QUICK NEWS, August 1: Climate Fight Could Determine Election; Historic Win For Offshore Wind; Technology Breakthrough To Open Up Geothermal

Climate Fight Could Determine Election Climate Change Divide Bursts to Forefront in Presidential Campaign

Coral Davenport, August 1, 2016 (NY Times)

“During the 2012 race for president, the issue of climate change…did not come up during the [Obama-Romney] debates…But this year, as Hillary Clinton thrusts climate change to the heart of her campaign, the issue is taking on a prominence it has never before had in a presidential general election…Mrs. Clinton regularly highlights her plan to combat global warming…Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her main rival in the primaries, spoke of the issue forcefully…[Donald J. Trump] has gone further than any other Republican presidential nominee in opposing climate change policy. He often mocks the established science of human-caused climate change and dismisses it as a hoax. The Republican platform calls climate change policy [‘the triumph of extremism over common sense’ and the] divide between the two parties over the issue is the widest it has been in the decades since it emerged as a public policy matter…

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“Democratic Senate candidates in swing states like Pennsylvania and Florida are also embracing the issue…A Gallup poll in March found that 65 percent of Americans believed that climate change was caused by human activity, an increase of 10 points from a year earlier…[and] 38 percent of Republicans believed the same thing, an increase of four points from a year earlier. The poll also found that 76 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 accepted that human activity is behind climate change…” click here for more

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Historic Win For Offshore Wind DONG Energy Praises Massachusetts for Strong Commitment to Offshore Wind; Energy bill opens door to U.S. commercial offshore wind market

August 1, 2016 (DONG Energy)

“…[New Energy, environmental, and business community leaders praised the just-passed Massachusetts] comprehensive energy bill that includes a requirement that utilities contract for 1,600 MW of offshore wind power…[World-leading offshore wind builder DONG Energy called this] a landmark moment…[that] will allow the creation of a viable offshore wind energy industry here…[The Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions said it will accelerate the growth of New Energy by supporting major procurements, the pairing of wind and hydroelectricity, the phased building of offshore wind, setting a mandate for energy storage, and putting in place a Property Assessed Clean Energy program]…” click here for more

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Technology Breakthrough To Open Up Geothermal Sandia National Laboratories and a commercial firm have designed a drilling tool that will withstand the heat of geothermal drilling.

July 21, 2016 (Science Daily)

“The downhole hammer attaches to the end of a column of drill pipe and cuts through rock with a rapid hammering action similar to that of a jackhammer. Downhole hammers are not new -- the oil and gas and mining industries have used them since the 1950s -- but the older design, with its reliance on oil-based lubricants, plastic and rubber O-rings, isn't suited for the hotter temperatures of geothermal drilling…The Department of Energy (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office funded Atlas Copco as prime contractor on the project, and the company partnered with Sandia as the subcontractor…The Geothermal Energy Association's 2016 annual production report said the U.S. had about 2.7 gigawatts of net geothermal capacity at the end of 2015. In addition, the U.S. market was developing about 1.25 gigawatts of geothermal power, and new renewable portfolio standards in states such as California and Hawaii could create opportunities for geothermal energy…[T]he high temperature hammer could help reach those development goals…” click here for more

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