Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

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
Copy link

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.

[weatheriscool]

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

[weatheriscool]

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

[weatheriscool]

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."

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

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

[weatheriscool]

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/

[Time_Traveller]

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.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Senate votes to revoke tougher EPA emissions regulation for trucks
Source: CNN Politics

CNN — The Senate voted Wednesday to rescind a Biden administration emissions regulation for heavy-duty trucks that Republicans decry as too burdensome, warning it will hurt the trucking industry and have negative ripple effects through the economy. The vote was 50-49, with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia the only Democrat to vote with Republicans.

Republicans utilized the Congressional Review Act, which allows them to bypass Democrats who control the chamber and force a floor vote to revoke the rule at a majority threshold, not the 60 votes often needed to pass legislation.

The Republican-led House is expected to pass the measure as well, although it’s unlikely either chamber would be able to override an expected veto by President Joe Biden. The Office of Management and Budget issued a veto threat ahead of the vote.

The final rule, which was adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency in December, sets “new emission standards that are significantly more stringent and that cover a wider range of heavy-duty engine operating conditions compared to today’s standards,” according to the EPA, which said the change is needed because emissions from those trucks are “important contributors to concentrations of ozone and particulate matter and their resulting threat to public health.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/politics ... index.html

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

EPA allows gasoline with higher ethanol blend during summer
Source: AP

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE an hour ago

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Fuel stations throughout the country will be able to sell gasoline blended with 15% ethanol during the summer under an emergency waiver issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency in a move that could reduce prices at the pump and boost demand for the Midwest-based ethanol industry.

The EPA framed its decision as a way to reduce gasoline prices at a time of market supply uncertainty because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agency said its action also encourages U.S. energy independence and supports American agriculture and manufacturing.

“Allowing E15 sales during the summer driving season will not only help increase fuel supply, but support American farmers, strengthen U.S. energy security, and provide relief to drivers across the country,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol and the higher 15% blend hasn’t been allowed in the summer because of concerns it could worsen smog during hot weather.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ethanol-epa- ... a5ff06911c

[wjfox]

Can Morocco solve Europe’s energy crisis?

8 hours ago

Morocco has big ambitions to export electricity produced by solar and wind farms to Europe, but should it be prioritising such renewable energy for its home market?

"The resources we have here could be one of the big, big answers to European demand," says Moroccan energy entrepreneur Moundir Zniber.

Mr Zniber is a passionate man who senses opportunity out of crisis.

"I think Morocco represents the best opportunity to get the European continent away from the dependency it has today on Russian gas," he says.

Mr Zniber has spent the past 15 years building his company, Gaia Energy, into one of the leaders of a renewable energy revolution in his home country.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65415529

[weatheriscool]

New hybrid photocatalysts for water splitting with an internal quantum efficiency above 100%
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-hyb ... iency.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

As hydrogen inside fuel cells can generate electrical power, scalable methods to reliably split water into hydrogen and oxygen could have valuable implications for the energy industry. These methods could help to produce large amounts of hydrogen for more sustainable energy solutions, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Earth.

One approach to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen requires the use of photocatalysts, materials that can absorb light and use its energy to initiate chemical reactions. This approach essentially entails irradiating these materials with light, triggering the reaction through which water molecules become hydrogen and oxygen.

Researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University in China recently introduced new hybrid photocatalysts that exhibit a remarkable internal quantum efficiency above 100%. These materials, introduced in a paper in Nature Energy, were found to overcome some of the shortcomings of previously proposed photocatalytic systems for water splitting processes.

"Over the past decade, researchers have made numerous attempts to achieve a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of more than 10%, which is a competitive benchmark efficiency in the hydrogen market," Dr. Xuanhua Li, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Tech Xplore.

"To achieve this goal, the internal quantum efficiency (the ratio of the number of incident photons absorbed to twice the amount of hydrogen produced) of the photocatalyst during the photocatalytic water splitting reaction must reach a moderately high value (ideally >100%) over a wide range of excitation wavelengths."

Several past studies have tried to devise useful strategies to improve the quantum efficiency of photocatalysts and photoelectric devices, as most previously reported efficiencies were insufficient to enable the widespread use of water splitting processes. One strategy that was found to be particularly promising leverages the so-called multiple exciton generation (MEG) effect, in which a nanocrystal quantum dot absorbs a single photon to generate multiple excitons.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Senator Whitehouse: 275 of 315 Pages of GOP Debt Limit Bill Are Big Oil Favors
https://truthout.org/articles/senator-w ... il-favors/

The proposal contains the entirety of Republicans’ H.R. 1, a major pro-fossil fuel package.

As congressional Republicans unite around their plan to hold the economy hostage in order to advance their extremist debt limit package, some Democrats are pointing out that the vast majority of the bill is dedicated to favors for the fossil fuel industry.

Last week, the Senate Budget Committee held a hearing on the Limit, Save, Grow Act, dubbed the “Default on America” bill by Democrats. In the hearing, Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) pointed out that a whopping 87 percent of the bill is comprised of “giveaways” for Big Oil, calling it a “field day for polluters.”

“The party’s funders, chief among them the fossil fuel industry, demand reward. And 275 of the 315 pages of the dirty ‘Default on America’ bill are devoted to giveaways to the fossil fuel industry,” Whitehouse said.

He went on to say that, within his and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) bill to suspend the debt limit through the end of next year, “the section that would actually suspend the debt limit is 31 words.” He added, “the Senate should pass this bill immediately.”

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Biden administration announces nearly $11 billion for renewable energy in rural communities
Source: AP

BY DREW COSTLEY today

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a nearly $11 billion investment on Tuesday to help bring affordable clean energy to rural communities throughout the country.

Rural electric cooperatives, renewable energy companies and electric utilities will be able to apply for funding through two programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a media briefing on Monday.

Vilsack said it was the largest single federal investment in rural electrification since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act in 1936 as part of the New Deal.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the Rural Utility Service to work collaboratively with our great partners, the Rural Electric cooperatives, in order to advance a clean energy future for rural America,” Vilsack said. “So this is an exciting and an historic day, and it continues an ongoing effort to ensure that rural America is a full participant in this clean energy economy.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/climate-envi ... 978746b54c

[wjfox]