Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  September 15, 2018

Weekend reads: Is Trump the saboteur of EVs?; Will renewables fuel the next revolution?

It's the weekend! Kick back and relax with these must-read energy stories from around the web:

President Trump is ‘the big saboteur’ of electric cars, says Gov. Jerry Brown (L.A. Times)  California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday accused President Trump of undermining the nation’s efforts to produce more electric vehicles, arguing that efforts to slow down the focus on clean energy will ultimately hurt the U.S. auto industry. “The big driver besides California is China,” Brown said in an interview with The Times about improved battery technology. “The big saboteur is Donald Trump. He’s trying to subsidize coal and destroy the electric car.” The governor, who had earlier signed a landmark bill to move California toward 100% clean electricity, is hosting an international climate change summit later in the week in San Francisco.

Renewables will fuel the 4th Industrial Revolution (BizCommunity)  Just as steam fuelled the first Industrial Revolution (IR), electricity – the second, and the combustion engine – the third, renewables will be the energy source of the fourth IR. “Fast forward 30 years. Most of the water in the world and most of the energy in the world will be free,” he said. “The sun and the wind will change the lives of millions of people. Already, RE accounts for 70% of all investment in the energy space. This will happen regardless of what President Trump thinks. “Physicists offer the best explanation of energy. How much oomph do I get out for how much oomph I put in? The greatest thing about renewable is that it’s free. 

World’s Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Opens (North American Windpower)  The world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, Walney Extension, was officially opened on Sept. 6 at a ceremony in Barrow in northwest England. Located approximately 95 kilometers from the Walney Island coast in Cumbria, the 659 MW project is owned by Ørsted (50%) and its partners, Danish pension funds PKA (25%) and PFA (25%). It surpasses the London Array to become the world’s largest operational wind farm, according to Ørsted. Walney Extension’s 87 wind turbines – 40 MHI Vestas 8 MW and 47 Siemens Gamesa 7 MW models – can generate enough clean energy to power almost 600,000 U.K. homes.

Big Tech must stop dangerous ‘100-percent renewable’ claims (Lexington Herald-Leader)  Facebook and Twitter testified before Congress Wednesday on issues of data, privacy and censorship. But there is another propaganda effort led by Big Tech that poses a threat to our nation. Earlier this week, Facebook announced its global operations will be powered with “100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2020.” In April, Apple said that it already is “globally powered by 100 percent renewable energy.” Similar claims have been made by other tech leaders including Google, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco and scores of other companies outside of tech. These claims aren’t true. 

The Pentagon is going to spend $2 billion on AI because things are getting serious now (BGR)  If North Korea’s dear leader wakes up tomorrow, takes a crazy pill and decides to lob a nuclear missile at the U.S. mainland, there’s a good chance the military will be relying on artificial intelligence to protect us. Reuters reported earlier this summer on the existence of a secretive military effort — actually, of multiple classified programs in various stages that are all focused on the development of AI-reliant systems to help us anticipate the launch of a missile, as well as to track launchers. 

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