Most recent 40 articles: Bloomberg Energy Science
 |
Asia’s Co-Firing Ambitions May Produce More Carbon Emissions - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jul 6) |
|
Jul 6 · Among recent projects, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. in June concluded a sales agreement to supply ammonia in large-scale co-firing at Jera Co.’s Hekinan Thermal Power Station. Meanwhile, South Korea is aiming to use hydrogen and ammonia in its existing coal power plants, with the two fuels making up more than 7% of the power mix in 2036. Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia have also signed agreements to research domestic co-firing potential. Proposals to co-fire ammonia or hydrogen in power plants to replace 20% to 30% of coal or gas burned still leave 80% to 70% of fossil fuel emissions, the Breakthrough Institute said. The benefits shrink ... Read more ... |
|
 |
World’s Biggest Nuclear Power Plant Being Planned in Canada - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jul 5) |
|
Jul 5 · The announcement comes amid growing recognition that carbon-free nuclear power is likely to play an important role in the global battle against climate change. Canada is developing plans to mandate a net-zero power grid by 2035, and the Bruce project would be the first conventional nuclear plant in the province in three decades. Another utility in the region, Ontario Power Generation Inc., is involved in an effort to develop a new type of advanced reactor. “New nuclear generation is going to be critical to building the clean grid of the future,” said Todd Smith, Ontario’s energy minister. To contact the editors responsible for this ... Read more ... |
|
|
 |
The State of World Energy Explained in 4 Charts - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jun 29) |
|
Jun 29 · Worldwide energy demand is increasing, but it is a split screen in terms of economies. For the high- and middle-income economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, primary energy demand peaked 15 years ago — coincidentally the same year that demand in the rest of the world surpassed the OECD’s. Demand in OECD countries has actually declined by 3.4% in absolute terms since 2007, while it has grown almost unabated in the rest of the world over the same time. In relative terms, the OECD’s role in global energy demand continues to decline, albeit slowly. In 2007, it was responsible for just under half of ... Read more ... |
|
 |
In Texas Heat Wave, ACs Keep Humming on Renewable Power - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jun 28) |
|
Jun 28 · Green-power sources contributed about a third of total output Wednesday. In just three years, oil-rich Texas has added the solar equivalent of 12 nuclear reactors, putting it on the cusp of surpassing California as the top producer of electricity from solar farms. Renewables’ prominent role in the grid’s stability over the past two weeks casts doubt on some Republican politicians’ claims that heavy reliance on solar and wind was leaving the network vulnerable to disruption. Texas grid officials have only had to ask consumers to conserve energy on one day since extreme temperatures descended on the Lone Star State, prompting heat advisories and ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Big Oil’s Pullback From Clean Energy Matters Less Than You Might Think - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jun 25) |
|
Jun 25 · The first is the share of the companies’ capital expenditure that has gone to clean energy. In 2015, oil majors deployed 0.8% of their capex in low-carbon activities. Last year, that figure had increased more than tenfold, with low-carbon investments reaching 8.6% of total capex. However, this trend did not keep pace with the total growth in energy-transition investment. In 2015, oil majors’ $3.2 billion of low-carbon capex was less than 1% of all investment. Last year, their $32.3 billion was 10 times higher in absolute terms, but only three-and-a-half times higher as a share of the total. In fact, after jumping from 0.7% of ... Read more ... |
|
 |
EU Power-Market Design Talks Fail Amid French Nuclear Rift - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jun 19) |
|
Jun 19 · The delay will raise concern over whether future disagreements will block progress before EU elections next year. The European Parliament needs to still agree its own position before talks can begin with member states. Busch said that a deal is vital to help the EU boost its energy security in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Claude Turmes, Luxembourg’s energy minister, said provisions in the deal would pay France to prolong existing nuclear facilities, giving the sector unfair benefits. “For EDF, this is like a check of €120 billion,” he said, referring to Electricite de France SA. “This is really about distorting the ... Read more ... |
|
 |
The US Factory Boom Is a Golden Opportunity for Green Job Training - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jun 15) |
|
