QUICK NEWS, January 22: Lloyd’s Of London Declares Coal A Bad Bet; Solar’s Peak Demand Power Knocks Out Old Energy; U.S. Wind Energy Push Praised By Global Wind Leader
Lloyd’s Of London Declares Coal A Bad Bet Lloyd's of London to divest from coal over climate change; Firm follows other big UK and European insurers by excluding coal companies from 1 April
Julia Kollewe, January 21, 2018 (UK Guardian)
“Lloyd’s of London, the world’s oldest insurance market, has become the latest financial firm to announce that it plans to stop investing in coal companies…Lloyd’s will start to exclude coal from its investment strategy from 1 April. The definition of what is a coal company and the criteria for divestment will be set over the coming months…The firm has long been vocal about the need to battle climate change, with insurance one of the worst affected industries by hurricanes, wildfires and flooding in recent years…The insurance market decided last month to implement a coal exclusion policy as part of a responsible investment strategy for the central mutual fund that sits behind every insurance policy written by the Lloyd’s market…Lloyd’s has been slower to take action than others. Other big UK and European insurance companies, including Aviva, Allianz, Axa, Legal & General, SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich, have been shifting away from coal and other fossil fuels due to concerns about climate risks. About £15bn has been divested by insurers in the past two years… click here for more
Solar’s Peak Demand Power Knocks Out Old Energy Fossil Fuels Face a $1.4 Billion Solar Problem in Texas
Chris Martin, January 17, 2018 (Bloomberg News)
“A boom in solar power is threatening to wipe out $1.4 billion a year of summertime revenue for fossil-fuel generators in Texas…Almost 15 gigawatts of solar power may crop up in the Lone Star state in the coming years, and every gigawatt stands to shave about $2.76 a megawatt-hour from wholesale electricity prices there when demand peaks in the summer…This could end up dealing a major blow to fossil fuel-burning generators that rely on those peak prices to weather the lulls in demand through the rest of the year…The Texas market is ‘especially vulnerable’ to the impact of solar penetration because…[it offers very high prices for generation during a handful of high-priced peak demand hours each year that] align with solar production…The looming threat to natural gas- and coal-fired plants in Texas mirrors the shifts that renewable energy has brought on in other markets…” click here for more
U.S. Wind Energy Push Praised By Global Wind Leader U.S. Working Hard to Boost Wind Energy, Adviser Says in Denmark
Peter Levring, January 16, 2018 (Bloomberg News)
“…[The president’s] administration is working ‘quite aggressively’ to increase the use of renewable energy in the U.S. as part of the president’s plans to boost American energy independence, a senior adviser [visiting Denmark to study wind power] said…Denmark is home to the world’s biggest turbine maker, Vestas Wind Systems A/S, and Orsted A/S, the world’s biggest operator of offshore wind parks. The Nordic country set a record last year by obtaining 43.4 percent of its electricity from wind. Its government now wants renewables to cover 50 percent of the country’s total energy consumption by 2030 and to abandon fossil fuels completely by 2050…[The presidential adviser said the] administration was expanding the amount of federal funds available for offshore wind investments and that its choice of energy sources would be dictated by market considerations alone [despite the president’s promise] to bail out U.S. coal producers…[Current U.S. off-shore wind capacity] totals about 30 megawatts. Denmark’s totals 1.3 gigawatts…” click here for more
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