Opinion:
¶ “A Victory In The Fight To Save Our Coast, But The War Isn’t Won” • Louisiana coastal advocates have been celebrating release of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental impact study on the state’s proposed Myrtle Grove river sediment diversion. It is to cost $50 billion. But it won’t be $50 billion, because climate change will just keep going on. [NOLA.com]
Louisiana bayou (Mathieu Cheze, Unsplash)
https://unsplash.com/photos/qfsKYUgW6ZY
¶ “US Should Pledge To Cut Heat-Trapping Emissions At Least 50% Below 2005 Levels By 2030” • An appropriately ambitious US nationally determined contribution for the Paris Agreement should include a commitment to cut its heat-trapping emissions at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. Such a target is feasible, and it is responsible. [CleanTechnica]
Science and Technology:
¶ “The Wonder Material We All Need But Is Running Out” • Rubber is of such global importance that it is included on the EU’s list of critical raw materials. Unfortunately, there are signs the world might be running out of natural rubber. Disease, climate change and plunging global prices have put the world’s rubber supplies into jeopardy. [BBC]
Rubber trees in Thailand (Earng.oi, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
World:
¶ “Solar And Wind In South Africa Contributed More Than Nuclear For First Time Ever In 2020” • South Africa’s coal power plants provided 184.4 TWh (83.5%) of the country’s electricity in 2020. Nuclear energy contributed 11.5 TWh (5.2%), and for the first time ever, variable renewable energy surpassed nuclear, contributing 12.4 TWh (5.6%). [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Sri Lanka Can Produce Its Entire Requirement Of Power Through Renewable Sources” • There is a major shift in Sri Lanka to renewable energy, wind power and solar power, from fossil fuel. With that shift there is a strong possibility of bringing the present high prices of electricity to one third of what they currently are. [The Sunday Times Sri Lanka]
Wind turbines (Dimitry Anikin, Unsplash)
¶ “Government Committed To Promote Renewable Energy” • India’s government is committed to promote renewable energy, especially in the micro, small, and medium enterprises sector, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said. He also is confident that within five years, India will be a top manufacturing hub for cars in the world, especially EVs. [Millennium Post]
¶ “In Canary Islands, Renewable Energy Depends As Much On People As On Wind” • El Hierro is the southernmost island in the Canaries. The Red Cross and Gorona del Viento, the island’s hydroelectric plant, ran a six-month joint program about energy conservation. It led to lower fossil fuels use and it changed the people’s views. [Christian Science Monitor]
Canary Islands seascape (Cristian Palmer, Unsplash)
¶ “UK Pension Fund Nest To Invest £250 Million In Renewable Power” • Nest Corp, the UK’s biggest pension fund by members, will invest £250 million (US $348 million) in renewable energy in a partnership with Octopus Renewables. Nest’s managers seek to diversify the fund’s holdings and support the transition toward clean energy. [The Business Times]
US:
¶ “Alpha Motor Plans Retro Electric Pickup Truck, Performance Coupe, And More” • Electric vehicle startups are popping up everywhere. One of the latest is Alpha Motor, based in Irvine, California. Like most of the others, it starts with a reconfigurable skateboard that can be used for many vehicle types. It says one of these is a pickup truck. [CleanTechnica]
Alpha Wolf (Courtesy of Alpha Motor)
¶ “Will Tesla Help Prevent Another Energy Disaster In Texas?” • Our neighbors in Texas got hit hard by the recent unexpected Arctic blast. The weather-related disaster was an embarrassing fiasco that simply should not have happened in a technologically advanced country. But now Tesla is boosting its presence in Texas with stationary batteries. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Five Things We Learned From This Week’s Hearings On Texas Power Outages” • Nearly a month after freezing weather knocked power generators offline and plunged millions of Texans into darkness, the state’s lawmakers are starting to get a full picture of the massive damage the outages wrought on the Texas energy market. [The Dallas Morning News]
ERCOT control room (Image courtesy of ERCOT)
¶ “ERCOT Says It Doesn’t Have To Release Power Outage Data” • News outlets and watchdog groups submitted requests to ERCOT for information related to communications relating to the storm that caused millions throughout the state to lose power. But the state’s grid operator says that since it’s a nonprofit, it doesn’t have to hand over the documents. [HPPR]
¶ “Biden Eyes Tougher Approach To Measuring Impact Of Greenhouse Gases” • The Biden administration is expected to give even greater weight to the negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions as it works on developing new “social costs” of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide that will impact government regulations. [The Hill]
Have a justifiably satisfying day.
geoharvey 