Renew Extra Weekly

US President Donald Trump has pretty consistently been opposed to renewable energy and policies seeking to promote its expansion as a response climate change.  Amongst other things his ‘one big beautiful bill’ phases out tax credits for wind and solar energy and opens up federal land and water for oil and gas drilling, while creating new federal support for coal.  Though it may be presented as a tax saving measure: the bill’s cuts to clean energy tax incentives are expected to save the Treasury $499 billion. But Trump also uses wider anti-green invective.  In one his key new Presidential Orders he says renewable energy is ‘unreliable, expensive, displaced more dependable energy sources, dependent on foreign-controlled supply chains & harmful to the natural environment & electric grid’.  It really feels like a vindictive attack. For example, the US Department of the Interior may no longer issue permits for wind or solar on federal lands unless they generate ...

While there are worries about energy use and potential job losses associated with AI in some sectors, the optimists are quite positive, even evangelical about the future.  For example, Carl Ennis , Siemens CEO for UK and Ireland, says that ‘the potential for AI to lead the green technological revolution is especially relevant when it comes to enabling a more resilient and responsive energy system. This is essential if UK businesses are to play their part in the transition towards net zero and a greener future’. In effect he says ‘AI turns traditional, reactive grid management into a proactive, intelligent system that can respond faster and more efficiently to the evolving demands of the UK’s low-carbon energy transition.’ And beyond that, he says the ability provided by advanced AI to conduct extended research and development before concepts are taken into the real world could have a transformative impact on the UK’s energy system, and beyond, potentially into ‘multiple areas of bu...

Prof. Mark Barrett at University College London has produced an update of his Green Light UK 2050 scenario, with a few additions from the 2023 version. The conclusions remain the same: renewables can supply just about all power needed. But some of the new details are interesting: aviation can’t be decarbonised easily, so we have to compensate with atmospheric carbon removal- Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS). In 2050, his scenario has offshore wind generating 931 TWh, which is 83% of total generation. Solar generates 118 TWh and onshore wind 40 TWh. Nuclear generates 25 TWh or 2% of total and there is 57 GW of flexible generation plant which outputs 3 TWh, operating at a capacity factor of under 1%. He says that ‘an alternative assumption that flexible generation uses stored hydrogen is also modelled but optimisation shows this to increase costs’.  He notes that ‘in the least cost 2050 systems 20-30% of potential generation is spilled, and this is, at first sight, a s...