+- +-

+-User

Welcome, Guest.
Please login or register.
 
 
 

Login with your social network

Forgot your password?

+-Stats ezBlock

Members
Total Members: 48
Latest: watcher
New This Month: 0
New This Week: 0
New Today: 0
Stats
Total Posts: 16867
Total Topics: 271
Most Online Today: 1208
Most Online Ever: 1208
(March 28, 2024, 07:28:27 am)
Users Online
Members: 0
Guests: 396
Total: 396

Author Topic: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:  (Read 9198 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #60 on: November 23, 2016, 01:48:29 pm »
Energy| Nov. 22, 2016 01:40PM EST


Tesla, SolarCity Power Entire Island With Solar + Batteries 

Lorraine Chow
 
Ta'u, an island in American Samoa, has turned its nose at fossil fuels and is now almost 100 percent powered with solar panels and batteries thanks to technology from the newly combined Tesla and SolarCity. 

The microgrid is operated by American Samoa Power Authority and was funded by the American Samoa Economic Development Authority, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior.

Radio New Zealand reported that the $8 million project will significantly reduce fuel costs for the island, which is located more than 4,000 miles from the west coast of the U.S. Ta'u's 600 residents previously relied on shipments of diesel for power. At times, a shipment could not arrive on the island for months, meaning the island had to power ration and faced reoccurring outages.

But the new microgrid replaces this reliance on dirty fuels with more affordable solar energy, as Peter Rive, SolarCity co-founder and CTO, detailed in a blog post about the project, adding that the microgrid is designed to optimize system performance and maximize savings. 

"Factoring in the escalating cost of fuel, along with transporting such mass quantities to the small island, the financial impact is substantial," Rive wrote. He pointed out that the microgrid also eliminates "the hazards of power intermittency" and makes "outages a thing of the past."

The microgrid, which only took one year to build, features 1.4 megawatts of solar generation capacity (or 5,328 solar panels) and 6 megawatt hours of battery storage from 60 Tesla Powerpacks. An estimated 109,500 gallons of diesel will be offset per year.

"Before today, every time we turned on the light, turn on the television, turn on maybe the air conditioner, all of the cash registers in China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia go 'cha-ching,' but not after today," SolarCity market development director Jon Yoshimura told Radio New Zealand. "We will keep more of that money here, where it belongs." 

With the Powerpacks, the island can store solar energy at night, allowing for around-the-clock use. The microgrid allows the island to stay fully powered for three days without sunlight and can recharge to full capacity in only seven hours.


A hospital, high school and elementary schools, fire and police stations and businesses will be using the new clean energy source.

"It's always sunny out here, and harvesting that energy from the sun will make me sleep a lot more comfortably at night, just knowing I'll be able to serve my customers," local resident and business owner Keith Ahsoon told SolarCity.

"This is part of making history," Ahsoon added. "This project will help lessen the carbon footprint of the world. Living on an island, you experience global warming firsthand. Beach erosions and other noticeable changes are a part of life here. It's a serious problem, and this project will hopefully set a good example for everyone else to follow."

Ta'u could be an example for other islands around the globe facing similar problems.

"Ta'u is not a postcard from the future, it's a snapshot of what is possible right now,"  Rive wrote. "Renewable power is an economical, practical solution for a growing number of locations and energy needs, and islands that have traditionally relied on fossil fuels can easily transition to microgrids powered by solar and storage today."

http://www.ecowatch.com/tesla-solarcity-tau-samoa-island-2104960096.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #61 on: December 17, 2016, 04:01:21 pm »
Boone, NC Passes Historic Resolution: Ditch Fossil Fuels, Go 100% Clean Energy    

Lorraine Chow

http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy-solutions-project-2151130342.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #62 on: March 10, 2017, 01:57:08 pm »
March 9, 2017 1:21 PM
Texas  :o   ;D city one of first to be powered solely by wind and solar energy

By Tom Uhler

uhler@star-telegram.com
 
GEORGETOWN, Texas  —

Who would have thought that Georgetown in conservative red state Texas would be one of the first cities in America to be powered entirely by renewable energy?

It’s true, according to this report on NPR.

But it’s all about the Benjamins, Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross told NPR.


“It’s our love of green — green rectangles and green energy,” he said, the rectangles signifying dollars. “First and foremost it was a business decision.”

There was never any talk of global warming or climate change during the city’s deliberations in 2012 about its power source going forward.

