Back in 2019, I wrote The First Green Terawatt Was the Hardest, and then Renewable Wednesday: Mo Green Terawatts in 2020. Now look at us go. The public is paying less and less attention to the denialists, even as they get louder, sillier, and more desperate. Analysts and governments are catching on more and more to the meaning of exponential growth, and adjusting announced plans accordingly.
Renewables
Storage
EVs
Corporate
Google Asks Large Suppliers to Commit to 100% Renewable Energy as Emissions Continue to Rise
Google announced that it has implemented a new program, Google Renewable Energy Addendum, asking its largest hardware manufacturing suppliers to commit to achieving a 100% renewable energy match by 2029, marking one of the company’s initiatives to address its carbon footprint, which continues to increase, driven by its value chain and data center growth.
The new initiative was announced with the release of Google’s 2024 Environmental Report, highlighting the company’s environmental initiatives, and its progress towards its sustainability goals.
Google’s Scope 2 emissions increased by 37%, with the company citing data center electricity consumption outpacing its ability to bring carbon free energy projects online, particularly in the U.S. and Asia Pacific. Google parent Alphabet announced a 24/7 CFE ambition in 2020, aiming to run its entire business on carbon-free energy by 2030, matching electricity demand with CFE supply every hour of every day, in every region where the company operates.
By Country and Region
These new solar farms will be on land the Vatican owns nearby in Italy.
It’s a tiny country, but it impacts Catholic populations worldwide.
Up from 44.7% in 2023.
However, it still leads the world in coal, and hasn’t been able to build out its grid connections sufficiently. So,
China stops publishing data that showed falling renewable power plant usage
Reuters
China's latest monthly power report excluded data on usage rates by generation source, after recent data showed declining utilisation at renewable power plants, a trend that was expected to continue.
In a monthly data release on Friday, China's energy administration published only the average operating hours of all types of power plants for January to May. Previous data releases had broken down the statistics by generation source, including hydro, thermal, nuclear, wind, and solar generation.
China's cabinet said in a
CO2 action plan on May 29 that it would increase the limit on renewable power curtailment from 5% to 10%, while also accelerating plans to build ultra-high voltage transmission lines.
Asia-Pacific's rise in global renewable energy sector
With over 430 companies committed to 100% renewable electricity, RE100's collective demand has soared to 565 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, surpassing Germany's electricity consumption and nearing that of South Korea. This positions RE100 as a formidable force in the energy sector, effectively becoming the eighth largest "country" by electricity demand.
The Asia-Pacific region has emerged as a dominant player in the renewable energy landscape, a shift from RE100's earlier dominance in North America and Europe. Taiwan, in particular, has made significant strides, with 34 companies, including tech giant Foxconn, joining the RE100 ranks. These companies collectively account for over 10% of Taiwan's electricity demand, all committed to 100% renewable energy.
$1B plan could save Michiganders $3.4B with new lines for renewable energy | Opinion
This year will be decisive for the buildout of transformative energy infrastructure in Michigan. Most Michiganders may be unaware, but billions of dollars in lower energy costs are at play with the future of two new transmission lines soon to be proposed by the electric transmission utility, ITC.
The projects are Michigan's portion of a 2,000-mile set of high-voltage, overhead electric transmission lines that, if built, will crisscross the Midwest, connecting sources of power – chiefly, renewable energy installations – to energy demand.
COP29
Azerbaijan to upgrade climate target before COP29 summit
We plan to announce at least some part of it, and hopefully all of it, before COP. And we are sending signals to everybody to follow suit.
Elnur Soltanov, CEO of the COP29 summit and Azerbaijan's deputy energy minister, said of the target.
Babayev, a former oil executive turned ecology minister, said Azerbaijan was a gas-exporting nation and they would keep ramping up production to meet demand.
This includes from the European Union, he said, which signed major gas contracts with the former Soviet nation after the outbreak of the Ukraine war caused an energy crisis.
Getting Europe off Russian coal, oil, and gas has been a big deal, for which the US also increased its gas exports. We looked at that last Tuesday.
Denial and Backsliding
Canada’s answer to The Onion:
Here on Planet A, however,
Alberta is in a solar power gold rush — and there are lessons for the rest of Canada
Alberta and Ontario are the only Canadian provinces with deregulated wholesale energy markets. While a government with a regulated electricity market could decide to build renewables, Hastings-Simon said that a deregulated system allows for these projects to move forward because of open competition among energy suppliers and an easy route for companies to purchase renewable power directly.
The nuclear and renewable myths that mainstream media can’t be bothered challenging
RenewEconomy
Nuclear energy proponents are attempting to discredit renewable energy and promote nuclear energy and fossil gas in its place. This article refutes several myths they are disseminating that are receiving little or no challenge in the mainstream media.
Myth: Renewables cannot supply 100% electricity
Myth: Gas can fill the gap until nuclear is constructed
Myth: Nuclear energy can co-exist with large contributions from renewables
Myth: There is insufficient land for wind and solar
Myth: The longer lifetime of nuclear reactors hasn’t been taken into account
Myth: We need baseload power stations
Taiwan's renewable goals clash with nuclear revival calls
Minister of Economic Affairs JW Kuo is scheduled to present a report to the Legislative Yuan next week, addressing the contentious nuclear issue. Ministry officials have clarified that the RE100 initiative, which promotes 100% renewable energy, does not encompass nuclear power. They emphasized the government's commitment to a "nuclear-free homeland" and its green energy efforts remain steadfast.
He noted that from a climate perspective, keeping existing nuclear plants operational while closing fossil fuel plants is preferable. However, for new nuclear projects, Kimmins pointed out the long development times – typically around 15 years from planning to completion – which means they wouldn't contribute to climate goals before 2040.
While running up monstrous cost overruns, as always.
If this is happening, it's actually INCREASING emissions in these countries via energy sources, battery production, and tax break $$ that could go to reducing emissions. Yikes!
No matter how good the real news is, some, like Trumpist Bob Pishue @BobPishue here, will have no trouble lying about it.
Project 2025 says
Anthropogenic Global Warming/Climate change/renewable energy—A hoax; the conspiracy to “ban the fuels that run almost all of the world’s cars, planes, factories, farms, and electricity grids.”; “America’s vast reserves of oil and natural gas are not an environmental problem; they are the lifeblood of economic growth.”; Climate fanaticism