they do little to change the report’s findings. The OECD found that almost all taxes are too low to help combat global warming, compared to a benchmark level of €30 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) — a conservative minimum estimate of the damage from emitting one ton of CO2.

“In the road transport sector, 97% of emissions are taxed and rates were above €50/tCO2 for 47% of emissions in 2015, compared to 37% in 2012. In non-road sectors, which collectively account for 95% of carbon emissions from energy use, 81% of emissions were untaxed and rates were below €30/tCO2 for 97% of emissions.

“Coal, which accounts for almost half of carbon emissions in the 42 countries, goes untaxed in many countries, and was taxed above €5/tCO2 in just 5 countries examined. Taxes on oil products were relatively high at over €100/tCO2 on average across all sectors and particularly high in road transport, a sector which remains almost entirely dependent on oil products.”

Notably, taxes for diesel fuel use in the transport sector are still much lower than for petrol/gasoline use in all but two of the economies in question, although shifts do seem to be appearing on that count, according to the report.

As a conclusion, the report reads: “Apart from transport fuel tax increases in some large low- to-middle income economies, and some first steps toward aligning diesel taxes with gasoline taxes, there is no structural change to the pattern of taxes on energy use between 2012 and 2015.”

This is a bleak assessment, though by no means surprising. Governmental actions over the last few years regarding climate change have involved talk, argument, public spectacle, and not much more. Regardless of political affiliation, or ideological beliefs, there’s not much of anything being done to mitigate the severity of the climate changes that are coming on the governmental level.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Germany Considers Free Public Transport to Fight Air Pollution

20.02.2018

elektricni-bus — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In car-obsessed Germany, the government is considering free public transportation in some of its most polluted cities to reduce road traffic and emissions from private vehicles.

“We are considering public transport free of charge in order to reduce the number of private cars,” three ministers wrote in a letter to EU environment commissioner Karmenu Vella in Brussels.

“Effectively fighting air pollution without any further unnecessary delays is of the highest priority for Germany,” the ministers added.

A trial of the proposal is planned for the cities of Bonn, Essen, Herrenberg, Reutlingen and Mannheim “at the end of the year at the latest.”

The letter was signed by German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt and Chief of Staff of the Federal Chancellery Peter Altmaier.

According to AFP, which first reported on the letter, other proposed measures include further restrictions on emissions from vehicle fleets like buses and taxis, low-emissions zones and support for car-sharing schemes.

DW reported that some of the cities selected for the free public transportation trials were unclear about the specifics of the proposal.

“It’s not in the planning phase yet,” a spokeswoman with the city of Bonn told DW. Rollout dates have yet to be announced and the federal government did not specify about how it will subsidize the free public transportation.

But Bonn Mayor Ashok Sridharan, who was informed about the government’s plans over the weekend, said he was happy his city was selected as one of the “lead cities.

“We also have one or two ideas that we can also propose, since we’ve been working on this topic for some time,” Sridharan told DW.

As the AFP noted, the proposal comes just over two years after Volkswagen’s “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal. The German company was forced to pay billions in fines and helped prompt its plans to electrify much of its fleet. Other carmakers, including fellow German brand Daimler, have since faced their own emissions scandals.

Last year, Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW announced a €500 million ($593 million) plan to upgrade more than 5 million newer diesel cars in Germany and offer trade-in rebates on older models. They have also agreed to pay into a public transit fund to reduce diesel pollution.

The government “should make sure that the car manufacturers finance the emergency measure” of free transport, Greenpeace told AFP.

Environment ministry spokesman Stefan Gabriel Haufe clarified Wednesday that the measure is not intended to help the car industry pay for cleaning up its polluting cars already on the road.

“In the long run, you can’t reduce excess emissions levels in cities unless you cut nitrogen emissions from diesel engines,” he said at a news conference. “We have seen speculations that we would like to reduce the burden on the car industry. That is absolutely not the case.”

Source: ecowatch.com

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