What do you know? Some days the wind does actually blow in Saskatchewan. And not from politicians talking, either.
This is an exceptionally rare occurrence where the 617 megawatts of wind power generation in Saskatchewan actually put out somewhere close to nameplate capacity. Who’d thunk it?
It’s 6 a.m. and after pulling an all-nighter I am finally finishing writing these three pieces. Huge impact on energy policy in Saskatchewan, affecting oil, coal, nukes, farming, fertilizer, even manure. Moe even mentions possibility of carbon capture on Shand. But feds want to kill off all fossil fuel power generation by 2035. On Oct. 9, 82% of Saskatchewan’s power came from coal or natural gas.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3:
For months, Pipeline Online has been pointing out that Alberta puts out detailed data on its power grid, but SaskPower did not. Apparently others have been asking for the same information as well. Now, @SaskPower has responded. What does a day of power production look like in SK? Wind put out 6% of its capacity, and 2% of total generation. Coal provided 42% of total power
REGINA – While it’s not the same minute-by-minute data provided by the Alberta Electric System Operator for their grid, SaskPower has begun breaking down where its power is coming from on a daily basis. And the data from Oct. 3 and 4 showed wind generated an average of just 7.3 per cent and 6 per cent of its rated capacity of 615 megawatts. And while the Crown corporation often points out that “conventional coal accounts for approximately 24 per cent of SaskPower’s total generation capacity,” on those days, coal was providing an average of 42 per cent of the power in this province.
In PipelineOnline.ca’s continuing series on the apparent end of additional carbon capture implementation on this province’s coal-fired power plants, leading to the eventual death of the coal industry, today’s story is reaction from the reeve of the RM of Estevan, Jason LeBlanc.
Back in 2019, before he became reeve of the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5, Jason LeBlanc was standing in deep snow on Parliament Hill, protesting the carbon tax imposed by the Liberal federal government. And now the largest industry in his RM will likely be largely shut down by the end of this decade, due to that government’s policies against coal-fired power.
And
“The government is knocking on our own people,” he said, speaking of Saskatchewan. “The government is who’s buying into this? And they need to just stand up and say, ‘No.’
“The pendulum always swings. Our ancestors looked for any way to heat the house and to do stuff. And they figured out a way, and it was coal.”
“Other parts of the world are starting to go back. They know it’s not sustainable. It can’t be done. And we have it here. It’s already producing,” he said.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week’s lead story features the growing number of cracks in Scotland’s Hunterston reactor, which according to some requires an immediate shutdown to avoid a second Chernobyl. Then on to our usual mix of energy and energy-related stories: Low oil prices to mandate an OPEC production cut; the Turk Stream gas pipeline: coal in Germany, Hungary, Japan and China; nuclear in Poland, France, Spain and the EU; renewables in Australia and Puerto Rico; batteries in California; tidal power in France; Solheim quits; hydrogen; foldable capacitors for energy storage and how Houston’s high-rises halted Hurricane Harvey.
