Category Archives: Energy

Renewables Produced 54.4% of Germanys Public Electricity In March

By Roy L Hales

Germany’s renewable sector is setting new records again. For the past three months, they supplied more public electricity than the coal sector. This came to a peak last month. Renewables produced 54.4% of Germanys electricity in March 2019.

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Kinder Morgan Sold the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims that buying the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline is acting in the national interest. Ben Parfait put his feeling about the $4.5 billion purchase to music: “Broken hands on broken ploughs, Broken treaties, broken vows, Broken pipes, broken tools/ People bending broken rules.” Economist Robyn Allan estimates Canadian taxpayers will spend $20 billion before the controversial pipeline expansion is finished; if it is finished. Is anyone surprised to hear that Kinder Morgan sold the Trans Mountain pipeline?

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Renewables Supplied 44.1 Per Cent Of Germany’s Energy

By Roy L Hales

Germany added 2.3 GW  of new onshore wind capacity in the first half of 2017. Though it failed to meet the target last year, the Renewable Energy Act set annual target of installing 2.5 GW new solar capacity. Add in a warm autumn and the winter storms Xavier and Herwart, and it is easy to see how renewables supplied 44.1 per cent of Germany’s energy in October.

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Extending Wind Farm Usage

By Roy L Hales

Around 40% of Germany’s wind turbines will soon be 15-years-old.  The French, Italian, Spanish and British fleets are also aging. More than 86 GW of Europe’s wind capacity is scheduled to be decommissioned by 2030. A new report by New Energy Update describes an alternate solution, extending wind farm usage.

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Revisiting Ocotillo

The Ocotillo wind farm went online almost five years ago. Were they not documented in such meticulous detail, some of the  reports coming from the tiny desert community this project surrounds would be difficult to believe.  I once received a constant stream of YouTube videos and reports. It was one of the sites that shaped my perception of the energy sector.  To some extent, I’ve moved on from this story, but I always knew I would be revisiting Ocotillo.

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