Opinion:
¶ “We Are Losing The Earth’s Diversity Of Life Due To Economics” • We are plundering every corner of the world, apparently neither knowing or caring what the consequences might be to the diversity of life. Putting things right will take collaborative action by every nation on earth, a study from the UK government says. [CleanTechnica]
Wetlands (Steve Adams, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “VW And Quantumscape Bring Solid State Batteries Closer To Reality” • Solid state batteries would give great benefits but have so far been frustrated by the inability to develop a separator that can keep the battery from failing prematurely. Quantumscape claims that it has come up with a better separator that has been proven to work. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “GM Wants Your Next Electric Vehicle Battery To Be The Best One Ever” • GM is pushing battery development hard. It has put 150,000 miles of testing into a new lithium-metal version of the Ultium architecture, and a joint R&D agreement with the cutting edge EV battery firm SES (formerly SolidEnergy Systems) will carry the project to fruition. [CleanTechnica]
Battery (Steve Fecht for General Motors, cropped)
¶ “Sea-Level Rise Drives Wastewater Leakage To Coastal Waters” • A study by University of Hawaii at Mānoa earth scientists is the first to provide direct evidence that tidally-driven groundwater inundation of wastewater infrastructure is occurring today in urban Honolulu. It is creating negative impacts to coastal water quality and ecological health. [EurekAlert]
¶ “Lidar May Be Harmful To People And Cameras” • A story at Truckinginfo.com questions the safety of lidar systems used by some vehicles (though not Tesla). Some types of lidar could potentially cause damage to human eyes, while other types could be hurting cameras that are used for safe operation of vehicles and traffic equipment. [CleanTechnica]
Lidar imagery from NOAA
World:
¶ “Total Adding Ultrafast EV Chargers To 300 Stations In France” • France has a reputation of being a place where finding fast EV charging stations is difficult. The Oil & Gas giant Total, which has gas stations in place across Europe, is planning to add ultrafast EV chargers at 300 stations across France. The plan is to have all of them installed by the end of 2022. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Minesto Finds Partner For Tidal Project Development” • Swedish marine energy developer Minesto is partnering with Schneider Electric to develop tidal energy projects based on the former’s Deep Green technology. The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to develop and build projects. [reNEWS]
Minesto tidal kite (Minesto image)
¶ “How The Oil Industry Is Shifting To Offshore Wind” • After keeping close oil industry ties for over a half-century, Crowley Maritime Corp is now looking to the next frontier in energy: renewable power sources like offshore wind. It is one of many oil industry suppliers looking to clean energy after economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. [E&E News]
¶ “Eni And CDP Equity To Develop Renewable Energy Assets In Italy” • Italian oil company Eni and CDP Equity have established a joint venture to develop 1 GW of renewables in the country by 2025. The GreenIT joint venture will develop, construct, and manage renewable power plants in the country, with investments totaling $953 million. [Power Technology]
Solar panels (Photo by Jaidee, from Pixabay)
¶ “Lightsource bp Solar Farm Powers bp Service Stations With 100% Renewable Energy In Australia” • Lightsource bp has announced that through a PPA with Snowy Hydro, its 107-MW West Wyalong solar farm will supply renewable energy to 88 of bp’s service stations across New South Wales. The PPA will enable construction of the solar farm. [WebWire]
¶ “Five Of Japan’s Ex-PMs Call For Country To End Nuclear Power Use On Fukushima 10th Anniversary” • On March 11, the 10th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture, five former Japanese prime ministers issued declarations that Japan should break with nuclear power generation. [The Mainichi]
Evacuees, 2011 (Steven L Herman, VOA, public domain)
US:
¶ “Pipeline Firms Are Abandoning Oil And Gas Lines, Leaving Landowners To Deal With The Mess” • There are few rules governing abandoned pipelines, which can collapse, explode, or leak dangerous chemicals. It’s a problem that is increasingly common as renewables outcompete fossil fuels and pipelines age out of service. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Organizations Sue Over Kern County Plan To Fast-Track Oil And Gas Drilling” • Environmental organizations are suing Kern County, California over an ordinance that could clear the way for 40,000 new oil and gas wells in the next 15 years. The county has tried to fast-track drilling before; a 2015 ordinance was struck down by a state appeals court. [CleanTechnica]
Kern County, California (Brian Wangenheim, Unsplash)
¶ “The Mid-Barataria Sediment Division – Saving Southeastern Louisiana’s Wetlands” • Louisiana has been losing its wetlands due to erosion, climate change, and other factors for 80 years now, but there is one project that could help not only save our wetlands but build new ones. That project is the Mid-Barataria Sediment Division. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “City Of Boston Completes $11 Million Investment In Energy Efficiency And Renewable Energy Upgrades Across Fourteen City Buildings” • Mayor Martin J Walsh announced completion of the first phase of Renew Boston Trust, the City of Boston’s initiative to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy measures for municipal buildings. [Patch.com]
Have an overwhelmingly positive day.
geoharvey 