Green energy in abundance

“Sorry, pessimists, the energy problem is solved.” Ulrich Fichtner, SPIEGEL colleague, is almost right with this description of the energy crisis ( Ulrich Fichtner: Born for the big opportunities, Spiegel-Buch-Verlag 2023 ).

Correct: The problem is solvable, but it is far from being solved. The energy question is the survival question of the 21st century. We know what we are doing, but we are not yet really doing what we know and doing it sufficiently. The new solar dynamic is like this: cheaper, better, faster. We can still win the climate war.

At least things are moving in the right direction. Examples:

We have seen a 90 percent reduction in the cost of a kilowatt hour of solar power within two decades.
That is why green electricity is booming worldwide, as are storage technologies.
Solar energy and wind energy are the cheapest sources of electricity in the world. According to the Fraunhofer Institute ISE, PV with battery storage is now cheaper than electricity from conventional power plants.
The photo (right –on original) shows one of the largest photovoltaic plants in the world in Abu Dhabi. It is expected to be four times as large by 2030 and will then be able to produce as much electricity as around 15 medium-sized nuclear power plants.
We have global growth rates for renewable energies of 40, 50 and 60 percent per year.
In Germany, renewables were already the largest source of electricity generation by 2024 – almost two thirds renewable and only one third fossil fuels.
According to calculations by the World Energy Agency, IEA, this will be the case globally by 2027.
The World Energy Outlook, published every year by the IEA in Paris, assumes that demand for fossil energy sources will peak in 2025. Although the global economy will continue to grow then, CO2 emissions will shrink.
The energy transition is in full swing worldwide. I agree with my colleague Ulrich Fichtner when he writes: “A renewable economic miracle is sweeping the globe” (page 87).
Even in China, solar and wind will have overtaken coal by 2024, something that seemed unthinkable until recently.
Not only the USA, but also Germany has decided to produce its electricity completely CO2-free by 2035.
The European Union doubled its share of green electricity between the beginning of 2022 and the end of 2023.
Costa Rica, Iceland and Kenya already produce their electricity almost entirely from renewable sources, but from very different sources, which is due to their different geographies.
China aims to produce half of all renewable electricity worldwide by 2027.
The United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Norway and Chile have ambitious plans to produce solar hydrogen.
In addition to China, the USA, Egypt and Morocco are investing heavily in photovoltaics.
The ten ASEAN countries in East Asia want to increase their share of renewable energies by 70 percent by 2027 compared to 2023 – Brazil, Cuba, Argentina, Mali and other countries in Central and Southern Africa have similar goals.

Children born today can experience a climate without crisis in 2050 – when they will be 25. People all over the world will be the winners of the solar world revolution in the future when they produce renewable electricity for one or two euro cents. Fortunately for us, plans for a better world with peaceful coexistence without exploitation of people and nature are on the table worldwide.

In spring 2024, Abu Dhabi’s energy minister told me that his country was already producing one kilowatt hour of solar power for 0.7 euro cents. The figures mentioned show that the world is electrifying and developing economically at a previously unimaginable pace. On this point, too, I can agree with Ullrich Fichtner: “A child born today will not have to worry too much about the world’s energy supply on its 25th birthday.” (Page 86).

This reminds me of a new book title by couples therapist Matthias Jung about the miracle of transformation. He writes: “It is not where the wind blows from that determines our path, but how we set the sails.” ( Matthias Jung: Setting Sails – The Miracle of Transformation, emuverlag ).

January 22, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Nine Swedish energy researchers find that new nuclear power is not needed.

The government has stated that “physics is heavier than politics” .
Unfortunately, on several occasions, misconceptions have been spread about
the physical capabilities of the power system.

It is not true that it costs 8 billion to regulate and balance wind power, or that new nuclear power is necessary for a stable electricity system, write nine energy researchers
from north to south. The need for new nuclear power. “New nuclear power
is necessary for a stable and reliable energy system, for both consumers
and businesses,” stated Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) in
November 2023.

