Opinion:
¶ “Great Video Explains Solar-Powered EVs” • A recent video at YouTube not only explains the math behind solar-powered EVs, but also gave plenty of nuance on the subject. More importantly, it’s made to be accessible for people who don’t follow EVs the way that many of our readers do. The video assesses how useful solar-powered EVs are. [CleanTechnica]
Aptera (Aptera image)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Artificial Whale Poop Could Save The Planet – Here’s How” • We’ve known that whale feces is good for marine life for more than a decade. In 2010, German whale scientist Victor Smetacek discovered that whale poop is like agricultural dung, a fertilizer. Whale poop is turns out to be a vital part of a natural system that supports life of many types. [DW] Thanks to Tad Montgomery.
World:
¶ “Will Russia Use Its Gas To ‘Blackmail’ Europe? We’re About To Find Out” • In the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow has continued to ship natural gas to Europe. That may be about to change. President Vladimir Putin demanded that “unfriendly” countries start paying for natural gas with rubles rather than US dollars or euros. [CNN]
Pipeline (Mike Benna, Unsplash)
¶ “Climate Change: Wind And Solar Reach Milestone As Demand Surges” • Wind and solar generated 10% of global electricity for the first time in 2021, an analysis shows. Fifty countries get more than a tenth of their electric power from wind and solar sources, according to the “Global Electricity Review” released by Ember, a climate and energy think tank. [BBC]
¶ “Oil Conglomerates Made Record Profits In 2021” • Surging gas prices hurt working people just as 25 of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies reaped a total of $205 billion in profits in 2021. It’s no coincidence that the big profits came after shareholders pressured fossil fuel corporations to restrict supply in order to drive prices higher. [CleanTechnica]
Natural gas flare (Image retrieved from NASA, public domain)
¶ “Australian State Utility Picks Tesla Batteries To Back Up Renewable Energy” • Queensland’s CS Energy, a state-owned utility, has picked Tesla Inc’s Megapack batteries for a A$150 million ($113 million) energy storage project with capacities of 100-MW and 200-MWh to back up wind and solar power, the government of Queensland said. [Reuters]
¶ “Renewable-Energy Transition ‘Only True Path To Energy Security’” • The renewable energy transition “is the only true path to energy security,” UN secretary-general António Guterres asserted, adding that the current energy crisis, precipitated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, underlined the need to accelerate rather than slow the transition. [Engineering News]
António Guterres (CC-BY-4.0, © European Union 2021, Source: EP)
¶ “Climate Goals Need ‘Radical Action’” • An IRENA report said investments of $5.7 trillion in renewable energy are needed each year globally to 2030. The world must take “radical action” to move from fossil fuels and keep global warming from passing dangerous thresholds, the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency said. [AP News]
¶ “Head Of UN’s Nuclear Watchdog Arrives In Ukraine” • The Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, arrived in war-torn Ukraine to meet with government officials and discuss ways to ensure the security of the country’s nuclear facilities. The visit’s aim is to provide safety support guidance for Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. [Energy Live News]
Rafael Mariano Grossi (Rafael Mariano Grossi via Twitter)
US:
¶ “Some Americans Are Going To Mexico For Cheaper Gas” • As gasoline prices across the US continue to rise, American drivers are looking for cheaper ways to fill their tanks. And some of them are even are seeking deals in another country. There are drivers in southern California who head across the US-Mexico border in search of savings. [BBC]
¶ “As Drought Pushes East, More Intense Wildfires Are Sparking In New Areas” • This year is already a dreadful year for wildfires. More than 14,781 separate wildfires have scorched over half a million acres so far, the largest number of fires year-to-date the National Interagency Fire Center has recorded in a decade. And they are popping up farther to the east. [CNN]
Fire-fighting airplane (Filippos Sdralias, Unsplash)
¶ “Washington Could Ban Internal Combustion Cars By 2030” • Washington Governor Jay Inslee has signed the Move Ahead Washington program, reducing emissions in the transportation sector in that state. The program bans private passenger vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel internal combustion engines starting with model year 2030. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “New Study Of The Permian Basin – US Oil-Drilling Hotspot Is Kicking Out Far More Methane Than We Thought” • A new study of the Permian Basin in New Mexico, one of the largest and fastest-growing oil production sites in the US, shows it leaked the greenhouse gas methane at double the expected rate from 2018 through 2020. [CleanTechnica]
Permian Basin landscape (Fortguy, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Stanford Now Runs On 100% Renewable Energy” • Stanford University now runs on 100% renewable energy, with its second solar generating plant running, the university announced online. Stanford’s Solar Generating Station #2, a 63-MW PV plant, began commercial operation in mid-March. It the final component of the Stanford Energy System Innovations. [Patch]
¶ “NRC Didn’t Properly Inspect Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Equipment Ahead of Leak, Report Finds” • The US NRC didn’t properly inspect equipment at Diablo Canyon, just three months before a leak in its cooling system shut down the nuclear power plant, according to a report released by the US Office of the Inspector General. [Noozhawk.com]
Have an indisputably dandy day.
geoharvey 
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