Science and Technology:
¶ “This Might Just Look Like Grass, But It Has The Power To Absorb A Load Of Our Carbon Emissions” • Forests, peatlands, deserts, and tundra can all absorb and hold stocks of CO₂. Of all the carbon held in land-based ecosystems, around 34% can be found in grasslands, data from the World Resources Institute show. That’s close to the 39% held in forests. [CNN]
Grassland (Jonathan Farber, Unsplash)
¶ “The Regenerative Revolution In Food” • Through carbon farming, a new generation of farmers seeks to capture emissions instead of creating them. The challenge has been to make this form of regenerative farming financially viable, paying farmland owners to rejuvenate degraded soils by turning their fields into vast CO₂ sponges. [BBC]
¶ “How Tweaking Flight Plans Can Help The Climate” • Aviation produces 2.4% of climate emissions, but that is only part of its effects. Contrails may account for 57% of the climate impact of aviation by trapping heat. One scientist said changing the altitude of fewer than 2% of flights could reduce contrail-linked climate change by a staggering 59%. [BBC]
Contrails (William Hook, Unsplash)
¶ “Compass Minerals Found A Way To Convert Sustainable Lithium Brine To Battery-Grade Lithium Hydroxide” • Compass Minerals announced the success of the conversion testing of its sustainable lithium brine resource into both lithium carbonate and battery-grade lithium hydroxide. The testing was performed by a third party, Veolia Energy. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Green Hydrogen Key To Hitting Climate Target” • Keeping global warming close to a 1.5°C climate target requires green hydrogen investment, according to Statkraft’s latest annual Low Emissions Scenario. Stopping global warming at 1.5°C will require a “substantial increase in both political ambitions and pace of global action.” [reNews]
Wind turbines (Statkraft image)
World:
¶ “XPeng Sales Grow 199% Year Over Year” • The big news from XPeng is that it delivered 10,412 of its “smart electric vehicles” to customers, and that’s over 10,000 for the first time. Interestingly, XPeng’s September 2021 sales were 199% above XPeng’s sales for September 2020, and XPeng’s Q3 2021 sales were 199% above its Q3 2020 sales. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Climate Change Will Bring Global Tension, US Intelligence Report Says” • Climate change will lead to growing international tensions, the US intelligence community has warned in a bleak assessment. The first ever National Intelligence Estimate on Climate Change looks at the impact of climate on national security through to 2040. [BBC]
Storm in Accra, Ghana (Etornam Ahiator, Unsplash)
¶ “Record Levels Of Renewable Energy Drive Down Electricity Prices Across Australia” • Record levels of renewable energy drove down electricity prices across Australia in the September quarter, with prices zero or lower a sixth of the time, AEMO said in a report. Solar, wind, and hydro power supplied a record 31.7% of the electricity. [The Guardian]
¶ “There Are More Electric Cars Than Gas Cars On The Road In Oslo” • Norway, like other countries, still has enormous numbers of older cars on its roads that are powered by gasoline and diesel engines. The numbers show that cars with plugs are taking over nearly all of the new car market, and now the transition to EVs is filtering down to the street level. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla deliveries in Norway (Norsk elbilforening video screenshot)
¶ “UK Net Zero Strategy Puts Nuclear As A Low Priority” • The UK has published its net zero strategy, setting out how it will reach net zero emissions by 2050. It has plans to secure 440,000 well-paid jobs in green industries and unlock £90 billion in private investment. But it does not say much about nuclear power. [Nuclear Engineering International]
¶ “Renewable Energy Jobs Reach 12 Million Globally, Forecast To Reach 25 Million By 2030” • The number of people working in the renewable energy sector worldwide grew to 12 million last year, up from 11.5 million in 2019 despite Covid-19, according to a report. The report also projects growth to 25 million jobs in the sector by 2030. [PV Magazine]
Installing solar panels (IRENA image)
US:
¶ “Climate Crisis Is An ‘Emerging Threat’ To Financial Stability, US Regulators Say” • The Financial Stability Oversight Council released a report on climate change outlining the danger that a warming planet will have on the financial future of the US. The FSOC director said climate change is an “emerging threat to the financial stability of the United States.” [CNN]
¶ “Tesla Switching To LFP Batteries For Standard Range Model 3 And Model Y Cars” • Tesla started using LFP batteries in Model 3s made in China last year. Tesla will use lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO₄) chemistry for all standard range cars globally from this point forward. It is also using LFP battery cells in its grid-scale energy storage products. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla Model 3 after facelift, China (Jengtingchen, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Merchants Fleet Pivots To Help Fleet Managers Electrify Their Fleets” • Merchants Fleet, a fleet management company based in Hooksett, New Hampshire, is transitioning to EVs. CEO Brendan Keegan made it clear that the time for planning a transition to EVs is now, as the cost of operating an EV fleet close to parity with combustion vehicles. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Hanover Joins Newly-Formed Community Power Coalition Of New Hampshire” • Hanover joined the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire. The coalition, which includes twelve other municipalities and Cheshire County, aims to help member governments pool their resources to transition to more renewable forms of electricity. [The Dartmouth]
Have an unassailably exquisite day.
geoharvey 