Renewable Revolution

Greg Alvarez 
May 3, 2017
 
Yesterday, the leader of the California Senate, Kevin de Leon, proposed a bill that would transition California to 100 percent renewable retail electricity.

That would improve upon the state’s existing renewable energy standard, which calls for 50 percent renewables by 2030. Under the new legislation the state would hit that target five years early, and would achieve its 100 percent renewable goal by 2045.

“I realized that the investor-owned utilities are going to hit 50 percent by the early-to-mid 2020s without breaking a sweat ,” de Leon said. “So, we should accelerate this process and demonstrate to the entire world that we can actually generate 100 percent of our electricity with clean energy and put people to work.” 

Danielle Osborn Mills, Director of AWEA’s California Caucus, praised the move:

“The wind industry stands ready to create jobs and provide affordable, reliable, clean energy to Californians. Wind energy is already a no-regrets alternative to fossil fuels, and it is a key component of a diverse, balanced, low-carbon grid. Accelerating our renewable energy targets to get to 50% renewables by 2026 can help Californians capture significant savings from the declining federal tax incentives for renewable energy, and will promote significant additional direct investment in California.

“This bill isn’t just about a long-term vision, it is about near-term action.  We cannot afford to delay.  SB 100 will ensure continued economic growth, improved environmental quality for all, and resilience in the face of uncertainty.” 

http://www.aweablog.org/california-legislative-leaders-call-100-percent-renewable-energy/

Agelbert NOTE: Trump and his fossil fuel based wrecking crew will, of course, try to sabotage these CommonFuckingSense efforts in California. My advice to them and all their buddies from the Kochtopus is to bring a sandwich.



Uploaded on Jun 13, 2011
A short animation detailing the effort of billionaires oil barons Charles & David Koch to undermine belief in climate change and prevent legislation that threatens their profits. By pouring money into bogus scientific studies and funding third parties such as Think Tanks and Front Groups (posing as everything from Seniors groups to Women's groups) the public is led to believe a genuine scientific debate is raging. In truth, as one climate denier candidly admits, those doubting the science are just a small, if brilliantly coordinated, minority.

The piece was made by Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham and incorporates footage from his 55 min. documentary The Billionaires' Tea Party (2011).
Published on Mar 2, 2011
See more at http://www.zinasaunders.com

Renewable Energy Is Unstoppable, Declares Financial Times   

May 19th, 2017 by Steve Hanley

SNIPPET:

With more then 2.2 million readers a day, the Financial Times is the newspaper of record for economists, business leaders, and government policy makers worldwide. Think Progress claims FT, as it is known to its readers, is the “most important business read” and “the most credible publication in reporting financial and economic issues” for global professional investors, business leaders, and policy makers according to surveys.

On May 18, its lead story was entitled: The Big Green Bang: How Renewable Energy Became Unstoppable. It begins with a question, one that should leave fossil fuel industry leaders feeling glum — “Is the 21st century the last one for fossil fuels?” Before we start rejoicing, keep in mind there are still 83 years left to go in this century and the fossil fuel industry intends to extract and sell every molecule of fossil fuels it can find before the end times for oil, natural gas, and coal arrive. By the time 2101 gets here, the earth may have been unalterably changed to the point where human existence as we know it is no longer possible.

Bill McKibben, in his insightful book, Oil And Honey, makes the case clearly. The environment can withstand perhaps another 565 gigatons of carbon emissions before the environment tips over into unsustainability. After that, most of the species presently alive will simply disappear, the oceans will rise by an average of 12 feet, and global temperatures will increase to the point where traditional agriculture becomes impossible. Our children’s children may not roast to death but they very well might die of starvation.

McKibben then drops the other shoe. The world’s fossil fuel companies have reserves which, if consumed, will release 2,795 gigatons of carbon emissions into the world’s already overloaded ecosystem — five times more than the environment can possibly absorb. If the fossil fuel companies dropped nuclear bombs on society, they would be vilified as monsters. But 2,795 gigatons worth of carbon may be worse than a nuclear attack. Radiation begins to abate after a few hundred years. It may be a million years of more the earth is able to recover from the fossil fuel bomb the Koch Brothers and their ilk have in mind.



https://cleantechnica.com/2017/05/19/renewable-energy-unstoppable-declares-financial-times/

Joshua D. Rhodes, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in The Webber Energy Group and the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His current research is in the area of smart grid and the bulk electricity system, including spatial system-level applications and impacts of energy efficiency, resource planning, distributed generation, and storage. He is also interested in policy.


