Opinion:
¶ “Unpacking The ‘Electric Cars Aren’t As Green As You Think’ Claims” • After Volvo published a report that said building an EV had emissions nearly 70% higher than building its gas-powered equivalent, anti-EV people used the data to make extraordinary claims about EVs not being green. But the whole picture is more important than any one of its parts. [CleanTechnica]
Electric car charging (Kindel Media, Pexels)
¶ “Renewable Energy Could Cool European Tensions With Russia” • Germany could consider cooperating with Russia in renewable energy to defuse the tension between Moscow and the West over Ukraine, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, said. He was speaking with Der Spiegel magazine in an interview. [Oil Price]
¶ “Is Nuclear Power The Best Solution To Climate Change?” • In a debate in the House of Commons on 19 January, a group of MPs known as the “atomic kittens” suggested that nuclear energy could be a panacea for all ills – including a solution for the climate crisis and the gas crunch. The facts, however, suggest that this is not true. [New Statesman]
Nuclear power plant (Kelly L, Pexels)
Science and Technology:
¶ “$200 Million Says Solid-State Batteries Will Soon Crack Gasmobile Death Grip” • Leading automakers are getting into solid-state batteries. The new technology promises longer range in a lighter, slimmer package than the current EV batteries. To skeptics, that may be just hot air, but $200 million in funding for Factorial Energy says otherwise. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “The Value Of Wind Energy” • Two teams of researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory showed that wind energy offers logistical, economic, and environmental value to utilities and consumers from the coast of Oregon, where the focus was on offshore windpower, to remote villages in Alaska, where the team looked at distributed energy. [CleanTechnica]
Offshore wind turbines (Grahame Jenkins, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Virtual Power Plants: Some Assembly Required” • Marketing research groups are predicting that distribution energy resources will grow to somewhere around 400 GWs by 2025. That figure may seem staggering, but there are projections that the global virtual power plant market will reach about $1.5 billion or more by 2026. [T&D World]
¶ “Reliance Buys Sodium-Ion Battery Tech Company” • Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has purchased a sodium-ion battery developer, Faradion Limited. Reliance is the largest private sector company in India, and it focuses primarily on fossil fuels. Its purchase of Faradion shows its interest in battery development. [CleanTechnica]
One type of sodium-ion battery (Tang-Yeon Hwang,
Seung-Taek Myung, Yang-Kook Sun, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Support for Energy Storage Is Needed To Prevent The Next Energy Crisis” • While the current energy crisis in Europe is yet to end, despite minor fluctuations, the prices for natural gas still show no sign of any dramatic drop back to the levels of 2020. Some EU lawmakers accuse Russia of ‘weaponizing’ natural gas supplies. [The German Marshall Fund of the United States]
¶ “Ørsted Signs MOUs To Develop Offshore Wind Farm In South Korea” • Danish energy company Ørsted signed memoranda of understanding with Korea Southern Power and Korea Midland Power to develop the Incheon offshore wind project in South Korea. The offshore wind facility will have a capacity of 1.6-GW, enough for 1.3 million households. [Power Technology]
Wind turbine (Waldemar Brandt, Unsplash)
¶ “Austria, Luxembourg Eye Legal Steps In EU Nuclear Energy Row” • The EU remains deeply divided over the so-called taxonomy plans, which aim to direct investment toward sustainable energy sources. On Friday, Austria and Luxembourg signaled that they are ready to take the dispute over nuclear energy to court. [DW]
¶ “Massive UK Battery Factory Receives $2.3 Billion In Funding” • UK-based battery manufacturing start-up Britishvolt has announced $2.3 billion (£1.7 billion) of funding for a proposed battery “gigafactory.” Britishvolt plans to produce 30 GWh of battery capacity per year from its 93-hectare site in Blyth, Northumberland. [Power Technology]
Rendering of UK battery factory (Britishvolt image)
US:
¶ “House Committee Schedules Second Hearing On Oil And Gas Industry’s Role In Climate Disinformation” • The oil and gas industry was issued a second round of appearance requests from the House Oversight Committee as it investigates its role in the spread of climate disinformation. BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell board members were asked to testify. [CNN]
¶ “Natural Gas Becomes Important Battleground In Transition From Fossil Fuels ” • Last year saw natural gas bans as cities lead the way in phasing out gas from homes and buildings. Ithaca, NY became the first city to go further and lay out an ambitious policy to transition all buildings to electric by 2030. But some states are pushing back. [CleanTechnica]
Ithaca, NY (Will Barkoff, Unsplash)
¶ “Lockdown Drove Pollution Changes Between – Even Within – Cities” • Researchers from Washington University in St Louis developed a method using satellite measurements to determine levels of NO₂ on an unprecedented scale. This enables taking measurements in areas without ground monitoring. NO₂ is a key contributor to smog. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute Launches, With Solar” • The American Wind Wildlife Institute is now the Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute. It is a unique organization that brings together key stakeholders committed to expanding the scale and role of renewable energy in our power supply, while addressing wildlife and habitat issues. [CleanTechnica]
Have a prolifically beautiful day.
geoharvey 
Leave a Reply