Opinion:
¶ “Unpacking People’s Attitudes Toward Solar Power” • People in the US are increasingly concerned about the climate crisis, and eliminating fossil fuels from the global energy portfolio must take place. While the vast majority of the public supports the development of large-scale community-based solar installations, not everyone agrees. [CleanTechnica]
Mojave Desert concentrating solar system (US DOE)
¶ “Take It From Climate Scientists: ‘Don’t Look Up’ Is Damning – But Not Nearly Damning Enough” • I come from a team of climate scientists, analysts, and advocates. For us, “Don’t Look Up” was both like pulling teeth to watch and air-punchingly validating. It is a flawed movie about things we hate seeing, and then the world ENDS. [Common Dreams]
¶ “Maine Needs Policy Reforms, Truth In Advertising To Hasten Transition Off Fossil Fuels” • Maine is becoming a hub for clean energy, but its marketing remains muddy. Fossil fuel companies have spent billions of dollars lying to the American public about global warming, causing irreparable harm. So it should be no wonder that people are confused. [PenBay Pilot]
Solar array (Photo courtesy of ReVision Energy)
¶ “Why Is Support For Nuclear Power Noisiest Just As Its Failures Become Most Clear?” • During COP26, Nuclear Needs Net Zero laid on a pro-nuclear flash mob in central Glasgow, complete with young dancers wearing ‘we need to talk about nuclear’ T-shirts. They got media attention. But nuclear power costs three times as much as renewables. [openDemocracy]
Science and Technology:
¶ “New Study Shows Protecting Ecosystems Takes Priority Over Planting Trees For Carbon Storage” • Planting trees is a necessity to help remove carbon from the atmosphere. However, it’s not enough. Yes, there has been a lot of awareness around planting trees. However, a study has found that protecting ecosystems should be the first priority. [CleanTechnica]
View in the Cascades (Sergei A, Unsplash)
¶ “This Battery May Solve Renewables’ Energy Storage Problem” • Flow batteries are types of liquid batteries that potentially could provide large-scale, long-term energy storage. But, so far, the materials to make them have been too rare and too expensive. Researchers have found an alternative. It is a material that looks a lot like molasses. [Freethink]
¶ “The Metals Company Finishes Its Deep-Sea Research Campaign” • The Metals Company is focused on sourcing the critical metals and minerals needed for producing batteries for electric vehicles but in a unique way. TMC collects nodules that are just lying on the seafloor “like golf balls on a driving range and can be collected directly.” [CleanTechnica]
Remotely operated vehicle (TMC via Business Wire)
World:
¶ “Germany’s Plugin EV Share At Record 36% In December” • In Germany, Europe’s largest auto market and the 5th largest in the world, the plugin EV share hit a record of 35.7% in December, up from 26.6% year-on-year. Full battery electrics took 21.3% of the market. Overall auto sales were down to 227,630 units, the lowest December result in decades. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Northern Territory Of Australia Takes Baby Steps Into The Electric Future” • The Northern Territory, home of the iconic monolith Uluru, is not a state but a vast and sparsely populated territory. Up till now, there have been only 61 EVs registered in the Northern Territory (a penetration rate of 0.03%), but that is about to change. [CleanTechnica]
Uluru (Ondrej Machart, Unsplash)
¶ “Jordan Among Leading Arab Countries In Renewable Energy Transition” • Jordan is among leading Arab countries in the energy transition, which can be seen in the Kingdom’s use of renewable energy to meet more than 20% of its power needs, Secretary General of the Arab Renewable Energy Commission Mohammad Taani said. [menafn]
¶ “Global Sentiment On CO₂ Emissions Makes Energy PSUs Bet Big On Renewables” • Leading Indian energy companies like BPCL, ONGC, and NTPC are revising targets in a big renewable energy push to be future-ready to avoid stranded assets. The government is confident of having 450 GW of renewable energy installed by 2030. [Business Today]
Wind farm in Western Ghats (Rajavel vanaraj, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “EU: Nuclear Energy Will Require ‘€20 Billion Per Year’ Until 2050” • The EU commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, said the bloc will need to invest €500 billion ($586 billion) in new nuclear energy facilities by 2050, €20 billion each year, according to an interview recently published by the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche. [DW]
US:
¶ “Ford To Greedy Dealers: No F-150 Lightnings For You!” • Lately, we have seen a lot of stories about car dealers tacking on outrageous “market adjustments” over the price on the window sticker for cars that are in high demand, for example adding $5,000 to $10,000 to the price of a Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. Ford is acting on that. [CleanTechnica]
Ford F-150 Lightning (Image courtesy of Ford)
¶ “‘Mystery’ US Energy Storage Company Breaks Through Veil Of Silence” • The energy storage firm FlexGen has barely been noticed by the media, but apparently things have been quite busy over there. Recently, the North Carolina company has hooked up with its home state’s electric cooperatives in a new venture that adds 40 MW of punch. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Why Connexus Energy Won’t Raise Electric Rates For A Fifth Year” • At a time when big Minnesota utilities are raising retail electric rates, electricity provider Connexus Energy told its nearly 140,000 institutional and residential customers that it has frozen rates for a fifth year. A large part of the cost saving is from solar power and batteries. [Star Tribune]
Have an indubitably fruitful day.
geoharvey 