“I don’t think they’re ever going to accuse Georgetown of being the next Berkeley,” Ross told NPR’s Ari Shapiro.

The city realized that there was enough wind and solar power available, that it was fairly predictable and that the prices wouldn’t fluctuate as much as oil and gas prices.

Texas has led the nation in wind energy for the past decade while under then-Gov. Rick Perry, now the nation’s energy secretary.

But Perry didn’t promote the industry because he was any kind of tree-hugger. As Texas Tribune reporter and former Star-Telegram Austin bureau chief Jay Root told NPR: “I don't think anyone would call Rick Perry an environmentalist, including Rick Perry. ... But the guy knows how to sniff out a dollar. Here's a guy from West Texas who saw that you can make money off of the wind blowing. Like, that's a no brainer."

Tom Kiernan, chief executive of the American Wind Energy Association, told the Star-Telegram last month that the outlook for wind energy under the Trump administration looks promising    , largely because it doesn’t cost much, adds jobs and is already being used by major companies such as GM in Arlington, Facebook, which is building a data center in north Fort Worth, Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix and others.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article137457553.html#storylink=cpy

Agelbert NOTE: This is, on the surface, good news. However, if Tom Kiernan thinks Trump gives a hoot about commons sense energy math, he is in for a lot of disappointment. Trump is PRO-DIRTY ENERGY. WHY? Because THEY bought and paid for him!

I have written, as have many others for nearly a decade, that Renewable Energy, when all the costs of burning fossil fuels (See: social Cost of Carbon - S.C.C.) are figured in, ALWAYS HAS BEEN cheaper than fossil fuels. But NOW, with the mass production of wind and solar having lowered the costs so much that they can even beat fossil fuels despite the massive welfare queen "subsidies" they continue to be handed 24/7 by our corrupted government, Trump has to ATTACK Renewables with a frontal attack.

That attack requires two main heinous profit over people and planet steps:

1)  Removing all pollution restrictions on the polluters in a desperate attempt to shore up fossil fuel industry bottom lines.   

2) Place all sorts costly hurdles like onerous "zoning" restrictions on Renewable Energy infrastructure: e.g. "aesthetic" taxes, "fire hazard" dangers along with "required inspections" (for very high fees, of course), etc. all to make life VERY difficult for those who want Renewable Energy in their homes.

Fossil fuels CANNOT compete on a level energy AND cost playing field with Renewables. The Texans have figured that out. Good for them.  But that won't stop Trump from trying to shove fossil fuels down American throats

I hope the Texans (and all other Americans, including the Trumpers who were fooled into voting for him) give Trump's welfare queen polices for the fossil fuel burning polluters the rejection they deserve.

The Fossil Fuelers   DID THE Climate Trashing, human health depleteing CRIME,   but since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks, they are trying to AVOID   DOING THE TIME or     PAYING THE FINE!     Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!   
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #63 on: March 30, 2017, 09:01:06 pm »

Is Berlin a Bike-Friendly City? 

In February 2017, the city of Berlin made good on its commitment to bicycle travel, approving 13 new two-wheel superhighways where bike commuters won’t have to dodge cars, trucks, or pedestrians.

The first two of these new routes will be more than 3.1 miles (5 km) in length and will allow Berliners to get in and out of the city center much faster and much more safely.

Like an interstate highway in the United States, or Germany’s famous Autobahn, cyclists will be encouraged to keep moving on these uber bike paths, which will be at least 13 feet (4 m) in width.

Get your "motor"  ;)  running:              


•There is already a similar thoroughfare dedicated to cyclists in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and another is planned in Munich. These projects are credited with reducing commute times and traffic fatalities.

•Funding for a 64-mile-long (103 km) stretch of bicycle heaven, connecting Dallas and Fort Worth, has been approved in Texas, and a similar route is being considered between Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina.

•The idea of bike superhighways has been discussed since the late 19th century.

http://www.wisegeek.com/is-berlin-a-bike-friendly-city.htm
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #64 on: April 25, 2017, 08:50:44 pm »
Trump will NOT be able stop the Renewable Energy Revolution. 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #65 on: May 02, 2017, 02:08:07 pm »
Thanks, Trump: ;D  US Army Cranks Up Yuuuuuge Solar + Wind Project

May 2nd, 2017 by Tina Casey

SNIPPET:

For a coal fan, President Trump sure did chalk up a lot of renewable energy credits during his first 100 days. Barely squeaking in under the wire is the US Army’s largest ever renewables project, a sprawling wind and solar power complex that is expected to fulfill more than half the yearly electricity needs of US Army Garrison Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

The official ribbon cutting ceremony isn’t until June 2 but the complex began commercial operation on April 7, so let’s take a look under the hood (so to speak) and see what’s going on.