Jun 15 · Three opportunities in particular come to mind, which bridge today’s labor force to tomorrow’s demand and its climate imperatives. The first is training in the most energy-efficient building techniques. That includes learning what the most efficient materials are and how best to install them to reduce the heating or cooling needs of manufacturing facilities. It could also include training on heat pump installation and integration. Heat pumps are not just for residential or commercial applications , after all (though their useful temperatures top out at around 400F or 200C, too low for some industrial processes). This training might also cover ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Solar Beats Coal in Europe for First Time - But There’s a Glitch - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Jun 03, 2023) |
|
Jun 03, 2023 · The Netherlands’ claim to the densest solar network on Earth is thanks largely to long-running government support. The program rewards households for installing solar panels, with every watt of electricity offsetting energy bills, regardless of whether usage matches up with the sunniest parts of the day. “The Dutch government did this to stimulate solar panels, but it’s a little too successful,” said Jorrit de Jong, spokesman at Dutch electric grid operator TenneT, who has seven roof-top solar panels that produce at least 80% of his annual household electricity consumption. “If I do my laundry or charge my car at moments when there ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Multiplying Solar and Battery Factories Put Net Zero in Closer Reach - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 25, 2023) |
|
May 25, 2023 · The second variable is the speed with which capacity has expanded since 2021. Solar has grown the most. It was already up to levels consistent with net zero by the end of 2022; add in this year’s announcements, and solar capacity “would comfortably exceed the deployment needs” of the IEA’s model in 2030. Battery-making ability grows from 6% to 97% of net zero levels (inclusive of first-quarter announcements); electrolyzers from 4% to nearly 60%. On the other hand, heat pumps and wind have not grown their 2021 capacity very much yet. Our ability to make heat pumps today would only meet about two-fifths of the net zero ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Renewables to Top Africa Climate Deals on Blackouts: Survey - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 25, 2023) |
|
May 25, 2023 · The value of climate-related private capital deals rose 20% to $1.8 billion in 2022 compared to the previous year, the highest in five years, according to the AVCA. Utilities, led by renewable energy, accounted for nearly a third of all deals in 2022, followed by information technology and industrials, it said. The AVCA, whose members include private equity, venture capital, institutional investors and development finance institutions see Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana leading private climate investments in the continent over the next three years owing to investor interest in their solar energy, hydropower and information technology sectors, Mustapha-Maduakor said. To ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Intensity of Methane Emissions by US Oil and Gas Industry Declined: Report - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 23, 2023) |
|
May 23, 2023 · The sizable average emissions intensity decline from 2019 to 2021 masks annual fluctuations among companies and the basins they operate in, and also a growing gap between the polluters with the highest and lowest intensity. Companies in the top 25 have an average methane emissions intensity that’s 26 times higher than those in the bottom quarter. For greenhouse gases, the top quarter’s average emissions intensity is 13 times the bottom quarter’s. “Some companies are doing more on their own, which is great,” said Lesley Feldman, research and analysis manager at Clean Air Task Force and a report author. ... Read more ... |
|
 |
An Effort to Scale Solar in Africa Was a Victim of Its Own Success - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 18, 2023) |
|
May 18, 2023 · A new paper by Teal Emery, a former emerging markets investment research analyst for Morgan Stanley Investment Management with experience in Africa and the Middle East, unpacks why and points to ways to achieve the scale that the initiative promised. Emery concludes that the program did not scale for key reasons. The IFC downplayed the essential role that subsidies played in enabling the very low solar prices achieved in Zambia. The resulting low prices in Zambia sent the wrong price signals to other African governments, which would be unable to match the economics of Scaling Solar’s Zambia projects without those subsidies. ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Shell Demands Profit From Green Energy, Not Just CO2 Cuts - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 18, 2023) |
|
May 18, 2023 · A spokesman for Shell declined to comment. Shell has already provided some evidence of this strategy in recent months. It has announced a strategic review of its money-losing European retail energy business and put it up for sale. It also sold Australian solar power developer Esco Pacific, in which it held a minority stake, and is currently looking to sell a French floating turbine unit as part of a broader retreat from that country’s offshore wind market. Under Sawan’s predecessor Ben van Beurden, investment in Shell’s renewable energy unit grew steadily. Last year it reached a record $3.5 billion, up 47% from a year earlier. But it will ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Vietnam Has $135 Billion Plan to Slash Coal-Fired Power by 2030 - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 16, 2023) |
