Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Saudi Arabia and Russia are cutting oil supply again in bid to boost prices
Source: AP

Published 10:10 AM CDT, July 3, 2023
LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia and Russia are extending cuts to the amount of oil they pump to the world in a bid to prop up prices, showing how two of the world’s largest oil producers are scrambling to boost income from the fossil fuel even as demand has weakened with the economy.

The decision gave a slight boost to oil prices Monday and comes after the Saudis announced a large cut in output for July at the latest meeting of the OPEC+ coalition of oil producers — raising concerns that gasoline prices for U.S. drivers could start ticking up.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said it would extend July’s cut of 1 million barrels per day through August to support “the stability and balance of oil markets.” That will keep the Gulf nation’s output at 9 million barrels per day.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said his country will cut production by an additional 500,000 barrels a day in August, according to Russian news reports.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/oil-prices-s ... c8a0bab3c2
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 7384
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

Top Climate Groups Took Millions from Billionaire Oil and Gas Investors
by Kiran Stacey
July 4, 2023

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) Some of the world’s best-known climate campaign groups have taken millions of dollars in donations from a foundation run by billionaire hedge fund bosses whose investment fund has invested in fossil fuel companies, the Guardian has learned.

Groups including the European Climate Foundation, the Carbon Tracker Initiative, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have taken millions of dollars worth of grants over the past two years from Quadrature Climate Foundation, according to filings with the Charity Commission. WWF told the Guardian on Tuesday it would investigate the donation.

Quadrature Climate Foundation was set up by Quadrature Capital, a multibillion-pound investment fund founded by the enigmatic billionaires Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiya. Quadrature Capital has stakes worth more than $170 million in fossil fuel companies, according to filings with US regulators.

Quadrangle Capital held a $24 million stake in ConocoPhillips, which the Guardian named as one the world’s worst corporate polluters.
The fund’s most recent filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission show that as of the end of March, Quadrature had stakes in 45 fossil fuel companies, mostly in North America.

They included a $24 million stake in ConocoPhillips, the multinational oil and gas company named by the Guardian in 2019 as one of the world’s most polluting companies. The fund had also invested more than $26 million in Cheniere Energy, a major US producer of liquified natural gas for export. And it had a $20 million stake in Cenovus Energy, a Canadian company that was recently reprimanded by regulators after diesel leaked into a fishing lake in Alberta.
Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/environmen ... onations/

caltrek’s comment: A couple of interesting aspects to all of this.

First, are these organizations influenced by their fossil fuel company holdings?

Partly a matter of whether it is true organizations even realized they had such holdings, given the complexity of their investment network. This ignorance seems to be the main response of these executives when asked about their holdings.

Second, NPR had an interesting story in which it was pointed out that such influence can flow both ways. That is that green stockholders of brown stocks can encourage these companies through their corporate holdings to pursue diversifying strategies. The argument goes that, because of their institutional understanding of the energy sector, brown companies are well positioned to best benefit and institute such diversification. Of course, if one is not even aware of one’s corporate holdings, one is not likely to be engaged in such a strategy.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Nearly all Texas beaches contaminated with bacterial pathogens dangerous to swimmers, report says
ARIEL WORTHY | POSTED ON JULY 10, 2023, 3:10 PM
As Texans head to local beaches this summer, a new report from nonprofit Environment Texas warns that more work is needed to ensure that all waters are safe for swimming. Ninety percent of Texas beaches were found to be contaminated with bacterial pathogens on at least one day last year.
In its report, Environment Texas examined whether detected levels of fecal bacteria on Texas beaches exceeded what the EPA considers to be dangerous to swimmers. It found that eight beaches in the state, including Seawall Boulevard in Galveston and Texas City Dike, exceeded these levels on over a quarter of days last year.
Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, says dilapidated wastewater infrastructure in areas of the state is partially to blame.
“A lot of our sanitary and sewage systems are really old and failing, and so we need to invest money to fix the leaks and make sure there’s sufficient capacity to handle the volume of wastewater, including during kind of big rainy events.”
More here
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/arti ... port-says/
weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Texas solar and wind are setting records, and the state's grid can't handle it
https://electrek.co/2023/07/13/texas-solar-wind-grid/
Texas solar and wind are going to double by 2035, but if the state’s grid isn’t upgraded, then all that power is going to go to waste, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA’s analysis released this month, A Case Study of Transmission Limits on Renewables Growth in Texas, found that if Texas doesn’t expand ERCOT’s electrical transmission network, congestion and curtailments are going to rise. (ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operates the state’s electrical grid.)

The study states that the “curtailments are due to both inadequate transmission capacity and surplus generation during high availability periods of variable renewable generation.” So, the grid operators need to find a balance between electricity supply and demand to achieve reliability.
User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2947
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: London, England, June 4th, 1884 C.E.

