Opinion:
¶ “Biden Offshore Wind Plan: Who Supports Ambition For Offshore Wind?” • The Biden administration’s bold, broad plan for offshore wind has attracted a lot of attention – and boatloads of support. Offshore wind is something that wind companies, labor unions, environmental and community groups, academics, and others agree on. [CleanTechnica]
Wind turbines (Gritte, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Satellites Planned To Monitor Methane Super-Emitters” • Under the umbrella of the newly formed group Carbon Mapper, two satellites are on track to launch in 2023. The satellites will target pollution, including methane emissions from oil and gas and agriculture operations that account for disproportionate amounts of pollution. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Brazil ‘Needs $10 Billion To Reach Zero Emissions’ Says Minister” • Ahead of US President Joe Biden’s climate summit, Brazil’s environment minister says the country needs $10 billion (£7.2 billion) a year in foreign aid to reach zero emissions by 2050. The move would mean that Brazil could achieve the figure ten years earlier than now planned. [BBC]
Rainforest (Mark, Unsplash)
¶ “Japan Is To Boost Its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target, The Environment Minister Says” • The Japanese government will raise its greenhouse gas reduction target, Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said in an interview. “The use of renewable energy sources is the most important key” to reduce emissions, he added. [The Japan Times]
¶ “The Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV Is Creating An Awesome New Market” • In the middle of last year, General Motors, SAIC, and Wuling partnership released the Hong Guang MINI EV, with a $4,200 starting price. In the second half of 2020, 119,255 MINI EVs were sold in China, second only to the Tesla Model 3, which sold 139,925 units for the year. [CleanTechnica]
Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV (GM image)
¶ “Paris Looks To Citizen Power To Speed Up Energy Transition” • French citizens’ cooperative EnerCit’if aims to install 14 solar power plants in Paris before the end of the year, a project that is being seen as an opportunity to boost citizen participation in the city’s energy transition. The solar plants will be 60% financed by the Paris City Council. [EURACTIV.com]
¶ “Renewables, Declining Costs Fuel The Global Energy Storage Market” • The continual expansion of intermittent renewables and declining technology costs are key factors fueling the global grid battery energy storage market, according to recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan. The market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 23%. [Solar Industry]
Battery supporting the grid (theslowlane, CC BY 2.0)
¶ “Climate Emergency Stymies Forecasts of Local Disaster Risks” • The insurance industry is dedicating a growing portion of its research to the challenge of understanding how global climate trends affect the frequency and intensity of weather disasters as it tries to estimate the smaller-scale impacts that threaten homes, businesses, and lives. [Scientific American]
US:
¶ “Three Hundred Business Leaders Ask Biden Administration To Double Emissions Cuts” • A group of 300 major businesses signed an open letter to President Biden asking him to double the carbon emissions reductions the Obama administration had proposed. If enacted, emissions would be reduced 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels. [CleanTechnica]
Pollution (Image retrieved from NOAA, public domain)
¶ “Apple’s $200 Million Fund Aims To Fight Climate Change And Boost Business” • Apple has announced the Restore Fund, a $200 million investment fund designed to remove a million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and support sustainable forestry – and to generate financial returns for the company. [CNN]
¶ “Massachusetts Backtracks On Renewable Energy Subsidies For Wood-Burning Biomass Plants” • After loud cries of opposition, the Baker administration says it no longer stands behind a plan it proposed last December to change state regulations to allow some wood-burning biomass power plants to qualify for renewable energy subsidies. [WBUR]
Waste wood chips from logging (Annie Ropeik, NHPR)
¶ “Secretary Deb Haaland Establishes Climate Task Force And Strengthens Scientific Integrity” • Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued two Secretarial Orders to prioritize action on climate change throughout the Department and to restore transparency and integrity in the Department’s decision-making processes. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Will Every New Car And Truck In US Be Electric By 2035?” • A report from UC Berkeley, it’s feasible for the US to make the shift to 100% electric car and truck sales by 2035. Doing so would save consumers $2.7 trillion, reduce air pollution, preventing 150,000 premature deaths and avoiding $1.3 trillion in environmental and health costs by 2050.” [CleanTechnica]
Electric car (Ed Harvey, Unsplash)
¶ “Washington Sets Most Aggressive Gas Car Ban Yet” • The Clean Cars 2030 bill just passed both houses of the Washington state legislature. If implemented (there are some catches), the bill would put Washington ahead of all other states and many other countries in terms of how fast they’ll require new light vehicles to be zero-emission. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Illinois May Have To Subsidize More Exelon Reactors To Keep Them Running: Study” • Illinois may have to subsidize more of Exelon’s nuclear plants if it wants to keep them going, according to a study. Illinois hired Synapse Energy Economics, a consulting firm, to conduct the study after Exelon said that it would retire “uneconomic” nuclear reactors. [Reuters]
Have a by-golly glorious day.
geoharvey 