Henry Harrell"s Blog: January 7 Green Energy News

Headline News:

Global warming is making the world’s oceans sicker, depleting them of oxygen and harming delicate coral reefs more often. In coastal water bodies, including estuaries and seas, low-oxygen sites have increased more than 10-fold since 1950. Scientists expect oxygen to continue dropping even outside these zones as Earth warms. [India Today]

Ocean

“‘Bomb cyclone’ appears to stymie Perry’s argument for coal” • The winter storm was just the type of scenario Energy Secretary Rick Perry cited as a reason to subsidize coal and nuclear power plants. But so far, the region’s electricity grid has responded with little disruption, aside from a shutdown of the Pilgrim nuclear plant. [The Keene Sentinel]
It’s fair to say that China is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to pollution and climate change. Now China has announced a reforestation program that will plant enough trees in 2018 to cover an area the size of Ireland. Forests already cover 21.7% of the country. That figure is set to increase to 23% by 2020 and 26% by 2035. [CleanTechnica]
Duke Energy is sending more than 200 of its employees along with trucks, equipment and supplies to Puerto Rico to support the effort to rebuild the power grid and restore electric service to areas hit hard by storms. Personnel from Duke Energy operations in the Midwest, Carolinas and Florida will take part in the effort. [satPRnews]
If Dominion Energy buys South Carolina Electric & Gas, its customers will get a one-time shot of cash to make up for some of the years they spent financing an abandoned nuclear power plant. Then over the next two decades, SCE&G customers would pay about $2.2 billion for the project, plus a 10.3% return for investors. [Charleston Post Courier]

Henry Harrell"s Blog