It goes without saying that a stable and reliable energy
system is needed. Svenska kraftnät has studied various alternatives in its
reports, the latest of which is “ Long-term Market Analysis 2024 ”. It
shows that a Swedish fossil-free power system with more than twice as much
consumption as today, and without nuclear power, can achieve reliability at
the same level as today.

The solution is called flexibility, where electric
cars, hydrogen storage and electricity trading contribute, among other
things. Nuclear power is important for stability today, as it contributes a
buffer in the form of rotational energy. This buffer ensures that balance
is maintained during the first seconds after, for example, a sudden stop in
another nuclear power plant. Nuclear power also helps to ensure that we get
an appropriate voltage on the power lines.

But this can also be arranged in
other ways. In the Nordic countries there is a system that activates
batteries, among other things, in seconds, so that stability is achieved
even with lower amounts of nuclear power. There is also a technological
development where Swedish industry is at the forefront. There is an
incredibly large export market, since the whole world will get more solar
and wind power when the existing fossil power plants are phased out. This
shift is happening now because solar and wind power have steadily fallen in
price and can be built quickly.

Dagens Nyheter 18th Jan 2025 https://www.dn.se/debatt/karnkraft-ar-en-mojlighet-men-ingen-fysisk-nodvandighet/

January 22, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, Sweden | Leave a comment

Renewable energy sets global record…but it’s not enough

IRENA says world needs to double green generation to stay on track for 2050

16/01/2025 – https://www.energylivenews.com/2025/01/16/renewable-energy-sets-global-record-but-its-not-enough/

The world hit a record of 530GW of renewable generation in 2024 but it needs double that amount if we are to meet net zero needs.

International Renewal Energy Agency (IRENA), holding its general assembly in Abu Dhabi this week, revealed globally green generation capacity has now climbed to roughly 4,400 GW, up from 3,870 GW in 2023.

But Director-General Francesco La Camera said this is half of what is needed.

While a record $1.3 trillion (£1.07tn) was invested in energy transition technologies in 2022, annual investments need to quadruple to remain on track to meet global energy transition goals.

IRENA estimates a cumulative $150 trillion (£122tn) in investment is needed by 2050.

January 18, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable | Leave a comment

Germany deploys 16.2 GW of solar in 2024

Germany installed 16.2 GW of solar in 2024, bringing total PV capacity to
99.3 GW by the end of December 2024, according to the Federal Network
Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

PV Magazine 8th Jan 2025
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/01/08/germany-deploys-16-2-gw-of-solar-in-2024/

January 12, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Trump’s war on wind power: Plans to stop windmill construction nationwide

In a recent conference held at his Florida resort, US President-elect
Donald Trump announced his intention to halt the construction of wind
turbines across the country. “We are going to have a policy where no
windmills will be built,” Trump declared, reiterating his long-standing
opposition to this form of renewable energy.

Review Energy 8th Jan 2025
https://www.review-energy.com/otras-fuentes/trump-s-war-on-wind-power-plans-to-stop-windmill-construction-nationwide

January 11, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Is the Haverigg wind project once more under a nuclear threat?

NFLA 8th Jan 2025

Standing alongside the perimeter of the old RAF Millom are eight wind turbines generating clean energy for the nation, and the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities fear they may be threatened by the latest plans to bring a nuclear waste dump to Haverigg and Millom.

A private company with fifty shareholders, Windcluster, owns and operates four of the turbines, whilst the remainder are run by Thrive Renewables, which has over seven thousand investors.

Windcluster was established in 1988 as a private company. The company first installed five 225 Kw Vestas V27 turbines near the abandoned airfield. This Haverigg I project was a groundbreaker being only the second commercial wind project in the UK. Commissioned on 5 August 1992, it was formally opened that December by Environment Minister, David Maclean MP, at a ceremony hosted by the Haverigg Primary School. Windcluster has continued its relationship with the school, having established a community fund to sponsor its activities.

The V27 turbines were dismantled in 2004 and replaced in 2005 by four larger V52 turbines, with a total rating of 3.4 MW, as the Haverigg III project. This had an expected generating lifespan of 20 years; however, after 15 years, the company secured permission from the landlord, the Craghill family, and from the planning authority, Copeland Council, to continue operations until 2040.