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/05/02/thanks-trump-us-army-cranks-yuuuuuge-solar-wind-project/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #66 on: May 03, 2017, 08:37:11 pm »

03 May 2017 | Sören Amelang, Benjamin Wehrmann
Sun and wind squeeze coal power to record low / E.ON & Google team up


Tags: Energiewende ⦁   Fossil fuels ⦁ Renewables
Agora Energiewende

A Sunday almost without coal power

German coal plants on last Sunday contributed the lowest amount of electricity to the country’s power mix ever recorded in recent times, energy think tank Agora Energiewende* said in a press release. Power production from coal and lignite plants stood at just 8 gigawatt (GW) at the lowest point, while power production from renewables peaked at over 55 GW on the sunny and windy Sunday, according to the think tank. Nuclear plants reduced their production to 5 GW, it added. Solar, wind and other renewable power production on average stood at nearly 36 GW during the weekend, equaling about 64 percent of German power consumption, Agora Energiewende explained. “Constellations like this will be perfectly normal in 2030,” the think tank’s head Patrick Graichen said, adding that “inflexible power plants no longer will have a place in the power system as they only spoil the prices”.


Image showing Germany's power mix on 30 April 2017 (at article link)



Tags: Solar Technology Utilities
E.ON

E.ON and Google are launching partnership to expand solar energy

Germany’s largest utility E.ON has struck a partnership with Google to expand its renewable energy business. E.ON will introduce Google’s solar platform Sunroof in Germany, the company said in a press release. The platform uses data from Google Earth to help homeowners to calculate savings from installing rooftop solar panels. Households can then directly order products such as PV modules from E.ON.
Find background on E.ON in the CLEW factsheet E.ON shareholders ratify energy giant's split.



Tags: Cars Transport
Spiegel Online

First city utters driving bans: Hamburg blocks two main thoroughfares for diesel cars 

Hamburg is the first German city to ban older diesel cars from main thoroughfares all year round to improve local air quality, reports Nils-Viktor Sorge for Spiegel Online. Even though only two roads are affected, the decision “has a highly symbolic significance. The discussion about possible driving bans has already sent shockwaves to the car industry”, writes Sorge.

A survey revealed this week that only two in five diesel car drivers plan to stick with the technology when buying their next car. Stuttgart, the home of carmakers Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, said earlier this year it would ban older diesel cars in the city centre when pollution is heavy from 2018.

Tags: Business & Jobs Cars Technology

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung


https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/sun-and-wind-squeeze-coal-power-record-low-eon-google-team .

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #67 on: May 07, 2017, 06:53:05 pm »

Germany Breaks Record: 85% of Energy  :o  ;D Comes From Renewables Last Weekend 

ByLorraine Chow
 
May. 04, 2017 02:27PM EST

SNIPPET:

Germany's "Energiewende"—the country's low-carbon energy revolution
—turned another successful corner last weekend when renewable energy sources nearly stamped out coal and nuclear.

Thanks to a particularly breezy and sunny Sunday, renewables such as wind and solar, along with some biomass and hydropower, peaked at a record 85 percent, or 55.2 gigawatts, and even came along with negative prices for several hours at the electricity exchange.

Conversely, coal use was at an all-time minimum. According to DW, on April 30, coal-fired power stations were only operational between 3 and 4 p.m. and produced less than eight gigawatts of energy, well below the maximum output of about 50 gigawatts.

Full article with graphics:

http://www.ecowatch.com/horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-kennedy-2377984738.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #68 on: August 28, 2017, 07:31:12 pm »
Jimmy Carter  Talks Solar Energy

SNIPPET:

I grew up on a farm outside of Plains, Georgia. It was the Great Depression years; we didn't have electricity or running water. The first appliance we had was a windmill, for piping water into our house.

In fact, we didn't have any gasoline or diesel motors for a number of decades; mules and horses did all the work. We got all our energy from growing corn—the animals that we worked, the animals that we ate, and all the human beings depended on corn as just about our only fuel. We were totally renewable back then.   

