Focus
GREENTECH MEDIA - Oct 22 According to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie, by 2035, renewables will likely meet 20 percent of global power demand, up from today's 7 percent. The combination of wind, solar, and electric vehicles will displace about 100 billion cubic feet of oil per day, creating an “unstoppable” shift for companies and countries around the world. A year after the 2035 inflection point, Wood Mackenzie forecasts a peak in oil demand, with electric motors accounting for 15 to 20 percent of all miles traveled in buses, cars, trucks, or on bicycle. Electric vehicles could eliminate the use of 6 million barrels of oil per day by 2040.
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE - Oct 23 With a decision pending on whether the city of San Diego should adopt a government-run power program, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has notified city officials it is withdrawing from putting together a counterproposal to what is called Community Choice Aggregation. For the past two years, SDG&E has worked with city officials to create a program that would contract for increasing amounts of renewable energy to reach the city’s Climate Action Plan goal of 100 percent renewable sources by 2035. Under a Community Choice Aggregation plan, or CCA, investor-owned utilities like SDG&E still maintain transmission and distribution lines (such as poles and wires) and handle customer billing.
THE HILL - Oct 19 The Trump administration is considering allowing companies to build offshore wind farms off the coast of California. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said his department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) would start taking comments last week on potential areas within about 1,073 square miles on California’s outer continental shelf that could host wind turbines. The announcement came alongside news that BOEM will hold an auction in December to sell the rights to build offshore wind farms in an area off Massachusetts’s coast and that officials will start the environmental review process for the proposed South Fork Wind Project, a 15-turbine wind farm off Rhode Island.
NAPA VALLEY REGISTER - Oct 20 The Napa County Planning Commission is considering whether or not the county needs rules to keep key wine country scenic vistas from someday being transformed by acres of solar panels. Renewable Properties raised the issue by proposing what would be the county’s first commercial solar farm on 18 acres at 2180 American Canyon Rd., miles from Napa Valley’s world-famous vineyards. The American Canyon solar farm would have 12,096 panels and produce enough electricity for 1,000 homes. Renewable Properties would sell the power to MCE, formerly known as Marin Clean Energy, which serves Napa County.
COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - Oct 23 Depending on the will of voters, Washington state could lead the nation in enacting the country’s first direct carbon fee – a move the scientists behind the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say is the best way to prevent global climate catastrophe. If passed, Measure 1631 would charge only “large emitters” based on carbon pollution from selling or using fossil fuels and generating or importing electricity. The fee would start at $15 per ton of carbon emissions on Jan. 1, 2020. After that, it would increase by $2 per ton each year until the state’s 2035 greenhouse gas reduction goals are met and the state appears to be on track to meet its 2050 goals. That could add up to nearly $1 billion per year by 2023, according to state estimates.
SOLAR INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - Oct 24 Last week, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted to set a default of 100 percent renewable electricity when the county launches service through the Clean Power Alliance in 2019. Clean Power Alliance is a Southern California community choice energy provider that will procure cleaner power at lower costs than investor-owned utility Southern California Edison. According to the Sierra Club, Ventura County made history by becoming the first county in the country to set a renewable energy default of 100 percent, joining the cities of Ventura, Ojai, South Pasadena, Culver City, Santa Monica, Rolling Hills Estates, and West Hollywood.
Projects
SOLAR POWER WORLD - Oct 23 A solar power plant to be built by First Solar will help support Facebook’s Prineville, Oregon, data center with renewable energy. Through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with PacifiCorp, the 58-megawatt Cove Mountain Solar Project located near Enterprise, Utah, will generate renewable energy that will support Facebook’s Prineville Data Center. This agreement is part of a larger deal structure that will support the data center with 100 percent renewable energy.
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL - Oct 24 Representatives from seven businesses at Van Nuys Airport on Wednesday unveiled commitments to solar energy at the San Fernando Valley airfield. “These projects will make Van Nuys the largest solar system airport in the country that we know of,” said Curt Castagna, chief executive of Aeroplex/Aerolease Group, the first of the group to complete its solar installation. Aeroplex/Aerolease worked with PCS Energy on installing 4,000 solar panels covering about 150,000 square feet of roof space that will generate about 1.5 megawatts of power. PCS, which is paying for the solar equipment and installation, will sell the electricity to the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power under a long-term contract.