8th January 2025

Is the Haverigg wind project once more under a nuclear threat?

A private company with fifty shareholders, Windcluster, owns and operates four of the turbines, whilst the remainder are run by Thrive Renewables, which has over seven thousand investors.

Alongside Haverigg I, Windcluster secured consents to install four more wind turbines on the airfield. Initially financed and developed by The Wind Company UK Ltd and The Wind Fund, this Haverigg II project was brought online by the end of July 1998. This is now owned outright by Thrive Renewables. Haverigg II is equipped with four Wind World W4200 turbines, with a generating capacity of 2.4 GW. Thrive has also developed a Community Benefit Programme which has awarded energy-efficiency grants to the Millom Baptist Church and Kirksanton Village Hall. Like the Windcluster project, Thrive has secured permissions to extend its operations to 2032.

Together the two wind projects generate enough renewable electricity, approximately 16 GW annually, to power around 4,100 homes. Windcluster has published an estimate that Haverigg II saves 4,430 tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 443 people in the UK. The smaller Thrive project will save an additional two-thirds of that.

Nuclear Waste Services are now looking to identify ‘Areas of Focus’ in each of the three Search Areas where investigations are ongoing to find a prospective site for a surface facility for the Geological Disposal Facility that would receive regular shipments of high-level radioactive waste from Sellafield.

In each ‘Area of Focus’ NWS will conduct ‘further investigative and technical studies’. The NFLAs have been advised by Simon Hughes, NWS Siting and Communities Director, that ‘NWS will publish an update on Areas of Focus early next year, and the community engagement teams will be out in the community to explain our findings, listen to their feedback, and consider next steps’.

The NFLAs have already written to NWS to request that the major local employer, HMP Haverigg, and tourist and heritage sites be excluded from consideration in the South Copeland Search Area.

As supporters of renewable energy generation, we are also worried that the future of these wind turbines might also be jeopardised if the site is selected as an ‘Area of Focus’, and becomes subject to intrusive borehole investigations in the future.

This is not the first time the turbines have been threatened by a nuclear project………………………………………….. https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/is-the-haverigg-wind-project-once-more-under-a-nuclear-threat/

January 11, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | 1 Comment

Schneider Electric warns of future where datacenters eat the grid.

Report charts four scenarios from ‘Sustainable AI’ to ‘Who Turned Out The Lights?’

The Register, Dan Robinson, Thu 2 Jan 2025

Policymakers need to carefully guide the future consumption of electricity by AI datacenters, according to a report that considers four potential scenarios and suggests a number of guiding principles to prevent it from spiraling out of control.

The research published by energy infrastructure biz Schneider Electric follows the IEA Global Conference on Energy & AI last month. Titled Artificial Intelligence and Electricity: A System Dynamics Approach, it looks at the emerging schools of thought relating to AI and the associated impact on electricity consumption.

Much has already been reported on the rise of AI, and especially generative AI, which has led to huge investment in high-performance and power-hungry infrastructure for the purposes of developing and training models.

As the report notes, existing datacenter infrastructure requires significant energy to function, and will need extra resources to support the anticipated growth in AI adoption. This has already been causing concerns about the potential strain on electricity grids and the possible environmental impact if energy demand to power AI continues to rise at its current rate.

Schneider has modeled four distinct scenarios, which it has labeled as: Sustainable AI; Limits To Growth; Abundance Without Boundaries; and Energy Crisis. All four forecast a general upward trend in energy consumption for the period 2025 to 2030, but diverge notably after this based on the assumptions underpinning each one.

Sustainable AI looks at the potential outcome of prioritizing efficiency while energy consumption steadily increases, whereas Limits To Growth outlines a constrained path where AI development hits natural or human-related limits. Abundance Without Boundaries considers the potential risks of unchecked growth, while the Energy Crisis scenario examines how mismatched energy demand and generation would potentially lead to widespread shortages…………………………………….

The Abundance Without Boundaries scenario indicates that the rapid and unrestrained development of AI systems poses the risk of a continual arms race towards bigger and more powerful infrastructure, outpacing the capacity for sustainable resource utilization.