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

Grant Shapps earmarks £20bn for new fleet of nuclear reactors in UK
Tue 18 Jul 2023 17.46 BST

Grant Shapps has condemned the neglect of Britain’s nuclear industry as a “colossal mistake” as he earmarked £20bn for a fleet of new reactors – but admitted it would take six years to even make a decision on giving projects the green light.

The government formally launched Great British Nuclear (GBN), an independent body designed to aid the delivery of new projects, on Tuesday.

In a delayed speech to industry at the Science Museum in London, Shapps noted that opposition had grown against nuclear power in the 1980s and “eventually that mood even percolated its way into government itself”.

He said: “By the early 1990s, just four decades after Britain had led the world by building the first ever commercial nuclear power station at Calder Hall in Cumbria, our nuclear industry was firmly in decline.

“That was a colossal mistake, consigning us to decades more reliance on fossil fuels … We are heralding the beginning of a new nuclear age, a renaissance in Britain’s nuclear industry.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... tors-in-uk
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
User avatar
raklian
Posts: 1829
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:46 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by raklian »

The world is finally spending more on solar than oil production
The International Energy Agency just released its annual investment report. Here’s where the money is going.

The International Energy Agency just published its annual report on global investment in energy, where it tallies up all that cash. The world saw about $2.8 trillion of investments in energy in 2022, with about $1.7 trillion of that going into clean energy.

Image

...

To keep global warming below 1.5 °C over preindustrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to reach net-zero emissions around 2050. If we’re going to hit that goal, according to the IEA, annual investment needs to reach $4.5 trillion in 2030—nearly triple current spending.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/0 ... 7laudaplyu
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2947
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: London, England, June 4th, 1884 C.E.

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

Leaked UK government plan to protect against climate heat ‘very weak’
Mon 17 Jul 2023 14.00 BST

The government’s plan to cope with the climate crisis has been condemned as “very weak” by experts, who say not enough is being done to protect lives and livelihoods.

Responding to the document, which was leaked to the Guardian, one highlighted its failure to adequately protect people in the UK from extreme heat. The heatwave in 2022, when temperatures surpassed 40C for the first time, led to the early deaths of more than 3,000 people, wildfires, buckled rail lines and farmers struggling with drought. Southern Europe is in the grip of a searing heatwave.

Another expert said there was a “yawning gap” in measures to restore nature, which is a vital part of adapting to climate change.

The National Adaptation Programme is expected to be published on Tuesday by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is required by law to produce a plan every five years. In March, the government’s official advisers, the Climate Change Committee, said its publication would be a “make-or-break moment”.

Ministers have been criticised for years over the failure to make adequate plans for the impacts of global heating. The CCC said in March that the UK was “strikingly unprepared” and that there had been a “lost decade” in action on adaptation. It said heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms would intensify in the coming years until carbon emissions reached net zero.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -very-weak
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 10123
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Supreme Court paves way for construction of Mountain Valley Pipeline to resume
Source: CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for construction of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline project to resume, granting a request to lift lower court orders that halted the project and delayed its completion. The court's brief order vacates stays issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in cases brought by environmental organizations opposed to the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline that will transport natural gas from West Virginia to Virginia. There were no noted dissents.

Construction for the project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, in 2017. But since then, the project has been entangled in numerous legal challenges to federal approvals for its construction and operation brought by environmental groups. The pipeline, however, is nearly completed, and all that remains is construction of a 3.5-mile stretch through the Jefferson National Forest and stream crossings.

Before the Supreme Court are two of those disputes, the first brought by the Wilderness Society and the second from a coalition of 10 environmental groups. They sought review from the 4th Circuit of authorizations issued this year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service allowing the pipeline segments in Jefferson National Forest.

The groups argue pipeline construction will harm endangered species and allege the approvals from BLM and the Forest Service violate numerous environmental statutes.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-co ... struction/
weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years, the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril
Source: AP
SHARON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp’s glow. “Another big brown,” she said with a sigh.

It was a common type, one of many Wilson and colleagues had snagged on summer nights in the southern Michigan countryside. They were looking for increasingly scarce Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which historically migrated there for birthing season, sheltering behind peeling bark of dead trees.

The scientists had yet to spot either species this year as they embarked on a netting mission.

“It’s a bad suggestion if we do not catch one. It doesn’t look good,” said Allen Kurta, an Eastern Michigan University professor who has studied bats for more than 40 years.

The two bat varieties are designated as imperiled under the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock U.S. law intended to keep animal and plant types from dying out. Enacted in 1973 amid fear for iconic creatures such as the bald eagle, grizzly bear and gray wolf, it extends legal protection to 1,683 domestic species.

More than 99% of those listed as “endangered” — on the verge of extinction — or the less severe “threatened” have survived.

“The Endangered Species Act has been very successful,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in an Associated Press interview. “And I believe very strongly that we’re in a better place for it.”




