Offshore windfarms 'can provide more electricity than the world needs'

From The Guardian: 

Erecting wind turbines on the world’s best offshore sites could provide more than enough clean energy to meet global electricity demand, according to a report.

A detailed study of the world’s coastlines has found that offshore windfarms alone could provide more electricity than the world needs – even if they are only built in windy regions in shallow waters near the shore.

Analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed that if windfarms were built across all useable sites which are no further than 60km (37 miles) off the coast, and where coastal waters are no deeper than 60 metres, they could generate 36,000 terawatt hours of renewable electricity a year. This would easily meeting the current global demand for electricity of 23,000 terawatt hours.

“Offshore wind currently provides just 0.3% of global power generation, but its potential is vast,” the IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol, said.

The study predicts offshore wind generation will grow 15-fold to emerge as a $1tn (£780bn) industry in the next 20 years and will prove to be the next great energy revolution.

The IEA said earlier this week that global supplies of renewable electricity were growing faster than expected and could expand by 50% in the next five years, driven by a resurgence in solar energy. Offshore wind power would drive the world’s growth in clean power due to plummeting costs and new technological breakthroughs, including turbines close to the height of the Eiffel Tower and floating installations that can harness wind speeds further from the coast.

PG&E high-voltage power line broke near origin of massive California fire that forced thousands of evacuations

As reported by the Washington Post. If confirmed, this would be the third major wildfire in California in just the past couple years caused by Pacific Gas & Electric, including the most deadly in state history, at Paradise last year, that killed 85 people.

As the article reports:

As the wildfire torched Sonoma, and others spread in San Bernardino, Los Angeles County and elsewhere, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) railed against all three of the state’s investor-owned power companies, including PG&E, which has already been forced into bankruptcy in the face of billions of dollars in liability claims stemming from previous fires.

“I must confess, it is infuriating beyond words,” Newsom said, accusing the utilities of neglecting their infrastructure and leaving the state vulnerable to fires sparked by outmoded power lines.

His statements echoed those he made two weeks earlier, when PG&E shut off power to nearly a million customers.

“It’s more than just climate change, and it is climate change, but it’s more than that,” Newsom said. “As it relates to PG&E, it’s about dog-eat-dog capitalism meeting climate change, it’s about corporate greed meeting climate change, it’s about decades of mismanagement.”

PG&E owns the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, scheduled to shut for good by 2025. More.

Update on October 30, 2019 by admin

As reported by the Washington Post: "PG&E's role in Sonoma fire questioned as power outage frustrations grown."

Rep. Elijah Cummings lies in state Thursday at U.S. Capitol

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (Democrat-Baltimore, MD), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and ReformAs reported by the Washington Post.

As chairman of the powerful U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Cummings (Democrat-Baltimore, Maryland, photo left) not only co-led the current impeachment inquiry. He also spearheaded an investigation into the Trump administration's greed-driven end run around Congressional safeguards, attempting to provide nuclear weapons proliferation capable technology and know how to the murderous, genocidal Saudi Arabian regime.

Even in the minority in 2016-2017, as Ranking Democrat on the committee, Cummings also led congressional efforts seeking justice and accountability in the aftermath of the Flint drinking water catastrophe. Michigan Radio paid tribute to Cummings' leadership on Flint, when news broke of his passing on. (See Beyond Nuclear's article, "After Flint, Don't NUKE the Great Lakes Next!")

Cummings was a national champion for social, racial, and environmental justice. His passing represents a huge loss for our country. But his memory, legacy, and example will shine on, as an inspiration for current and future generations.

Update on October 26, 2019 by admin

See this posthumously published op-ed by Cummings.

Omnicidal Tendencies: The Nuclear Presidency of Donald Trump

As reported by the Intercepted Podcast:

Trump now controls all U.S. nukes and seven activists who protested this threat are now facing decades in prison. This week on Intercepted: Legendary peace activist Liz McAlister has spent her entire life resisting U.S. war. The 79-year-old grandmother of six, who is on trial with her Kings Bay Plowshares co-defendants, explains why she and her friends snuck onto a U.S. nuclear base to deliver an indictment of the U.S. government. Rudy Giuliani has emerged as Donald Trump’s dollar store Roy Cohn and he has put himself right in the center of the impeachment inquiry. Journalist Johnny Dwyer, author of “The Districts,” chronicles Giuliani’s time as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Giuliani’s connections to shady characters from a host of countries and why he may never face indictment. Journalist Emily Guendelsberger went undercover working at Amazon, McDonald’s and Convergys. She discusses her experience in the dystopic world of low wage work and her new book “On the Clock, What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane.”

Peace activist Liz McAlister, investigative journalist Johnny Dwyer, and journalist Emily Guendelsberger are the featured guests.

Peach Bottom’s reactor shutdown mishap raises questions

Early in the morning of October 21, 2019, the operators of the Peach Bottom Unit 3 atomic power plant were preparing to shut down the reactor for refueling and routine maintenance.  The control room operator manually turned the Reactor Mode Switch to “SHUTDOWN” but it failed to send the signal for an automatic SCRAM. This aging Reactor Mode Switch has several settings (“SHUTDOWN,” “REFUEL,” “START&HOTSTBY,” “RUN”) with multiple electric contacts. In this case, the control rods didn’t insert into the reactor core to slow down and stop the atomic reaction. The car analogy would be you’re out on the highway and you put your foot on the brake and nothing happens. Not good. Good thing, however, nukes and cars have options. Granted in Peach Bottom’s case, the two emergency SCRAM pushbuttons worked more reliably than, say, grabbing the emergency brake on your automobile.  But the idea is you want reliable safety performance systems in the first place. Things wear and tear, embrittle, crack, corrode, vibrate loose, catch fire. But unlike your car, Peach Bottom is seeking a license extension to operate for 80 years on fewer inspections and less oversight. Beyond Nuclear is still asking NRC for answers to questions on the environmental impacts of a nuclear accident caused by mismanaged wear and tear during 2033 to 2054 for irreplaceable and inaccessible safety systems, structures and components that don't have redundancy. This would include the reactor pressure vessel, the containment structure, and hundreds miles of safety-related electrical cable.