Schneider forecasts total AI energy consumption to rise enormously from the 100 TWh in 2025 to 880 TWh by 2030, continuing on an upwards trajectory and reaching a staggering 1,370 TWh in 2035.

This scenario displays the Jevons Paradox, where improvements in AI efficiency paradoxically lead to increased overall energy consumption. It forecasts that AI and datacenters will expand without barriers, as techno-optimists drive rapid AI deployment across all sectors, believing that AI advances will solve any resource constraints.

Finally, the Energy Crisis model foresees the rapid growth of AI leading to its energy demands conflicting with other critical sectors of the economy. This triggers various negative outcomes, including economic downturns and severe operational challenges for AI-dependent industries…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………… The overall message is that governments and industry leaders need to strategically plan to balance AI growth with environmental and economic sustainability. Whether they do so is another matter. https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/02/schneider_datacenter_consumption/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHq2YVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVfvIFP2K80qCEymVUJTwNLMHze1xPomN5JWt_BJUqcjsnJ4ok3ufW7j4A_aem_xPDDvZ99rni2Twb5uri1Tg
—

January 10, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

A 12-year-old schoolgirl has designed a solar-powered blanket for the homeless

A 12-year-old schoolgirl has designed a solar-powered blanket for the
homeless, winning a prize in a UK engineering competition. Rebecca Young,
from Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, said she thought of the invention after
seeing people sleeping on the city streets. Tasked with producing a design
to address a social issue, she began researching sleeping bags and
backpacks to see if there was a way to help protect those living rough from
the cold.

Times 1st Jan 2024 https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/girl-12-designs-solar-powered-blanket-for-homeless-xxwwg2rrx

January 4, 2025 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Why tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta are betting big on nuclear power

Sat, Dec 28, Bradley Hoppenstein, CNBC

Data centers powering artificial intelligence and cloud computing are pushing energy demand and production to new limits. Global electricity use could rise as much as 75% by 2050, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, with the tech industry’s AI ambitions driving much of the surge.

Data centers powering AI and cloud computing could soon grow so large that they could use more electricity than entire cities.

As leaders in the AI race push for further technological advancements and deployment, many are finding their energy needs increasingly at odds with their sustainability goals.

“A new data center that needs the same amount of electricity as say, Chicago, cannot just build its way out of the problem unless they understand their power needs,” said Mark Nelson, managing director of Radiant Energy Group. “Those power needs. Steady, straight through, 100% power, 24 hours a day, 365,” he added.

After years of focusing on renewables, major tech companies are now turning to nuclear power for its ability to provide massive energy in a more efficient and sustainable fashion.

Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are among the most recognizable names exploring or investing in nuclear power projects. Driven by the energy demands of their data centers and AI models, their announcements mark the beginning of an industrywide trend…………………. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/28/why-microsoft-amazon-google-and-meta-are-betting-on-nuclear-power.html

December 30, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

A nuclear-free energy future for Hydro-Québec, says Michael Sabia

Marie-Anne Audet, Thursday, December 12, 2024, Le Journal de Montreal,

Hydro-Québec has definitively closed the door to nuclear power, according to its CEO, Michael Sabia, who assured Thursday that energy production will reach new heights with the agreement in principle announced between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador around the Churchill Falls dam.

If approved, the deal would add 2,400 MW to Hydro-Québec’s production. The Crown corporation also plans to invest $25 billion to launch three new power plants in Labrador

“We are going to increase production between 8,000 and 9,000 megawatts [by 2035]. With the 2,400 megawatts coming from Newfoundland, we arrive at more than 11,000 megawatts of additional power,” he illustrated during an interview with LCN………………………………………………… https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2024/12/12/un-futur-energetique-sans-nucleaire-pour-hydro-quebec-affirme-michael-sabia

December 16, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, renewable | Leave a comment

Murder, mayhem, and minerals: The price of the renewable energy revolution

It’s not as if the human and environmental toll of mining is a
particularly well-kept secret. But the full extent of the damage from
mining for the rare earth elements and other metals that go into electronic
devices, electric vehicles, solar panels, and countless additional
components of modern life can be hard to wrap one’s mind around—unless
the mountain of evidence is laid out end-to-end, as in Vince Beiser’s new
book Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future.
The book begins with an overview of what Beiser calls “critical
metals,” where they come from, and the history of their discovery and
extraction, before moving on to the current state of mining and processing
critical metals today.