|
May 16, 2023 · To contact the editors responsible for this story:John Boudreau at jboudreau3@bloomberg.netRob Verdonck, Andrew Janes A coal power plant in Binh Thuan province, Vietnam. Vietnam has approved a long-anticipated $134.7 billion plan to slash its use of coal-fired electricity generation by the end of the decade. Under the blueprint signed late Monday by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the funds will be spent on more renewable energy and improving the country’s grid. Coal generation would drop to 19% of power supply by 2030 from almost half now. The aim is then to get it to zero by the middle of the century, which would require further investment of as much ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Zanzibar Archipelago Seeks Energy Independence With Solar Plan - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 15, 2023) |
|
May 15, 2023 · A beach in Matemwe, Zanzibar. Fumbuka Ng'Wanakilala Subscriber Benefit Subscribe Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago, signed an agreement with two companies to build its first large-scale solar power plant at a cost of $140 million. The agreement with Mauritian-based Generation Capital Ltd. and Tanzania’s Taifa Energy to develop the 180 megawatts plant will be implemented in phases, the companies said in a joint statement. The first stage of the project will involve construction of a 30-megawatt facility to be completed in 2024. Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago, signed an agreement with two ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Africa Needs $700 Billion of Finance for Green Energy and Metals - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 10, 2023) |
|
May 10, 2023 · Fihla, whose bank is Africa’s largest by assets, said in South Africa alone Standard Bank is likely to hit the “upper end” of lending between 250 billion rand ($13 billion) and 300 billion rand to renewable energy initiatives by 2026. To contact the editors responsible for this story:Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.netDylan Griffiths Africa will need more than $700 billion in finance over the next decade to develop renewable power and mines to extract the metals required for the green energy transition, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd. The continent’s financial institutions won’t be able to provide even half of that ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Solar Panel Orders Point to Clean Energy Boom From US Climate Law - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 04, 2023) |
|
May 04, 2023 · We can look at public company earnings presentations for answers. And there is one company that offers a particular lens on US renewables markets: the thin-film solar manufacturer First Solar Inc., headquartered in Arizona. First Solar has substantial manufacturing capacity in the US; its solar technology is exempt from the tariffs that vex many international companies and impede climate progress . The company’s products are therefore in high demand. Very high demand. First Solar’s order book, the total of its expected future sales, grew slowly if steadily over the second half of the last decade. By the start of 2020, it ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Sunrun to Install a Nuclear Plant’s Worth of Solar This Year - Bloomberg Energy Science  (May 03, 2023) |
|
May 03, 2023 · A contractor carries a SunRun solar panel on the roof of a home in San Jose, California. Mark Chediak Subscriber Benefit Subscribe Sunrun Inc. expects to install enough solar panels on homes this year to produce as much energy as a nuclear power plant. The company is on pace to build more than 1 gigawatt of solar power in 2023, with almost a quarter of that capacity already installed during the first three months of the year, San Francisco-based Sunrun said in its earnings release Wednesday. Customers in California rushed to put panels on their roofs during the first quarter before the state cut incentives last month. Read more ... |
|
 |
Shipping Has Largely Relied on One Fuel. It Now Needs Many: Sparklines - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 27, 2023) |
|
Apr 27, 2023 · A new industry study shows how ship-owners think about their own future, and the answers are instructive. A joint study from the Global Maritime Forum, the Global Centre for MaritimeDecarbonisation, and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping highlights steps that are being taken today, and suggests ways in which the industry might change. The most important finding is that while fuel oil is the undisputed industry standard today, shippers see no standardized fuel choice by mid-century. A suite of fuels, from liquefied natural gas to methane to ammonia, are all viewed as more or less equally viable at scale. Some other fuels, such as ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Mining Lithium in Abandoned Oil Fields for Tomorrow’s EVs - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 20, 2023) |
|
