QUICK NEWS, April 30: The Answer Is New Energy, Not GeoEngineering; No Let-up In Solar Policy Fights; Ocean Wind’s Many And Varied Benefits

The Answer Is New Energy, Not GeoEngineering The Idea That We Will Science Our Way Out of Climate Change is Dangerous, Say Scientists

Daniel Starkey, April 29, 2018 (Geek)

“Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned with the idea that people won’t make significant changes to their lifestyles and that governments won’t commit to radical action — instead relying on the deluded and dangerous presumption that some advanced technology will save us…Part of that comes from the fact that scientists have dreamed up these plans in the first place…Many of these are various kinds of geoengineering projects that are designed to counter specific symptoms of the climate change problem…[A popular one is] pumping sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to mimic the chilling effect of massive volcanic explosions. It’s important to note that while this would cool the Earth, it also doesn’t fix the problem with the concentration of CO2 in the air. The oceans would still grow more and more acidic, killing off all manner of marine life and kneecapping global ecosystems and food systems…The problem is that politicians and the public may think that these solutions are good enough and will opt for them without considering the myriad of consequences that come with it…” click here for more

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No Let-up In Solar Policy Fights The 50 States of Solar Report: 40 States and D.C. Took Action on Distributed Solar Policy and Rate Design During Q1 2018

April 25, 2018 (North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center)

“…[The Q1 2018 50 States of Solar finds that 149 state and utility-level distributed solar policy and rate changes were proposed, pending, or enacted in Q1 2018. They included]…actions to increase monthly fixed charges or minimum bills on all residential customers by at least 10%...changes to net metering policies…[plans] to examine some element of the value of distributed generation or the costs and benefits of net metering…[plans to add or change policy] on community solar…[proposals] to add new or increase existing charges specific to rooftop solar customers…[proposals for] action on utility-owned rooftop solar policies or programs…policy action on third-party solar ownership laws or regulations…[Over 50 bills were considered by legislators related to distributed generation compensation policies and studies. The majority of bills under consideration related to credit rates for excess generation, net metering or distributed energy resource studies, and net metering aggregate caps…” click here for more

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Ocean Wind’s Many And Varied Benefits The value of offshore wind energy: What the US is missing out on; Economists take a look at what contributes to offshore wind's value.

Megan Geuss, April 26, 2018 (Ars Technica)

“The US is a latecomer to the world of offshore wind…[Compare its one 30 MW project, brought online in 2016,] to Europe. The continent now has 15,780MW of offshore wind…European projects added 560 new offshore wind turbines across 17 different offshore wind farms in 2017 alone…[A new report from] the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is now asking: what is the value of the offshore wind that the US didn't build over the last decade? Although many analyses have studied the falling cost of installing offshore wind, assigning a value to offshore wind is ground that is less well-tread. Though it's much more expensive to construct turbines in the ocean, offshore wind can also generate more value because sea breezes tend to be stronger and more reliable, and wind turbines can be built bigger…The Berkeley researchers found that over the last 10 years, the value of hypothetical US offshore wind energy ranged from $40/MWh to more than $110/MWh depending on where the wind was sited and how renewable energy was priced in that region…” click here for more

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