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 11th Dec 2024 https://thebulletin.org/2024/12/murder-mayhem-and-minerals-the-price-of-the-renewable-energy-revolution/

December 15, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable | Leave a comment

Meta misguided in calling for massive nuclear energy scale-up

Johanna Neumann and Jon Maunder, 4 Dec 24, https://environmentamerica.org/center/media-center/statement-meta-misguided-in-calling-for-massive-nuclear-energy-scale-up/

BOSTON — Meta announced a request for proposals (RFP) on Tuesday, asking energy developers to respond with plans to build 1-4 GW of new nuclear generation capacity to be delivered in the early 2030s. The tech giant wants to use the power for data centers to support energy-intensive artificial intelligence (AI).

The agreement comes on the heels of other large technology companies expressing interest in nuclear. In October, Google announced a partnership with California’s Kairos Power, to buy energy from small nuclear reactors starting in 2030, and Amazon announced that it signed agreements to support the development of new nuclear energy projects. Earlier this fall, Microsoft inked a deal with Constellation Energy that aims to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

Energy-intensive computing is projected to drive a surge in electricity demand after nearly two decades of little to no new growth. Already, this projected increase is prolonging America’s dependence on dirty energy. Polluting coal and gas fired plants are having their lives extended, new gas plants have been proposed, and there’s interest in reopening additional previously shuttered nuclear plants, such as Palisades in Michigan.

Environment America Research & Policy Center’s Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, Johanna Neumann, issued the following statement:

“The long history of overhyped nuclear promises reveals that nuclear energy is expensive and slow to build all while still being inherently dangerous. America already has 90,000 metric tons of nuclear waste that we don’t have a storage solution for. Do we really want to create more radioactive waste to power the often dubious and questionable uses of AI?

“In the blind sprint to win on AI, Meta and the other tech giants have lost their way. Big Tech should recommit to solutions that not only work but pose less risk to our environment and health.”

“Data centers should be as energy and water efficient as possible and powered solely with new renewable energy. Without those guardrails, the tech industry’s insatiable thirst for energy risks derailing America’s efforts to get off polluting forms of power, including nuclear.”

December 7, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Baseload power generators not needed to guarantee supply, say science and engineering academies

Sören Amelang, Dec 5, 2024 https://reneweconomy.com.au/baseload-power-generators-not-needed-to-guarantee-supply-say-science-and-engineering-academies/

An energy system dominated by solar and wind energy does not require baseload power stations to guarantee supply security, German research academies have said.

“The academy project ‘Energy Systems of the Future’ (ESYS) has concluded that a secure energy supply is also possible without baseload power plants,” said the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities.

Baseload power plants supply electricity continuously, whereas so-called residual load plants run only intermittently when needed.

“A combination of solar and wind energy with storage, a flexible hydrogen system, flexible electricity demand and residual load power plants will be necessary for a climate-friendly and reliable electricity supply,” the academies said.

The German government plans to use hydrogen-fuelled gas turbine plants to back up its renewables-based future electricity system.

The researchers modelled the potential of four baseload technologies: nuclear power plants, geothermal energy, natural gas power plants with CO2 capture, and nuclear fusion power plants.

Their results showed that baseload plants could become part of future energy systems if they save costs – a scenario the scientists consider unlikely. Baseload plants’ greatest impact on the overall system is that their surplus electricity could be used to run electrolysers, which would turn electricity into hydrogen, they said.

“For baseload power plants to lead to a substantial cost reduction, their costs would have to fall significantly below the level forecast today,” said Karen Pittel, who heads the ifo Institute’s Center for Energy, Climate and Resources, and is also deputy chair of the ESYS board of directors.

