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Eight more U.S. coal generators bite the dust

by 0df53x21 Posted on November 18, 2013

Eight more U.S. coal generators bite the dust

By

JHP

The Paradise Fossil Plant in Kentucky will shut down two of its three coal-burning units.

The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to shut down eight of its coal-burning generating stations in Alabama and Kentucky. Board members of the federally owned utility agreed to the plan last week, reacting to changing market conditions and federal environmental rules. The move will reduce coal generation by 3,300 megawatts in the two states.

The decision is being seen as a blow to the local coal industry, but a boon for the region’s air quality. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) met with TVA’s CEO in a bid to dissuade the utility from shuttering coal plants, but to no avail. Enviros, meanwhile, cheered the development.

Absent from the seemingly positive news, however, is any mention of renewables. Wind and solar farms are being built across the country, but TVA said it’s hoping to turn to natural gas and nuclear power to help it plug the gaps created by its abandonment of coal.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Forty years ago, the TVA got more than 80% of its power from coal. Today coal accounts for 38%, a number that is dropping fast as a drilling boom in the U.S. pushes down the price of natural gas, the fuel that competes with coal for power generation.

When the TVA is done with its announced coal-plant retirements, only 33 of its 59 coal units will remain in service. Some of those are still under review, said TVA spokesman Duncan Mansfield. …

The company said that continuing to run the plants would risk noncompliance with new mercury rules coming into effect.

TVA leaders weren’t happy about the decision, but they can see the writing on the wall: Coal power is dying in the U.S. “This is a personal nightmare for me,” one board member told the Associated Press. “But I must support what I believe to be in the best interest of TVA’s customers.”


Source
In Blow to Coal, TVA to Shut 8 Units, The Wall Street Journal
Largest US public utility votes to close six coal-powered plants in Alabama, The Associated Press

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Eight more U.S. coal generators bite the dust

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U.N. climate talks: Four countries behaving badly

by AnnetteLorenzo Posted on November 18, 2013

U.N. climate talks: Four countries behaving badly

By

Oxfam International

Climate activists are not happy with Japan, Poland, Australia, and Canada.

There have been more disappointments than encouraging signs at the U.N. climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, which have just passed the halfway mark. They’re intended to lay the groundwork for a new global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, but it’s not going well so far. Rich countries are not outlining how they will fund the planned $100-billion-a-year Green Climate Fund. Discussions involving agriculture have been taken off the table, even though farming reforms could substantially reduce global carbon emissions. And nobody can agree on how best to protect carbon-soaking forests.

But of the 190 countries that have sent delegates to Warsaw, four in particular have been the target of international anger over recent announcements, acts of obstructionism, and failure to commit to protect the world from global warming.

Japan

Japan is the fifth biggest greenhouse gas polluter, but it had committed to reducing its carbon emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Then Fukushima melted down and the country switched from a nuclear-powered diet to a fossil-fueled one. Now the country’s leaders are pointing to that tragedy as they walk away from their climate-change goals. Japan’s new goal? Emissions in 2020 that are 3.5 percent below 2005 levels. Which is even worse than it sounds. That means a 3.1 percent emissions increase from 1990 to 2020.

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said the previous goal, which had been set by a government that is now in opposition, “was totally unfounded and wasn’t feasible.”

Poland

Poland is hosting this round of climate negotiations in its capital, but just because it’s welcomed a huge congregation of climate negotiators to a football stadium doesn’t mean the country is ready to begin acting like a responsible global citizen.

Poland expects to rely on climate-changing coal – the worst of the fossil fuels — for most of its electricity for the next 50 years. The country may soon spend billions of dollars doubling the size of one of its biggest coal-fired plants, and new coal plants are planned. As if that weren’t bad enough, the country is also hosting a major international coal summit this week. Many climate activists feel the timing of that summit is a deliberate affront to everything that the climate negotiators are working toward.

“Coal is still the basic source of energy in many countries in the world,” Polish official Beata Jaczewska told Reuters when asked about the World Coal Association meetings being held today and tomorrow. “A transition period is needed.”

Australia

Australia has morphed quickly from a global leader in the fight against climate change to an international pariah. Climate-denying Prime Minister Tony Abbott has jubilantly pursued two agendas related to global warming since taking office two months ago: ending climate action and undermining research and development. (Isn’t it interesting how climate deniers so often hate science?) Abbott has moved to axe the country’s carbon tax. He is cutting $409 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. He intends to dismantle a program designed to invest $9.4 billion in clean energy. And he is hacking away at the staff of the country’s preeminent research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

For the first time since 1997, Australia is not being represented at international climate talks by any federal ministers. Abbott has decided that his ministers are all needed back home to help convince a hostile senate to repeal the country’s carbon tax. Bureaucrats make up the country’s entire climate delegation, and those bureaucrats have not arrived bearing any gifts.

There is widespread confusion over what Australia’s delegation actually wants, with routine briefings for journalists and diplomats canceled. Abbott has ruled out making any new commitments to fight global warming through these talks. He bizarrely insists the country will somehow meet its longstanding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas pollution 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020 — “We have made one commitment and one commitment only, which is to reduce our emissions by 5 percent,” he said – but he continues to dismantle efforts to curb emissions.

Scientists, the bane of spinmeisters like Abbott, are calling bullshit. Climate Action Tracker, which tracks and analyzes countries’ climate pledges, is projecting a 12 percent rise in Australia’s emissions by 2020 under Abbott’s policies.

Canada

Canada and Australia have a lot in common — they are both Western powers rich in mineral resources that they’re only too happy to plunder. And while much of the world jeers the climate developments down under, Canada, which last year abandoned its own efforts to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, has taken the unusual step of cheering them.

“Canada applauds the decision by prime minister Abbott to introduce legislation to repeal Australia’s carbon tax,” Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said in a statement. “The Australian prime minister’s decision will be noticed around the world and sends an important message.”

And the love affair between the countries is not just idle pillow talk. During a recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, Australia and Canada joined forces and refused to contribute any funds to a program that would help small and poor countries cope with climate change.

Meanwhile, more than 100 protests were held in Canada over the weekend by those who want more action on climate change. And an estimated 60,000 protestors fighting for the same cause turned out in Australian streets. There seems to be a severe disconnect here.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

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U.N. climate talks: Four countries behaving badly

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Bill would boost renewables to 25 percent by 2025, has no chance in hell of passing

by Christopherd3o Posted on November 1, 2013

Bill would boost renewables to 25 percent by 2025, has no chance in hell of passing

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Shutterstock

Most states in the union require utilities to generate a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. A new bill in Congress would take that strategy national.

Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) — cousins, as it happens — introduced legislation this week that would require utilities across the country to generate a quarter of their electricity from wind, solar, and other renewable sources by 2025.

That’s right in line with Colorado’s current renewable electricity standard, and it’s modest compared to California’s, which calls for utilities to get 33 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2020. Look abroad and it’s more modest still: Germany generates 23 percent of electricity from renewable sources, with a goal of reaching 80 percent by 2050. Around the world, 138 countries have renewable energy goals or requirements in place.

“Clean energy creates jobs, spurs innovation, reduces global warming and makes us more energy independent,” said Mark Udall. “This common-sense proposal would extend Colorado’s successful effort to expand the use of renewable energy alongside natural gas and coal to the entire nation.”

But Congress isn’t about to pass anything of the sort. Because, ew, clean energy. The Udalls first introduced similar legislation in 2002, when they were both members of the House, then introduced it again two years ago in Senate. No luck so far — but bonus points for persistence.

Energy Department

Click to embiggen.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

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Bill would boost renewables to 25 percent by 2025, has no chance in hell of passing

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Africa’s biggest wind farm starts spinning

by Glory Miche Posted on October 28, 2013

Africa’s biggest wind farm starts spinning

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Shutterstock

Ethiopia’s infamous droughts don’t just condemn the country to periodic famine; they also deprive it of electricity.

In a major step toward diversifying a power system that’s almost entirely reliant on hydropower, the country has built Africa’s largest wind farm. Power production started at the $290 million Ashegoda Wind Farm on Saturday, four years after construction began. From Reuters:

The 120 MW, 84-turbine farm — straddling a sprawling field of grassland dotted by stone-brick hamlets more than 780 kilometers north of Addis Ababa — is part of a plan to mitigate the impact of dry seasons on the country’s dams.

At present, Ethiopia’s energy resources are almost completely derived from hydropower projects.

“It compliments hydropower, which is seasonal. When you have a dry water season we have higher wind speed,” said Mihret Debebe, CEO of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation.

“There is harmony between the two sources of energy.”

Last week, Ethiopia also signed a preliminary agreement with a U.S.-Icelandic firm for a $4 billion private sector investment intended to tap its vast geothermal power resources and produce 1,000 MW from steam.

During a speech at the weekend inauguration, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said “there is potential to harness abundant wind energy resources in every region of Ethiopia.”

