Opinion:
¶ “The Audacious PR Plot That Seeded Doubt About Climate Change” • Thirty years ago, at a little-known meeting between some of America’s biggest industrial players and a PR genius, a devastatingly successful strategy was forged to create doubt about climate change. It endured for years, and the consequences are all around us. [BBC]
Emissions (Alexander Tsang, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “With Climate Change, Nights Are Warming Faster Than Days. Why?” • Studies show that temperatures have increased more at night than during the day, in general, across the globe. This is due to clouds. With global warming, more water evaporates, and this creates clouds. Clouds tend to cool the days, but they act like a blanket at night. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Vertical Solar Systems Reduce The Need For Electricity Storage” • Solar panels are usually installed facing south at an angle. In a new study, a research team from HTWK Leipzig shows it would make sense in the future to primarily install bifacial solar modules vertically and to use agricultural land for this, for example. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
Vertically installed, bifacial solar modules (Next2Sun GmbH)
World:
¶ “Germany Bails Out Its Biggest Natural Gas Importer” • The German government has stepped in to bail out one of its biggest energy companies, a casualty of Europe’s natural gas crisis. Months of Russian supply cuts and soaring spot market prices have brought gas distributor Uniper to its knees. It will receive up to €15 billion from the government. [CNN]
¶ “Temperatures Of 40°C Expected This Weekend In China” • Parts of China are set to experience searing temperatures over the next ten days as a heatwave takes hold. In some provinces, authorities are predicting levels to rise to at least 40°C (104°F). The national government has warned that there could be forest fires in the hot weather. [BBC]
Great Wall (Diego Jimenez, Unsplash)
¶ “In Germany, 26% Of New Car Sales Have A Plug, 14% Are Fully Electric” • With the disruptions affecting it, the overall German automotive market is still in the red, with the market dropping 11% last month year over year. And it seems all this doom and gloom has finally got to EVs, with sales of battery EVs dropping in June by 4% year over year. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Wind Power Returning To Open Seas, Now With AI” • A 20% savings in fuel efficiency for a two-day retrofit is noteworthy, and that explains why Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd, a leading shipping company, is adding more wind power to its roster of cargo ships. “K” Line also expects to leverage artificial intelligence for greater improvements. [CleanTechnica]
K Line ship partly powered by wind (Courtesy of Airseas)
¶ “Nofar Preparing To Build Romania’s Biggest Solar Power Plant” • Nofar Energy, based in Israel, expanded its Romanian renewable energy portfolio with an advanced 255-MW solar power project. Nofar expects to start building the project next year. It would currently be the biggest solar PV project in the country by far. [Balkan Green Energy News]
¶ “Nuclear Power Plants Are Struggling To Stay Cool” • In this heatwave, it’s no longer possible to use river water to cool reactors without killing aquatic life. A few weeks ago, EDF began powering down some reactors. Heat-related cuts, malfunctions, and maintenance have reduced the nuclear power output in France by nearly 50%. [Ars Technica]
Cooling towers (Markus Distelrath, Pexels)
¶ “Japan’s Nuclear Regulator Approves Treated Fukushima Water Release Plan” • Japan’s nuclear regulator officially approved a plan to discharge into the sea water that has been contaminated but treated from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Huge amounts of the water have been accumulating since the Fukushima disaster of 2011. [The Japan Times]
US:
¶ “Amazon’s Rivian Deliveries Begin” • People in ten US cities are about to see a new delivery vehicle from Rivian on their roads delivering Amazon packages. The e-commerce giant has been working with Rivian to create a more sustainable fleet of vehicles. This is part of Amazon’s plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. [CleanTechnica]
Electric delivery vans (Amazon image)
¶ “Federal Aviation Administration Partners With NREL For Holistic Look At Energy Needs Of Electrified Aircraft” • With analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Federal Aviation Administration can create safety standards and recommend efficient and resilient airport infrastructure able to support new aircraft designs. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ford Has Battery Supply For 600,000 EVs A Year, Will Add LFP Batteries From CATL” • Ford released details of a $50 billion investment in EVs between now and 2026, when it expects to be selling 2 million EVs a year. Ford says it has commitments from three battery manufacturers that will allow it to build 600,000 EVs per year by the end of 2023. [CleanTechnica]
Ford’s expected EVs sales in 2023 (Ford image)
¶ “Georgia Power Expands Plans To 9 GW Of Renewable Energy By 2035” • The Georgia Public Service Commission recently approved Georgia Power’s Integrated Resource Plan, which the utility releases every third year. The plan was recently revised in a vote before the PSC to increase the utility’s renewables plan for 2035 from 6 GW to 9 GW. [pv magazine USA]
¶ “Wisconsin Utility Regulators Open A Docket To Clarify Financing Tools For Customer-Sited Renewable Energy” • The Wisconsin Public Service Commission agreed to open a docket to determine whether individual residents and businesses may access renewable energy produced on their premises using equipment owned by third parties. [WisPolitics.com]
Have an excusably exuberant day.
geoharvey 