“In fact, we estimate that the risks of cost increases and delays in baseload technologies tend to be even higher than with the further expansion of solar and wind energy.”

December 7, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY | Leave a comment

The LA Times Makes the Case for Shutting the Diablo Canyon Nukes

Harvey Wasserman, 4 Dec 24 https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/12/03/the-latimes-makes-the-case-for-shutting-the-diablo-canyon-nukes/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG8YRJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSQ9odEebiUpHvQEucI8G6sh43u-Rh8KUrx7a82De1V7jLHnoraX19z0Dw_aem_NVnlx2KzztXtkLu2amu4_w

In a landmark front page feature, the Los Angeles Times has made a powerful argument for shutting California’s last two atomic reactors.

The forty-year-old Diablo Canyon nukes are being subsidized by statewide ratepayers to the tune of nearly $12 billion in over-market charges slated to enrich Pacific Gas & Electric through 2030. PG&E’s CEO, Patti Poppe, was paid more than $40 million in 2022. The company has been convicted of more than 90 federal manslaughter charges stemming from fatal fires in San Bruno in 2010, and in northern California in 2017

Taking up a quarter of the Times’s November 25 cover, the feature by Melody Peterson reports that a “glut” of solar-generated electricity is regularly shipped out of state at enormous losses to California rate payers. Green energy capable of powering more than a half-million homes is regularly “curtailed.”

But the cost of generating that electricity with solar panels is a fraction of Diablo Canyon’s hyper-expensive “base load power”, which is currently jamming and jeopardizing the California grid.

During most afternoons, photovoltaic cells in the Central Valley regularly produce electricity “too cheap to meter” (wind turbines in west Texas regularly do the same).

As it pours into the grid, the cheap solar juice is often used to charge industrial-scale batteries that power the state into the evening hours after sunset.

During part of virtually every day now, California’s entire electric supply comes from solar, wind and geothermal sources, at far less cost than what comes from Diablo Canyon. Atomic reactors are shut on average 9% of every year.

A landmark plan to phase-out Diablo Canyon by 2024 and 2025 was signed in 2018 by then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. Compiled through two-years of intense top-level dialog, involving scores of public hearings and countless hours of research, the plan was signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown. It was endorsed by the state legislature and regulatory agencies, neighboring local governments, the plant’s labor unions, a wide range of public safety and environmental groups, leading ratepayer organizations and PG&E itself.

The Diablo phase-out relied on the projected ability of renewable sources and battery back-ups to replace the reactors’ output. As indicated by the LATimes’s cover piece and more, rapid advances in solar, wind, geothermal and battery technologies have far exceeded expectations for replacing Diablo’s base-load output. They’ve also plummeted far below current nuclear price levels…as well as those projected for future Small Modular Reactors in the unlikely event any should come on line within the next decade.

Battery technologies in particular have hugely advanced, all but eliminating the “periodicity” that comes when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. The industry has been largely dominated by lithium ion technology, which has gotten a huge boost from two major finds in California. But Vanadium, iron air and sodium technologies are also booming toward much cheaper, cleaner and more powerful storage systems that are rapidly accelerating the green-powered paradigm, especially when it comes to the large solid state units that will dominate non-vehicular uses in homes, business and factory settings.

This increasing renewable-based flexibility is accelerating the ability of grid operators synchronize supply with fluctuating demand. By contrast, nuclear power’s rigid base-load mode blocks cheaper renewables off the grid, forcing some to be shipped out of state.

California’s backup battery capability—, much of it decentralized and privately owned—has at least twice saved the state from impending blackouts. The Golden State’s battery-based reserves—-still rapidly expanding—-now exceed Diablo’s maximum output by more than 400%.

But in April, 2022, Newsom shredded the nuclear phase-out plan he signed four years earlier. Allowing no public hearings, Newsom strong-armed the legislature into a widely resented 11th hour rubber stamp.

Newsom’s hand-picked Public Utilities Commission then trashed California’s well-established “Net Metering” system that initially helped foster some two million rooftop solar installations. The moves cost the state more than 17,000 of its 70,000 solar installer jobs (about 1500 workers are employed at Diablo Canyon).

