In Case you Missed it: Some Good News
May 8, 2020
U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions declined by 2.8% in 2019 to 5,130 million metric tons (MMmt), according to data in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review. CO2 emissions had increased by 2.9% in 2018, the only annual increase in the past five years. Because of continuing trends in how much energy the U.S economy uses and how much CO2 that energy use generates, energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019 fell more than energy consumption, which declined by 0.9% in 2019, and gross domestic product, which increased by 2.3% in 2019.
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Nearly all of the change in CO2 emissions in 2019 arose in the electric power sector.
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Total net electricity generation fell by 1.5% in 2019, but power sector CO2 emissions fell by even more (-8.2%), largely because of increases from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Electricity generation from coal fell, and the increase in natural gas-fired electricity generation was more limited. Because sources such as wind and solar have no fuel costs, when available, they are the first sources dispatched to meet electricity demand.
Global energy-related CO2 emissions flattened in 2019 at around 33 gigatonnes (Gt), following two years of increases. This resulted mainly from a sharp decline in CO2 emissions from the power sector in advanced economies1, thanks to the expanding role of renewable sources (mainly wind and solar PV), fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and higher nuclear power output.
May 8, 2020 at 1:27 pm
I would take the publication of the latter two agencies with a pinch of salt. They don’t even mention methane emissions which are sharply rising.
Dec 2019 => Greenhouse gas emissions to set new record this year, but rate of growth shrinks
May 9, 2020 at 1:03 am
More good news from the sunny Emirates:
“Abu Dhabi To Have Cheapest Solar Power Ever — 1.35 Cents Per Kilowatt-Hour”
The new low-PV bid chosen by Abu Dhabi’s public electric utility will bring down the cost of solar power to just 1.35¢/kWh.
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/05/06/abu-dhabi-will-have-the-cheapest-solar-farm-ever-built/
May 9, 2020 at 1:07 am
And still in the Middle East – pumped storage power gos online:
The Mount Gilboa project is composed of two reservoirs, each 2.5 million m3, connected by a 500-m-deep shaft and large pipes. The 50-m-tall underground powerhouse contains two 150-MW turbines from Alstom, along with generators and step-up transformers.
G.H. Development says this is the first hydroelectric pumped storage in Israel, with two more to be built.
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2020/05/07/israels-300-mw-mount-gilboa-pumped-storage-begins-operating/
May 10, 2020 at 1:45 am
Just about every project in the United Arab Emirates (capital Abu Dhabi, largest city Dubai) is built by overworked, underpaid immigrant labor, typically kept under control by employers taking their passports. They work long hours with few breaks and insufficient water in very hot conditions.
That’s one thing that makes the solar power plant cheap to build, I’m sure.
May 10, 2020 at 7:34 pm
U.A.E
Protection of workers’ rights
https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/justice-safety-and-the-law/protection-of-workers-rights
May 11, 2020 at 3:26 am
I don’t know what your point is.
A law is only as good as compliance and enforcement.
May 11, 2020 at 4:21 am
My point is I spent a third of my working life in Abu Dhabi, my son was born there and grew up there. My guess is that you have never lived there and know very little about life in the Emirates.
That my point
May 10, 2020 at 7:43 pm
Holding passport of employee is illegal
Passport retention policy
https://dubaihow.com/holding-passport-employee-uae/
May 10, 2020 at 7:52 pm
The winners were a consortium made up of newly-formed Emirati water and power investment fund the Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, Japanese industrial conglomerate Marubeni Corp and Chinese solar giant Jinko Solar Holdings.
According to the EWEC release, the AED3.2 billion ($871 million), 8km² project was built with more than 3.2 million solar panels, employed more than 2,900 workers at the height of construction at the Sweihan site and will provide power for 90,000 people.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/07/01/noor-limits-as-dubai-makes-extraordinary-carbon-emissions-claim/