So when I became president, it was natural for me to want to extend this capability to people who were in danger of losing their energy supply. Because we had a good relationship with Israel—I tried to bring peace between Israel and Egypt—we had oil embargos. We lost our customary supply of oil, so I was very interested in seeing America be energy secure. It was a national security issue—all our tanks, our ships, our trains depended on oil back in those days.

Full article:
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #69 on: August 29, 2017, 02:56:59 pm »



Hybrid Office Building Cuts Cord to Electricity Grid  

August 29, 2017

By Andrew Spence, The Lead


 hybrid energy

         
A four-story office building powered by a combination of thermal and PV solar and wind energy in South Australia has cut its connection to the electricity grid in what its owners claim to be a world first.

The $8 million Fluid Solar headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia’s northern suburbs contains more than 2 MWh of energy storage capacity, comprising about 90 percent thermal storage with the remaining 10 percent provided by conventional battery storage.

Fluid Solar House has been operating without the use of the electricity grid since April to test its technologies before this afternoon’s cord-cutting ceremony. 

The building will be used as the small company’s headquarters but will also become a co-working space for other innovative northern suburbs’ startups.

Surplus electricity generated at the site will be used as part of Tesla’s car-charging network, with provision of 11 electric vehicle bays that will be charged completely by wind and solar power harvested from a 98 kWp array of 378 PV solar panels on the building’s roof.

A sustainable “tiny house” has also been built — in just three days — in the building’s car park to showcase the company’s low cost, low energy accommodation.

Fluid Solar Managing Director Roger Davies has been working on the technology since 2008 and said the solar thermal element was the key to the building’s success.

He said solar PV cells alone typically could not produce enough energy to run an air conditioning system.

“Even if you could, the cost of the battery pack becomes so large that it’s difficult to pay the battery pack off before it wears out,” he said.

“Storage of heat is dramatically cheaper than battery storage and because we’ve got the other end, which is the devices that use thermal energy directly for their heating and cooling it means that 60-70 per cent of the building’s energy requirements are met using solar thermal as opposed to solar PV technology.

“That allows us to use the rest of the roof — about 60 percent — to do a conventional PV.

Quote
So we have a hybrid model between a smaller battery pack running the lights, the lift, the fan systems and so on and the heavy lifting is done by the solar thermal.

Wind turbines on the roof are also in place to fill the void for about 20 days in winter when long stretches of cloudy weather reduce the effectiveness of solar. The surplus electricity will be used to power the car charging station.

The solar thermal collectors have been granted an Australian patent, and we’re in the process of getting an international patent in several jurisdictions including China, India, Japan, North America and Europe.

Quote
They work by heating rainwater collected at the site to between 60C and 90C and storing it in a 10,000-liter insulated box. The hot water can be used to directly heat the building in winter and indirectly in summer to dry air and run evaporative cooling.

The building also has a turbine that turns low pressure steam into electricity.

“If you collect solar energy as heat, you store it as heat and you use it as heat, the whole process is intrinsically efficient and cost-effective and that is the trick to moving to a much lower energy consumption society, Davies said.

The company is working on a system that can be retrofitted to existing office buildings.
“That’s certainly feasible from a technical point of view and once clients accept that it’s also economically attractive to them we see no reason why that technology couldn’t be rolled out across a large percentage of existing buildings.”

Fluid Solar has a 1200sq m factory in the nearby industrial suburb of Edinburgh. It has 24 orders for small houses, which range in size from 40sq m to 160sq m.

The houses are powered by similar renewable energy systems as the office building, can be run off-grid and can be built on site in a matter of days.

“Our order book is probably filled till Christmas but we’re certainly looking to have some projects moving into 2018 to keep the momentum going and build production,” Davies said.

“We’ve looked at 5000sq m as our next step up when demand picks up. I’ve got a joint arrangement with an existing manufacturing business to gear up and help build large volume if we can show the demand.”

Davies said the small modulated houses had a number of markets including as backyard flats, off-grid holiday homes and housing for people on fixed incomes.

He said the fast build times, low or no ongoing electricity costs and a price of about AU$1,000 per square meter compared with $1,200 – $1800sq m for traditional housing made them very affordable.

Fluid Solar has approval to build a 20-apartment complex in Munno Para, which Davies hopes to have installed before Christmas.

“One thing I would very much like to do is build these as medium density urban and suburban housing because we believe we can get the cost down to a point where people on low fixed incomes can afford to rent or buy over time,” he said.

