Trump’s Shithole Shutdown won’t stop us from rounding up another week of news about the unstoppable conversio
n to a renewable energy world!
In the wake of *45’s weakness and the U.S. retreat from global leadership, China continues to be the world’s leader in the renewable energy transition. (I’m sure the Chinese people will rejoice when this quickly leads to better air quality in their cities!) CNBC’s website profiles six (6) of China’s most ambitious green energy projects this morning. They are:
- Longtan Hydropower Station in Guangxi. Situated on the Hongshui River, the dam for this station stands just over 216 meters tall and the power station is able to generate more than 6000 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
- Solar Road, Jinan. In last week’s summary diary, I talked about the opening of China’s first solar road. It’s in the city of Jinan in the eastern province of Shandong. The CNBC article shows that this expressway covers 5, 875 square meters and they quote the Chinese state news agency (Xinhua, not Fixed Noise)’s clam that the panels on the road can produce 1 million kilowatt hours of power per year, enough to meet the needs of roughly 800 homes.
- Donghai Bridge Wind Farm. China's Donghai Bridge Wind Farm is located in the East China Sea. It has a capacity of just over 100 MW and comprises 34 turbines.
- Three Gorges Dam, Hubei. A vast hydropower facility, the Three Gorges Dam stands roughly 181 meters tall and has a length of around 2,335 meters, according to the United States Geological Survey. The facility, which is located on the Yangtze River, has a capacity of 22,500 MW.
- Panda Power Plant, Xanxi. In a previous diary we described China’s solar power plant designed to look (from the air) like a mother panda and cub. From the CNBC article:
Last summer, the Panda Green Energy Group announced that the Panda Power Plant in Datong, Shanxi, had been connected to the grid and entered its testing phase.
With an install capacity of 100 MW, the business said that it could produce 3.2 billion kilowatt hours of green electricity over 25 years, representing an equivalent saving of 1.056 million tons of coal.
- Shenzen’s Electric Buses, Guangdong.
One of China's major cities and a hub for technology companies, Shenzen is also home to a vast fleet of electric buses.
Last June, authorities announced that the Shenzhen Bus Group had replaced all 5,698 of its buses with electric vehicles.
In a cautionary note, writing in Forbes, contributing writer Ken Forbes outlines how many companies are “riding the renewable energy wave,” but are neglecting obvious and cheap energy-saving measures. The article cites Bill Brewer, Vice Pres. of Energy and Sustainability Services at Schneider Electric, “There is a lack of coordination and strategic planning and an inability to share budgets to get greater buying power. There is also insufficient knowledge that these programs are out there, and it all takes expertise and time.”
Last week, we included a story from Japan showing that Honda and Toyota are developing hydrogen fuel cell cars whose only “exhaust” is water vapor. Well, Britain’s inventor Hugo Spowers, former owner/manager of a Formula Three racing team, is president and CEO of Riversimple, which produces a hydrogen fuel cell car in Wales. This year, Riversimple is beta-testing 20 hydrogen fuel cell prototypes in Monmouthshire. If all goes well, Spowers hopes to have the car in mass production by 2019.
The Canadian govt. has allocated funding to support R & D of biomass projects for heating and power in British Columbia. It will green their forestry industry and combat global warming. Three of these projects will benefit the energy infrastructure of Canada’s indigenous communities (First Nations). (Contrast this with the way the Trump govt. is constantly trying to harm Native Americans, especially those in the path of the Keystone Pipeline.) The Kwadacha First Nation will receive $143,000 (Canadian or CN) for 2 projects:
- CN $98,000 to support a community combined heat and power (CHP) bioenergy system. It will use a sustainable supply of biomass from local forests.
- CN $45,000 will underwrite a report on lessons learned from another biomass project which uses wood from timber killed by beetles to generate electricity and heat.
Finally, the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation will receive CN $25,000 to assess the feasibility of building a CHP plant for the community using organic rankin cycle technology. (The article doesn’t describe such tech in detail, which is disappointing.)
The Swedish green building company, Skanska. has signed a licensing deal with the Polish-based Saule Technologies to begin covering office buildings with perovskite solar cells on a mass scale. If this technology can be quickly scaled up, it will transform cities from “heat islands,” to green energy producers.
Tomorrow, 23 January 2018, DistribuTech (DTECH), a fast growing expo for energy distribution, opens in San Antonio. And this year, for the first time, there is a special section called DistribuTEXAS
highlighting breakthroughs in clean energy distribution in the Lone Star State. Imagine how much more could happen if Texas actually had a state govt. that supported the growth of renewable energy? If you like that imaginary picture, work hard to replace Greg Abbott as governor and as many GOPers in the state leg. with progressive Dems as you can. The size of the women’s march in Dallas this weekend showed the potential to transform Texas’ politics. Green energy would be only one beneficiary.
That’s it for this week, folks. As usual, highlight other stories, good and bad news, in the comments. Part of the resistance is keeping our eyes on both the threats to our planet of this regime and the promise of the newer, greener, more just and peaceful world we progressives want to create for our children and grandchildren.
The Trump Shithole Shutdown doesn’t shut down the resistance, including resistance to his coal and oil fevered dreams and the push to a green future with our coming blue wave.