SNIPPET:


May 25, 2017

By Joshua D. Rhodes, Michael E. Webber, Thomas Deetjen and Todd Davidson

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in April requested a study to assess the effect of renewable energy policies on nuclear and coal-fired power plants.

Some energy analysts responded with confusion, as the subject has been extensively studied by grid operators and the Department of Energy’s own national labs. Others were more critical, saying the intent of the review is to favor the use of nuclear and coal over renewable sources.

So, are wind and solar killing coal and nuclear? Yes    , but not by themselves and not for the reasons most people think. Are wind and solar killing grid reliability? No, not where the grid’s technology and regulations have been modernized. In those places, overall grid operation has improved, not worsened.

To understand why, we need to trace the path of electrons from the wall socket back to power generators and the markets and policies that dictate that flow. As energy scholars based in Texas — the national leader in wind — we’ve seen these dynamics play out over the past decade, including when Perry was governor.

Wrong Question 


There has been a lot of ink spilled on why coal is in trouble. A quick recap: Natural gas is plentiful and cheap. Our coal fleet is old and depreciated. Energy use in the U.S. has flatlined, so there’s less financial incentive to build big new power plants.

Part of Perry’s review  is aimed at establishing how wind and solar, which are variable sources of power, are affecting so-called baseload sources — the power plants that provide the steady flow of electricity needed to meet the minimum demand.

Posing the question whether wind and solar are killing baseload generators, including coal plants, reveals an antiquated mindset about power markets that hasn’t been relevant in many places for at least a decade. It would be similar to asking in the late 1990s whether email was killing fax machines and snail mail. The answer would have been an unequivocal “yes” followed by cheers of “hallelujah” and “it’s about time” because both had bumped into the limits of their utility. How quickly 1990s consumers leaped to something faster, less impactful and cheaper than the older approach was a sign that they were ready for it.

Something similar is happening in today’s power markets, as customers again choose faster, less impactful, cheaper options — namely wind, solar and natural gas plants that quickly boost or cut their output — as opposed to clinging to the outdated, lumbering options developed decades before. Even the Department of Energy’s own analysis states that “many of the old paradigms that govern the (electricity) sector are also evolving.”

Wind and solar are making older generators less viable because their low, stable prices and emissions-free operation are desirable. And they aren’t hurting grid reliability the way critics had assumed because other innovations have happened simultaneously.


Texas Pioneer

Let’s use the case study of Texas to illustrate. Since Texas has its own grid, known as the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT, and has installed more wind capacity than the next three wind-leading states combined, the Texas experience shows what variable renewables like wind power do to the grid.

In competitive markets like ERCOT, companies that run power plants place bids into an auction to provide electricity at a certain time for a certain price. A bid stack is jargon for “a stack of bids” — or the collection of all these bids lined up in order by price — in auction-based markets (such as Texas).

Markets use bid stacks to make sure that the lowest-cost power plants are dispatched first and the most expensive power plants are dispatched last. This market-based system is designed to deliver the lowest-cost electricity to consumers while also keeping power plant owners from operating at a loss. Throughout the day, the market price for electricity (in $/MWh) changes as demand changes.

Full EYE OPENING article (though Palloy's eyes will continue to be tightly shut  ) with irrefutable animated charts and hard data proving that Renewables make the Grid MORE RELIABLE , not less:

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2017/05/are-solar-and-wind-really-killing-coal-nuclear-and-grid-reliability.html

May 25th, 2017 by Saurabh Mahapatra

SNIPPET:

According to the data for 2014-15, there are 248 thermal power plants in India based on a variety of fuels including coal, lignite, imported coal, diesel and different forms of petroleum-based fuels. The new low of solar power tariffs — Rs 2.44/kWh — is less than the tariff of 227 of the 248 thermal power plants.

Most of the cheaper 21 thermal power plants are based on domestic coal while a few are based on lignite and one uses imported coal. Another thermal power plant that is not listed among the 248 is India’s largest thermal power plant, Sasan Ultra Mega Power Plant which has an installed capacity of 3,960 megawatts. This is also among the cheapest thermal power plants in India.

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/05/25/new-solar-projects-india-cheaper-92-thermal-power-plants-country/

 


 The US electric grid can reliably handle up to 80% renewable energy by 2030, according to new research that pushes back against claims from the Trump administration that renewables are a threat to the grid’s reliability. The study from over 20 researchers published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also functions as a rebuttal to a 2015 paper claiming the US can reach a 100 percent renewable grid by 2055. Both studies argue for an aggressive increase in US energy use. Lead author of the PNAS study Chris Clack told the Washington Post that “a peer reviewed piece to highlight some of the mistakes [of the 2015 study]” was necessary to “have a broader discussion about what we really need to fight climate change.” Lead author of the 2015 paper, Stanford professor Mark Jacobsen, has pushed back aggressively against the new paper on Twitter and in the press. 

