Opinion:
¶ “Faster, Cleaner, Greener: What Lies Ahead For The World’s Railways” • Faster, cleaner, greener and packed with advanced technology, rail is the only transport mode currently well placed to provide the backbone of our future mobility needs. Ridership may be down due to the pandemic, but rail transportation may be headed to a new golden age. [CNN]
High speed train in Japan (tansaisuketti, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Will Rising Lithium Prices Put An End To Trend Toward LFP Battery Cells For EVs?” • With high lithium prices, lithium-iron-phosphate may not take the leading role that some predicted, but it will still have its place. All EV batteries use lithium, so the price rise affects all chemistries, and LFP is just getting hit a bit harder than the others. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Offshore Wind Could Help Save Australia From High Gas and Coal Prices” • Australians will bear yet another blow to their cost of living in July when electricity prices will surge up to 18%. The increase is due largely to global tensions and their effects on the prices of coal, oil, and gas. Investing in offshore windpower could help with that problem. [The Maritime Executive]
Proposed Star of the South wind farm (Star of the South)
¶ “Atoms And Ashes By Serhii Plokhy Review – Why Another Nuclear Disaster Is Almost Inevitable” • Atoms and Ashes: From Bikini Atoll to Fukushima by Serhii Plokhy is a grim account of the downhill slide of atomic power since its heyday in the 1950s. The book illustrates why it nuclear power can never be the solution to global warming. [The Guardian]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Cars Could Get A ‘Flashy’ Upgrade” • The average SUV has up to 350 kg (771 lb) of plastic. It could sit in a landfill for centuries but for a new recycling process. Rice University chemists and researchers at the Ford Motor Company are turning plastic parts from “end-of-life” vehicles into graphene via the university’s flash Joule heating process. [CleanTechnica]
Ford F-150 Lightning (Image courtesy of Ford)
¶ “UCI Researchers: Autonomous Vehicles Can Be Tricked Into Dangerous Driving Behavior” • Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have identified a possible risk for driverless vehicles. They can be tricked into an abrupt halt or other undesired driving behavior by the placement of an ordinary object on the side of the road. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Stellantis Wins First And Second In Europe – Plugin Vehicle Sales Report” • The overall European car market was down 21% last month for the second lowest April in 30 years. Plugin hybrids were down 14% from last year, though battery EVs grew 15%. Two cars from Stellantis, the Fiat 500e and Peugeot e-208, took first and second place. [CleanTechnica]
Fiat 500e Cabrio (Alexander Migl, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Six Million Homes Could Face Winter Power Cuts Due To Energy Shortages – Report” • UK Ministers have been warned of potential power cuts to as many as six million households this winter, according to reports. The potential arises from worse-case modelling, which is reported for a scenario in which Russia cuts off all supplies to the EU. [Sky News]
¶ “Rejecting Gas, Kosovo Eyes US Funds For Renewable Energy” • Having struck a verbal agreement in mid-May, Kosovo is expected to put pen to paper in July for a grant of over $200 million from a US foreign aid agency to increase the country’s renewable energy capacities and bring more women into the energy sector. [Balkan Insight]
Prishtina, Kosovo (Besart Ademi, Unsplash)
¶ “Mozambique’s EDM Invests $40 Million Into Windpower And Solar Plans” • EDM, Mozambique’s publicly-owned electricity company, will invest $40 million into windpower and solar plants through the Renewable Energy Auction Program. EDM’s goal is to add 600 MW of capacity by 2030, of which 200 MW would be renewables. [ESI Africa]
US:
¶ “‘In The Crosshairs’: Department Of Navy Releases Climate Change Strategy” • The Department of the Navy released its strategy on how to deal with climate change and proceed toward the government’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Navy Secretary said the issue is “existential” for the Navy and Marine Corps. [Navy Times]
USS Arleigh Burke, DDG-51 (US Navy, public domain)
¶ “Mon Power, Potomac Edison Customers Can Start Purchasing Solar Energy Credits” • Customers of Mon Power and Potomac Edison can begin buying solar renewable energy credits as the utility companies move forward with five solar projects in West Virginia. The Public Service Commission has already approved construction of the projects. [WV MetroNews]
¶ “US Military Wants To Demonstrate New Nuclear Power Systems In Space By 2027” • A growing list of US government organizations are working on nuclear power in space. Defense Innovation Unit is now to be added to the list. The unit has awarded two contracts for nuclear power and nuclear propulsion on space craft. [Space.com]
Have a pleasantly uncomplicated day.
geoharvey 