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/endangered-s ... b6edb567e8
weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Tadasuke
Posts: 651
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:15 pm
Location: Europe

Judith Curry: How Climate “Science” Got Hijacked by Alarmists

Post by Tadasuke »

Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 10123
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Judith Curry: How Climate “Science” Got Hijacked by Alarmists

Post by wjfox »

Tadasuke wrote: Sat Aug 19, 2023 7:28 pm

For context, Judith Curry is part of the 0.1% of climate scientists who don't believe climate change is real and human-caused.

Why are you so willing to listen to her, but not the other 99.9%?

She mentions "Climategate", which has been utterly discredited –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_ ... ontroversy
Eight committees investigated the allegations and published reports, finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct.
As for "corrupted" science, you could start by looking at fossil fuel companies like Exxon:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... er-funding

But according to you, these oil and gas giants are somehow the heroes? They couldn't possibly be worried about trillions of dollars in stranded assets and wouldn't do anything to protect all that wealth? They're the good guys, who can be totally trusted?

:roll:
weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool
Posts: 16334
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Renewables provided a quarter of the US’s electrical generation during the first half of 2023 – a slight increase from 2022, according to new US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
The latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through June 30, 2023) reveals that in the first six months of this year, electrical generation by renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for 25.11% of US electrical generation. That share is up slightly from the 25.06% reported for the first half of 2022, according the SUN DAY Campaign, which reviewed the data.

Solar took the lead. Including small-scale distributed systems, it grew by 12.4%, compared to the same period in 2022. This was driven in large part by growth in “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV whose output increased by 25.6% – more than any other energy source – and accounted for nearly one-third (31.4%) of total solar production. For the first half of 2023, solar was 5.77% of total US electrical generation. For the same period in 2022, solar’s share was 4.95%.

From January to June, solar combined with wind accounted for 17.11% of US electrical generation – up from 16.48% for the same period a year earlier. For the six-month period, solar plus wind easily surpassed coal’s share (14.82%), as electrical generation by the latter plummeted by 27.33%.

Further, electrical generation by the mix of all renewables exceeded that provided by nuclear power – whose output fell by 0.67% – by more than a third (33.69%).
-snip-

Full Article: https://electrek.co/2023/08/25/renewabl ... half-2023/
User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2947
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: London, England, June 4th, 1884 C.E.

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

Michael Gove is to announce a major rewriting of rules on waterway pollution in a bid to boost housebuilding in England.
29 August 2023

Alongside environment secretary Thérèse Coffey, Mr Gove is planning to rip up "nutrient neutrality" rules, which have been criticised by developers and some Tory MPs for blocking housebuilding.

The rules are in place to prevent developments or projects from dangerously increasing nutrient levels in local wetlands and waterways in protected areas.

Natural England rules on nutrient neutrality will become guidance instead, giving local officials the choice to either ignore or follow it, The Sun reports.

Property developers could be asked to help contribute to a "mitigation fund" to help tackle any pollution caused by building on greenfield and brownfield sites.

This major shift is likely to anger environmental campaigners.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/michael-gove ... ed%20areas.
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 7384
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

A New Way to Capture and Recycle Carbon Dioxide from Industrial Emissions
August 30, 2023

Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Carbon capture is a promising method to help slow climate change. With this approach, carbon dioxide (CO¬¬2) is trapped before it escapes into the atmosphere, but the process requires a large amount of energy and equipment. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have designed a capture system using an electrochemical cell that can easily grab and release CO2. The device operates at room temperature and requires less energy than conventional, amine-based carbon-capture systems.

Many industries are turning to electrification to help curb carbon emissions, but this technique isn’t feasible for all sectors. For example, CO2 is a natural byproduct of cement manufacture, and thus a major contributor to emissions on its own. Excess gas can be trapped with carbon-capture technologies, which typically rely on amines to help “scrub” the pollutant by chemically bonding to it. But this also requires lots of energy, heat and industrial equipment — which can burn even more fossil fuels in the process. Carbon capture could itself be electrified by using electrochemical cells, and these devices could be powered by renewable energy sources. So, Fang-Yu Kuo, Sung Eun Jerng and Betar Gallant wanted to develop an electrochemical cell that could easily and reversibly trap CO2 with minimal energy input.

The team first developed an electrochemical cell that could both catch and release emitted carbon by “swinging” positively charged cations across a liquid amine dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. When the cell was discharged, a strong Lewis cation interacted with the carbamic acid, releasing CO2 and forming the carbamate amine. When the process was reversed and the cell charged, the cation was removed, and the cell could capture CO2 and reform the carbamic acid in the process.

The researchers optimized the ion-swinging process with a combination of potassium and zinc ions. In a prototype cell, they used these two ions as the basis for the cell’s cathode and anode. This cell required less energy than other, heat-based cells and was competitive with other electrochemical cells in initial experiments. Additionally, they tested the device’s long-term stability and found that nearly 95% of its original capacity was maintained after several cycles of charging and discharging, demonstrating that the system was feasible. The researchers say that this work shows that an electrochemical alternative is possible and could help make continuous CO2 capture-release technologies more practical for industrial applications.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/999503
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply