Henry Harrell"s Blog: August 13 Green Energy News

Headline News:

Global alcohol company Diageo intends to get all of its power from renewable sources by 2030 after seeing its energy use fall 10% in its latest reporting year. The company said in its report that it had seen an increased stakeholder focus on climate change. Its brands include Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, and Gordon’s. [Clean Energy News]

Roseisle Stillhouse, one of Diageo’s distilleries. Image: Diageo.

The UK’s surging solar PV capacity has helped the country to a new quarterly renewable generation record. In Q1 2016 renewables generated 25.1% of the UK’s electricity despite lower than expected wind speeds and rainfall. That figure was up 2.3 percentage points on generation recorded in Q1 2015. [Solar Power Portal]
Scotland is pledging to reach 100% renewable sustainability for energy production by the year 2020, a reasonable goal after meeting 100% of the energy demand through wind power alone for a day. Scotland is believed to have the largest oil reserves in Europe, but has proven they largely do not need it. [Interesting Engineering]
Facing high summer temperatures that strain power supplies, Vermont utilities issued peak alerts yesterday asking customers to reduce their energy use. Meanwhile, Renewable Energy Vermont says that renewables, including wind and solar power, are helping to reduce both peak costs and use of fossil fuels. [North American Windpower]
Neste Renewable Diesel is now being used by the Sacramento County, California. By doing so, the county will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its fleet by up to 80%. The county estimates that greenhouses gas emissions will be reduced by about 8,000 tons per year. The switch does not require engine modifications. [Energy Global]

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