Note that there is some informed commentary on the gravity of the Huntertson situation. If you don’t hear from me again it will be because I’ve been vaporised 🙁
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week’s lead story features Cuadrilla’s attempts to frack the Bowland Shale in UK, where its operations are routinely halted by barely detectable microseisms – “a major threat to UK fracking”, as the Guardian puts it. We follow with our usual mix of stories: OPEC either to boost or cut production; record profits for BP; natural gas in the US, Argentina and Chile; coal in the US, Australia, Germany and Spain; nuclear in Japan and China; the IPCC’s anti-nuclear bias; Germany plans more wind & solar tenders; EVs as energy storage batteries; renewables and the UK budget: Scottish Power goes 100% wind; an energy-saving cooling system, solid fuel from sewage and what climate change will do to Glasgow.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
We are told that the cost of Li-ion storage batteries is decreasing. Not so with Tesla, which has just increased the price of its 13.5 kWh Powerwall unit plus supporting hardware from $US6,600 ($489/kWh) to $7,800 ($578/kWh). The $100/kWh “holy grail” price considered necessary to support mass deployment of battery storage is obviously still some way off. To follow we have our usual mix – the latest doings of OPEC; natural gas in California; coal in the US, Germany and Finland; nuclear in Japan, Ontario, India, Belgium and Germany; hydro and pot in Canada; 100% renewables in Puerto Rico and Scotland; the Ireland-Wales Greenlink; the UK backs off EVs; car bodies made from carbon fiber batteries and what climate change is going to do to beer.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews:
This week’s feature story exposes the mess Germany’s Energiewende has become, and in the follow-up story how it’s torpedoing Europe’s carbon emissions goals. Coming after we have the Trump-OPEC war of words; Saudi Arabia abandons its $200 billion solar project; Shell’s $12 billion Canadian LNG project; the world’s “coal binge”; Australia’s Liddell coal plant to close; the Belgian reactor shutdown; UK SMR companies ask for billions in government support; the EU to cut vehicle emissions, Denmark to ban petrol and diesel vehicles; power-to-gas energy storage in UK; wind turbines cause warming; Elon Musk defies the SEC and how California Gov. Jerry Brown will make the sun shine at night.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
In this week’s Blowout we feature China, where the central government’s edict to cancel over 100 planned coal plants is being ignored by local authorities who are continuing to build them anyway (the follow-up story shows satellite photos). Elsewhere in the world: Trump and OPEC go head-to-head; Nord Stream 2 and Germany; coal and hydro in the US; a last-minute reprieve for the Vogtle nuclear plant; possible blackouts in Belgium; the Puerto Rico grid; solar in France; Australia’s emissions increase; a “major” UK gas discovery; Corbyn to resurrect Swansea Bay tidal; US SEC sues Elon Musk for fraud; zinc-air batteries; Faraday exchangers and how global warming makes pigs thin and lethargic.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
Our lead story this week features Australia, where the federal government has declared victory in meeting its 2020 renewables goal and will fix no new emissions targets after then. The mix to follow includes another oil price tweet from Trump; record oil production from Russia; the US-China trade war; natural gas and the coal phase-out in Germany; the coal crisis in South Africa; France and India to build world’s largest (9.6GW) nuclear plant; US court upholds nuclear subsidies; Ontario to scrap its Green Energy Act; the EU wants more hydrogen; the British Gas “unlimited tariff” and Gov. Jerry Brown (aka Gov. Moonbeam) sends California into space.
Earlier in the week, more madness from Jerry Brown:
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
Featured in this week’s Blowout is the Paris Climate Agreement, where the big issue is no longer how to cut emissions but why the developing countries aren’t getting the $100 billion/year the developed countries promised to give them. Coming later we have global oil demand to hit 100 million bpd; oil & gas in the North Sea and Norway; the Russia-China gas pipeline; coal in North Carolina, South Africa, Poland, Queensland and the EU; Fukushima’s first radiation fatality; Austria appeals Hinkley Point verdict; melting glaciers and Swiss hydro; France names new energy minister; Alberta pulls out of Canada’s climate plan; Australia declares climate ‘single greatest’ security threat; EVs in the EU; solar companies consider leaving UK; Brexit to drive up energy bills and whether global warming caused Roger Federer to lose a tennis match.