Apr 20, 2023 · Several upstart miners appear to have had the same idea at about the same time. Spurred by increasing global demand for EVs, companies such as Prairie Lithium and LithiumBank Resources Corp. have bought land rights to nearby abandoned oil fields and begun developing extraction technology of their own. Doornbos, who spent years working in the oil industry, sees it as a small way for Big Oil’s detritus to lend itself to the energy transition. “We have to transition away from oil, and that’s going to take 20 or 30 years. But I’d rather be on the transition-away side than the more-of-the-same side,” he says. The vast majority of the ... Read more ... |
|
 |
What’s Needed to Reach Net-Zero This Century, According to the IEA - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 20, 2023) |
|
Apr 20, 2023 · Finally, the IEA said that countries must move faster to install carbon-capture and storage infrastructure for polluting industrial facilities and build operations to suck CO₂ directly out of the air. The 300 million metric tons of CO₂ that’s projected to be captured in 2030 must rise fourfold by 2100 in the IEA’s most aggressive net-zero scenario. Read more ... |
|
 |
Airlines Will Hike Ticket Prices to Pay for Costly Sustainable Fuel - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 19, 2023) |
|
Apr 19, 2023 · At the same time, “getting the right policy in place is important,” he added. Walsh lauded the US approach of using incentives to stimulate production, and criticized the European strategy of using a regulatory “stick.” Huge Cost of Air-Travel Cleanup Has UK Firms Asking for More (1) Higher ticket prices will be required to fund the new initiatives, Walsh added. The International Council on Clean Transportation predicts sustainability measures will drive up ticket prices by 22% by 2050 compared to where they would otherwise stand, said Rachel Muncrief, deputy director of the group, which provides technical analysis to environmental ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Pentagon Sounds Alarm Over Biden Plan for Offshore Wind Sites - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 17, 2023) |
|
Apr 17, 2023 · The breadth of the Pentagon’s opposition could imperil President Joe Biden’s bid to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power — equivalent to 30 nuclear reactors — by the end of the decade, newly bolstered state goals for the development and planned manufacturing facilities in Maryland and Virginia tied to the nascent US industry. The clash represents the latest threat to the fledgling industry that is already grappling with supply chain challenges, inflation-stoked prices and opposition from coastal communities. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management emphasized in an emailed statement that the US ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Germany Retires Last Nuclear Plants in Hopes of Greener Pastures - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 15, 2023) |
|
Apr 15, 2023 · The decision to phase out the emissions-free power source — first codified in a 2002 law and finalized after the 2011 Fukushima disaster — also comes at a moment in which many countries are moving in the opposite direction. While Germans have historically been deeply opposed to nuclear energy, that has shifted in recent years as it has come to be viewed as something like the least bad option in the transition to a green economy. Critics worry that until Germany has sufficient clean-energy infrastructure in place, which could still be years away, the country will draw even more heavily on polluting fuels like coal to compensate for the ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Solar, Wind and Battery Projects Throng US Grid Connection Queue - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 13, 2023) |
|
Apr 13, 2023 · Fifteen years ago, wind dominated requests, followed by natural gas. Since then, both have declined in absolute terms as many projects succeeded in hooking up to the grid — a process known as interconnection — while other developers withdrew their requests because their projects were not viable. But solar requests have increased steadily for a decade. US generator interconnection queues by resource or technology, gigawatts Note: selected resources and technologies only. In the late 2010s, two new resources entered: battery energy storage and offshore wind. Last year, there were more than 300 gigawatts of standalone ... Read more ... |
|
 |
A Football Field-Sized Boat Will Service US Offshore Wind Farms - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 04, 2023) |
|
Apr 04, 2023 · That goal was given a boost last year by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The landmark climate legislation includes valuable tax credits for clean energy, but developers are eager for Internal Revenue Service guidance on how exactly those tax credits will be implemented. “It’s great that the law was passed, but until we understand the nuances we can’t really count on that,” Hardy said. In the meantime, the country’s offshore ambitions could lead to significant economic activity. Orsted and Eversource declined to share how much the Eco Edison will ultimately cost, but the boat employs some 400 local ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Japan Mulls Updating Hydrogen Plan With $113 Billion in Funds - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 04, 2023) |
|