“My belief is that our strategy of using a building that is intrinsically low energy consuming will ultimately become the dominant feature in architecture — we will move away from poorly insulated, glazed energy hot boxes and people will start to accept that the advantages of low consumption and low impact living are more important.”   


South Australia leads the nation in the uptake of wind energy and roof-top solar with renewable sources accounting for more than 40 percent of the electricity generated in the state. However, the closure of two coal-fired power stations in recent years has increased South Australia’s reliance on energy supplies from the eastern Australian states, particularly in times of peak demand.

Last month, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced his company Tesla would install the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery at a wind farm in South Australia. This month, SolarReserve announced it would construct a 150MW solar thermal power plant in the state’s north.

This article was originally published by The Lead South Australia under a creative commons license.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2017/08/hybrid-office-building-cuts-cord-to-electricity-grid.html

Agelbert NOTE: The above is admirable, but it is also common sense. I wish to bring your attention to the possibility, which I consider a fact, that the encouragement given the populace over the last century or so to use energy without absolutely any consideration for efficiency has been deliberate by the fossil fuel industry.



WHY? Because the more fossil fuels we burned, the more money they made. All that ubiquitous ego inflating advertizing about "freedom" and "independence" and "doing it your way" energy use bling was a clever appeal to human greed and "do BETTER than the Joneses" base human psychology.

They convinced an entire generation that the advantages of low consumption and low impact living is something to be scorned, despite the biosphere math FACT that low consumption and low impact living is the ideal all humans should strive to achieve in order to preserve and protect the environment for their children.

IOW, through clever ego inflating ubiquitous advertising propaganda, they made greedy suckers out of most of us.


At the same time, the mendacious crooks that push polluting energy sources claimed, and still claim, that they would be happy to incorporate 'efficiency increases' to reduce fossil lfuel use and would 'support' Renewable Energy sources too.   But alas, the fossil fuel product is the most "cost effective" and "competitive" product out there. 


This was a half truth at best. The petroleum pigs certainly do go all out to make oil and gas extraction machinery as efficient as possible to increase profits. But they are totally against more efficency at the consumer level. They are the ones responsible for the minimum furnace size requirements in all buildings and many other code requiring INEFFICIENCIES that guarantee MORE fossil fuel use. And that's just the tip of the mens rea fossil fuel industry turdberg out there.

So, when the FACT that intrinsically low energy consuming architecture has been vigorously shunned by the fossil fuel industry for over a century is exposed, the malice and forethought on their part in encouraging totally unnecessary and massively inefficient high energy use becomes clear.

They WANT us to use a lot of energy so they can turn around and say our "standard of living", if not our very lives, will suffer "grievous harm" without fossil fuels.

Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute wrote a peer reviewed scientifc paper (Reinventing Fire) making it crystal clear that we can run human civilization on 80% LESS energy than we now use by incorporating various transportation, machinery, building and housing energy efficiency increasing technologies along with Renewable Energy WITHOUT ANY lowering of our standard of living.

So when you hear a fossil fueler claim that intrinsically low energy consuming architecture 'isn't competitive or cost efficient' (i.e. not ready for 'prime time'  ;)) along with their standard crocodile tears about how our "standard of living will suffer grievous harm" (i.e. 'we are all gonna die without our loyal servant the Fossil Fuel Industry') without fossil fuels, please show them the following meter reading in regard to everything they said:


The Fossil Fuelers DID THE Clean Energy  Inventions suppressing, Climate Trashing, human health depleting CRIME,   but since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks, they are trying to AVOID   DOING THE TIME or     PAYING THE FINE!     Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!   
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #70 on: October 04, 2017, 08:20:20 pm »
Agelbert NOTE: I lived in Humacao, Puerto Rico. I know what these learned writers are talking about. They are right to take umbrage at Trump's insensitive boorishness. But the article is mostly about viable solutions to the present infrastructure problems in Puerto Rico. Let us hope wise people listen to them. Their recomendations are, in fact, what should be done all over the world, not just in Puerto rico. 