But Ethiopia is still looking to boost its hydropower generation. The country plans to build a 6,000-megawatt Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on a tributary of the Nile. If completed as planned, it will cost $4.2 billion and be the largest dam in Africa. Downstream neighbors like Egypt would probably prefer a lot more wind turbines.


Source
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Mull New Probe Nile Dam Impact, Bloomberg
Ethiopia opens Africa’s largest wind farm to boost power production, Reuters

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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National Briefing | Midwest: Ohio: Worrisome Carp Are Found in a Tributary of Lake Erie

by Myrna Posted on October 28, 2013

Four grass carp, a species imported from Asia decades ago, were captured last year in the Sandusky River, signalling a potential threat to native fish. Link:  National Briefing | Midwest: Ohio: Worrisome Carp Are Found in a Tributary of Lake Erie ; ;Related ArticlesDot Earth Blog: Will Sandy’s Lessons Fade as a Sleepy Atlantic Storm Season Ends?City Room: A Thrill Now Sadly RareVision of Prairie Paradise Troubles Some Montana Ranchers ;

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National Briefing | Midwest: Ohio: Worrisome Carp Are Found in a Tributary of Lake Erie

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Thousands of Minneapolis bees killed by pesticides

by Adam Stossel Posted on October 8, 2013

Thousands of Minneapolis bees killed by pesticides

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Shutterstock

Let’s hope that flower hasn’t been poisoned.

When thousands of Minneapolis bees died last month, “spilling out of the hive” like they were “drunk,” as one apiarist put it, the University of Minnesota and the state’s ag department were called in.

After weeks of lab tests, the scientists found the culprit: Fipronil, a widely used insecticide found in more than 50 pest-killing products. From Minnesota Daily:

The University Bee Lab, the Bee Squad and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture conducted tests to confirm that pesticide had caused the deaths.

The MDA tests reported that all three hives tested positive for the presence of fipronil, an insecticide used on building foundations, Bee Squad coordinator Becky Masterman said.

The MDA’s report said someone in the area likely used the pesticide within a foot of a building’s foundation and sprayed it on bee-friendly flowers. Bees from all three colonies interacted with the plants and brought the insecticide back to their hives, Masterman said.

It’s unknown who sprayed the pesticide, and the MDA won’t investigate the incident further, the report said.

Pesticides killing bees are a recurring story across the country. It’s like the sequel to Silent Spring, yet the EPA still won’t act.


Source
Pesticides killed bees, analysis shows, Minnesota Daily

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Operation Green Fence Highlights Issues with U.S. Recycling Plan

by kosiczek1910 Posted on September 16, 2013

For years, cardboard has been a highly profitable export from the U.S. to China. New regulations could change the way America approaches recycling and trash disposal. Photo: morgueFile/bosela

For years, one of America’s biggest exports to China was trash. But now, Operation Green Fence could overhaul our current recycling and trash disposal efforts. The initiative, announced in February 2013, is an effort by Chinese environmental and customs officials to be more stringent about what imported waste will be allowed into the country.

China has been a prime market for recycled raw materials for several years, and the U.S. — as well as Europe, Japan and Hong Kong — has exported scrap materials to China. In fact, it’s a highly profitable export for the U.S., which netted $10.8 billion from metal and paper scrap in 2011. Cardboard boxes and other scrap paper are particularly valuable; China lacks the abundant forest resources enjoyed by the U.S., so the Asian nation buys our cardboard and other scrap paper, then combines it with their lower-grade recycled fibers to improve the quality of their packaging materials.

With Operation Green Fence, China has announced that it will be stricter in terms of what contaminants it allows in shipments. That means any shipment of recyclables that’s found to have even a single contaminant — such as a syringe or a stowaway rodent — could be turned away. During the first three months of the initiative, about 7,600 tons of material from the U.S. was rejected, according to the International Solid Waste Association. Since the campaign began, an estimated 800,000 tons of recyclable waste total has been rejected.

Industry experts fear that this new approach will lead to increased exporting costs, and there’s also plenty of concern as to what the U.S. will do with its waste if it can’t be sent to China. With a lack of recycling centers to take the goods, some of it could end up in landfills. Cities may be forced to take a hard look at what kind of recycling is offered and/or find a way to produce less contaminated waste.

Whether the initiative continues — it was originally announced as a 10-month program that would end in November — it’s clear that America has to rethink its current mind-set toward recycling and create solutions that are no longer dependent on sending trash abroad.

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Report: 38,600 Green Jobs Announced in Second Quarter

by Ludmillamet Posted on September 9, 2013

Fifty-eight clean energy and clean transportation projects were announced in the second quarter of 2013, including a wind power transmission project in Missouri and Kansas.

