Science and Technology:
¶ “New High Performance Solid-State Battery Swaps Indium For Scandium” • Much-recognized research scientist Linda Nazar of the University of Waterloo in Ontario has been carving her name into the solid-state battery field, and she has just one-upped herself. This time she has got involved a new chemistry for the solid-state battery. [CleanTechnica]
Concept car: 1977 GM Electrovette (photo courtesy of GM)
World:
¶ “Ukraine-Russia Tensions: Oil Surges On Supply Fears” • Oil prices are climbing on fears that the Ukraine-Russia crisis will disrupt supplies across the world. The price of Brent crude rose to a seven-year high of $97.65 (£71.91) a barrel after Russia recognised two rebel-held regions in Ukraine as independent states and ordered troops into them. [BBC]
¶ “Climate Change Report To Sound Warning On Impacts” • The IPCC carries out a large-scale review of the latest research on global warming every six or seven years. A set of three reports about to be issued is their sixth such report. It is expected to be the most worrying assessment yet of how rising temperatures affect every living thing. [BBC]
Endangered red leaf monkey (Jeremy Bezanger, Unsplash)
¶ “Lithium: Good News For The Australian Mining Industry” • In good news for the Australian mining industry, miners produced 55,000 tonnes of lithium in 2021, a 28% increase from the 39,700 tonnes of lithium produced in 2020. This is approximately half of global production. Chile, in the number two spot, produced about a third as much as Australia. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “The Volkswagen E-Up! Returns” • In 2020, Volkswagen stopped accepting new orders for its smallest electric car, the E-Up!, citing an order backlog. But the order backlog was cleared, and in fact, Volkswagen quietly sold 30,800 copies of the e-Up! in Germany last year, making it the second best-selling electric car in the country. [CleanTechnica]
E-Up! (Courtesy of Volkswagen)
¶ “Worley, ABB, IBM To Deliver ‘Scalable Power-To-Gas’” • ABB, IBM, and Worley signed an MOU to work together on helping energy companies build and run green hydrogen facilities. The planned three-party collaboration aims to develop an integrated system that facility owners can build quickly, cheaply, and safely, and operate efficiently. [reNews]
¶ “Uniper Forges German Green Steel Partnership” • Uniper has entered into an agreement to supply German steel producer Salzgitter, one of Europe’s largest steel producers, with green hydrogen to produce low carbon steel. The first project is a planned import terminal capable of converting green ammonia back into hydrogen. [reNews]
Uniper facility (Uniper image)
¶ “Queensland Government Gears Up For Shift To Renewables And Decentralized Power With Microgrid R&D Hub” • The Queensland Labor government is ramping up the state’s shift to a decentralised and renewable powered electricity network with the help of a new $6 million Microgrid and Isolated Systems Test (MIST) facility in Cairns. [Renew Economy]
¶ “China And Russia Cannot Be Trusted On UK Nuclear Projects, Parliament Told” • China and Russia cannot be trusted with commercial contracts and should be barred from future UK nuclear power projects, a Labour former environment minister said. Lord Rooker warned against the countries’ involvement in building plants as they were unreliable. [GB News]
Guangdong nuclear plant (IAEA Imagebank, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
US:
¶ “Biden Administration Freezes New Oil And Gas Drilling Leases After Court Rules Against Key Climate Tool” • Earlier this month, a District Judge ruled that the Biden administration may not use the “social cost of carbon” in decisions around oil and gas drilling on public land. Now the administration has put a pause on new leases and permits for drilling. [CNN]
¶ “Renewable Energy: Zero Blackouts, Millions Of New Jobs: Mark Z Jacobson” • Mark Z Jacobson and his team recently published an updated study building on prior research to show switching to 100% renewable energy would virtually eliminate the electrical grid blackouts that have plagued many areas of the country in recent years. [CleanTechnica]
Solar array (US DOE image)
¶ “Ford And Volvo Join Redwood Materials Battery Recycling Program In California” • Along with Ford and Volvo, Redwood Materials is launching an EV battery recycling program. Ford is also an investor in the company. Redwood Materials will work with dealers and dismantlers in California to recover end-of-life battery packs in hybrid and EVs. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Obscure Electric Truck Maker Named ‘Mack’ Emerges From Stealth Mode” • A number of high profile EV startups have been grabbing for a piece of the electric truck market, but it looks like a name not known for electric mobility could have the drop on them. That would be Mack Truck, the iconic brand name with the familiar bulldog mascot. [CleanTechnica]
Class 8 Mack LR Electric truck (Courtesy of Mack Truck)
¶ “Texas Supreme Court Tells Exxon To Go Pound Sand” • In a brazen attempt by Exxon to stop lawsuits against it filed by eight California cities and counties, it argued that the suits violated Texas’ sovereignty and that it had every right to hide the truth about its products because its “free speech” was protected. Texas’s Supreme Court was not impressed. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Despite Regulator’s Ruling, GlobalFoundries To Move Ahead With Power Plan” • Semiconductor maker GlobalFoundries said it plans to press on with plans to create its own electric utility, despite a ruling from regulators that the company would not be exempt from state renewable energy rules. Its clean energy goals already exceed the state’s requirements. [Seven Days]
Have a fabulously useful day.
geoharvey 