Newsom’s pro-nuclear package gifted a “forgivable” $1.4 billion loan to PG&E. Running the two reactors through 2030 could cost the public $11+ billion in over market billings, a gargantuan hand-out to the state’s biggest private utility. Even consumers who get zero power from Diablo are expected to pay.

Thus it’s no surprise that California suffers the US’s second-highest electric rates (behind only Hawaii, which gets much of its electricity from burning oil…but is rapidly now shifting to renewables).

Newsom has issued an executive order to “research” why our electric rates are so high. But as shown by the LATimes’s cover story (entitled “Solar Power Glut Boosts California Electric Bills. Other States Reap Benefit,” by Melody Peterson) much of California’s solar electricity can’t get access to a grid jammed by a rigid, hyper-expensive nuclear base load.

Diablo now faces federal licensing challenges. Like all commercial US reactors, it has no private liability insurance to compensate the public for catastrophic accidents. Shown to be dangerously embrittled in 2002, Unit One has not been tested since. Some 45 miles from the San Andreas, Diablo is surrounded by a dozen known earthquake faults whose impacts a long-time NRC site inspector (among others) says the plant can’t withstand.

Diablo pours radioactive carbon 14 into the atmosphere along with other greenhouse gasses emitted during the mining, milling and fabrication of its fuel rods. Thousands of tons of radioactive waste sit on site in cracked dry casks with nowhere else to go. .

Diablo’s twin cores operate around 560 degrees Fahrenheit, heating Avila Bay and the Earth in violation of state and federal law.. They kill countless marine creatures with thermal, chemical and radioactive emissions.

Despite their huge economic costs, devastating jobs impacts, and bitter public opposition, Newsom has opted to keep Diablo running.

Without a hint of irony, the LATimes’s latest attack blames the “glut” of green power on the success of renewables.

But it underscores (without ever mentioning Diablo) that Newsom’s $11+ billion “nuclear base-load tax” could be avoided by letting the PV industry fill the grid with its far cheaper power.

The Times also confirms that nothing terrifies the fossil/nuclear industry and its monopoly utilities more than the prospect of a global energy economy run on renewable power produced by rooftop solar, delivered through public-owned green grids and decentralized micro-grids, all backed up by a new generation of advanced batteries.

With the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in 2028, the Games could be totally powered by covering the state’s available rooftops with cheap, reliable, battery-backed solar cells.

The epic drop in electric rates and rise in employment and economic well-being could win the Earth’s ultimate, life-sustaining gold medal.

It would also make great copy for yet another LATimes cover story…this one celebrating rather than denigrating the astonishing success of the Golden State’s sustainable energy industries.

December 6, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, USA | Leave a comment

Cost of switching off UK wind farms soars to ‘absurd’ £1bn

Britain’s curtailment cost jumps as grid struggles to cope with power

British bill payers have spent an “absurd” £1bn to temporarily switch
off wind turbines so far this year as the grid struggles to cope with their
power.

The amount of wind power “curtailed” in the first 11 months of
2024 stood at about 6.6 terawatt hours (TWh), according to official
figures, up from 3.8 TWh in the whole of last year. Curtailment is where
wind turbines are paid to switch off at times of high winds to stop a surge
in power overwhelming the grid.

Households and businesses pay for the cost
of this policy through their bills. The cost of switching off has reached
about £1bn so far this year, according to analysis of market data by
Octopus Energy which was first reported by Bloomberg. This is more than the
£779m spent last year and £945m spent in 2022.

The jump in curtailment
follows the opening of more wind farms at a time when the country still
lacks the infrastructure needed to transport all the electricity they
generate at busy times. Clem Cowton, the director of external affairs at
Octopus, added:

“The outdated rules of our energy system mean vast
amounts of cheap green power go to waste. “It’s absurd that Britain
pays Scottish wind farms to turn off when it’s windy, while
simultaneously paying gas-power stations in the South to turn on.

Telegraph 2nd Dec 2024,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/12/02/britain-paying-wind-farms-record-1bn-to-switch-off/

December 6, 2024 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, UK | Leave a comment

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