Opinion:
¶ “Big Oil Profits Should Support The Green Transition In Europe” • Europe’s current energy crisis has led to a 54% increase in petrol, gas and electricity prices for its households compared to 2020 levels. BP had a profit of $12.8 billion, Shell’s profits were $19.3 billion, and Total Energies’ were $16 billion. Can Europe act to level the playing field? [CleanTechnica]
Shell charging hub (Shell image)
World:
¶ “Ukraine Sanctions: UK Dockers Refuse Tanker Of Russian Gas” • Dockers in Kent have refused to unload two tankers of Russian gas, forcing them to go elsewhere, a union has said. Unison head of energy Matt Lay said staff were “determined to support the Ukrainian people and uphold the sanctions imposed against Russia.” [BBC]
¶ “Turn Down The Heat To Stop Putin? Europe Wrestles With Its Russian Gas Addiction” • You may not think much about where the energy that heats your home comes from, let alone where the money you pay for it goes. For many Europeans, there’s a good chance that money is flowing to the Russian state – much of it into Putin’s war chest. [CNN]
Russian tank (Kevin Schmid, Unsplash)
¶ “Tesla Model Y Orders Now Available For ‘Other Europe,’ Giga Berlin Gets Approved” • Tesla Giga Berlin has its environmental approval, according to a press release and news conference. And Tesla fans and customers are reporting that the Model Y can be ordered for some parts of “Other Europe,” including Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Honda And Sony Will Build Electric Cars Together” • Honda and Sony signed a memorandum of understanding to form a new company to manufacture electric cars together, The Verge reports. The first cars are to go on sale in 2025, which is pretty quick, given that new car design and production typically takes five to seven years. [CleanTechnica]
Sony test car
¶ “China To Boost Coal Output, Reserves To Ensure Power Supply – NDRC” • China will boost the production of more modern coal mines and enhance coal reserve capacity, and aims to increase the government-deployable storage to 5% of local consumption, the country’s National Development and Reform Commission said. [Reuters]
¶ “Sweden Plugin EV Share 52% In February, Kia Niro Leads” • Sweden’s plugin EV share hit 51.6% in February 2022, up from 34.8% year on year. Full electrics took 25.6% share, dramatic growth from 6.1% year on year. Overall auto market volumes were down 7% from the last two years. The Kia Niro was Sweden’s best selling EV in February. [CleanTechnica]
Kia Niro EV (Hyundai Motor Group, Unsplash)
¶ “Russian Attacks Spur Debate About Nuclear Power As Climate Fix” • Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine after heavy fighting sparked a huge blaze. Russia’s action should spur companies and policymakers to be more careful in plans to build reactors to fight climate change, nuclear safety experts said. [CNBC Tv18]
¶ “Himachal Aspires To Be Country’s First ‘Green State’” • With an aim to become the first green state in India, Himachal chief minister, Jai Ram Thakur, announced in his budget presentation that his government will make efforts to ensure that 100% of its energy requirement is met through renewable energy, with a goal of 50% by 2030. [Hindustan Times]
Himachal Pradesh landscape (Satyadeep Karnati, Unsplash)
¶ “Security Council Debates Russian Strike On Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant” • Heavy fighting at a nuclear power in Ukraine is unacceptable and “highly irresponsible,” the UN’s senior political affairs official told the Security Council during an emergency meeting. She said that radiation levels are normal and the plant’s cooling system was not affected. [UN News]
US:
¶ “Lake Powell Is About To Drop Below A Critical Level Never Reached Before, As Drought Rages On” • Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest reservoir, is projected to dip past a critical threshold, threatening water supplies and putting a key source of hydropower generation at heightened risk of being forced offline, as the drought continues. [CNN]
Lake Powell dam (Luca Bravo, Unsplash)
¶ “Light-Duty Plug-In EV Sales In The US Nearly Doubled From 2020 To 2021” • Sales of new light-duty plug-in EVs, including all-electric EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs, nearly doubled from 308,000 in 2020 to 608,000 in 2021. Such rapid growth in EVs is remarkable, as overall light-duty vehicle sales increased by only 3% during the same period. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Small City Sets Example For Floating Solar, Empowered By NREL Data Set” • Two city employees of Cohoes, New York, were brainstorming how to power the city’s municipal buildings with renewable energy. Few options made sense as the city didn’t have a lot of cash or land. Then one of them thought of floating solar on the city reservoir. [CleanTechnica]
Cohoes municipal reservoir (Image from Google Earth)
¶ “Latest Climate Report Describes Devastating Impacts In Store For Southwestern US” • Climate change is causing widespread and irreversible impacts to nature and humanity far faster than scientists had anticipated, and the Southwestern US will be hit especially hard, according to a major new scientific report that the IPCC released this week. [Nevada Current]
¶ “Meijer Makes Headway Toward Sustainability Goals With New Solar Power Project” • Meijer, Inc, based in Grand Rapids, signed a renewable energy PPA with Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions for a solar project to help the retailer reach a goal it had already established, which is to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 50% by 2025. [Winsight Grocery Business]
Have a conspicuously peachy day.
geoharvey 
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