It Is Time to Transform, Not Just Rebuild, in Puerto Rico

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

By Marisol LeBrón and Hilda Lloréns, Truthout | Op-Ed


SNIPPET:

Quote
Toward Energy Sovereignty

In Puerto Rico, "community efforts" -- to use Trump's own language -- to improve the quality of life for local communities have long preceded the current official top-down conversations about how to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged territory. For example, in the Bay of Jobos region, in southeastern Puerto Rico, a number of communities have been hard at work resisting environmental degradation and creating plans for sustainable environmental transformation for more than three decades. These are largely low-income communities that are disproportionately exposed to the toxic pollutants generated by two power plants that bookend Jobos Bay: the Aguirre Power Plant Complex and the AES coal power plant.

A fire that erupted at the Aguirre Power Plant Complex on September 21, 2016, plunged Puerto Rico into a three-day blackout, which foreshadowed the current power crisis and exposed the vulnerability of the power grid. The AES coal plant has been in the news lately as a result of the ongoing protests against the irresponsible disposal of toxic coal ash in the towns of Peñuelas and Humacao. Protesters are demanding that the AES plant be shut down because generating energy using coal inevitably leads to the production of toxic coal ash that is harmful to communities and the environment.

Despite its fertile terrain, Puerto Rico imports approximately 85 percent of its food. Hurricane Maria has revealed the intense vulnerability of Puerto Rico's food supply chain.
Almost all of the electricity generated in Puerto Rico comes from fossil fuels and is imported at a high cost to residents.

Puerto Ricans pay some of the highest energy costs within US jurisdiction. Presently, activists working with community-based environmental watchdog organizations, such as climate advocate and attorney Ruth Santiago of Comité Diálogo Ambiental and Alexis Massol Gonzalez of Casa Pueblo, argue that recovery efforts must entail a complete transformation of the grid itself. Building a resilient electric power grid will require ending the island's dependence on fossil fuels, opting instead for solar power, wind power and other clean energy resources. Additionally, the power grid must be decentralized from the current model   , which is based on large fossil-fuel dependent power plants with long-distance transmission.


Central Aguirre massively polluting Fossil Fuel Power Plant in Puerto Rico

The island should instead seek to develop a system of micro-grids, solar communities and other sustainable alternatives that allow residents to manage energy demand at a community level. Environmental justice communities, which have suffered the worst effects of the current model, want to play a central role in the management and production of photovoltaic and wind energy.

These are not people "who want everything to be done for them," these are people asking for the resources and commitments necessary to build a better Puerto Rico for themselves and future generations.

Punta de Lima wind farm (above before Hurricane Maria) has 13 Vestas 1.8 megawatt turbines. Many blades were destroyed. Pattern Energy developed and owned the Santa Isabel Wind Farm, with 44 turbines, where no damage occurred.

Quote
This video shows the destruction of Vestas turbines at the Punta de Lima project in Puerto Rico. The Punta de Lima Wind facility, developed by Gestamp Wind, began operation in April 2013 and includes 13 Vestas 1.8 megawatt turbines for a total capacity of 23.4 megawatts. Puerto Rico hosts a second, larger project, the Santa Isabel Wind Farm, developed and owned by Pattern Energy. Pattern has informed Windaction.org that its turbines did not sustain any damage from hurricaine Maria. The Santa Isabel site began operation in 2012 and consists of 44 wind turbines (each Siemens 2.3 megawatt turbines) for a total capacity of 101.2 megawatts.


Puerto Rico, Hurricanes Irma, Maria & Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (October 2017) | Ililani Media


Full article:

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/42152-it-is-time-to-transform-not-just-rebuild-in-puerto-rico
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #71 on: October 06, 2017, 07:53:30 pm »
EcoWatch

Elon Musk Wants to Rebuild Puerto Rico's Power Grid With Solar  

Ocrober 6, 2017 by Lorraine Chow

Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló responded positively  :o  to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's offer to help restore the island's hurricane-wrecked power grid with the company's batteries and solar panels.

"Let's talk," the governor tweeted to Musk Thursday evening. "Do you want to show the world the power and scalability of your #TeslaTechnologies? PR could be that flagship project." 

Musk tweeted back that he would be "happy to talk." 

Read more:

https://www.ecowatch.com/puerto-rico-tesla-2493674522.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #72 on: October 08, 2017, 05:11:34 pm »


5 Cities Reaping The Benefits Of Climate Action 

October 8th, 2017 by Guest Contributor

Originally published on The Climate Reality Project.

SNIPPET:

Global warming is a major threat to our planet, but particularly to our cities, in which two thirds of the world’s population are expected to live by 2050.

