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California, Again Facing Summer Supply Vulnerabilities, Eyes 20-GW Offshore Wind Goal

May 12, 2022

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is mulling a preliminary planning goal for 3 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and potentially expanding it to 10 GW to 15 GW by 2045. If finalized, California’s offshore wind goals would be the most ambitious in the U.S., surpassing even New York’s, which call for 9 GW by 2035.

In a draft report sent to the state’s governor on May 9, the CEC suggested California has an offshore technical potential in federal waters off the California coast of 21.8 GW, based on wind speed, ocean depth, bottom score, and distance to connecting infrastructure. Preliminary planning goals, however, focus mainly on floating offshore wind deployments, given that the deep waters of the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf off California’s coast have “steep drop-offs and will require offshore wind turbines installed on floating platforms to be anchored to the seabed.”

The CEC’s draft responds to Assembly Bill 525 (AB 525), a law that took effect this January and requires the CEC to develop a “strategic plan” for offshore wind energy developments off the California coast in federal waters.…

India Sets Net-Zero Goal for 2070, Calls for $1T in Firm Climate Finance Commitments

November 3, 2021

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India, a nation heavily reliant on coal power, will set out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged in a surprise declaration at the ongoing COP 26 climate summit on Nov. 1.

While India’s central government has yet to issue a detailed plan to achieve the necessary carbon reductions, the nation will kick off its climate ambitions by issuing five aggressive near-term targets.

“First, India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030,” Modi said in a 12-minute speech (in Hindi) on the first day of the conference in Glasgow, Scotland. “Second, India will fulfill 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030,” he said. “Third, between now and 2030, India will reduce its total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tons. Fourth, by 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45%. And fifth, by 2070, India will achieve the target of net-zero emissions.”…

China Promotes Climate Goal, and Builds New Coal Plants

September 25, 2020

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The post China Promotes Climate Goal, and Builds New Coal Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he wants his country to “achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.” It will not be an easy task for the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG).

China, though it has canceled some planned thermal power plants over the past several years, has as much as 200 GW of coal-fired facilities in its development pipeline, according to Mary Hutzler, a distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Energy Research. Hutzler, who spent more than 25 years as an analyst and for a time acting administrator with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), has said coal will be critical to China’s economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic.

Xi, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 as part of Climate Week NYC 2020 in New York City, called for a “green revolution,” saying the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to preserve the Earth’s environment.…

New York Latest State to Set 100% Carbon-Free Goal, with Increased Renewables

January 18, 2019

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is continuing his push for renewable energy in the state, as the governor on Jan. 15 announced an initiative for New York to achieve 100% carbon-free power generation by 2040. Cuomo’s “Green New Deal,” part of his 2019 Justice Agenda and as part of the state budget, calls for an increase in deployments of renewable energy projects, including offshore wind.

New York is the third state, behind Hawaii and California, to commit to a full portfolio of renewable power generation. The Sierra Club said more than 100 U.S. cities and counties also have committed to all renewable energy, and about a half dozen already have met that goal.

“Let us set the goal, 100% clean power by 2040, highest in the United States of America, a climate action council to eliminate the state’s carbon footprint,” Cuomo said in his State of the State address at the state capitol in Albany. He said he wants groups to “come up with the next generation of clean technology and train our workforce for those jobs.”…