The last time Right wing Republicans were in charge in California, under Gov. Pete Wilson, they pushed through the infamously anti-immigrant Prop. 187, and destroyed themselves in the state. Then they tried it again with Prop. 8, to outlaw Marriage Equality, and wrecked themselves more. We still have Prop. 13, and the zombie Peripheral Canal keeps coming back to life, but the state is doing well on many issues, notably Global Warming.
Repurposing oil platforms Wonkette
In Long Beach, California, this weekend, the Aquarium of the Pacific hosted a conference to explore how California's 27 offshore oil platforms might be used for good, not evil and oil slicks. A dozen of the things are likely to be retired in the coming decade, and since their underwater pilings have already created artificial reefs, there might be opportunities to repurpose the platforms for wind power, or as hotels for divers.
At Buchanan High School in Clovis CA former Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown celebrated the state's millionth solar roof, and promised a million home battery storage units. They were presented with a solar panel marking the occasion.
To the True Believers, of course, Schwarzenegger is barely a RINO.
Electric Vehicle Tuesday: California Kicks Complaining Car Companies to Curb
The climate in California
America’s most populous state has reduced its carbon output to 1990 levels. One determined Yalie has led the charge.
In September 2006...Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger…signs the California Global Warming Solutions Act. The legislation gave California a mere 14 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to what they had been in 1990. California achieved its goal four years ahead of schedule, meeting 1990 emissions levels in 2016. The state’s economy, meanwhile, grew by 26 percent.
Mary Nichols ’71JD [Yale Law School], current chair of the California Air Resources Board [is] the most influential environmental regulator in history.
She listens. I know! What a concept!
The next project for Nichols.
The air resources board now faces the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, a vastly more ambitious goal than that originally set by AB32. Beyond automobiles, they are looking at forestry and agriculture practices, urban planning, carbon capture and sequestration technologies, concerns as far afield as how California invests its pension fund. This work is made more urgent by the expectation that California will be carbon neutral by 2045.
And so are we looking at everything.
Renewable Tuesday: Divest from Evil, Invest in Good
Climate Action 100+ (California State Controller Betty Yee; $32T in assets)
California breakdown of electricity imports upholds states’s clean reputation
Data released by the California Energy Commission shows wind as the largest source of electricity imported in 2017, and that even with imports the state’s mix is getting cleaner.
California has been the national leader in the energy transition, and in many ways has even led the world — even if outpaced by smaller nations such as Denmark and Uruguay. However, critics have long pointed to the large amount of electricity imported by the state – nearly 1/3 of all power consumed – to allege that the state’s power is not as clean as claimed.
Last week the California Energy Commission largely debunked those concerns with new data that shows that the state’s electricity mix remains largely clean, even with imports. According to Total System Electric Generation, in 2017 wind was the largest source of imports at 14.6 terawatt-hours (TWh), as part of 23.5 TWh of imported renewable energy.
Opinion: The War on Coal in California Is Over—It Lost
In 2008, coal comprised 18.2% of California’s electricity mix. By 2018, that number had fallen to 3%, with virtually all the electricity from coal coming from a single plant in Utah. This plant is scheduled to be retired within five years and replaced with cleaner resources, pushing California coal generation down to zero.
The next big fight will be over replacing natural gas.
Natural Gas Power Plant Retirements in California—Union of Concerned Scientists
As the rest of the country rushes to build natural gas power plants, California continues to downsize its fleet. While the official numbers are not yet in, 2018 appears to have been a big year for natural gas power plant retirements in California.
California saw three big plant retirements last year: Encina (854 MW), Mandalay (560 MW), and Etiwanda (640 MW). The retirement of Encina and Mandalay was no surprise – those two plants used ocean water for cooling, and California has been phasing out plants that use that cooling technology because of its harmful effects on marine life. On the other hand, Etiwanda shut down simply because it was not making enough money. While California has figured out solutions to keep the electric grid operating reliably without the Mandalay and Etiwanda power plants, Encina is being replaced by the Carlsbad Energy Center, a new 500 MW natural gas power plant.
California’s gas fleet peaked in 2013 with just over 47,000 MW of gas capacity, but California has shed roughly 5,000 MW of gas capacity since then.
The Energy Storage Path to a Clean California
Energy storage plays a key role in SDG&E’s commitment to delivering clean, safe and reliable energy.
Well, it was the largest, until Japan and Texas leapfrogged it.
We'll be back.