Month: March 2024
Solar, Wind, Now Beating Coal on Price in Asia
According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, the LCOE from renewables reached a historic low in 2023. This is significant because it marks a shift toward making renewables increasingly competitive with coal, a mainstay in APAC’s energy mix. The driving force behind this trend is the substantial reduction in capital costs for renewable energy projects.
China leads the pack with a 40-70% cost reduction in utility-scale solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind compared to other Asia Pacific markets. China is expected to maintain a 50% cost advantage in renewable energy up to 2050.
The significant drop in solar power costs, by 23% in 2023, signals the end of supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures. As a result, utility solar is now the cheapest power source in 11 out of 15 APAC countries. New-build solar project costs are expected to fall by another 20% by 2030 due to lower module prices and an oversupply from China.
This drop in solar costs, particularly in 2023-24, puts pressure on coal and gas and highlights a 23% decrease in LCOE for utility PV across the Asia Pacific, driven by a 29% decline in capital costs.
Distributed solar, such as residential rooftop solar, saw a 26% decrease in 2023. This makes distributed solar 12% cheaper on average than residential power prices, unlocking substantial potential for rooftop solar.
Distributed solar is becoming increasingly enticing for customers in many Asia Pacific markets, with costs now 30% below rising residential tariffs in countries like China and Australia. However, markets with subsidized residential power tariffs, such as India, might have to wait until 2030 or later to see competitive prices for distributed solar.
Continue reading “Solar, Wind, Now Beating Coal on Price in Asia”Fire and Ice: West Buffeted by Extremes
Above, CBS report on massive Sierra blizzard.
Below, apologize in advance for the painful footage of Governor Abbot in this report on Texas wildfires from KVUE Austin. Dry weather and winds threaten to expand already record setting fires this weekend in panhandle.
Music Break: Walk Off the Earth – Hey Ya
I can’t get enough of this hyper-kinetic, massively creative, smart and funny cover, and all the other ones these guys have been doing, and I can’t take my eyes off Sarah Blackwood.
If this doesn’t give you a boost, check your pulse and consult a medical professional.
Chris Gloninger: Don’t Look Now, but Climate News Coverage Might go Mainstream
More from Chris Gloninger – I wanted to hear more from Chris about this pilot project he’s been working on for Adam Mckay – Director of Don’t Look Up.
Above, the backstory, below, an example of what it might look like.
In Colorado’s Mountain Cold, Electric School Buses Roll
Despite what you may have heard.
A lot of fuss was made this winter when some Tesla owners in Chicago experienced difficulty charging – but that wasn’t the experience for the majority of EV owners. In Colorado’s West Grand School District, electric school buses didn’t perform as well as their diesel counterparts. They performed better.
The town of Kremmling, Colorado is one of the coldest towns in the country, where high altitudes and northen winds combine to drive morning temperatures in the winter more than 30 degrees below zero. And it’s precisely in those super-cold temperatures that the school district’s electric school bus (which they’ve had since 2020) really shines.
“What we are seeing is that these buses are doing great in cold weather they still maintain a battery charge even when it’s cold,” said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative, Casey Becker.
It’s little wonder that the Kremmling school district is pleased with the performance of its electric bus. Even though it’s true that EV experience reduced range in extreme weather conditions, gas and diesel vehicles do, too. And, in the case of diesel, the vehicles might not start at all in Colorado’s bitter winter cold.
“Most of the winter it’s 30 to 35 below (zero),” offers West Grand County School District Director of Transportation, Bethany Aurinwhen. “When it’s up to 20 below that’s good day, and (the electric school bus) has performed extremely well.”
Is Tesla the VHS of Vehicle Charging?
Ford owners will now be able to use Tesla chargers. GM next.
While Texas Burns, California Will be Buried in Life Threatening Snow
Is Cannabis Green?
OK, suck all the joy out of everything.
As a growing number of states legalize marijuana, cannabis businesses are ramping up.
But cannabis is often grown in indoor farms under intense grow lights. And this setup can have a large carbon footprint.
Quinn: “Indoor-grown cannabis is using just a ton of electricity.”
Jason Quinn of Colorado State University co-authored a study on how much energy it would take to grow cannabis indoors at various locations in each state and the carbon pollution that would cause.
The researchers found that in general, production is less polluting in areas with more clean power on the grid and in mild climates where less energy is needed to maintain a farm’s temperature and humidity.
In the worst case, growing just one kilogram could emit as much carbon pollution as burning more than 500 gallons of gasoline. But in Long Beach, California, it would emit less than half that.
Quinn: “One of the challenges with it being federally regulated is that you can’t transport cannabis across state lines.”
But the study suggests that one way to reduce the industry’s climate impact would be to concentrate farms in optimal growing areas and when possible, avoid artificial lights and heat entirely.
Quinn: “The easiest thing you can do is just grow it outside.”
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Another suggestion, how about transitioning to all green energy?
Or, another idea below.
Texas Fires Would Stretch from New York to Philadelphia
Fires big enough to stretch from New York to Philadelphia.
According to Fox Weather, total acreage burned across Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado already greater than total burned acreage from 2023.
Welcome to 2024.
The imagery, which shows thermal hotspots linked to the Smokehouse Creek Fire, is what’s known as a false color visualization. This type of image displays portions of the infrared spectrum sensitive to fire activity. It was captured by GOES-16, a satellite that orbits roughly 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface.
On the ground, firefighters are rushing to control the fire, which grew rapidly after igniting in Hutchinson County on Feb. 26. “The reason that this fire got so big so fast is we had a goldilocks collection of circumstances, which is low relative humidity, dry [trees and grass] and high winds,” says Sean Dugan, a Texas A&M Forest Service public information officer. Although precipitation fell on Thursday, helping calm the fire, it remains only 3% contained, he says. A big concern is that windy conditions in coming days could spread this and other active fires in the area further and help fuel new ones.
The exact origins of the Smokehouse Creek Fire are currently under investigation, though Xcel Energy Inc. said in a regulatory filing it has been asked to preserve a fallen utility pole near where the fire possibly ignited as evidence.