Opinion:
¶ “We Should Not Have to Pay for Gas Company’s Lobbying” • When your gas bill arrives, you probably think you are paying to warm your home and light your stove. Though that is largely true, families in some parts of California are footing the bill for a multi-million dollar lobbying effort to stop California’s clean energy progress. [Earthjustice]
Site of the 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak
(Photo by Scott L, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “You Cannot Separate Health and Wellness from Climate Change” • People seem to be less concerned about climate change, carbon emissions, and resilience than they are about health and wellness, as evidenced by the booming of the Well Standard and the KB Home pivot to wellness. Climate change, however, is a threat to health. [Treehugger]
World:
¶ “BYD Wins Contract to Supply 64 Electric Buses for Medellín, Colombia” • New energy powerhouse BYD won a contract to supply 64 of its electric buses to the Colombian city of Medellín. The new contract represents the second-largest Latin American electric bus fleet, behind 100 buses in Santiago, Chile, which BYD delivered late last year. [CleanTechnica]
BYD bus, Medellín
¶ “Iran to Build 1,000 MW Solar Farm in Markazi” • Iran is set to build its largest-ever solar farm with a capacity as much as 1,000 MW in Markazi province, central Iran, a senior official said. He said the project, which is to be built on 2000 hectares of land near the city of Saveh, has been funded by a UK-based Iranian investor. [Mehr News Agency]
¶ “Great Wall ORA R1 – An Electric Car With ~140 Miles of Range for Less Than $10,000” • Chinese automaker Great Wall is set to introduce its ORA R1 electric car. The R1 can travel almost 200 miles on a single charge according to The Express. The company says the cost is between $8,680 and $11,293, after the Chinese EV subsidies. [CleanTechnica]
Great Wall ORA R1, $10,000 electric car
¶ “China’s Three Gorges Dam Generates Record Amount of Power” • The electricity generated by the Three Gorges Dam, which is on the Yangtze River in Hubei province, has exceeded 100 billion kWh, setting a record for a single hydropower plant in China. It also outperformed the dam’s 2018 production target of 92.3 billion kWh. [Energy Digital]
¶ “Indian State of Andhra Pradesh Targets 5 GW of Solar Under New Policy” • Andhra Pradesh aims to install 18 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2021-22, which would comprise 10% of the country’s overall target. The government said it will start with 4 GW of solar parks, mostly in manufacturing zones, but also R&D and training centers. [ETEnergyworld.com]
Solar farm in Andhra Pradesh (Image: Greenko Group)
¶ “Solar Energy Investment Predicted to Grow in 2019” • The removal of tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels plus a shift in attitude towards renewables are set to give the EU a 12% share of the global solar module market. Industry experts say Europe’s solar capacity is set to jump from 9.5 GW to 13.5 GW (42.1%) during 2019. [Open Access Government]
¶ “Endesa to Supply Catalan Railways with 100% Renewable Power” • Endesa, Spain’s largest utility, will supply the Catalan Government Railways with electricity from 100% renewable sources this year, local media have reported. Endesa will supply about 300 km of the railways systems’ metropolitan lines and mountain stations. [Renewables Now]
Solar park (Som Energia Cooperativa, CC-BY-2.0 Generic)
US:
¶ “ASLA Warns Landscape Architects Could Be Liable for Climate Impacts on Projects” • During the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects, it was determined that landscape architects could potentially face liability due to climate impacts of their projects. This follows a Texas class-action lawsuit. [Total Landscape Care]
¶ “Minnesota-Vermont Partnership Will Offer Solar to Low-Income Families” • A Minnesota nonprofit has a community solar model they think could go national. The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance and Southeastern Vermont Community Action are partnering to get solar power to 50 low-income households in Windham and Windsor counties. [CleanTechnica]
RREAL crew installing a solar system in Minnesota
¶ “Duke Energy Reopens North Carolina Solar Rebate Program” • More than 1,300 of Duke Energy’s North Carolina customers installed solar systems last year under a 4-year, $62 million program. The company paid out $6 million in solar rebates to those customers. Now, it has opened up the window for new applications for 2019. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Enel Starts Construction on Its Largest US Wind Farm to Date” • Enel’s US renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, began construction on the High Lonesome wind farm in Texas. High Lonesome, with a capacity of about 450 MW, will be the largest wind farm in Enel’s global renewables portfolio when completed. [Windpower Engineering]
Wind farm in Texas
¶ “PUC Nod Sought for 262 MW of Solar Capacity with Storage in Hawaii” • Hawaiian Electric Companies is seeking the state Public Utilities Commission’s approval of contracts for a total of 262 MW of PVs with 1,048 MWh of storage in seven projects on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island. The cost for two of the seven is as low as 8¢/kWh. [Renewables Now]
¶ “Judge Denies Expedited Hearing on Sale of Bellefonte Plant” • A federal judge turned down a request for an expedited hearing on a challenge to a Tennessee Valley Authority decision not to sell its unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power plant to Chattanooga developer Franklin L. Haney. The decision gives TVA more time to respond. [Chattanooga Times Free Press]
Have an extremely happy day.
geoharvey 