Opinion:
¶ “Elon Musk’s Guide To Getting Ahead In Business” • Elon Musk is the world’s second richest man, according to Forbes. So, what is the secret of his success? A few years back, the author interviewed him about just that. To mark his new milestone BBC decided to dust the interview off and share it with you. Musk’s rule number one: “It isn’t about the money.” [BBC]
SpaceX launch (Tim Mossholder, Unsplash)
¶ “The Significance Of The ‘People First’ Approach In Biden’s Transition To Net Zero” • The election of Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris is the most positive news of the year for anyone concerned about climate change. For the first time since its adoption in 2015, the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature increase limit appears within reach. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “How India’s Renewable Energy Sector Survived And Thrived In A Turbulent 2020” • Last year was decisive for clean energy in India. Bids for new solar projects hit record lows, so coal is no longer the cheapest source of electricity. Cheap renewables were favored on the grid. But coal remains the dominant player in India’s electricity mix. [Greentech Media]
Coal-burning power plant (Suresh.A, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
World:
¶ “Norway Hits Record 87% Plug-in EV Share And 66% Pure Electrics In December” • Norway, the most advanced auto market for electromobility, saw records broken in December, with 87.1% market share for plugin electric vehicles. Of these, over two-thirds were pure EVs, and non-hybrid combustion vehicles fell to just 7.5% market share. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Building A Zero-Waste, Solar-Powered Brewery On An Off-Grid Island” • Caleb Clarke and Sarah Bowman opened New Zealand’s first off-grid, zero-waste, solar powered brewery, Aotea Brewing. Its home is the off-grid Great Barrier Island, whose 800 full-time residents share it with penguins, dolphins, banded rails, hammerhead sharks, and black petrels. [CleanTechnica]
Great Barrier Island, New Zealand (Douglas Bagg, Unsplash)
¶ “CityHawk eVTOL Gets Off The Ground Following Initial Orders” • Israeli tech firm Urban Aeronautics has encouraging news. It said it received a pre-order for four of its innovative hydrogen fuel-cell powered eVTOL vehicles from Hatzolah Air, a company that specializes in developing helicopters and other aircraft for EMS applications. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “GE Renewable Energy Signs On To 400-MW Pumped Hydro Project” • The proposed 400-MW Big T project is on track to be the first pumped hydro storage to be completed in Queensland in more than three decades, now that GE Renewable Energy has signed an agreement to co-develop it with the Australian-based consortium BE Power. [pv magazine Australia]
Big T pumped hydro storage project (Snowy Hydro image)
US:
¶ “EPA Halts Efforts to Clean Up Unsafe Levels of Ozone Smog” • In defiance of science and the law, the EPA attempted to halt 50 years of progress delivered by the Clean Air Act. It delivered a gift to polluters, leaving the federal limit for ozone pollution at its current, inadequate, unsafe level and putting the health of tens of millions of people at risk. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “States And Cities Are Driving Climate And Clean Energy Progress” • A third of the people in the US now live in states or cities that are committed to 100% clean electricity. And the role of states, cities, and communities as climate leaders will continue to be vital even as President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris take the helm. [CleanTechnica]
Installing solar panels (DOE image)
¶ “Vistra Switches On 300-MW California Battery” • The US developer Vistra has grid connected a 300-MW battery storage system in Monterey County, California. The 300-MW, 1200-MWh Moss Landing energy storage facility, which is co-located with Vistra’s Moss Landing power plant, is the largest of its kind in the world. [reNEWS]
¶ “East Bay Community Energy Aims For 100% Clean Energy By 2030” • East Bay Community Energy committed to providing nearly 1.7 million local customers with 100% renewable energy in the next decade, 15 years ahead of California’s target date. EBCE is one of the largest US electricity providers to commit to 100% renewables in ten years. [Pleasanton Weekly]
Wind farm (Matthew T Rader, Unsplash)
¶ “US Energy Consumption From Renewables Is Poised To Outpace Coal” • US energy generated from renewables could have outpaced that from coal in 2020, last month’s data from the Energy Information Administration last month shows. And US coal carloads dropped by nearly a quarter last year, according to Association of American Railroads data. [FreightWaves]
¶ “Florida PSC Approves Duke’s Clean Energy Connection Program” • The Florida Public Service Commission recently approved a stipulated agreement on Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection program. Signatories to the stipulation are the DEF, Vote Solar, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Walmart, Inc. [Transmission & Distribution World]
Solar panels (Angie Warren, Unsplash)
¶ “Clearway Energy Group Begins Construction On 345-MW Texas Wind Farm” • Clearway Energy Group started construction on Mesquite Sky, a 345-MW wind farm in Callahan County, Texas. Clearway also closed $427 million in construction debt financing, for which Mizuho Bank, Ltd acted as the coordinating lead arranger. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
¶ “Mississippi Plant Raises Concerns About Nuclear Power” • Chronic downtime at the Grand Gulf plant in Mississippi, which is the largest single-unit nuclear power station in the US, is raising questions about the electric industry’s argument that aging reactors provide critical reliability and help decarbonize the grid. [E&E News]
Have a restoratively relaxing day.
geoharvey 