Even as national leaders make the headlines on climate, more and more, cities are the places turning big-picture objectives into practical steps forward to a sustainable future. In fact, the Trump Administration’s decision in June to withdraw from the Paris Agreement only strengthened the commitment of the world’s biggest cities to lower emissions for a low-carbon future.

This commitment is clear in the new Cities100 report, available now. For the third year in a row, Sustainia, C40, and Realdania have collected the 100 best urban solutions to climate change from cities around the world, and the 2017 edition of Cities100 presents some extraordinary cases of city climate action within the categories of energy, adaptation, transportation, mitigation, and waste.

This year’s Cities100 reveals how more cities are beginning to acknowledge the social, economic, and environmental benefits of climate action and adaptation. By taking climate action, cities can simultaneously future-proof against challenges such as overpopulation, air pollution, and extreme weather events, and save trillions of dollars on, for example, energy and health.

Let’s take a closer look at five cities from the new report that are creating greener, smarter, and healthier urban environments while reducing their carbon footprint.

Full article with nice pictures:   


https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/08/5-cities-reaping-benefits-climate-action/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #73 on: October 14, 2017, 07:10:14 pm »
Elon Musk Is Only Somewhat Right That Tesla’s Solar & Storage Can Scale To Rebuild Puerto Rico’s Grid

October 14th, 2017 by Michael Barnard

Full interesting article (he left some rather important advantages of Puerto Rico out, but I added them in a comment 8)):

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/14/musk-somewhat-right-teslas-solar-storage-can-scale-rebuild-puerto-ricos-grid/

Quote
Dan
I am willing to bet if PR could somehow swing an entirely new power grid from renewable energy that Tesla would focus on batteries and limited rooftop solar. I could see Tesla using the funding to quickly bring a second battery factory online and then accelerate their EV program once the grid was done.
At to power generation PR would get a better return with wind power the trade winds are right there perfect source of power.

agelbert Dan
You are correct in your assessment of what can be done in Puerto Rico.

I understand the situation down there rather well, so let me add something to Michael Barnard's article:

There are other advantages of the latitude (i.e. tropics) where Puerto Rico is located besides day length and lack of winter that I wish Michael had mentioned.

Humans need clean air, clean water, food and shelter to have a viable society. I will list ways that Puerto Rico can provide these basic needs affordably AND Renewably.

The main disadvantage of an island economy is the cost of transporting needed supplies from outside the island. And after said supplies get to the few ports, another cost of transporting from the ports to the homes and businesses is added.

Also, centralized water and electrical power systems further add to the cost of getting potable water and power to the homes and businesses.

Yes, the island is only is only 35 miles by 100 miles. But, it is mountainous. So the claim that a network of water pipes and electrical power lines within the island provides the most efficient way to provide those services is simply not true.

The goal must be to have as much distributed infrastructure as possible in order to reduce any and all costs of moving absolutely anything from point A to point B.

WHY? Because you want to have the smallest islandwide energy demand footprint.

WHY? Because the smaller the footprint, the cheaper it is to power with Renewable Energy. And there is less backup power that you need to store as well.

The procedure to set up this efficient Renewable Energy based system should go something like this:

1) The relative humidity is never below about 60%. That means that a solar power water generator in every home can cost effectively replace the entire water distribution pipe and pump system, which is costly to maintain. The island's water system would then be dedicated to the matter of collecting the sewage and possibly using it to manufacture fertilizer, instead of having a network of costly septic treatment plants using chemicals.

Water generators can, due to the relative humidity there, easily provide all the potable water that is, unlike the present system, not questionable for drinking. All the massive cost of energy now routinely paid by the average Puerto Rican to buy bottled water, plus the waste from bottle plastic, would not exist. Any tank the size of an 80 gallon water heater could hold the water cleanly. Of course people might want to have a large cistern for more water, but the average family would certainly not need one. No hurricane or earthquake would ever interrupt access to clean water anyone who's home was not utterly destroyed. Clean water from solar powered water generators is old technology. This is a must for an island subject to calamities like hurricanes and earthquaqes.

2) With the average family never suffering clean water shortages, the population becomes extremely resilient after a calamity. Disease vectors are stopped in their tracks because the people can bathe with, cook with and drink clean water 24/7. The next need is electrical energy. Since the island is relatively small, the promotion of 100% EV vehicles would mean billions (with a B) of dollars not spent on annually on fossil fuels. So, the best approach here is to solarize all the buildings.

