Opinion:
¶ “Why Putin Is Hell-Bent On Capturing Ukraine’s Nuclear Reactors” • “Turning off the power nationwide, as [Russian force] have done on a smaller scale in Mariupol, in the middle of winter creates mass hardship and suffering for the Ukrainian people, and that is apparently a weapon Putin feels free to utilize,” one expert on warfare said. [Yahoo]
Khmelnitskiy nuclear plant (RLuts, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Will Russia’s War Spur Europe To Move On Green Energy?” • “Switching from Russia gas is possible, but make no mistake, it’s going to be expensive, especially if companies want to terminate their existing long-term contracts,” says Jonathan Stern, of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. And some countries are entirely dependent on Russia for gas. [Yale E360]
Science and Technology:
¶ “It’s A New Dawn For Concentrating Solar Power” • When concentrating solar power first emerged on the renewable energy field just a few years ago, critics were quick to go on the attack. Nevertheless, fans of the technology forged ahead. Now all that hard work is about to pay off, and the EV battery supply chain could be a beneficiary. [CleanTechnica]
Concentrating solar power (Image courtesy of Heliogen)
¶ “NHTSA: Self-Driving Vehicles No Longer Need Human Controls” • The US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has issued final rules that eliminate the need for automated vehicle manufacturers to equip fully autonomous vehicles with manual driving controls to meet crash standards, Reuters reports. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Electrifying Trains, Planes, And Dirty Big Mining Trucks” • Twiggy Forrest has all the big boy toys, and he is planning to electrify them all and run them on green hydrogen and gravity. He plans to use Williams Advanced Engineering’s battery tech in a push to electrify Fortescue’s mining equipment – trains, planes, and dirty big mining trucks. [CleanTechnica]
Electric aircraft (Image: Airbus and Fortescue Future Industries)
¶ “Indian Data Center Operator Sify Signs PPAs For 231 MW Of Solar And Wind” • Reportedly, Sify and Vibrant Energy Holdings signed power purchase agreements. They cover a total of 231 MW, including 67 MW signed in March last year. Vibrant Energy is owned by Blue Leaf Energy Asia, part of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Aker And Mainstream Confirm Japanese Offshore Wind Acquisition” • Aker Offshore Wind and Mainstream Renewable Power have closed a transaction to acquire a 50% stake in a Progression Energy 800-MW floating offshore wind farm in Japan. Japan aims to expand offshore wind energy capacity to 10 GW by 2030 and 30 to 45GW by 2040. [reNews]
Floatgen floating offshore wind turbine (Lo83, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Sun Cable’s Giant Northern Territory Solar Project Gets $210 Million Funding Boost” • The $30 billion plan to build a giant solar farm in northern Australia to power Darwin, Indonesia, and Singapore has moved a step closer to reality with billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest contributing to a $210 million capital raising. [The Guardian]
¶ “Adani Group Gets Two More Major Projects In Sri Lanka” • Highways Minister and Chairman of the cabinet subcommittee to expedite renewable energy projects Johnston Fernando said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued instructions to arrange for 5000 MW of renewable energy sources and add them to the national grid within next six years. [NewsWire]
Sri Lanka (Hendrik Cornelissen, Unsplash)
¶ “$130 Trillion Investor Coalition Commits To End Support For Corporates That Block Climate Action” • Unveiled on 14 March, the ‘Global Standard on Responsible Climate Lobbying’ has been developed by investor networks that collectively represent more than 3,800 members with more than $130 trillion (£866 billion) of assets under management. [Edie]
¶ “The Boreal Forest Is On The Move. Here’s What That Means For Our Climate” • Canada’s boreal forest isn’t exactly where you were taught it was. As the planet warms, areas farther north are becoming hospitable to coniferous trees. But the trees on the southern edge are dying out because conditions there are now too hot and dry for them to survive. [CTV News]
Boreal forest (Milk-Tea, Unsplash)
US:
¶ “An ‘Excruciating Year’: Climate Activists Reset With Biden’s Agenda On Life Support” • President Joe Biden “was supposed to show up with Build Back Better in his back pocket and slam it down on the table and say, ‘China, India, how do you like them apples?'” Bill McKibben said. “But he showed up with nothing. And had nothing really to say.” [CNN]
¶ “Stellantis CEO Certain Company Can Catch Tesla” • Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told the world, “I am very confident – I am trying not to be arrogant, just confident – of the fact that we are going to catch up in the next couple of years with Tesla and it’s going to be a very healthy competition.” The company plans to double its revenues by 2030. [CleanTechnica]
Chrysler Airflow Concept (Chrysler image)
¶ “Ford, GM, And PG&E To Begin Vehicle-To-Grid Trials” • Pacific Gas & Electric, the principle supplier of electricity in northern California, announced it will begin working with Ford and General Motors to test how vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home systems could benefit consumers and the utility company in the future, ArsTechnica reports. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Should You Pay The Trade Association Dues For Utility Companies?” • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is engaged in an inquiry about whether it should change its accounting rules to prevent electric and gas utilities from recovering expenses related to contributions for political and lobbying from their customers. [CleanTechnica]
Have a fabulously contended day.
geoharvey 