Opinion:
¶ “Make It Modular: Why Wind & Solar Are So Resilient” • In truth, wind and solar power were not the primary cause of the grid failure in Texas – the main culprit was fossil gas plants that went offline. In fact, wind and solar are intrinsically more reliable than fossil power, but not in the way that you might think. It’s based in modularity. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)
¶ “Decade After Fukushima, Nuclear Plants Still ‘In Crisis’” • A decade after a tsunami that triggered the nuclear crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Center, nuclear power is still a controversial source of energy despite its providing some 10% of the world’s energy production. When that disaster happened, the industry was already in crisis. [Daily Sabah]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Behold: From Humble Energy Efficient Electric Motor To Climate Hero” • The US startup Turntide has big plans for launching its energy efficient electric motor into the ranks of climate-fighting action heroes. Legacy electric motors, basically unchanged since the 19th century, waste half of their energy. Turntide has overcome that. [CleanTechnica]
Turntide motor (Courtesy of Turntide Technologies)
World:
¶ “Fighting Climate Change Is Now A Job For The Bank Of England” • Central banks are usually tasked with promoting economic growth and employment while keeping inflation in check. Now, add fighting the climate crisis to the list. Now the Bank of England has been given a new mandate to support having a net zero economy by 2050. [CNN]
¶ “Japan Urged To ‘Move Quickly’ On Clean Energy Transition” • Innovation and market reform are needed to drive Japan’s clean energy transition, a policy review by the International Energy Agency says. Japan will need to “move quickly to make headway [on its] ambition of reaching carbon-neutrality by 2050”, the review states. [reNEWS]
Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA (IEA image)
¶ “Offshore Wind Hails Gamechanger UK Budget” • Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget has been described by Renewable UK as a gamechanger for offshore wind manufacturing in the country.
R-UK chief executive Hugh McNea said, “This is a big-bang moment for offshore wind manufacturing in the UK which will drive investment …” [reNEWS]
¶ “TenneT Inks HKN Grid Connection Agreement” • TenneT and Shell-Eneco joint venture CrossWinds have signed an agreement for the construction of the offshore grid connection for the 759 -MW Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm. The agreement formalises the connection of the offshore wind farm to the Dutch electricity grid. [reNEWS]
Offshore substation (TenneT image)
¶ “Karnataka’s Renewable Energy Policy For 2021-2026 Aims At Adding 2 GW Of Rooftop Solar” • Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited issued the “Draft Karnataka Renewable Energy Policy 2021-2026,” which is aimed at developing 20 GW of renewable energy projects with and without energy storage. Of this, 2 GW will be rooftop systems. [Mercom India]
US:
¶ “Ford Mustang Mach-E Gets Nearly 4,000 Sales In First Full Month! 70% Conquest Sales!” • Ford reported February sales (it’s one of the few automakers that still reports monthly US sales), and the headline news is that the Mustang Mach-E had nearly 4,000 sales in its first full month on the market. And 70% of the buyers switched from other brands. [CleanTechnica]
Ford Mustang Mach-E (Image courtesy of Ford)
¶ “Biden’s Energy Secretary Vows To ‘Leave No Worker Behind’ In The Clean Energy Revolution” • Fossil fuel workers will not be left behind in the Biden administration’s push to embrace clean energy. That’s the promise from new Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, addressing workers worried that their livelihoods will be disrupted. [CNN]
¶ “Two Louisiana Clean Fuels Members Join Electric Highway Coalition” • Entergy and Southwestern Electric Power Company joined the Electric Highway Coalition. Southern Company, Duke Energy, Dominion Energy, and the Tennessee Valley Authority were already in it. The coalition aims to create seamless electric vehicle charging across its area. [CleanTechnica]
Electric Highway Coalition area (Image courtesy of Entergy)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
¶ “Morgan Stanley: The Oil Industry Is About To Become Worthless” • We are starting to see the transformation under way. In a survey of institutional investors, Morgan Stanley found that 17% of respondents think internal combustion engine technology has zero or negative value today, and 60% said its value was only slightly positive. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “The US Installed More Wind Turbine Capacity In 2020 Than In Any Other Year” • According to data published by the Energy Information Administration, 2020 was a record year for wind turbine capacity additions in the US, at 14.2 GW. The previous record was 13.2 GW in 2012. The total wind turbine capacity in the US is now 118 GW. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm (Romero Souza, Unsplash)
¶ “Visa’s NoVA Data Center To Run On Renewable Energy” • Visa has entered a multi-year energy agreement with MP2 Energy LLC to power the company’s data center in Northern Virginia with 100% renewable energy. The data center is Visa’s largest and accounts for more than one-third of the company’s global electricity usage. [Patch.com]
¶ “New Orleans City Council Joins $1 Billion Complaint Against Entergy Over Mismanagement Of Grand Gulf Nuclear Station” • The New Orleans City Council joined two other utility regulators in a complaint against Entergy Corp over its management of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Mississippi. They say frequent outages cost them $1 billion. [The Lens]
Have a remarkably advantageous day.
geoharvey 
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