Apr 04, 2023 · Japan already has a goal to implement 3 million tons of hydrogen use by 2030, and 20 million tons by 2050. Both public and private sectors in the nation have formed partnerships with countries like the United Arab Emirates and Australia to create supply chains that would bring enormous seaborne cargoes of the fuel to the island nation. Related story: Japan Offers $1.6 Billion to Australia’s Coal-to-Hydrogen Plan Hydrogen and ammonia can be produced from renewable power sources to create carbon-free fuels, but technologies to make and transport them are still in early stages of development, with challenges like high costs that must be resolved before wider ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Solar and Wind Are Growing Faster Than Fledgling Nuclear and LNG Once Did - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 03, 2023) |
|
Apr 03, 2023 · Shell examined the four major energy technologies to emerge in the past six decades: nuclear power, liquefied natural gas and solar and wind power. Each technology needed years before it made a meaningful, if minor, contribution to the global energy supply, a threshold Shell sets at one exajoule annually. (One exajoule is equivalent to 277 terawatt-hours — close to the electricity Mexico consumed in 2019.) For example, the first grid-connected nuclear power plant began operations in the Soviet Union in 1954, and nuclear power reached 1 exajoule of global supply 19 years later. Solar took more than three decades to contribute an exajoule of supply, with ... Read more ... |
|
 |
What Higher Oil Prices Mean for the Fight Against Climate Change - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 03, 2023) |
|
Apr 03, 2023 · Oil producers have to take into account competing alternatives for their product like never before. Just as they’re sending the price of a barrel of oil up, green technologies and materials are starting to get cheaper again after two years of rising costs. Just look at lithium. While oil soared, the price of the battery and electric-vehicle material recorded its 16th straight trading day of losses on Tuesday. It's down over 58% so far this year. That’s made it easier for carmakers such as Tesla Inc. to slash prices as more and more EVs hit the market. The price of other important materials have fallen as well. Solar-grade polysilicon, used to make panels, is ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Australia Sees Lithium Exports Matching Thermal Coal by 2028 - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 02, 2023) |
|
Apr 02, 2023 · Earnings from shipping copper are set to rise to A$15 billion in 2027-28 from A$13 billion this year. Demand for the red metal, which is used in electrical wiring and is vital in most clean energy technologies, will as much as double over the next decade, according to S&P Global. Australia has no existing industry that could fill the gaps left by the declining values of fossil fuels, which are expected to drop as the world moves to carbon-free energy, and of iron ore, which is set to see demand plateau over the next decade as China’s growth slows. Green hydrogen is the only industry that could match fossil fuel export earnings, according to a government ... Read more ... |
|
 |
India Predicts a Hotter Summer, Raising Power Supply Worries - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Apr 01, 2023) |
|
Apr 01, 2023 · Preparations are underway for a spike in temperatures. The power ministry predicts that peak electricity demand will climb to a new record in April as people crank up their air conditioners, fans and refrigeration units. It’s ordered power plants to import coal, the country’s dominant power-station fuel, as domestic output may not be sufficient. Diesel consumption rises during summer as it encourages people to travel to cooler mountains from plains and at the same time use of diesel-fueled backup generators increases to make up for shortages from the grid. Consumption of gas could also climb as the government has mandated use of idling gas-fired power plants to ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Giant Roofs on Big-Box Stores, Warehouses Still Have Unmet Solar Potential - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 31, 2023) |
|
Mar 31, 2023 · Roofs are a resource that’s only begun to be tapped: On-site commercial solar currently supplies less than 1% of corporate power. “If we’re going to really make use of the amount of sunshine that falls on our cities, while also protecting open space goals, it’s critical that we unlock the commercial sector,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Association, the state’s largest clean energy trade and lobbying group. Governments and businesses need both rooftop and utility-scale solar projects to hit renewable energy targets, says Mark Jacobson, a professor of ... Read more ... |
|
 |
EU Proposes Extending 15% Cut in Gas Demand Through Next Winter - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 20, 2023) |
|
