In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
- Clean energy advocate Jay Inslee (pictured) drops out of the US presidential race.
- Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen officially opens the country’s largest offshore wind farm.
- Germany-headquartered energy giant E.ON raises €1.5 billion of green bonds.
- Residential customers are increasingly willing to pay more for zero net energy homes.
EGEB: A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.
Washington State governor and clean energy advocate Jay Inslee dropped out of the US presidential race last night. He didn’t qualify for the CNN town hall on climate or the presidential debate in September.
Combatting climate change with green energy was Inslee’s top issue. According to NPR:
He proposed a 10-year action plan to, according to his campaign website, “achieve 100% clean electricity, 100% zero-emission new vehicles, and 100% zero-carbon new buildings.”
“[Climate change] does call for a president to make this Job 1, because if it is not Job 1, it won’t get done,” Inslee told NPR in March. “We have to understand if we don’t solve the climate crisis, it will prevent us from dealing with all of our other hopes and challenges.”
While Inslee won’t be able to lead on green energy initiatives at the federal level, Washington State and its cities continue to make positive, impactful changes. For example, Seattle City Council passed its own Green New Deal on August 12.
Hopefully, Inslee’s push will encourage other presidential candidates to prioritize sustainable energy. Or, as he put it, to “change the entire national dialogue” on climate change.
Denmark launches largest offshore wind farm
Donald Trump announced that he was interested in buying Greenland. Greenland is an autonomous Danish dependent territory. Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed the idea as “absurd.” So Trump canceled his trip to Denmark and called Frederiksen “nasty.”
But Frederiksen moved on and turned her attention to pressing green energy issues. Today, she, along with Crown Prince Frederik and Climate, Energy and Utilities Minister Dan Jørgensen, launched Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm. According to Energy Live News:
The Horns Rev 3 project consists of 49 turbines and has a total capacity of 407 MW, expected to generate enough electricity to power 425,000 households. It will support Denmark’s low carbon ambitions and boost wind power production in the country by 12%.
It’s now the largest offshore wind farm in Scandinavia. Denmark is a world leader in wind energy production and other methods of green energy, and Greenland can use all the sustainability initiatives it can get. (Greenland’s ice is melting, by the way. Hugely.)
E.ON raises €1.5 billion of green bonds
E.ON, an electric utility company headquartered in Essen, Germany, is enormous. It operates in more than 30 countries and serves more than 33 million customers. So the energy giant raising two green bonds worth €1.5 billion ($1.66 billion) is a big step forward for advancing green energy. As Energy Live News explains:
The bond issuance of €750 million [$831 million] each, maturing in August 2024 and February 2030 at rates of 0% and 0.35%, respectively, will fund sustainable infrastructure and energy efficiency projects.
Green bonds fund projects have positive environmental benefits and can include renewable energy, sustainable resource use, conservation, clean transportation, and adaptation to climate change.
E.ON’s Green Bond Framework includes renewable energy grid connections, sustainable city energy solutions, smart meters, and charging stations for electric vehicles.
Residential customers will pay more for ZNE homes
A new study commissioned by the Propane Education & Research Council found that residential customers are increasingly willing to pay more for a zero net energy home. The survey was taken by 2,200 US residents who said they were soon-to-be purchasing, remodeling, or building a home. (Confession: I just bought a new house, it has solar panels and energy-efficient doors and windows, and it was totally worth it.)
Some highlights from the study, summarized by ACHR News, include:
- Eighty-four percent of builders and 81% of remodelers stated a willingness to pay more for a ZNE home. On average, respondents were willing to pay between 20% and 30% more.
- Eighty-three percent of buyers and 89% of builders said they were likely to consider a ZNE home for their next home purchase or build.
- Cost savings and environmental benefits were the most commonly cited reasons why buyers and builders were considering a ZNE home.
Photo credit: International Institute for Sustainable Development/Jay Inslee/Flickr/cc
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