Opinion:
¶ “What If States Turn Pavement Into Charging Stations?” • We are at a “What if?” moment with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. What if states use the funds to build new traffic-clogged highways? Or what if they take a share of those funds and invest it in ways that will reduce our dependence on oil and help deliver a cleaner future? [CleanTechnica]
EVgo charging station (EVgo image)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Can Gravity Batteries Solve Our Energy Storage Problems?” • For energy storage, there are some placing their bets not on chemistry, but the limitless force that surrounds us all: gravity. And there are lots of ways to store energy by gravity, including pumped storage, moving weights up and down mine shafts, and with tanks of water in big buildings. [BBC]
World:
¶ “Sri Lanka Down To Last Day Of Petrol, New Prime Minister Says” • Sri Lanka’s new prime minister says the country is down to its last day of petrol as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years. In a televised address, He said the nation urgently needs $75 million of foreign currency in the next few days to pay for essential imports. [BBC]
Bread van in Colombo (Psubhashish, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Will Swapping Out Electric Car Batteries Catch On?” • Chinese electric carmaker Nio is a new player in the EV scene in Norway, and it has a new approach to batteries. The customer buys the car and leases a battery, but instead the battery being charged, it gets completely swapped out for a new one every time it gets low. The swap takes only five minutes. [BBC]
¶ “Carbonfuture Partners With Bioenergie For 17,500 Tonnes Of Carbon Removal” • Switzerland’s Bioenergie is joining forces with Carbonfuture (the carbon removal platform) for a 17,500 tonne carbon removal delivery. The plant will take residual biomass in the form of wood and convert it into biochar through pyrolysis. [CleanTechnica]
Carbonfuture biochar (Carbonfuture image)
¶ “Altris Commits To Sodium-Ion Battery Factory In Sweden” • The cost of lithium has increased by 700% since the beginning of this year, so sodium-ion batteries are attractive. Altris, a Swedish company deeply involved in sodium-ion batteries, will build its first commercial facility at the Sandvik Materials Technology site in Sandviken, Sweden. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “African Renewable Energy To Power UK Homes With New Subsea Cable” • Octopus Energy Group and Xlinks will partner to build a subsea cable to deliver 3.6 GW of renewable energy from Morocco to the UK. Once complete, the project will be capable of supplying 8% of Great Britain’s electricity needs at £48/MWh ($59/MWh). [ESI Africa]
Morocco-UK subsea cable (Courtesy of Xlinks)
¶ “Enel Unveils Plans To Decarbonise Grid Networks” • In a meeting with industry stakeholders in Rome, Enel detailed how it intends to collaborate more generally with the industry on standards for network components that meet the criteria of efficiency, safety, quality, and sustainability, in compliance with the requirements of net zero emissions. [reNews]
¶ “How Drax Plans To Build A Massive Power Station Inside A Scottish Mountain, Creating 900 Jobs” • Bosses at Drax said plans have been submitted to expand their existing Cruachan Power Station to increase the total amount of energy the site can produce to 1.04 GW. The enlarged hydro plant will be used for pumped storage. [Yorkshire Post]
Cruachan hydro plant (Drax image)
¶ “KKR Boosts Renewable Power Presence With $2.2 Billion Deal For ContourGlobal” • US firm KKR agreed to buy London-listed power company ContourGlobal for £1.75 billion ($2.16 billion) in an effort to expand its presence in renewable energy. Under the deal, KKR will pay a 36% premium to the company’s closing price on Monday. [US News Money]
¶ “Lightsource BP To Build Aquaculture PV Plant In Taiwan” • Lightsource BP is working with Green Rock Energy on the co-development of a 150-MW project co-locating solar with aquaculture in Taiwan. The Budai project will be one of the largest fishery solar farms in Taiwan. Construction is expected to commence in June 2023. [reNews]
Floating solar power (SolarWriter, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Germany To Reject EU Green Investment Label For Nuclear Power” • Germany will oppose EU plans to include nuclear energy as a sustainable investment in its taxonomy for labelling green investments, the government said. The German position is that Nuclear energy is not sustainable and should therefore not be part of the taxonomy. [News Today]
US:
¶ “Spiral Welding Can Bring Taller Wind Turbines To The US Southeast” • The Southeast’s low wind speeds are holding back wind energy in the region. The problem could be resolved by taller wind turbines to harvest more optimal wind speeds higher off the ground. Taller turbines can be made at the site by special welding technology. [CleanTechnica]
Building taller turbines (Courtesy of Keystone Tower Systems) Please click on the image to enlarge it.
¶ “Tesla Semi Order Books Are Open” • The Tesla Semi has had a 4-year gestation period, but customers can now place orders for the trucks. Until now, companies could reserve them but could not actually order one. The truck will have four electric motors powering the rear wheels and will be available with a range of either 300 or 500 miles. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “GM Teams Up With Red Hat For Linux Vehicle Operating System” • GM announced that it is working with a well-known Linux company, Red Hat, to work on vehicle operating systems. This could be a big deal. It means that the operating system at the core of GM’s vehicles will be based on Linux, the same OS that runs most of the internet. [CleanTechnica]
Have a sensationally pleasant day.
geoharvey 
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