Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

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Wind and solar now generate record 12% of global electricity
4 hours ago4 hours ago

A report released on Wednesday found that wind and solar energy made up a record high 12% of global electricity generation in 2022. Meanwhile EU countries are lagging behind with wind power expansion.
https://p.dw.com/p/4PvnY
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All renewable energy sources, including nuclear power, made up 39% of global electricity last year according to the report by independent energy think tank Ember

The authors predict a phasedown of gas power along with a reduction of coal-fired power, forecasting that fossil fuel generation will decline by 0.3% this year.
What the report showed

Electricity is as clean as ever, with the share of solar power rising by 24% and wind by 17% from 2021. Solar and wind energy now makes up over 10% of electricity in more than 60 countries.

Ember's annual global electricity review takes data from 78 countries which account for 93% of global electricity demand.

The European Union gets 22% of its electricity from wind and solar power. However, EU countries seem to lag behind global wind energy expansion, logging 9% growth from wind power — below the global average.
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Michigan Democrats: Utilities must use 100% carbon free energy by 2035
Michigan Senate Democrats on Wednesday announced a sweeping bill package that aims to put legal teeth behind efforts to wean Michigan off fossil fuels.

The package, which Democratic leaders said would be filed by Thursday, would require state-regulated utilities to stop burning coal by 2030, and would require them to deliver 100 percent clean energy by 2035.

Senate Democrats spokesperson Rosie Jones initially said Wednesday that would be a renewable energy requirement but later clarified the bill would require “carbon-free” energy. She did not specify whether that leaves the door open to utilities continuing to use fossil fuels while deploying carbon capture technology or other means of offsetting emissions.

The bill package would also require utilities to prioritize energy efficiency by strengthening the state’s so-called energy waste reduction standard and applying it to more utilities.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-envir ... nergy-2035
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a 620,000 square mile swirl of trash in the ocean between California and Hawaii......
Scientists have found thriving communities of coastal creatures, including tiny crabs and anemones, living thousands of miles from their original home on plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a 620,000 square mile swirl of trash in the ocean between California and Hawaii.

In a new study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal on Monday, a team of researchers revealed that dozens of species of coastal invertebrate organisms have been able to survive and reproduce on plastic garbage that’s been floating in the ocean for years.

The scientists said that the findings suggest plastic pollution in the ocean might be enabling the creation of new floating ecosystems of species that are not normally able to survive in the open ocean.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/world/pl ... index.html
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New passive device continuously generates electricity during the day or night
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-04-pas ... y-day.html
by Optica
Researchers have developed a new thermoelectric generator (TEG) that can continuously generate electricity using heat from the sun and a radiative element that releases heat into the air. Because it works during the day or night and in cloudy conditions, the new self-powered TEG could provide a reliable power source for small electronic devices such as outdoor sensors.

"Traditional power sources like batteries are limited in capacity and require regular replacement or recharging, which can be inconvenient and unsustainable," said research team leader Jing Liu from Jimei University in China. "Our new TEG design could offer a sustainable and continuous energy solution for small devices, addressing the constraints of traditional power sources like batteries."

TEGs are solid state devices that use temperature differences to generate electricity without any moving parts. In the journal Optics Express, Liu and a multi-institutional team of researchers describe and demonstrate a new TEG that can simultaneously generate the heat and cold necessary to create a temperature difference large enough to generate electricity even when the sun isn't out. The passive power source is made of components that can easily be manufactured.

"The unique design of our self-powered thermoelectric generator allows it to work continuously, no matter the weather," said Liu. "With further development, our TEG has the potential to impact a wide range of applications, from remote sensors to wearable electronics, promoting a more sustainable and eco-friendly approach to powering our daily lives."
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China and India 'launder' Russian oil and resell it to Western nations that sanctioned Moscow, study
Source: Business Insider
Western nations that banned Russian oil have together imported nearly $46 billion worth of oil products from countries that have dramatically ramped up purchases from Moscow, according to a study published Wednesday from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

China, India, Turkey, UAE, and Singapore have boosted Russian oil imports over the last year and increased exports of refined products to the European Union, Australia, and most of the Group of Seven, CREA researchers wrote, calling it a "major loophole" that undermines the impact of sanctions on Russia.

In December, the EU banned seaborne imports of Russian crude and joined the G-7 in imposing a price cap of $60 per barrel. CREA found that the price-cap coalition's imports of refined oil products from the five countries rose by more than 10 million tons in the year since Russia's invasion compared to the prior year.

"We call these five countries that have increased purchases of Russian oil and 'launder' it into products shipped to countries having sanctioned Russian oil the 'laundromat' countries," the study said.

Read more: https://markets.businessinsider.com/new ... ine-2023-4
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Biden EPA to issue power plant rules that lean on carbon capture
Source: Reuters
The U.S. government may soon require natural gas-fired power plants to install technology to capture carbon emissions, sources said, as President Joe Biden's administration enacts new rules to help decarbonize the power sector in 12 years.

The Environmental Protection Agency as soon as this week is expected to unveil standards for new and existing power plants, which belch roughly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, two sources said. The rules will replace former President Donald Trump's American Clean Energy rule and former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, both of which were invalidated by courts.

[snip]


The proposal will reflect two major developments to ensure the rules are legally defensible. One, a Supreme Court decision last July, barred EPA from forcing a system-wide shift in electric generation but allowed it to issue plant-specific rules.

Second, the Inflation Reduction Act created tax credits making carbon capture and hydrogen more affordable and affirmed EPA's authority to regulate power plants. The law offers more than $100 billion in clean electricity tax incentives, including a 70% increase in credits for each ton of carbon captured and sequestered.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/sustai ... 023-04-23/
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Europe ‘failing its children’ on air pollution, EEA says
Mon 24 Apr 2023 00.01 BST

Europe is failing its children when it comes to air pollution, exposing nearly all children across the continent to air that falls below healthy standards and delaying the clean-up of the sources of pollution, research has found.

Breathing dirty air causes the premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe each year, and many thousands more are afflicted with physical and mental health problems that could have lifelong impacts, according to the latest assessment of air pollution by the European Environment Agency.

Gerardo Sanchez Martinez, an expert in environment and health at the EEA, said: “You can’t think about children as little adults, when it comes to air pollution. They receive more pollution, and it starts in the womb and continues in kindergarten and onwards. We are failing our children on air pollution.”

Children are particularly susceptible to dirty air, as pollutants can have an impact on their development that is permanent. The impacts begin before birth, with studies linking pollution to low birth weight and premature birth.

Exposure to high levels of pollutants in childhood have been shown to inhibit lung capacity, cause asthma, lead to higher levels of respiratory disease and ear infections, and increase the risk of allergies – and they may also affect brain development.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-eea-says

Unsure, where the UK stand in this since we opted out of it and where we are in the air pollution table.
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