Here, I wish to point something out that everybody seems to have missed. Puerto Rico is at around 18 degrees north latitude. Any solar installer will immediately realize that, for a large portion of the year, solar panels can be nearly flat against a flat roof, and still get nearly 100% efficiency. Beyond the fact that insolation values down there are superior to anywhere in the continental U.S., a flat solar panel, properly secured, will withstand category 5 hurricane winds, unlike a panel in Vermont that sits at about 40 degrees. There are periods of the year in Puerto Rico that the sun is directly above! That's right, you stand and your shadow is directly beneath you at noon. Most of the roofs in Puerto Rico are flat concrete so solarizing them and strongly securing the panels to them is easily done. After the island is solarized, even if 20% are damaged from a hurricane, most homes will have enough power to help their neighbors. This is what a resilient economy is like.

3) The centralized electrical grid should still exist for large cities like San Juan and Ponce, but the high voltage transmisssion lines and the towers vulnerable to hurricanes would no longer be needed over most of the island. That is one less part of the infrastructure to maintain.

4) Unlike the mainland USA, where the grid to EV network should be used as backup and smoothing and storage eventually, I think Puerto Rico should work to subsidize an EV for gasoline polluting clunkers program where a person's EV is charged mostly from their home. Remember, NO ROUND  TRIP to work in Puerto Rico exceeds the range of a Leaf, so the EV can become, for all practical purposes, a zero fuel cost vehicle for Puerto Ricans.

5) The powerwall systems will have their place too. The government should also subsidize them simply to provide resilience and grid smoothing on a 24/7 basis, plus a massive program to train the average Puerto Rican homeowner on how to best care for the system.

6) There is another HUGE advantage that Puerto Rico has that I wish to mention. Puerto Rico has the trade winds. They blow 5 to 15 mph 24/7 continuously (ALL YEAR).

NASA put an experimental wind turbine up on Culebra Island way back in the 1970's. It worked fine. It never stopped generating electricity. Do you know why it was dismantled?

I'm glad you asked. NASA wanted to give it to the power authority of Puerto Rico FREE on the condition that they maintain it. The power authority refused because their "business model" relied on fossil fuels. I'll give you a link to that story if you wish. The stranglehold of the fossil fuel interests in Puerto Rico has fostered tremendous costs, inefficency and pollution on that benighted island. It's time to stop that criminal stupidity by kicking fossil fuels off the island permanently.

7) The island, once it is running on over 50% Renewable Energy, can concentrate on using the advantage of not having winter to grow organic vegetables all year round. The greenhouses can be made to withstand hurricanes. Producing more of its own food will reduce the shipping costs for food coming to the island, which will, in turn, help the citizens prosper sustainably.

Puerto Rico needs fossil fuel powered infrastructure and vehicles like a hole in the head.

Puerto Rico has the geographic position and Renewable Energy resources that can make it the envy of the world. Even the ocean currents are a potential massive source of energy at the level of Japan and Scotland.

But with the Trump misadminstration acting so destructively, I do not see much hope for common sense to prevail in Puerto Rico.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 36274
  • Location: Colchester, Vermont
    • Renwable Revolution
Re: A High-Renewables Tomorrow, Today:
« Reply #74 on: January 05, 2018, 08:21:37 pm »
Renewable Energy Pays But You Won't Save a Penny or the Earth Because Of Money In Politics


In Germany the electric companies are paying people to take their energy but that can't happen here... because

Thom Hartmann  Jan. 3, 2018 2:30 pm

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

+-Recent Topics

Future Earth by AGelbert
March 30, 2022, 12:39:42 pm

Key Historical Events ...THAT YOU MAY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF by AGelbert
March 29, 2022, 08:20:56 pm

The Big Picture of Renewable Energy Growth by AGelbert
March 28, 2022, 01:12:42 pm

Electric Vehicles by AGelbert
March 27, 2022, 02:27:28 pm

Heat Pumps by AGelbert
March 26, 2022, 03:54:43 pm

Defending Wildlife by AGelbert
March 25, 2022, 02:04:23 pm

The Koch Brothers Exposed! by AGelbert
March 25, 2022, 01:26:11 pm

Corruption in Government by AGelbert
March 25, 2022, 12:46:08 pm

Books and Audio Books that may interest you 🧐 by AGelbert
March 24, 2022, 04:28:56 pm

COVID-19 🏴☠️ Pandemic by AGelbert
March 23, 2022, 12:14:36 pm