Opinion:
¶ “PA Needs Clean Energy. Why Are Legislators Stuck On Nuclear?” • Reports say Pennsylvania state legislators will soon introduce bills to provide financial support to the state’s nuclear power plants. The NRDC urges the General Assembly to adopt a real clean energy transition policy and reject nuclear plant subsidizes. [Natural Resources Defense Council]
Pennsylvania Capitol (Gov Tom Wolf, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “Portland Students Are Rising Up On Behalf Of Solar Energy” • Kids are used to adults not listening to them. Sometimes that leads to conflict over things that are silly. But kids sometimes fight for something that extends far beyond their own lives: their planet. So listen up. It is time to adopt solar power for Portland schools. [Natural Resources Council of Maine]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Zap&Go’s Carbon-Ion Battery Delivers Ultra-Fast Charging & Zero Degradation” • Zap&Go’s new Carbon-Ion battery combines the fast charging benefits of supercapacitors with the energy storage characteristics of a battery. The carbon-based battery does not use any rare earth metals or toxic chemicals, and it can last thirty years. [CleanTechnica]
Zap&Go’s second generation cells (Zap&Go image)
World:
¶ “Ukraine To Hold First Auctions For Wind And Solar Next Year” • The Ukrainian parliament approved at first reading legislation with provisions to help the country move towards a more efficient renewable energy market. The draft document has first auctions to be held for large-scale solar and wind projects next year. [pv magazine International]
¶ “BP Will Link Bonuses For 36,000 Workers To Climate Targets” • BP has pledged to align its business more closely with global climate goals and link the bonuses of 36,000 employees to greenhouse gas reduction targets. The company said that it would support a resolution from the activist investor group Climate Action 100+. [CNN]
Offshore oil rig
¶ “Mining Companies Benefit From A Significant Cost Reduction Potential From Deployment Of Renewables” • In the last few years, more and more mining companies have adopted wind and solar systems to reduce their energy costs at remote off-grid mines. They use a variety of microgrid configurations, as suited to the site. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
¶ “Monsoon Rains Cause Floods In Queensland” • Exceptional monsoon rains have caused severe flooding in parts of Australia’s north-eastern state of Queensland. The area normally has monsoon rains from December to April, but such flooding is rare. Meanwhile, parts of southern Australian are in the grip of a severe drought. [BBC]
Flooding in Queensland (Reuters image)
¶ “Hanergy To Set Up The Region’s First Thin-Film Solar Power Industrial Park In Middle East” • Hanergy Thin Film Power Group signed a memorandum of understanding Ajlan & Bros for the first solar thin-film industrial park in the Middle East region. The project’s investment will be over $1 billion, and the capacity will be 1 GW. [AltEnergyMag]
¶ “Chinese Manufacturer Opens Danish Door” • Chinese wind turbine manufacturer CRRC Wind Power Shandong opened a research and development office in Copenhagen. It will serve as a hub for advanced product development and as a base for cooperation with local partners, such as universities, and wind projects in Europe. [reNEWS]
Copenhagen (Guillaume Baviere | Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “CATL Ready With 100-MWh Battery For ‘Multi-Mixed’ Energy Demo” • Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd has connected to the grid an energy storage system of 100 MWh as part of a power complex in Qinghai Provence. The complex also contains 400 MW of wind and 250 MW of solar capacity. [Renewables Now]
US:
¶ “Indiana Utility Plans 802-MW Wind Drive” • Northern Indiana Public Service Company is planning to source electricity from three wind farms totalling 802 MW. The move is part of the energy provider’s plans to be coal-free by 2028. Its ‘Your Energy, Your Future’ initiative focuses on delivering a more affordable and sustainable energy mix. [reNEWS]
Wind turbines (NextEra image)
¶ “Georgia Power Plots 1-GW Renewables Push” • Georgia Power has filed a resource plan with the Georgia Public Service Commission that includes a request to approve up to 1 GW of new renewable energy resources. If the plan is approved, the company’s renewables capacity would account for 18% of its portfolio by 2024. [reNEWS]
Budweiser Clydesdales (Paul Keleher, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “Super Bowl Organizers, Partners Expand Bid To Run Clean Energy Show” • Sunday’s US Super Bowl will score on the clean energy front, with an environmental group and a beer maker for the first time offering to offset greenhouse gas emissions linked to fans’ travel and the host city of Atlanta, according to the organizers. [Reuters]
¶ “Industria Engineering To Install 4-MW/8.2-MWh Solar+Storage Project In Massachusetts” • Massachusetts-based solar installation company Industria Engineering has placed an order for 3.5-MW/8.2-MWh of battery energy storage systems from Storage Power Systems for a solar-plus-storage project in Grafton, Massachusetts. [Solar Power World]
¶ “Nuclear Waste Burial Fund Grows To $43 Billion, But DOE Has Not Buried An Ounce Of Spent Fuel” • A DOE fund to pay for the eventual disposal of nuclear waste has been earning $1.5 billion in interest each year and hit a whopping $43.4 billion in 2018. But millions of pounds of radioactive waste still need a permanent home. [OCRegister]
Have an astoundingly admirable day.
geoharvey 