World:
¶ “Human-Induced Climate Crisis Is Making Japan’s Cherry Blossoms Bloom Earlier” • Japan’s world-famous cherry trees are flowering much earlier than normal due to human-induced climate change, a study has found. The cherry blossoms have special cultural importance, and the dates of flowering have been recorded for centuries. [CNN]
Cherry blossoms in Tokyo (Alan Godfrey, Unsplash)
¶ “China Needs Russian Coal. Moscow Needs New Customers” • China is buying record amounts of cheap Russian coal, even as Western nations slam Moscow with sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Russia has overtaken Australia as China’s second biggest supplier since last year and now accounts for 19% of its coal imports, up from the 14% share it had in March. [CNN]
¶ “Russia halts gas supplies to Finland” • Russia has halted its gas supply to Finland in the latest escalation of an energy payments row with the West. Russia’s gas giant Gazprom confirmed it had completely halted exports to Finland at 04:00 GMT on May 21. Finland said all the deliveries had stopped, but added that there would be no disruption to customers. [BBC]
Building a gas pipeline in Finland (Jukka Isokoski, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Ukraine says giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant can’t supply Russia” • Russia’s deputy prime minister said Russia would connect a Ukrainian nuclear plant with Russia’s energy system if Kyiv refused to pay for its electricity. Ukraine dismissed the Russian plan to connect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to the Russian electricity grid as “wishful thinking.” [BBC]
¶ “Baltic Sea Floating Offshore Wind Party Just Getting Started, But Mind That Fleet!” • Sweden, as it is getting set to join NATO, is also getting ready to park 4.75 GW worth of floating offshore wind turbines in the Baltic Sea. That same sea happens to be the stomping grounds of the Baltic Fleet of the expanding Russian Navy. What could possibly go wrong? [CleanTechnica]
Russian Missile Cruiser (LPhot Seeley, Royal Navy, OGL v1.0)
¶ “Electric Farms Are Using Solar Power To Grow Profits And Crops” • A farm in Japan is part of a global movement called agrivoltaics. It involves the simultaneous use of farmland for producing crops and generating power, and it is growing as a global push to replace fossil fuels is encouraging innovation for renewable energy. [Yahoo Finance]
¶ “175 GW Renewable Energy Goal Could Have Saved India From Power Shortage” • India could have averted the power crisis in April if progress towards the 175 GW renewable energy goal had been on track, a new analysis by think tank Climate Risk Horizons said. April’s power shortage was due to unavailability of coal supplies. [ummid.com]
Wind farm (Abby Anaday, Unsplash)
¶ “‘Torturous’ Heat Is Breaking Records And Livelihoods In India, And It’s Only Going To Get Worse.” • Millions of laborers in India and Pakistan have had to toil through the hottest spring on record. Scientists fear that the heat and drought conditions will soon regularly afflict billions across the globe and contribute to a looming food crisis. [NBC News]
US:
¶ “Harris And EPA Will Announce Schools Can Apply For $500 Million To Replace Diesel School Buses With Zero-Emissions Buses” • The Biden administration is announcing that school districts around the US can apply for the first round of funding to transition to zero emissions buses. It is $500 million out of $5 billion in the bipartisan infrastructure law. [CNN]
School bus (Denisse Leon, Unsplash)
¶ “Forest Service Officials Are Hitting A Pause On Prescribed Fires After A New Mexico Burn Escaped Containment” • The US Forest Service is pausing prescribed fire operations in all of its lands because of extreme conditions, it announced. The Forest Service will conduct a 90-day review of protocols, practices, and the decision support tools. [CNN]
¶ “Zoox Shows Off Its Battery-Electric Autonomous People Pod” • Amazon has an autonomous robotaxi division, Zoox, which is preparing to bring its battery-electric autonomous people mover to market soon. The Zoox is designed from the ground up to transport people from point A to point B as conveniently as possible. [CleanTechnica]
Zoox robotaxi (Zoox image)
¶ “Li-Cycle’s Battery Recycling Plant In Arizona Now Open” • An Li-Cycle lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Arizona is now open. This is the company’s third operational Spoke facility in North America and it has a capacity to process up to 10,000 tonnes of manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries, the equivalent of 20,000 EVs, annually. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Nez Perce Tribe Eyes Renewable Energy Utility Cooperative” • The Nez Perce Tribe has announced its intention of building a tribe-to-tribe solar and renewable energy utility. They hope to recruit other tribes to install solar arrays plus battery storage with the goal that each tribe be energy independent and create jobs on reservations. [Lewiston Tribune]
Entering Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho (Ken Lund, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Energy Secretary: We Must Find A Solution For Nuclear Waste” • It is critical to find a solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during a visit to a nuclear power plant in Connecticut. Granholm was invited to tour Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford by US Rep Joe Courtney (D). [Texarkana Gazette]
¶ “Entergy Shuts Down The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Ten Days Early” • After more than 50 years in operation, Entergy Corp announced that it had decided to shut down the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township over a week ahead of schedule. Entergy said the nuclear reactor will be removed from service for the last time on May 20. [WMUK]
Have an abundantly rewarding day.
geoharvey 