-February 24,2021-
Gasoline prices up 37 cents
As of February 22, gas prices are climbing for the 10th week says the California Energy Commission. Regular is higher than last week’s price by 10 cents. The average statewide price for regular is $3.45 compared to $3.08 just before New Year and up about a dollar per gallon from last April’s low. Lemoore’s Yokut Gas is among the lowest price leaders in the state at $2.84 a gallon. GasBuddy says the rapid rise in prices was impacted by the freeze in Texas shutting down refineries. Warm weather may bring prices back down. But, says GasBuddy, “as we near spring weather, we’ll likely see another longer term rise in prices begin as refineries start to transition to summer gasoline, so motorists shouldn’t jump for joy just yet.” Another angle – with COVID cases shrinking – more of us are traveling.
WSJ: Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
Texas’s deregulated electricity market left millions in the dark last week. For the past 20 years, its consumers have paid more for their electricity than state residents who are served by traditional utilities, a WSJ investigation found.
CEMEX awarded grant from Department of Energy to develop carbon capture technology in California
World Cement
CEMEX has announced that its US operations have been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Energy to research, engineer and develop a pilot for a breakthrough carbon capture unit. The project, anchored to CEMEX’s Victorville, California cement plant, will also contemplate cost-competitive solutions to completely close the loop on current carbon emissions.
In this initiative led by RTI international (RTI), a non-profit research institute, CEMEX is joining forces with UK-based Carbon Clean and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The goal of the consortium is to increase efficiencies and value in CEMEX’s overall building material fabrication process, while significantly reducing its CO2 footprint through the leverage of technological upgrades. The specific objectives of this project also include the development, optimisation and scaleup of specific CO2 capture process components, as well as incorporation of next-generation non-aqueous solvents. Integration aspects of the low-cost, modular, process intensification capture technology with CEMEX’s cement plant are also planned to be covered, together with subsequent cost evaluations and technical considerations for the transformation of captured CO2 into new marketable products.
“CEMEX is committed to being part of the solution to reduce carbon emissions globally and to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete to all of our customers by 2050,” said CEMEX USA President Jaime Muguiro. “We cannot achieve these without innovative technology and collaborative relationships with both public and private organisations who share a commitment to climate action. This grant gives us an excellent opportunity to further develop a new technology to help us all reach our goals.”
“With CEMEX being a project partner and technology stakeholder, the design and integration of the capture system with its cement plant, and subsequent use of the CO2 at its concrete plants are set to align with the industry’s needs”, said Paul Mobley, Research Chemical Engineer at RTI. “The development of this highly disruptive CO2 capture technology could accelerate industry adoption and thereby significantly reduce industrial emissions.”
“Oak Ridge National Laboratory is dedicated to translating science into industry solutions for addressing some of the most critical problems facing our nation,” said Xin Sun, interim associate laboratory director for energy science and technology at ORNL. “We look forward to applying our advanced manufacturing expertise to this project in support of a clean, efficient, flexible and secure energy future.”
Aniruddha Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, said: “CEMEX shares our mission to enable the net zero transition by developing affordable modularised carbon capture solutions. This latest grant from the US government endorses the importance of such work. We are looking forward to delivering this breakthrough project with CEMEX further strengthening our relationship and helping to decarbonise the cement industry.”
CEMEX announced in 2020 its Climate Action strategy, defining a global target of a 35% reduction of CO2 emissions per ton of cementitious products by 2030. To complement this strategy with a longer-term vision, CEMEX also established an ambition to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete to all its customers globally by 2050.
CEMEX is successfully introducing Vertua®, its low carbon and net-zero CO2 products, in the countries where it has a presence. Vertua is the result of the work done by the CEMEX’s Research and Development Centre in Switzerland, and it is a milestone towards carbon-neutral construction becoming a reality.
1.1-GW solar + 2,165-MWh storage project near Mojave begins construction
Renewables developer and operator Terra-Gen has hired Mortenson to construct the Edwards & Sanborn solar and energy storage project located in Kern County, California. The project, near Mojave ,consists of 1,118 MW of solar and 2,165 MWh of energy storage. It is currently the largest single solar + storage project to reach this milestone.
“Selecting the right partner to execute a project of this scale coupled with cutting edge battery experience was paramount for Terra-Gen, and Mortenson was a natural fit,” said Brian Gorda, Terra-Gen’s vice president of engineering. “Terra-Gen is excited to push the industry to new heights and build a plant that provides energy for all hours of demand.”
The Edwards & Sanborn project is located near several operating wind and solar projects in Kern County, California. Mortenson is the full EPC contractor on both the solar and energy storage scopes. Site construction will commence in Q1 2021 with expected completion in Q4 2022.
Solar production on the site will utilize more than 2.5 million modules and energy storage will utilize more than 110,000 lithium-ion battery modules.
“The Edwards & Sanborn solar and energy storage project is industry-changing and during this challenging 2020 will redefine the impact these systems will have on our clean energy future,” said Trent Mostaert, Mortenson’s vice president and general manager of solar. “We are proud to combine our solar and energy storage design and construction expertise with Terra-Gen’s development capabilities to deliver a world-class energy facility.”
At peak construction, more than 700 people will be employed on-site at the project.