The clean energy and clean transportation sectors continued to create jobs during the second quarter of this year, according to a recent report published by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a community of business leaders who promote environmental policies that also benefit the economy. The report states that across the country, 58 clean energy and clean transportation projects were announced, which could lead to as many as 38,600 new jobs, a number slightly higher than that reported during the second quarter of last year.

These new jobs come from a variety of areas, including renewable energy, public transportation, electricity grid improvements and energy efficiency. Renewable energy jobs make up the greatest number with more than 13,300, and these projects include solar, wind, biomass and other energy sources.

“Clean energy jobs are alive, well and growing,” said Judith Albert, executive director of E2, in a press release. “Smart policies like renewable energy standards at the state level, coupled with federal policies like President Obama’s climate change initiative, promise to keep that growth going.”

Some states made notable achievements with their project announcements, including Missouri and Kansas, which made the top 10 list of states to announce clean energy projects for the first time. These two states will be involved in a transmission upgrade project that will transmit more than 3,500 megawatts of wind energy east to other states. For the first time, Hawaii and Alaska were also included in the top 10 states to announce clean energy projects.

Maryland announced an expansion to the existing light-rail system in Baltimore, which will create many new construction jobs. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Maryland, which placed third on the list, announced a $2.6 billion expansion to Baltimore’s light-rail system. The improvements will include 20 new stations, reduce carbon emissions over time and create more than 4,200 construction jobs.

California announced 12 clean energy and transportation projects, the most of any state, which could lead to as many as 9,000 jobs.

To learn more about these and other clean energy projects, as well as to see a state-by-state breakdown of projects, visit cleanenergyworksforus.org.

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Report: 38,600 Green Jobs Announced in Second Quarter

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Why are there pesticides and GMOs in our national wildlife refuges?

by pofg23dsacv Posted on September 4, 2013

Why are there pesticides and GMOs in our national wildlife refuges?

By

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Midwest Region

A bald eagle nesting in Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois.

You might think that national wildlife refuges would be places where wildlife could take refuge from the environmental insanity of modern American agriculture.

But you’d be wrong.

Birds, insects, and other wildlife are sharing refuges with genetically engineered crops and being exposed to poisonous pesticides.

A lawsuit [PDF] filed by environmental groups last week argues that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Midwestern division is violating federal law by allowing the use of pesticides and the planting of GMOs at wildlife refuges in four states without conducting thorough site-by-site environmental reviews.

This is just the latest battle in a long-running war between environmentalists and the federal government over agricultural practices used at refuges across the country. From Environmental News Service:

This is the fifth lawsuit filed by Center for Food Safety and [Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility] challenging genetically engineered crops on wildlife refuges in their drive to ban these plantings from all refuges across the country.

A series of lawsuits has succeeded in rolling back approvals for genetically engineered crops on 75 national wildlife refuges across 30 states.

Previously, the two groups successfully challenged approval of genetically engineered plantings on two wildlife refuges in Delaware, which forced the Fish and Wildlife Service to end such plantings in its 12-state Northeastern region.

Another suit from the same groups halted cultivation of genetically engineered [crops] on 25 refuges across eight states in the Southeast in November 2012.

“These chemical companies and their products have no role in maintaining our wildlife refuges,” said Kathryn Douglass of PEER. “The Fish and Wildlife Service needs to look before it leaps to embrace industrial agricultural techniques on what are supposed to be havens for wildlife.”

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Food

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Dot Earth Blog: From the Fire Hose: Obama’s Bus Stop in Gas Country, Al Gore’s ‘Category 6,’ an Unplugging Climate Blogger

by Myrna Posted on August 23, 2013

A roundup of developments on the fracking fight, Arctic ice, and the perils of climate overstatement. Link to article –  Dot Earth Blog: From the Fire Hose: Obama’s Bus Stop in Gas Country, Al Gore’s ‘Category 6,’ an Unplugging Climate Blogger ; ;Related ArticlesFrom the Fire Hose: Obama’s Bus Stop in Gas Country, Al Gore’s ‘Category 6,’ an Unplugging Climate BloggerDot Earth Blog: Could Climate Campaigners’ Focus on Current Events be Counterproductive?Dot Earth Blog: Can Cities Adjust to a Retreating Coastline? ;

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Dot Earth Blog: From the Fire Hose: Obama’s Bus Stop in Gas Country, Al Gore’s ‘Category 6,’ an Unplugging Climate Blogger

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