World:
¶ “Volkswagen Is Finally Launching The ID Buzz!” • Without a doubt, an electric version of the iconic VW hippie bus was bound to attract interest. And it did, as Volkswagen dragged it out, over and over again. Now, it appears that Volkswagen will actually launch the ID. Buzz on March 9. So implies a tweet from Herbert Diess, the CEO of Volkswagen Group. [CleanTechnica]
Volkswagen ID Buzz concept electric van (Volkswagen image)
¶ “Sweden’s Plugin EV Share Breaks New Records” • Sweden saw a record high 60.7% plugin electric vehicle share in December, up from 49.4% share year-on-year. Full battery EVs took the largest share, with 36.4%. The combined share of internal combustion vehicles was 32.3%. The overall auto market saw the lowest result for December in recent years. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Tesla Model 3 Was 2nd Best Selling Car (Of Any Kind) In UK In 2021” • In December 2021, 36,041 new plug-in vehicles were registered (27,705 battery EVs) in the UK, reflecting a 33% increase from December of 2020. Notably, the Tesla Model 3 became the second best selling vehicle, regardless of powertrain, in the UK for the year 2021. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla Model 3 (Image courtesy Tesla)
¶ “RWE And Northland Power Partner To Develop Offshore Wind Cluster ” • UK-based RWE Renewables, and Northland Power, based in Canada, formed a joint venture through which they plan to co-develop a 1.3-GW cluster of offshore wind farms in the German North Sea. It will feature three facilities that are to come online by 2028. [Power Technology]
¶ “Shell Turning London Petrol Station Into EV Hub” • Shell is continuing its transition into cleantech. In late 2019, Shell announced that it was going to transform a petrol station into a 100% EV charging station hub in Fulham, West London. Now, Shell has a webpage up indicating that it is getting ready to open this initial EV charging hub. [CleanTechnica]
Shell EV hub (Image courtesy of Shell)
¶ “BPCL To Build 10 GW Clean Energy Capacity By 2040 At ₹25,000 Crore Investment” • An Indian state-owned oil and gas company, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, plans to build 10 GW of clean energy capacity by 2040, at a cost of ₹25,000 crore ($3.36 billion), Mint reported. The first 1 GW will include 800 MW of solar power. [CNBC TV18]
¶ “Renewable Energy Output Of 4.8 GW Again Surpasses National Goal” • Korea’s total renewable energy output in 2021 was 4.8 GW, surpassing the national goal by 0.2 GW, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The year 2021 was the fourth consecutive year when the national renewable energy output surpassed annual goals. [The Korea Times]
(‘output’ may be a mistranslation of ‘capacity’ here)
Korean floating solar (Courtesy of the Ministry of Environment)
¶ “At Least Five Irish MEPs To Oppose Contentious ‘Green’ Label For Gas And Nuclear Power” • At least five Irish Members of the European Parliament plan to oppose a contentious EU proposal that would label nuclear power and natural gas as green energy sources. They are not alone. Austria has threatened to sue the Commission if it goes ahead. [TheJournal.ie]
¶ “EDF’s Scottish Nuclear Power Station Hunterston B To Close” • Electricite de France SA’s nuclear power station Hunterston B in Scotland is closing after operating for almost 46 years. EDF said reactors at the station will undergo a statutory outage to make sure they are ready for defueling, which is then expected to take around three years. [MarketWatch]
Hunterston Nuclear Power Station (Scotia, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
US:
¶ “Panasonic Will Begin Using Recycled Battery Components From Redwood Materials This Year” • According to TechCrunch, the first recycled material from batteries to be used to make new batteries will be copper foil. Panasonic will begin using copper foil from Redwood Materials to make new lithium-ion batteries later this year. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Chevrolet Previews Electric Equinox And Blazer At CES 2022” • At CES 2022, General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced the coming of two Chevrolet EVs in addition to the Chevy Silverado EV, which took a lot of attention. They were an Equinox EV and a Blazer EV. The Blazer will be produced first, with the Equinox arriving later in the year. [CleanTechnica]
Chevy Equinox EV (Image courtesy of Chevrolet)
¶ “Power Your Maryland Home With Clean Energy – In Just Two Minutes” • One of the most impactful actions you can take to help fight climate change is also one of the easiest: powering your home with 100% clean, renewable energy. In Maryland, you can switch your electricity supplier to CleanChoice Energy, and get 100% renewable electricity. [Baltimore Magazine]
¶ “Pattern Unleashes 1-GW Onshore In New Mexico” • Pattern Energy has completed construction and begun commercial operation of its 1050-MW Western Spirit wind complex in New Mexico. Western Spirit is comprised of four wind farms, which together have a total of 377 GE turbines installed, ranging from 2.3 MW to 2.8 MW in size. [reNews]
Western Spirit wind farm (Pattern Energy image)
¶ “Evergy To Build Solar Array At Kansas City Coal Power Plant Site” • Evergy, a Kansas City, Missouri–headquartered energy provider serving about 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, announced plans to build a 10-MW solar array at the company’s Hawthorn power plant. The coal unit is still operating and gas units are being built. [Power Magazine]
¶ “NRC Denies License To Oklo’s Nuclear Reactor Project At INL” • The NRC denied a license to Oklo Inc, a California-based company, seeking to develop the first commercial reactor to generate power while reducing nuclear waste. The microreactor, known as the Oklo Aurora, is designed to run on recovered material from used nuclear fuel. [Post Register]
Have a conspicuously happy day.
geoharvey 