Opinion:
¶ “Fossil Gas No Longer Needed As Bridge To Clean Energy Future” • As of late 2021, utilities and investors are anticipating investing more than $50 billion in new gas power plants over the next decade. But we no longer need gas plants to tide us over until renewables are ready or affordable. Renewables are here, and often cheaper than gas. [CleanTechnica]
Wind turbines in a wheat field (Serge Le Strat, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Lithium Batteries’ Big Unanswered Question” • While use of lithium batteries may sound like the ideal path to sustainable power and road travel, there’s one big problem. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are those typically used in EVs and the megabatteries used to store energy from renewables, and lithium batteries are hard to recycle. [BBC]
¶ “Another Sign Things Are Getting Weird: Lightning Around The North Pole Increased Dramatically In 2021” • A network of sensors detected stunning weather change in the far northern Arctic. Lightning increased significantly in the region around the North Pole. Scientists say this is a clear sign of how the climate crisis is altering global weather. [CNN]
Lightning (Felix Mittermeier, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Exxon Refinery In Norway Closes Down” • An ExxonMobil refinery in Norway closed down in June 2021 due to the country’s stricter regulatory measures, Kaieteur News reported. It was not really reported in our press at the time, but it is worth knowing. Exxon was already considering closing the plant in 2020 because of economic challenges. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Volvo FH Electric Heavy Duty Truck Exceeds Expectations On Test Run” • Volvo Trucks expects to begin series production of its FH Electric heavy duty truck later this year. The company sent journalist Jan Burgdorf on a test drive recently. It followed the Green Truck Route, a 343-kilometer journey through the hills of southeastern Germany. [CleanTechnica]
Volvo Trucks FH Electric (Image courtesy of Volvo Trucks)
¶ “World Investment In Renewables ‘To Rise 25% In 2022’: SEB” • Investment bank SEB sees one benefit of the global gas shortage, as investors are spending over $400 billion this year on power generation from clean renewables. That will be a 25% rise on last year, the Stockholm-headquartered bank forecasts in its latest report on sustainable finance. [The Energyst]
¶ “Belgian Offshore Wind Fleet Delivers Production Record” • Belgium’s offshore wind fleet notched a new production record in 2021. The country’s 399 turbines, with a shave under 2.3 GW of capacity, exported almost 6.8 TWh of electricity, up from 6.7 TWh in 2020. This 2021 total corresponds to 8% of the total electricity demand in Belgium. [reNews]
Offshore wind turbine installation (DEME Offshore image)
¶ “Green Party: Government Lobbying On Nuclear Energy” • In Hungary, the opposition LMP party is calling on the government and MEPs to reject the European Commission’s draft taxonomy system in connection with the future use of natural gas and nuclear energy, Erzsébet Schmuck, the co-leader of the party, said on Wednesday. [Daily News Hungary]
US:
¶ “US Becomes World’s Top Exporter Of Liquified Natural Gas” • The US is now the world’s leading exporter of liquified natural gas, as the European energy crisis and shortages in China send demand for American shipments soaring. In December, LNG exports from the US topped 7 million tonnes (7.7 million tons), edging out Qatar and Australia. [CNN]
LNG tanker (Image placed into the public domain)
¶ “Separate Climate Bill Not Being Seriously Considered In Senate, Despite Manchin’s Support Of The Measures” • Senate climate hawks got more optimistic this week as West Virginia Sen Joe Manchin endorsed the climate change and clean energy portions of the Build Back Better package. But hope of dealing with those portions separately is slim. [CNN]
¶ “Airflow Concept Offers A Glimpse Of Chrysler’s Electric Future” • The Chrysler Airflow of the 1930s was the first US car with improved aerodynamics. This week at CES 2022, Chrysler dusted off the Airflow name and applied it to an electric SUV concept, amidst much ballyhoo saying the company intends to build only battery-EVs come 2028. [CleanTechnica]
Chrysler Airflow Concept (Chrysler image)
¶ “MassDEP Files New Regulations To Advance Clean Truck Market In Massachusetts” • The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection announced emergency regulations have been filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office to adopt immediately California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “NY Plans $500 Million Offshore Wind Supply Chain Spend” • New York Governor Kathy Hochul has pledged to spend $500 million to develop the state’s offshore wind supply chain and offshore grid. The $500 million will leverage private capital to deliver more than $2 billion in economic activity while creating more than 2000 jobs, said Hochul. [reNews]
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (Screengrab image)
¶ “Idaho Power’s Long-range Plan Focuses On Reliable, Affordable, Clean Energy” • Idaho Power’s latest long-term energy plan accelerates the company’s move away from coal-fired energy while looking to transmission, renewable energy, battery storage, and energy efficiency to providw customers reliable, affordable electricity. [T&D World]
¶ “Vesper Inks 57-MW Texas Virtual PPA” • US developer Vesper Energy entered into a 57-MW virtual power purchase agreement with marine market supplier Brunswick Corporation. The VPPA will offset a majority of expected electricity needs of Brunswick’s global operations. The electricity will come from the 500-MW Hornet solar farm in Texas. [reNews]
Have a plainly spectacular day.
geoharvey 
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