Energy Efficiency, Commercial, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  December 8, 2018

Weekend reads: Green New Deal gains momentum; Beijing turns to solar

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

The Democratic Party Wants to Make Climate Policy Exciting (The Atlantic)  On Monday, speaking at a town hall led by Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez framed her chosen climate policy—the Green New Deal—through the lens of gallant American exceptionalism. “This is going to be the New Deal, the Great Society, the moon shot, the civil-rights movement of our generation,” she said. The Green New Deal aspires to cut U.S. carbon emissions fast enough to reach the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious climate goal: preventing the world from warming no more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. In a blockbuster report released in October, an international group of scientists said that meeting this goal could skirt the worst climate effects, such as massive floods, expansive droughts, and irreversible sea-level rise. 

Beijing prepares to take more planned approach to solar (PV Magazine)  Details are emerging of a plan by the authorities in Beijing to institute a more centrally planned approach to PV project development. Two branches of the government have reportedly agreed to focus on ensuring solar power projects are based in the east of the populous nation, because transmission infrastructure failings in the north and northwest of China have led to unacceptably high curtailment issues. Curtailment – energy that is generated but wasted – has attracted the attention of the central authorities as part of the government’s plan to get the most from solar, while reducing the strain on the public purse.

Integration is the next step in demand side management: Here's how 3 utilities are pursuing it (Utility Dive) Utilities are utilizing a range of new resources and connected devices to balance the grid and meet demand, drawing on everything from smart thermostats to large-scale batteries in order to most efficiently supply electricity. The next step, say utility experts, is the coordination of all these resources into an integrated strategy. Enter: Integrated Demand Side Management (IDSM) — an approach that joins together all the resources utilities have at their disposal to plan, generate and supply electricity in the most efficient manner possible.

UK launches largest retail EV charging network (Smart Cities Network) Volkswagen and Tesco have partnered to roll out the largest retail network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers across the UK. The charging network will comprise of 2,400 EV charging bays to be deployed at 600 Tesco stores within the next three years. The charging bays will be based in Tesco Extra and Superstore car parks throughout the UK and will be installed by UK-based independent public charging network operator, Pod Point. Customers will be able to charge their electric cars using a standard 7kW fast charger for free or benefit from the use of a rapid 50 kW charger for a small cost in line with the market rate.

Report: At Least 77.6% of Bitcoin Mining Powered by Renewable Energy (Coin Journal) The latest version of Coinshares’s bi-annual bitcoin mining report is now available, and it includes some fascinating conclusions in terms of the types of energy sources involved in the bitcoin mining process. According to the report, at least 77.6% of bitcoin mining is powered by renewable energy, which is in direct contrast to the sorts of over-the-top claims often made in the media in regard to the Bitcoin network’s potentially harmful effect on the environment. In fact, the report goes as far as to claim that bitcoin mining likely has a positive impact on future developments in the renewable energy industry.

Read These Related Articles:

• Weekend Reads: The U.S.'s New Climate Goal; Sustainable Fleet Trailblazers
• Weekend Reads: MIT on Where to Site Renewables; AI's Promise for Energy Efficiency
• Weekend Reads: London's Eye-Catching EV Buses; Earth's Giant 'Batteries'
• Weekend Reads: COP29 on Energy Efficiency; Unscrambling Hydrogen
• Weekend Reads: Five Things to Know About COP29; Rethinking Gas Stations

Share this valuable information with your colleagues using the buttons below: