This is the first in a series of weekly Diaries I mean to keep up, on good news that the MSM won’t tell you about progress in Renewable Energy. Today’s focus is where you can learn much more of what I will be including. I included many links in my recent Diary The First Green Terawatt Was the Hardest, and I have set out to harvest many more. That Diary was based on news from August 2018 that I had missed for six months, so I realized that I have to get more serious and more systematic.
Now, before we get into the details, I have another major complaint about the MSM. They endlessly repeat the bogus claims from the Right that the Green New Deal will cost tens of trillions of dollars, as they do on health care for all and either free or debt-free college for anyone who wants it. We know that this is not the case. So let’s start with that.
North American Windpower, free newsletter:
Wind And Solar Each Beat Natural Gas For New Generating Capacity In January
EACH. Got that? Because they are CHEAPER.
According to an analysis by the SUN DAY Campaign of newly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), new solar and wind generating capacity took the lead over natural gas and all other energy sources as of Jan. 31.
SUN DAY says total wind generating capacity (97.18 GW) is rapidly closing in on that of hydropower (100.33 GW) and seems certain to overtake it sometime this year. Meanwhile, the generating capacity of all renewables combined (254.57 GW) is about to surpass that of coal (264.49 GW) – again, very possibly in 2019.
Now, nobody should suppose that the following list is anything like complete. It is enough to get you started, but not all the sources I know about, much less all that there are. Feel free to nominate others in the comments if they are particularly good on the good news side.
General
There are Daily Kos Climate Hawks and Climate Action Hub groups.
Our Meteor Blades regularly collects DK Diaries on these subjects.
Spotlight on green news & views: 'The Uninhabitable Earth'; Tesla price cut irks some owners
ClimateDenierRoundup: Fossil Fool In WSJ Dings Solar and Wind Power For Producing TOO MUCH Energy
The Environmental Defense Fund via Daily Kos <campaigns@dailykos.com>
Me: The Green New Deal Bill is Not the Answer
It just asks the right questions.
Renewable Energy World, several free newsletters
GreenBiz
The Solutions Project, recommended renewables solutions for every US state and nearly every country.
Drawdown, edited by Paul Hawken. The hundred best ideas on cutting back greenhouse gas emissions, and even extracting CO2 from the atmosphere and oceans.
Wikipedia can be counted on to have an article on any topic of general interest. It might not be up to date, depending on the interests of their volunteer writers and editors.
Google can always be counted on to provide the latest links on anything that you know the usual name of.
Solar
PV Magazine, free newsletter
PV Magazine, Edición Latinoamerica
Wind
North American Windpower, free newsletter
EVs
Me: Peak Gasoline Looming Out of Smog in India, China
Green Car Reports, free newsletter
Rail
Solutionary Rail plan to electrify all major rail corriders with wind and solar, and send the excess to where it is needed. Talk to our xaxnar about it.
The Green New Deal has some ideas on high speed rail and so on.
Air
I don’t see a Web site or publication exclusively on electric-assisted or all-electric airplanes or helicopters yet. But it is a popular topic in tech and trade publications.
Aviation Week & Space Technology (free registration)
NASA’s Electric-Propulsion Wing Test Helps Shape Next X-Plane
Greenbiz: It's 2018 — why aren't there electric airplanes yet?
Biofuels (with thanks to greenandblue)
Investment in biofuels peaked over a decade ago (lots of neat dashboards at that link). Cellulosic ethanol has increased, but remains behind past expectations. Meanwhile, ethanol from other sources continues to increase. Production of biodiesel, which is more reduced and, therefore, more energy rich than ethanol has also increased, largely driven by an increase in the US of over 4 fold from the mid-aughts to 2016 to ~2.9 billion gallons.
The European Union demands much of the biodiesel, and through their revised sustainability standards should have a global impact on the destructive land use changes associated with biofuels.
Economic biodiesel from algae has been sought for many years. A recently reported breakthrough from researchers in Utah might finally make it feasible and reduce pressure to use agricultural and forest land.
Biofuels News
ePure says EU still ‘needs to do better’ after outlawing of palm oil
Biofuel News
The latest alternative fuel news from our biodiesel, biofuel, and ethanol fuel news sources.
Biodiesel Magazine
Fossil Fuels
Yes, sorry, it is not all good news. But we get to look at overall declining markets for coal, oil, and gas, and the Last Greater Fool finances in play.
World Coal
Global Coalbed Methane Market 2018-2022: Decline in coal-based power generation
OilPrice.com free newsletter
OK. Lots to read. Now ask me anything about renewables, Global Warming Denial, or rigging that Rivian electric pickup up top with those Jacob’s Ladder spark generators to roll electrons at the rubes. If I don’t know myself, I know where to look, and I’ll tell you my sources.