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week’s lead stories feature Australia’s new government, which has no plans to cut emissions but promises not to abandon its Paris Climate Agreement commitments. How are these two conflicting goals to be met? Coming later we have OPEC, Iraq, Iran’s oil and US sanctions; more Norwegian gas for UK; cap-and-trade in Ontario; coal in China; French environment minister Hulot resigns, France’s nuclear industry rejoices; Japanese utility to curtail solar in favor of nuclear; Tesla backs off privatization; California targets 100% renewable electricity by 2045; the UK wind and solar industries want subsidies restored; Kalashnikov’s new EV; how beavers make climate change worse and how meeting Paris Agreement targets would give us 217 million more tons of fish each year.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week we feature the Trump EPA, which is proposing a major rollback in US coal plant emission restrictions (no details presently available). To follow we have OPEC and the Iran/Saudi standoff; Saudi Arabia denies plans to scrap the ARAMCO IPO; Nord Stream 2 to bypass Denmark; more production cuts at Groningen; rising EU carbon prices; Australia’s Turnbull ousted; nuclear in Taiwan, Sweden, South Korea, New England, the Middle East and North Africa; a slowdown in California renewables; New Zealand’s first battery storage project; Scotland’s floating wave turbine; the Brexit aftermath; Britons want more subsidized solar and how mass-produced Volkswagens cause drought in Mexico.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
We lead off this week’s Blowout with Elon Musk’s impulsive tweet about how he can take Tesla private for $420/share with “funding secured”. We follow up with OPEC forecasts slower growth in oil while US refineries struggle to keep up with demand; the Permian Basin is either a major resource or it isn’t; yet another review of the Keystone XL pipeline; gas peakers in India; coal in Germany, the US and the EU; Chinese AP1000 reactor reaches full power; Australia’s NEG moves along; SMRs in UK; wood-burning at Drax; and how global warming will degrade law enforcement and cause more sewage leaks in Canada.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews:
We kick off with YouTube censoring climate debate using Wikipedia as the font of truth. We continue with Saudi Arabia’s oil production – is it up or down?; the Saudi/Canada standoff; US LNG and Nord Stream 2; coal in Poland and China; nuclear in France and India; the Laos hydro dam collapse; Australia’s national energy guarantee; the hydrogen-to-ammonia “breakthrough”; renewables to power Blockchain; renewables and the UK capacity market; subsidies for UK SMRs; climate change to cause more windless periods and how to save the planet – give up meat.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
We begin with the $2.4 trillion battery required to keep California’s lights on and follow with OPEC; the oil tanker crisis; Kuwait fracks in Canada; Azerbaijan gas; Rio Tinto exits coal; Russia fuels its offshore nuclear plant; Moorside nuclear in doubt; blackouts in South Africa; Australia’s National Energy Guarantee; peaking plants in Europe; an “alarming collapse” in UK renewable investment; 5,000 UK churches go renewable and how heatwaves increase deaths in UK but decrease them in Spain.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
…Exxon’s Guyana oil discovery; oil majors shifting into natural gas; the EU to import more US LNG; coal in Spain, India and Australia; South Africa can’t afford Russian nuclear; China, nuclear and the UK; US heatwave causes grid reliability problems; Europe and intermittent renewables; the world’s largest pumped hydro plant at the Boulder dam; the UK ditches FiTs and approves fracking; Ofgem proposes EV reforms; the UK to double offshore wind capacity how global warming causes more suicides.
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news studies from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
Moving on we have more OPEC; record US oil & gas production; Gazprom’s next giant gas field; coal in Australia, the US, South Africa and India; nuclear in India, China, the US, Ghana, Niger and Bangladesh; falling global investment in renewables: California’s emissions down; looming EU energy efficiency fines; the ongoing UK wind drought; volcanic activity melts the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Svalbard was 6°C warmer 10,000 years ago.
A review of global energy and climate news stories compiled by Roger Andrews:
….the US’s growing coal exports; Snowy hydro reservoirs at low levels; Ontario cans renewables projects, North Carolina rejects wind farms; post-Brexit power cuts in Northern Ireland; ….
An eclectic mix of energy and climate news stories from around the world compiled by Roger Andrews.
This week we feature OPEC, which has agreed to raise production without specifying by exactly how much. The market, however, appears to regard this outcome as favorable and oil prices are up. We follow with the oil potential of the northern seas; surging US gas production; leaking methane; nuclear in Japan, China and Korea, coal and Trump’s trade war; Germany puts jobs before CO2; renewables in India and California; biomass in Europe; energy storage in New York; EVs in Paris; Norway’s electric plane; pumped hydro for Loch Ness; flow tests at Horse Hill; Antarctic ice; football in Nigeria and how we humans have five years to fix climate change or face extinction.
From earlier in the week:
The BP 2018 Statistical Review, electricity and CO2 emissions