Biden's Hydrogen Grab

In a perfect world, we and the European Union would be holding hands and skipping along doing this all cooperatively. Meanwhile, back in the real world...

Agrivoltaics

First time I'm hearing of this.

Pumped Hydro Energy Storage

Interesting article about the current state of pumped hydro energy storage, where you pump water uphill while the sun is generating lots of power during the day and then let the water flow back downhill at night to generate electricity.

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/14/1126523766/water-batteries-could-store-solar-and-wind-power-for-when-its-needed

Introduction to Heat Pumps

 MIT Review has a nice explainer about heat pumps. I learned something. Of course, that's a low bar.

A Wall That Mexico Might Actually Chip In For

A poet and a professor from Mexico, writing in the Huffington Post,  have proposed an alternative to Trump's border wall: a wall of solar cells to generate power all along the border.

With solar plants along vast stretches of the almost 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border on the Mexican side, a new high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) grid could be set up to transmit energy efficiently from that long, snaking array to population centers along the border. HVDC power lines lose exponentially less energy over long distances than traditional power lines. Cities that could immediately benefit include San Diego, Tijuana, Mexicali, Tucson, Phoenix, El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, San Antonio and Monterrey.

 As they point out, there's lots of strong sunlight along the border and cities on both sides of the border could benefit. Let's try it.

Link:  Instead Of Trump’s Wall, Let’s Build A Border Of Solar Panels

German Green Revolution Hurts Utilities Clinging to Coal and Gas

A report in Quartz about the economic effects of Germany's green energy revolution provides a stark warning to electrical utilities: start thinking about how you're going to handle the transition or face the consequences.

Yesterday, RWE confirmed a €5.7 billion loss in 2016 that it flagged a few weeks ago. Today, EON revealed a whopping €16 billion loss for the year, the largest in its history. Steep writedowns in the value of coal- and gas-fired power plants, along with the costs of cleaning up nuclear waste, were largely to blame for the shortfalls.

 Of course, in the story we find that these losses may be a sign that the German utilities are coming to grips with the transition.

Like RWE, EON recently split its renewables arm from its languishing fossil-fuel business.

Link: Germany’s renewable energy push has forced $30 billion in losses on its biggest utilities

European Union Ahead of Schedule on Renewable Energy Goals

A report in ClimateAction, a "partner" of the United Nations Energy Program, shows that the European Union is well on its way to meeting its 2020 goals for transitionaing to renewable energy.

 Under the EU 2020 strategy, the region aims to reach a share of 20 per cent energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy.

On Tuesday 14 March, the European Commission announced that for 2015 the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy reached 16.7 per cent in the EU, almost double the 8.5 per cent recorded in 2004.

Link: Renewable energy targets already met by 11 EU Members