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19062017/100-percent-renewable-energy-climate-change-targets

June 15, 2017

By Kelvin Ross 
         
Renewables will account for almost three quarters of global investment in power generation between now and 2040, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

In its New Energy Outlook 2017, Bloomberg estimates that $10.2 trillion will be spent on power generation technology in the next 22 years, with clean energy grabbing $7.4 trillion.

“This year’s report suggests that the greening of the world’s electricity system is unstoppable, thanks to rapidly falling costs for solar and wind power, and a growing role for batteries, including those in electric vehicles, in balancing supply and demand,” said Seb Henbest, lead author of the report.

Of the $7.4 trillion Bloomberg expects to be invested in new renewable energy plants by 2040, solar will account for $2.8 trillion, which will provide a 14-fold jump in capacity, while wind gets $3.3 trillion and sees a fourfold increase in capacity.

“As a result, wind and solar will make up 48 percent of the world’s installed capacity and 34 percent of electricity generation by 2040, compared with just 12 and 5 percent now,” said Henbest.

The report states that the levelized cost of electricity from solar PV, which is now almost a quarter of what it was in 2009, is set to drop another 66 percent by 2040. “By then a dollar will buy 2.3 times as much solar energy than it does today. Solar is already at least as cheap as coal in Germany, Australia, the U.S., Spain and Italy,” said Henbest. “By 2021, it will be cheaper than coal in China, India, Mexico, the U.K. and Brazil as well.”

Meanwhile the report forecasts that offshore wind levelized costs will “slide a whopping 71 percent by 2040, helped by development experience, competition and reduced risk, and economies of scale resulting from larger projects and bigger turbines.” It predicts the cost of onshore wind will fall 47 percent in the same period, on top of the 30 percent drop of the past eight years, thanks to cheaper, more efficient turbines and streamlined operating and maintenance procedures.

In terms of countries leading the way in investment, China and India dominate, accounting for what Bloomberg calls “a $4 trillion opportunity for the energy sector.” The report states China will account for 28 percent and India 11 percent of all investment in power generation by 2040. Indeed, the Asia Pacific region sees almost as much investment in generation as the rest of the world combined. Of this, just under a third goes to wind and solar each, 18 percent to nuclear and 10 percent to coal and gas.

The report finds that the reach of renewables will be boosted by the rise of battery technology. “We expect the lithium-ion battery market for energy storage to be worth at least $239 billion between now and 2040,” said Henbest. “Utility-scale batteries increasingly compete with natural gas to provide system flexibility at times of peak demand. Small-scale batteries installed by households and businesses alongside PV systems will account for 57 percent of storage worldwide by 2040. We anticipate renewable energy reaching 74 percent penetration in Germany by 2040, 38 percent in the U.S., 55 percent in China and 49 percent in India.”

Electric vehicles are also predicted to play a role in bolstering electricity use and balancing the grid. In Europe and the U.S., Bloomberg estimates that EVs will account for 13 and 12 percent, respectively, of electricity generation by 2040. “Charging EVs flexibly, when renewables are generating and wholesale prices are low, will help the system adapt to intermittent solar and wind. The growth of EVs pushes the cost of lithium-ion batteries down 73 percent by 2030,” explained Henbest.

The sharp rise in renewables investment is of course predicted to impact on fossil fuel generation. “Coal-fired power collapses in Europe and the U.S.,  ” says the report. “Sluggish demand, cheap renewables and coal-to-gas fuel switching will slash coal use by 87 percent in Europe by 2040. In the US, coal use in power drops 45 percent as old plants are not replaced and others start burning cheaper gas. Coal generation in China grows by a fifth over the next decade but reaches a peak in 2026. Globally, we expect 369 GW of planned new coal plants to be cancelled, a third of which are in India, and for global demand for thermal coal in power to decline by 15 percent over 2016-40.”

And Bloomberg stresses that gas will be a transition fuel, “but not in the way most people think.”

The report states that gas-fired power will see $804 billion in new investment and 16 percent more capacity by 2040. “Gas plants will increasingly act as one of the flexible technologies needed to help meet peaks and provide system stability in an age of rising renewable generation, rather than as a replacement for baseload coal,” said Henbest. “In the Americas, however, where gas is plentiful and cheap, it plays a more central role, especially in the near term.”

Despite a pro-coal stance taken by U.S. President Donald Trump, the report indicates that “the economic realities over the next two decades will not favor U.S. coal-fired power, which is forecast to see a 51 percent reduction in generation by 2040. In its place, gas-fired electricity will rise 22 percent and renewables 169 percent.”

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2017/06/renewables-to-grab-7-trillion-of-global-power-investment-says-bnef.html


Kelvin Ross is Editor of Power Engineering International magazine and its associated publications – Middle East Energy and the Global Power Review. Previously, Kelvin was News Editor at UK online news site Energy Live News, Production Editor and Head of Design on daily international shipping newspaper Lloyd’s List, Deputy Editor for a group of weekly London newspapers and has worked as a freelance sub-editor on UK national newspapers.

July 20, 2017

By Liu Yuanyuan  Director of Operations solar
         
China has installed 7.21 GW of new solar capacity in the first quarter of 2017, achieving another renewable energy milestone with growth maintaining the same pace as during 1Q16. Of that total, 4.78 GW came from utility-scale solar, with the remaining 2.43 GW originating from distributed solar PV, bringing the country’s cumulative solar PV capacity up to almost 85 GW. The country generated 21.4 billion kWh of electricity during the quarter, up 80 percent over the same period of a year earlier, according to statistics from China’s National Energy Administration (NEA).

The lion’s share of new solar PV capacity was located in the central and eastern regions of the country, accounting for 6.39 GW or 89 percent of the total new capacity added. China’s key PV market is gradually transitioning from the country’s western and northern interior to the center and along the eastern coast, with the 2.43 GW of new distributed solar PV overwhelmingly located in just four provinces: Zhejiang, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.

However, curtailment issues continued to plague various regions during the quarter. While abandonment figures for Ningxia and Gansu dropped by 10 percent and 19 percent respectively, Qinghai, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia all saw time outs due to a curtailment increase of 9 percent, 11 percent, and 8 percent respectively, with the amount of time that Xinjiang’s wind plants sat idle remaining at an astronomically high 39 percent. 

Following an in-depth analysis of the industry and the leading industry players, the China National Renewable Energy Centre predicted the country’s newly-added installed solar capacity for the first half of the year would reach 24 GW, including roughly 17 GW from utility-scale solar.

The remaining 7 GW came from distributed solar PV, nearly three times what was added during the same period in 2016. During the second half of the year, the distributed solar PV sector is expected to maintain rapid growth, with anticipated newly added installed capacity reaching more than 7 GW, driven by the country’s favorable policies to drive development of the sector. For the full year of 2017, the country’s total newly added installed solar capacity has a good chance of exceeding 40 GW, the center predicted.

But ambitious targets do not necessarily translate into results. To achieve those goals, China would need to overcome chronic problems in its energy sector. The sector remained hobbled by severe overcapacity. Slowing demand for electricity due to the economic downturn and the slashing of energy intensive industries has caused widespread under-utilization of existing power generation capacities which are seeing their lowest utilization hours since 1978.  

Yet, consolidation and restructuring across China’s solar PV sector is expected to lead to stability in terms of the sector’s further development.   

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2017/07/china-achieves-7-2-mw-new-solar-capacity-milestone-in-1q17.html

Posted on Jul 30, 2017

By Juan Cole / Informed Comment

SNIPPET:


* On one day in May, Italy met 87% of its electricity production needs from renewables. This statistic was a fluke, since ordinarily renewables supply less than a fifth of Italy’s electricity.  Still, that on especially bright and windy days renewables can perform at this level is a harbinger for the future.  There were no disruptions of the power lines.  With enough investment, Italy could get most of its electricity from renewables

Italy is attractive as a market for solar energy, in part because it is a sunny country and solar is a much cheaper alternative to oil, gas and coal.  Italy has high electricity rates, impelling a rush to renewables.  Solar energy production was up 22% in 2016, and installations continue.
Renewables like wind and solar are up to 17% of Italian electricity production.  (They only account for 10% of US electricity production).

An Italian firm also won the right to install solar panels in Bushehr, Iran.  Iran generates some electricity with petroleum, which is a loss since it could be sold on the world market.  It thus is interested in renewables.  Each kilowatt hour brought to Iran by solar equates with more money that can be made by selling the oil abroad instead of wasting it domestically.

If you want to see the future, you don’t look at existing power generation mixes, you look at source of new power. In 2016, 90% of new power generation in Europe was renewables.

Read more:   

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/on_one_fine_day_in_may_italy_got_87_electricity_renewables