QUICK NEWS, October 16: Worse Than ‘The New Normal’; New Energy To The Rescue; How Rooftop Solar Cuts Everybody’s Power Bills
Worse Than ‘The New Normal’ This Isn’t ‘the New Normal’ for Climate Change — That Will Be Worse
David Wallace-Wells, October 11, 2017 (New York Magazine)
“…For years, we’ve conceived of climate change in terms of sea level, meaning it was often possible to believe its devastating impacts would be felt mostly by those living elsewhere, on the coasts; extreme weather seems poised to break that delusion, beginning with hurricanes. And then the unprecedented California wildfires broke out over the weekend, fueled by the Diablo Winds…It is tempting to look at this string of disasters and think, Climate change is here…[As much as 30 percent of the strength of hurricanes is] attributable to climate change, and wildfire season [is] both extended and exacerbated by it…But the truth is actually far scarier than ‘welcome to the new normal.’
The climate system we have been observing since August, the one that has pummeled the planet again and again and exposed even the world’s wealthiest country as unable (or at least unwilling) to properly respond to its destruction, is…a beyond-best-case scenario for warming and all the climate disasters that will bring. Even if, miraculously, the planet immediately ceased emitting carbon into the atmosphere, we’d still be due for some additional warming, and therefore some climate-disaster shakeout…But of course we’re very far from zeroing out on carbon…” click here for more
New Energy To The Rescue For clean-energy jobs, sky's the limit…Renewable energy jobs, most of which are in wind and solar, grew by 16 percent to around 6,200 in Minnesota from 2015 to 2016…
Mike Hughlett, October 16, 2017 (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
“…As wind and solar energy have grown, they’ve created a tide of jobs nationwide in fields from construction to manufacturing. Renewable energy jobs, most of which are in wind and solar, grew by 16 percent to around 6,200 in Minnesota from 2015 to 2016, according to [Minnesota’s clean energy sector is substantial, with 57,351 clean energy jobs located across the state]…A wind building boom is expected to continue over the next five years. Solar should grow, too, even though its immediate future is clouded by threats of heavy U.S. tariffs on solar equipment imports, which would ratchet up the industry’s costs…The growth of wind and solar — along with a huge build-out of natural gas-fired power plants — is also eliminating jobs in some traditional energy sectors. U.S. coal mining jobs have plummeted as power companies move away from coal-based generation…The state’s community and technical colleges, which Peterson represents, have been beefing up wind and solar energy offerings…Wind and solar energy have taken off because of a combination of falling costs for equipment, federal tax breaks and environmental concerns. Coal plants are a major emitter of greenhouse gases, while wind and solar produce none. And while President Donald Trump has been championing coal, utilities are expected to keep moving to more renewable energy sources…” click here for more
How Rooftop Solar Cuts Everybody’s Power Bills How rooftop solar is saving billions on energy bills for all consumers
Giles Parkinson, 16 October 2017 ReNew Economy)
“…[Without rooftop solar, the aggregate cost of electricity in the Australian state of New South Wales] would have been several billion dollars higher over the past year…[Impact of small solar PV on the NSW wholesale electricity market] reinforces previous estimates of the broad benefits of the more than 6GW of rooftop solar installed on more than 1.7 million household and business rooftops…That capacity is often demonised by vested interests as ‘free-loading’ on the network and other consumers, but the study proves otherwise…[In] NSW alone the savings from rooftop solar – by reducing demand at crucial times and challenging the dominance of the big generators in the wholesale market – were between $2.3 billion and $3.3 billion in the 12 months to April, 2017…That’s how much the wholesale price is lowered from what it would have been if rooftop solar was not present in the market. Even though rooftop solar only provides 2 per cent of total generation, the study found it clipped prices by $29-44/MWh – up to 50 per cent higher than the actual price…” click here for more
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