Mar 20, 2023 · Still, officials remain vigilant as the global market is tight, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on Twitter. The International Energy Agency last month flagged the risk of a European gas shortage this year if Moscow were to fully cut off supplies. The EU shaved around 19% off its usual gas demand between August and January, according to Eurostat data. The commission has set member states a target of filling underground storage facilities to 90% before the next heating season. Stockpiles for the region are now about 56% full on average, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe show. Benchmark futures on Monday dipped below €40 per megawatt-hour for ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Republican Lawmakers Pan Offshore Wind Plans at NJ Event - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 16, 2023) |
|
Mar 16, 2023 · Republicans Chris Smith of New Jersey, Andy Harris of Maryland and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania also raised concerns. A clean energy industry group criticized anti-wind activists for focusing on whales and said there’s no evidence linking recent deaths to offshore wind. “Opponents of offshore wind development are weaponizing a convenient narrative to block critical infrastructure that’s contributing to America’s energy independence, creating economic growth, and strengthening the grid,” the American Clean Power Association said in a statement Thursday. The US doesn’t yet have any large offshore wind farms but multiple big ... Read more ... |
|
 |
The Commodities Billionaire Betting on Power Lines for the Energy Transition - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 15, 2023) |
|
Mar 15, 2023 · Houston-based Grid United has announced five projects and has as many as five more in the works, and Arnold said the company is actively buying up land for three power lines. Each of these massive overhead electric highways can cost $1 billion to $3 billion and can carry 1.5 gigawatts to 3 gigawatts. One gigawatt is enough to power about 200,000 Texas homes, and as many as 800,000 homes in parts of the Midwest that use less energy. That capacity will be crucial to carrying clean energy from wind and solar farms that are expected to be built across the US with incentives from the IRA. “If you can’t build transmission, a lot of what the IRA was ... Read more ... |
|
 |
BP Economist Warns Against Too Much Focus on Decarbonization - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 14, 2023) |
|
Mar 14, 2023 · Forget Peak Oil Demand: A Thirst for Barrels Puts $100 in View Oil consumption is heading for a record this year, according to the International Energy Agency, which advises major economies. Supply — buffeted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a slowdown in US shale growth and lackluster investment in production — hasn’t kept pace. BP’s estimates for oil investment requirements are lower than that of OPEC, with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expecting a need for $12.1 trillion to 2045. The European oil major anticipates that, at most, the sector will need slightly more than $400 billion a year until ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Algae Fuel Company That Exxon Once Bankrolled Finds New Funders - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 13, 2023) |
|
Mar 13, 2023 · With its new funding, Viridos will work in the lab with its trimmed-down staff to develop and enhance its algae strains. The resulting biofuels could produce 70% fewer heat-trapping emissions than conventional fuels, according to the company. And since the organisms grow in brackish water and don’t require arable land, they won’t compete with food crops. The company’s approach impressed Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which led the financing round after struggling for years to identify promising low-carbon investments into liquid fuels. “There are big segments of transportation that are very difficult to electrify,” said Eric Toone, ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Texas Power Grid May Need 'Breath of God’ to Keep Cool in Summer - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 12, 2023) |
|
Mar 12, 2023 · While Abbott has been critical of renewables in the aftermath of the deadly February 2021 blackouts amid a historic freeze, solar and wind proponents instead have pointed to fossil fuels as the primary culprit for the grid’s collapse. Lake has held meetings to discuss the potential of small nuclear reactors, which he said will be critical in the state “if the federal government is going to force feed us clean air emissions.” These meetings come as clean-power developers flock to Texas to build even more solar power. Small nuclear reactors hold “tremendous promise and it’s really a necessity,” Lake said. To contact the ... Read more ... |
|
 |
Planet-Saving Wind Farms Fall Victim to Global Inflation Fight - Bloomberg Energy Science  (Mar 10, 2023) |
|
Mar 10, 2023 · To get on track for net zero by 2050, the world needs to more than double the rate of investment in renewables to around $1 trillion a year, according to BloombergNEF. That level of spending has to happen as soon as possible and continue into the 2040s to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. BloombergNEF’s net-zero scenario would see investment double Unlike traditional power plants that require fuel over their lifetimes, the vast majority of the cost for renewables comes upfront. That makes the sector especially sensitive to changes in financing and construction expenses. That’s particularly true for giant offshore wind farms, which use ... Read more ... |
|
|