Opinion:
¶ “Diablo Canyon Power Plant Won’t Stop Power Outages” • To justify keeping the Diablo Canyon Power Plant open, nuclear power peddlers blame the state’s shift to renewable energy for power outages. It’s a false narrative. Nuclear power failed to prevent the blackout of 2020, and since then 4 GW of renewable energy have been put online. [CalMatters]
Diablo Canyon (“Mike” Michael L Baird, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Science and Technology:
¶ “NREL Analysis Highlights Strategies Beyond Recycling To Bolster Circular Economy For PV And Battery Technologies” • In a comprehensive literature review, researchers at the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory discovered alternatives to recycling with potential to build an effective circular economy for PV and battery technologies. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “India Bans Single-Use Plastic To Combat Pollution” • India imposed a ban on single-use plastics on items ranging from straws to cigarette packets to combat worsening pollution in a land with streets strewn with waste. The government dismissed the demands of food, beverage, and consumer goods companies to hold off the ban to avoid disruptions. [CNN]
Plastic pollution (Dustan Woodhouse, Unsplash)
¶ “‘We Are In Extreme Crisis.’ Italian Parmesan Producers Fear For Future Amid Drought” • This year, an unusually dry winter meant snow melt has been scarce and spring rains were only sporadic. Together, they led to the worst drought in the northern regions of Italy in more than seventy years, a regional agency for the River Po confirmed. [CNN]
¶ “Russia Moves To Take Control Of Sakhalin-2 Oil And Gas Project” • Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to take over the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, as he signed a decree to take charge of it. The move could force Shell and Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi to abandon their investments as the economic fallout of the Ukraine war spreads. [BBC]
LNG tanker (Vladislav Klapin, Unsplash)
¶ “EU Electric Cars Policy Leads Automakers To Question Whether There Will Be Enough Batteries” •The EU has agreed to prohibit the sale of cars with internal combustion engines by 2035. That seems like good news for clean transportation – and for the Earth. But the policy relies 100% on there being enough batteries available. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Rio’s Residents Garden Their Way Out Of Hunger” • Ms Silva puts her green fingers to use in exchange for a monthly stipend of 500 reais ($95, £79) from the city, as well as heaps of fresh food that she can take home at no cost. She is working in an urban garden that will provide food for 50,000 people just as Brazil is facing a food crisis. [BBC]
Urban garden (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)
¶ “Renewable Power Market Booming In Alberta: Experts” • Alberta will see $3.75 billion in investment in renewables by 2023, said the director of Business Renewables Centre Canada. The BRCC is already producing more than enough clean electricity for all the homes in Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer combined. [St. Albert Gazette]
¶ “UK Developer Unveils 400-MW PV Plan In Yorkshire” • Boom Power is working with local landowners and National Grid on a 400-MW solar farm development in East Yorkshire. The East Yorkshire solar farm brings Boom Power’s renewable pipeline, projects either in development or producing electricity now, to more than 2 GW. [reNews]
Solar farm in Yorkshire (Ian S, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
US:
¶ “Single-Use Plastic Waste Is Getting Phased Out In California Under A Sweeping New Law” • To reduce the impacts of plastic pollution, California Gov Gavin Newsom signed into law the country’s most sweeping restrictions on single-use plastics and packaging, the same day the Supreme Court limited the EPA’s ability to tackle the climate crisis. [CNN]
¶ “Biden Caught Between Climate Goals And High Gas Prices As Administration Releases New Drilling Plan” • The Department of the Interior released a proposed plan for where the it intends to hold offshore oil and gas lease sales in federal waters for the next five years. The Biden administration is stuck between conflicting goals on emissions and gas prices. [CNN]
Oil rig (Isaac Newton, CC-BY-SA 2.5)
¶ “Amazon Distribution Center In Wisconsin Plans To Add 760 EV Chargers” • In 2021, Amazon opened a distribution center in the Grandview Business Park near an interstate from Chicago to Milwaukee, about 15 miles north of the Illinois border. Amazon has approval for a plan to install 399 EV chargers at the site within the next 90 days. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “How US Cities Are Preparing For More Life-Threatening Heatwaves” • Heat is the deadliest natural disaster. Researchers estimate that about 5,600 Americans die of heat-related causes each year. Officials in Portland, New York, Miami–Dade, and Phoenix discuss their heat challenges and how they plan to keep residents safe this summer. [CleanTechnica]
Phoenix (Ian Dziuk, Unsplash)
¶ “EPA Retains Tools To Cut Power Sector GHG Emissions Despite Supreme Court Curbing Its Authority: Attorneys” • The Environmental Protection Agency still has pathways for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector following the Supreme Court’s ruling that took away one possible avenue, according to legal experts. [Utility Dive]
¶ “California May Rescue Its Last Nuclear Power Plant – And Give PG&E Millions To Do It” • The California Legislature took the first step toward extending the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, the state’s one remaining nuclear plant, past its scheduled closure. The energy trailer bill allocates a reserve fund of up to $75 million. [The Press Democrat]
Have an impeccably actualized day.
geoharvey 