[GWSG] Solar leap; US renewables on track; MSN's sneak play; Ikea to sell solar; Oliver on the grid; behaviors to change

[Tilley, Al]

1. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have developed a technology which grows nanowires of gallium arsenide on a traditional silicon-based solar cell, producing a cell which is twice as efficient and costs little more than the original cell. The technique is ready for commercial development. https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-method-nanowires-solar-panels-efficient.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-nwletter

2. US renewable energy has almost quadrupled in the past decade and is on track to be sufficient to meet the current level of electricity demand by 2035. President Biden has set that date as the target for ridding the grid of power from fossil fuels. The price of solar power dropped about 80% from 2011 to 2018 and is headed yet lower. As well as the US is doing, it is still only about average in renewables globally, with 12% power production; the UK and Germany are twice that. The energy transition is well underway. We still have challenges ahead in stamping out remaining gas and oil use.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/11/09/renewable-energy-solar-wind-biden/

3. To get an indication of the propaganda which the transition faces, check out MSN’s treatment of the WAPO story in the past item. They slipped in a Bloomberg video of an investor touting the necessity for decades to come of natural gas. There is no indication that this is meant to counter the article, and it is also placed in a window which travels with you as if it were part of the story. https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/renewable-energy-in-the-us-nearly-quadrupled-in-the-past-decade-report-finds/ar-AAQuGEB

4. Ikea will be offering solar panels for sale in Sweden in a leasing program called Strömma. They intend to handle all aspects of the installation and even the sale of surplus energy from the household. Ikea intends to extend the program to all their markets in 2025. (They will need some regulatory changes in Florida and elsewhere, of course.) https://clean-energy.thebusinessdownload.com/ikeas-latest-furniture-offering-solar-panels/?utm_campaign=1121evg&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

5. Even if you don’t enjoy John Oliver’s humor, the 22 minutes of his explanation of the modernization of the US power grid is too full of good info to miss. If you enjoy his jokes, it may be the high point of your day. https://climatecrocks.com/2021/11/08/if-anyone-can-make-power-grids-funny-its-john-oliver/

6. The UK’s chief science adviser says that successful climate action must include behavior changes. We must cut back meat consumption and flying, to mention two changes which few politicians like to stress. Sir Patrick Vallance has changed his own habits. He observed that “the climate crisis was a far bigger problem than coronavirus and would kill more people if immediate changes were not made.” “We’re going to have to have a profound behavioural and cultural change in terms of our relation to the Earth, our relation to consumption, our relation to transport, etc, and that’s something that is extremely challenging.” He believes the necessary changes are already underway. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/09/changes-behaviour-tackle-climate-crisis-patrick-vallance-cop26

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