Page 6 - North American Clean Energy November December 2019 Issue

editor's note news bites HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO SALT LAKE CITY? It looks a lot like a city. A bunch of restaurants, apartment buildings, highways with traffic, and a scattering of homeless people. I even noticed a faint layer of smog blurring the spectacular sunset mountain views. Barely able to accommodate its burgeoning population, Salt Lake City sits in a topographical bowl surrounded by mountains that perfectly trap the ever-increasing air pollution. Like any other U.S. city, it spends a great deal of time and effort trying to mitigate that problem with the latest technology and energy efficient solutions. If it hadn’t taken me so many flights to get to this year’s Solar Power International (SPI) show, it would have felt as though I were anywhere in the country (with the exception of Newark, my starting point). Which is why I found it a little odd to hear so many of my fellow attendees complaining about the location of next year’s SPI. We’re all due to meet up again next September in Anaheim, California. I like Anaheim. It’s certainly more convenient for me travel-wise. And yet, nearly every other person I ran into complained that the decision to hold the show in Anaheim was a cop-out, or not representative enough of the rest of the country, or another sign that the solar industry needs to reach more people outside of California. Back in the 1990s, while cruising to Juneau, I overheard some passengers saying that they sure hoped Alaska had telephones so they could call home (for those of you under 25, this was pre-cellphone ubiquity). I tried not to laugh while I politely interrupted their conversation to enlighten them about the wondrous conveniences enjoyed by Alaskans – things like cars and department stores and airports and satellite television and, yes, even phones. I was amazed at their conceit in assuming that the typical American lifestyle was confined to the lower 48. I wasn’t quite as stunned to hear the disappointment by the SPI folks, but it was close. You Californians are proud of your state. I get it. People all over this country are proud of where they live. They’re smart, worldly, and knowledgeable. In fact, they’re a lot like you. It’s a good idea not to discount the “other 49”. Try to challenge the belief that, while a more liberal mindset may give California an edge in early adoption of radical clean energy technologies, it’s not always the center of progress. In 2018, California produced the most solar power in the country1. Do you know who came in second? South Carolina. That’s right, California is the 3rd largest state in the country, but South Carolina, the 28th largest state, produced the second largest amount of solar energy. By the way, New Jersey is the 47th largest state and we came in 6th place! Little New Jersey made the top ten. (We beat Utah.) Even corporate investment reaches beyond the Golden State. True, California’s got Apple, which tops the most recent list2. But Target and Walmart are close behind, and their headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Bentonville, Arkansas, respectively. You’ve heard of Proctor and Gamble, right? Not only is it the largest consumer goods company in the world, but you can find its headquarters in a little city called Cincinnati, Ohio. They announced the purchase of 100% renewable electricity in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe.3 And, in case you missed it, The Princeton Review published their 2019 Guide to Green Colleges4. Of the top 15, only two are in California. Nearly every school on their list offers sustainably-focused degrees. Of the top 50, the 43 schools not in California include places like Ohio, Minnesota, Tennessee, Missouri, Michigan, and Iowa.* Just because we’ll be holding our annual meeting in California doesn’t mean we’ll be able to keep the latest solar advances secret from the rest of the country. Millions of people own the newest iPhones and laptops without ever having attended a tech trade show. Thousands of people who own solar panels have probably never heard of SPI, yet they benefit from our collaboration. We'll fly in from all over the world to talk to each other and share ideas face-to-face because we’re human. It’s what we do. Who cares where we do it? As long as I can catch a nonstop from Newark, I’m good. “It’s high time you were shown That you really don’t know All there is to be known.” On Beyond Zebra! (1955) by Dr. Seuss Meg 1 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/19/the-us- states-leading-the-way-in-solar.html 2 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ arielcohen/2019/07/29/corporate-investment-in- solar-energy-surges/#46d063722464 3 https://us.pg.com/blogs/pg-purchases- renewable-electricity 4 http://www.princetonreview.com/green-guide *Challenge yourself to write down all 50 states without looking at a map. You may be surprised at how many you miss. Yoga... on a bottle? Yoga Design Lab is a young Bali based yoga brand that is shaking up the industry with sophisticated technology and uber-colorful yoga mats made from natural tree rubber and recycled plastic bottle microfibres. The goal was to create a beautiful, highly-functional product with the smallest eco footprint possible. Countless yoga mats end up in landfills because they’re made from non-recyclable, hazardous materials, so this company has started repurposing what’s already out there and keep it from ending up in the oceans. Yoga Design Lab /// www.yogadesignlab.com City waste to city fuel The City of Oakland, Neste, fuel distributor Western States Oil, and local collectors for used cooking oil joined forces to gather waste cooking oils from restaurants and other businesses in the Oakland metropolitan area and convert it to fuel the city’s fleet. By making waste more valuable and supporting jobs that collect and treat it, this concept helps the local economy in the city while the cleaner-burning Neste MY Renewable Diesel improves the lives of its residents by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s fleet. Neste MY Renewable Diesel is a low-carbon fuel produced from 100% renewable and sustainable raw materials, primarily wastes, and residues. It cuts engine-out emissions of nitrogen oxides by 9%, those of carbon monoxide by 24%, and fine particulates by 33%, all while enhancing fleet performance. The concept by the city of Oakland and Neste saves greenhouse gas emissions by 74% compared to fossil diesel. Neste MY Renewable Diesel is a direct replacement fuel that requires no blending and is compatible with all diesel engines. Neste Corporation /// www.neste.com 6 Moving a behemoth The port of Blyth welcomed a 107m wind blade that will form the rotor of the Haliade-X 12MW, the world’s largest and most powerful offshore wind turbine. Possibly one of the largest machine components ever built, the part was shipped from Cherbourg, France. The blade set sail from Saint-Nazaire for a nearly two-day voyage through the English Channel and the North Sea. In Blyth, the blade will undergo a year of advanced testing that will demonstrate its ability to withstand peak wind conditions and simulate its readiness for years of operation in gusty seas. Nothing about the Haliade-X 12MW is small. The machine’s nacelle is comparable in size to six double-decker London buses, and houses a generator capable of producing up to 12MW of power, enough to supply 16,000 European households. The Haliade-X 12MW is set to enter serial production in 2021. GE /// www.ge.com NOVEMBER•DECEMBER2019 /// www.nacleanenergy.com