Opinion:
¶ “Massive 100+ Vehicle Accident Shows The Need For Self-Driving Cars” • NBC Chicago reported crashes involving over 100 vehicles along I-94 in Jackson County, Wisconsin. While some people fear automated vehicles, the NHTSA says that 94% of serious crashes are due to human error, and automated vehicles could prevent them. [CleanTechnica]
Pileup (Wisconsin State Patrol)
¶ “US Still Doesn’t Know How And Where It Will Store Its Growing Pile Of Nuclear Waste” • A year-and-a-half after a scathing GAO report revealed that the US DOE has no coherent plan to manage nuclear waste from weapons manufacturing piling up at more than 150 sites across the country there has been little progress. [Earth Island Institute]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Volkswagen Plans To Offer Plug And Charge Technology And V2G In 2022” • There is more to the EV revolution than building and selling electric cars. Charging infrastructure to meet the needs of all those EV drivers is important too. In a press release this week, Volkswagen outlined some of the advances it plans to offer customers in 2022. [CleanTechnica]
Charging a Volkswagen EV (Volkswagen image)
World:
¶ “Climate Change: Small Army Of Volunteers Keeping Deniers Off Wikipedia” • Wikipedia has for so long been plagued by climate change denial. But a group of dedicated volunteers around the world is working tirelessly to keep the deniers at bay. In addition to human editors, the organisation also uses computer bots to fight vandalism. [BBC]
¶ “Power Wells For Remote Villages In Indonesia” • Substation33 is the training arm for YFF, an NGO. To address the reliance of people in isolated villages on kerosene and difficulty finding electricity to power cell phones, they developed the Power Well, a solar cell and a battery built into a bucket. Now they are installing Power Wells in Indonesia. [CleanTechnica]
Traditional house in Sumba (monica renata, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “QFleet Transitioning To New Energy Vehicles” • Under the Queensland Department of Energy and Public Works, QFleet manages the procurement and maintenance of state vehicles. Now, QFleet is eager to go electric. The QFleet EV Transition Strategy commits QFleet to doubling the number of EVs in its fleet annually for four years. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “New Zealand Gets Its First Big Battery” • On a freezing cold night in New Zealand, fossil fuel generators couldn’t crank up fast enough and the grid failed. The event inspired a move towards big batteries. Meridian will build the first of these on the southern part of the northern island to support both north and south island grids. [CleanTechnica]
Future battery site (Follash, released to the public domain)
¶ “19% Plugin Vehicle Share In Chinese Auto Market!” • Plugin vehicles are all the rage in China. They scored a record 413,000 registrations in November, an increase of 106% year over year. The importance of the Chinese market can be seen in the fact that China, by itself, represented over half of global plugin registrations in November! [CleanTechnica]
US:
¶ “A Look At Argonne’s Biggest Breakthroughs In 2021” • It was a big year for discoveries at the Argonne National Laboratory. From improving solar cells and brain imaging to combating Covid-19 and developing better nuclear reactor models, Argonne researchers accelerate science and technology to ensure our prosperity and security. [CleanTechnica]
Argonne National Laboratory (John Hill for ANL, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Tesla Halts Passenger Gaming In Moving Cars” • After Tesla started letting passengers play a few games on its infotainment system while the car was in motion, the NHTSA opened up a formal safety investigation. Now, the Associated Press reports that Tesla halted the access to these games on the screens while the car is in motion. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Scout Acquires 112-MW Missouri Solar” • Scout Clean Energy has acquired the 112-MW Stockton Lake solar farm in southwest Missouri from Azimuth Renewables for an undisclosed price. Azimuth will continue as an active partner, and Scout will procure equipment, construct, and operate the solar project once the project is operational in 2025. [reNews]
Solar panels (Asia Chang, Unsplash)
¶ “Renewables Became Second-Most Prevalent Electricity Source In 2020 – Analysis” • In 2020, renewable energy sources (wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy) generated a record 834 billion kWh of electricity, or about 21% of all the electricity generated in the US. Only natural gas, at 1,617 billion kWh, produced more. [Eurasia Review]
¶ “Vestas Confirms 301-MW Oklahoma Order” • Vestas has confirmed a 301-MW turbine order from TransAlta Corporation for the White Rock East and West wind farms in Oklahoma. The contract is for 34 turbines at White Rock East and 17 at White Rock West. The two projects’ commissioning is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023. [reNews]
Wind turbine (Vestas image)
¶ “Microgrid-Powered Facility In Wisconsin Produces Renewable Natural Gas For California” • A newly commissioned plant in Wisconsin is turning organic waste from more than 4,000 dairy cows into renewable natural gas and injecting it into a natural gas pipeline for use as a transportation fuel in California. An EnTech microgrid is powering the plant. [Microgrid Knowledge]
¶ “Roaring Brook Wind Farm Increases New York’s Onshore Wind Power To 2,200 MW” • The 79.7-MW Roaring Brook Wind farm is operational in the North Country. It is the latest large-scale wind facility to enter commercial operation in New York and pushes the state’s installed land-based wind power to nearly 2,200 MW. [North American Windpower]
Have a perfectly harmonious day.
geoharvey 