Justin Mikulka

167 Followers
139 Following
285 Posts

Investigating the best solutions and policies to facilitate the energy transition.

All opinions my own.
justinmikulka.com

I have a chart-a-rific new edition of Inside Clean Energy, looking at the full year 2022 data on clean enegy generation by state:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09032023/inside-clean-energy-texas-renewables/

One State Generates Much, Much More Renewable Energy Than Any Other—and It’s Not California - Inside Climate News

A new batch of data about the country’s electricity generation shows the increasing dominance of one state as the clean energy leader. No, it’s not California. It’s Texas. This isn’t new. Texas has produced more gigawatt-hours of electricity from renewable sources than any other state for several years running, thanks largely to wind energy. Now, […]

Inside Climate News
Great piece on coming battery tech. 6X current energy density changes many things. It's behind a paywall but the normal tools get around it. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/07/coming-ev-batteries-will-sweep-away-fossil-fuel-transport-without/
The coming EV batteries will sweep away fossil fuel transport, with or without net zero

Read this exclusive extract from our Economic Intelligence newsletter and sign up at the bottom of the article to get it every Tuesday

The Telegraph

They didn't show the math but that is a big number.

" experts estimate that China could save nearly US$2 trillion between 2020 and 2060 by turning to green hydrogen instead of other clean energy solutions to achieve industrial carbon neutrality." https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3211002/green-hydrogen-chinas-answer-steel-mill-carbon-emissions

We are facing a methane emergency. The frustrating part is it can be easily solved but the industry refused to do it. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/06/revealed-1000-super-emitting-methane-leaks-risk-triggering-climate-tipping-points
Revealed: 1,000 super-emitting methane leaks risk triggering climate tipping points

Vast releases of gas, along with future ‘methane bombs’, represent huge threat – but curbing emissions would rapidly reduce global heating

The Guardian

Nuclear uses river water for cooling, similar to coal-fired power. In light of the 2022 droughts, that’s a constraint on capacity expansion
---
RT @pretentiouswhat
Reading between the lines, we can see an acknowledgement of the biggest barrier to inland nuclear power plant development: water risk.

Nuclear plants must be sited on bodies of water.

Almost any CN inland plant will be on a river that flows into the Yangtze or Yellow R…
https://twitter.com/pretentiouswhat/status/1632653831543869441

David Fishman on Twitter

“Reading between the lines, we can see an acknowledgement of the biggest barrier to inland nuclear power plant development: water risk. Nuclear plants must be sited on bodies of water. Almost any CN inland plant will be on a river that flows into the Yangtze or Yellow Rivers.”

Twitter

Not a representative survey by any means but after more than 3k votes 84% say they wouldn’t have hydrogen in their home.

Most who worked with hydrogen wouldn’t want it either.

https://lnkd.in/ejg5GXMw

Michael Liebreich on Twitter

“OK my lovelies, #hydrogen poll time. Two questions, so four possible answers: 1. Have you ever worked with hydrogen (I don't mean school/undergrad)? 2. Would you have hydrogen in your home? Please explain why in comments. And RT so we get a bigger sample and more discussion.”

Twitter

So many new ways to store energy. Happening very fast.

"the team’s battery chemistry with the solid electrolyte can potentially boost the energy density by as much as four times above lithium-ion batteries"

Will batteries achieve enough density for shipping? Aviation? https://www.anl.gov/article/new-design-for-lithiumair-battery-could-offer-much-longer-driving-range-compared-with-the-lithiumion

New design for lithium-air battery could offer much longer driving range compared with the lithium-ion battery | Argonne National Laboratory

Chevron is making incredibly toxic fuel from recycled plastics and getting biofuel credits for it. We just don't have time for this nonsense. https://www.propublica.org/article/chevron-pascagoula-pollution-future-cancer-risk
This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk

Almost half of products cleared so far under the new federal biofuels program are not in fact biofuels — and the EPA acknowledges that the plastic-based ones may present an “unreasonable risk” to human health or the environment.

ProPublica

Buried in an article but certainly of interest.

"Sinopec said that the facility has achieved a breakthrough in technology, allowing it to produce hydrogen under intermittent renewable generation conditions."

https://www.pv-tech.org/sinopec-inaugurates-green-hydrogen-plant-with-270mw-of-pv/

Sinopec inaugurates green hydrogen plant with 270MW of PV

Sinopec has inaugurated a green hydrogen facility in the Erdos region of Inner Mongolia which will employ 270MW of solar PV generation.

PV Tech

“Methane cuts are among the cheapest options to limit near-term global warming,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, or IEA, said in a statement outlining the findings. “There is just no excuse.”

https://grist.org/energy/big-oil-record-2022-profits-methane-emissions-iea/

It would take less than 3% of Big Oil’s profits to clean up methane emissions

"There is just no excuse" for the rise in methane emissions last year, IEA director says.

Grist