World:
¶ “France To Ban Domestic Flights Where Trains Are Available, In Move To Cut Emissions” • France is set to ban short domestic flights in favor of train services, after lawmakers approved a plan that will see several air routes discontinued to reduce emissions. The bill has gone to the French Senate. Some other European countries are also banning short flights. [CNN]
ATR landing at Orly Airport (Daniel Eledut, Unsplash)
¶ “Japan Approves Releasing Wastewater Into Ocean” • Japan has approved a plan to release over a million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. The water will be treated and diluted to radiation levels allowed for drinking water. Work to release the water used to cool nuclear fuel will begin in about two years, Tokyo says. [BBC]
¶ “European Wind Investments Hit €43 Billion In 2020” • In 2020, Europe invested €43 billion in new wind farms, the second highest annual amount ever and enough for 20 GW of capacity, according to WindEurope. This is up about 70% on 2019. New investments included €17 billion for 13 GW of onshore capacity, and €26 billion for 7 GW of offshore. [reNEWS]
Wind farm (W Brandt, Unsplash)
¶ “Spain To Subsidize Electric Vehicle Sales With €800 Million To 2023” • To push electric car sales, the Spanish government will spend up to €800 million to 2023, Reuters reports. Private buyers will qualify for subsidies of up to €7,000 per vehicle. Authorities in small towns and companies purchasing fleets to use as taxis could get more. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “WA Mining Company Begins Journey Towards Renewable Power Station With Battery Install” • Western Australian gold miners, Wiluna Mining Corp, has announced it will work towards decarbonising its mining operations with its provider, Contract Power Group, a subsidiary of Pacific Energy. They will start by installing a 2-MW battery. [pv magazine Australia]
Wiluna gold mining operation in WA (Wiluna Mining)
¶ “ORPC Partners On New Marine Energy Turbine Initiative” • US company ORPC and its Irish subsidiary ORPC Ireland are partnering with a European consortium on a new generation of marine renewable energy turbines to increase performance and reliability while reducing manufacturing costs. The project is backed by the European Commission. [reNEWS]
US:
¶ “Army Corps Allows Dakota Access Pipeline To Operate Without Proper Authorization” • The Army Corps of Engineers will allow the Dakota Access pipeline to continue operating while it conducts an environmental review of the project, continuing the posture of the Trump administration. The pipeline was never granted a permanent easement. [CleanTechnica]
Protesting DAPL (Pax Ahimsa Gethen, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Biden Starts Infrastructure Push By Meeting Bipartisan Group Of Lawmakers Who Could Help Shape $2 Trillion Proposal” • President Joe Biden met with some lesser-known but influential lawmakers from both parties in a push to get Congress to back his infrastructure proposal. Those at the meeting have histories of working on infrastructure. [CNN]
¶ “Autonomous Electric Vehicle Olli Now On Roads In Knox County, Tennessee” • Olli is not a free-roaming autonomous vehicle. It can’t go from any odd spot to any other odd spot, even in one region. But it goes from point A to point B autonomously, and when that’s what’s needed many times a day, it can perform a really useful service. [CleanTechnica]
Olli outside the Local Motors Knoxville microfactory
¶ “Mastercard Launches Carbon Calculator In Its Latest Attempt To Go Green” • Mastercard wants consumers to understand how much their spending habits are contributing to carbon emissions and global warming. The credit card company has created a calculator that measures consumers’ carbon footprints based on what they purchase. [CNN]
¶ “Ørsted Completes Sale Of 25% Ocean Wind Stake” • Ørsted has completed the sale of a 25% equity interest in the 1100-MW Ocean Wind offshore wind project off the East Coast to PSEG, following approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The project is moving toward New Jersey’s “groundbreaking investment” in offshore wind power. [reNEWS]
Offshore wind farm (Ørsted image)
¶ “Coca-Cola Amatil Commits To Renewable Energy Intiative” • Coca-Cola Amatil has announced it has joined the global RE100 renewable energy initiative and committed to power its entire operations, in six countries, with 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The company plans for its branches in Australia and New Zealand to lead the way. [FoodProcessing]
¶ “Group Installing Solar On Its NYC Properties” • A New York realty company is providing a model of solar power’s continued growth as it works to complete a project to install solar panels on all the buildings it owns in the borough of Queens. The $6.5 million project has about 3,000 solar panels installed. By the end of the year, that will rise to 6,500. [Power Magazine]
Zara Realty rooftop solar system (Courtesy of Zara Realty)
¶ “Cook Inlet Slated To Have One Of The First Tidal Power Generators In The Country” • Alaska’s Cook Inlet has long been a hotbed of oil and gas development. But the inlet has some of the world’s greatest tides, and Maine’s Ocean Renewable Power Company wants to put them to work. Its turbines will predictably generate power most of the time. [KTOO]
¶ “Former NRC Chair Questions Economic Feasibility Of New Nuclear In US” • Without further aid from Congress and the White House, the prospects for the US nuclear industry will dwindle in the face of cheaper resources that are getting built faster than new nuclear generators, according to a former NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane. [Utility Dive]
Have a neatly organized day.
geoharvey 