Utilizing Renewable Vitality For All The Fallacious Causes

The phrase is out. Renewable vitality is in and now everybody needs to get in on the sport. This week, there have been information studies about corporations we don’t usually affiliate with local weather motion queuing up so as to add solar energy to their operations.

The extra cynical members of the CleanTechnica workers (which is just about all of us), see this as a type of greenwashing. “Hey, hey. Look over right here! We’re working onerous to cut back our emissions through the use of extra renewable vitality whereas we proceed to spew megatons of carbon dioxide into the ambiance.” The response across the koi pond right here at our lavish world headquarters has been equal to the sound of 1 hand clapping.

Peacock Photo voltaic Brings Renewable Vitality To Corpus Christi

In a press launch dated September 26, 2023, BP proudly introduced it has begun building of a 187 MW photo voltaic set up. That’s good. When accomplished in the summertime of 2024, the renewable vitality from the brand new Peacock Photo voltaic mission will assist energy a Gulf Coast Progress Ventures petrochemical advanced on the Gulf Coast of Texas. That’s not so good. The mission is anticipated to create round 300 jobs throughout building and supply greater than $25 million in tax income over the primary 25 years of the its life.

At full capability, renewable vitality from Peacock photo voltaic may keep away from greater than 256,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasoline emissions every year. It’s anticipated to create as much as 300 jobs throughout building and supply greater than $25 million in tax income over the primary 25 years of the mission’s life. The press launch says, “the brand new photo voltaic farm positioned 10 miles north of Corpus Christi in San Patricio County, Texas, will assist help the worldwide transition to decrease carbon vitality.”

Peacock will promote the entire electrical energy it generates below a long run energy buy settlement to Gulf Coast Progress Ventures, a three way partnership between ExxonMobil and SABIC, which produces supplies used to fabricate garments, meals containers, packaging, agricultural movie, and building supplies.

Sharp-eyed readers will discover that not one electron from Peacock will profit the local people or hold air conditioners working as the surface temperatures soar. And 256,000 metric tons is a pisshole within the snow in comparison with the emissions GCGV will likely be liable for. So, ought to renewable vitality advocates be pleased about this information or not?

What’s GCGV?

For extra on that matter, let’s flip to a report within the Corpus Christi Caller Instances, which says GCGV is a three way partnership between ExxonMobil and Saudi Arabia’s Primary Industries Company, generally known as SABIC.  On its web site, SABIC says, “Ranked among the many world’s largest petrochemicals producers, SABIC is a public firm primarily based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with 70% of the corporate’s shares owned by Saudi Aramco, with the remaining 30% publicly traded on the Saudi inventory alternate.” The corporate operates in about 50 nations and has a world workforce of greater than 31,000 staff.

Hmmm…ExxonMobil and Saudi Arabia? Not names that spring to thoughts when pursuing a discount in carbon emissions. This smacks of Exxon’s newest try to wrap itself on a inexperienced mantle, now that it has shut down its “gas from algae” analysis program. And Saudi Arabia, after all, is house to all however one of many terrorists who introduced down the World Commerce Middle in 2021. It additionally offers with dissent by murdering its critics and chopping them up into little items with a bone noticed. What fantastic neighbors for the oldsters who stay in and round Corpus Christi.

“We need to be good stewards of our surroundings,” mentioned Andrew Mitton, technical supervisor at GCGV, in a press release this week. “As soon as on-line, the photo voltaic generated electrical energy will likely be used to partially energy our plant and assist scale back emissions in help of a internet zero future.” Don’t maintain your breath, individuals. (Though should you stay within the space, you may need to.) For Exxon Mobil and SABIC, internet zero is one thing they envision taking place someday within the subsequent century, after each molecule of oil and methane gasoline has been extracted and burned.

BP (which introduced us the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe) needed to get in on the excellent news. Dave Lawler, chairman of bp America, mentioned in a press release this week, “Securing this settlement and kicking off building of Peacock helps help the transition to decrease carbon vitality, whereas benefiting native communities and the economic system. It’s one other method bp is accelerating development of our US photo voltaic era capability, investing in America, and advancing our transformation to an built-in vitality firm.”

“GCGV conservatively calculates it will scale back our emissions about 130 kTA, the equal of taking about 29,000 vehicles off the street for a 12 months,” the manufacturing facility’s managers mentioned of their information launch. “That’s an impression of about 5% of the positioning’s whole greenhouse gasoline emissions.” Woo-hoo! Escape the champagne! Don’t let the prospect of an overheating planet scare you. BP, ExxonMobil, and Saudi Arabia have our backs.

Particulars About Peacock Photo voltaic

PCL Development, the primary engineering, procurement, and building contractor for the mission, will set up ultra-low carbon photo voltaic panels and trackers from US-based producers First Photo voltaic and GameChange Photo voltaic, respectively. Peacock may also be house to a variety of agricultural and biodiversity actions, together with:

• planting vegetation below and across the photo voltaic panels, together with native plant species useful to pollinators and different wildlife
• aiming to enhance habitat worth, species composition, soil well being and total ecosystem features on the photo voltaic farm
• sheep grazing on the website to learn the native rural economic system and hold the farmland in manufacturing – such practices are generally known as agrivoltaics.

BP says photo voltaic will play an essential position in its renewable vitality and energy transition development engine. Peacock is a part of its purpose to put money into and construct renewable vitality capability of fifty GW worldwide by 2030. In line with the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation, Texas ranks second within the nation for solar energy and is poised so as to add 40 GW over the subsequent 5 years. Renewable vitality tasks like Peacock assist diversify the state’s vitality era combine, bettering the grid’s vitality safety and reliability, bp says.

The Takeaway

Utilizing renewables to energy a three way partnership involving ExxonMobil and SABIC simply feels fallacious on so many ranges. It’s like utilizing renewable vitality to energy fracking operations within the Permian basin, which looks like a perversion slightly than progress towards a sustainable planet.

The largest concern now we have right here at CleanTechnica is that companies will conceal behind just a few MW of renewable electrical energy to pull individuals’s consideration away from the truth that they’re blasting big quantities of carbon dioxide into the ambiance 24 hours a day.

Greenwashing is an actual downside right now, with corporations speaking out of each side of their mouths to allow them to proceed doing enterprise as standard. It’s a recreation that must be uncovered for what it’s — mendacity. Don’t fall for his or her lies. We haven’t obtained time to waste on silly thoughts video games from grasping companies.