[GWSG] Irish divesting; 9mw turbines; AUS coal a bad deal; battery storage in CA; growth in US wind & solar jobs

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The Irish parliament has voted that it become the first country to divest its sovereign wealth fund entirely from fossil fuels.  Eirinn go Brach.  http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/01/26/irish-lawmakers-vote-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=942ae2935a-Today_s_Climate12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-942ae2935a-326454481



2.  Vestas has an operational 9 megawatt offshore wind turbine; the old standard maximum power was 8 megawatts.  The price of offshore wind just dropped.  https://cleantechnica.com/2017/01/27/mhi-vestas-unveils-new-9-mw-wind-turbine/?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=da5c50357a-Clean_Economy_Wire12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-da5c50357a-326454481



3.  The Australian government is proposing to build coal plants using technology which produces 27% less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional plants.  To achieve that reduction of emissions by building new wind and solar plants would cost half as much, and would not burden the country with expensive and still dirty plants which would have to be replaced for the good of the environment.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/27/coal-power-plan-twice-the-cost-of-renewables-route-emissions-reduction



4.  A huge natural gas leak interrupted power delivery in California.  Tesla quickly supplied industrial batteries to even the load, several years faster than the state's regulatory commission supposed that such storage capacity would be developed.  The impact will be to make high levels of solar and wind energy usage more practical.  The cost of battery storage is roughly equal to that of peaking natural gas.  Batteries are more quickly and more flexibly implemented, and do not demand the water and fuel supply of natural gas.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/business/energy-environment/battery-storage-tesla-california.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170130&nlid=43628374&tntemail0=y&_r=0



5.  US jobs in wind and solar power are growing at about 20% annually, twelve times faster than the economy in general.  http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/blogs/renewable-energy-jobs-us-economy   ?

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