Opinion:
¶ “If You Think A 40°C Heatwave Was Bad, Things Will Only Get Worse Until We Hit Net Zero Carbon Emissions” • This week’s record-breaking heatwave shocked many meteorologists and climate scientists. Although they thought that the UK would eventually see temperatures exceed 40°C, they did not expect it to happen so soon. [The Scotsman]
Heat (Eelco Böhtlingk, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Recycling Lead-Acid Batteries Is Easy. Why Is Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries Hard?” • The lithium-ion batteries EVs outperform older lead-acid batteries by almost every measure, except one. Lead-acid batteries are the single-most recycled product in the world. But for lithium-ion batteries, recycling is still being worked out. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Bacteria Could Help To Capture Greenhouse Gases” • In a paper published in Nature Chemical Biology, King and others from Simon Fraser University examined the important role CO₂ plays in cyanobacteria, photosynthetic organisms found in water. Cyanobacteria use carbon to create essential nutrients that sustain their life cycle. [CleanTechnica]
Cyanobacteria culture (Dennis Schroeder, NREL)
World:
¶ “Flooding Kills 21 In Drought-Hit Iran” • Flash flooding has killed at least 21 people in Iran’s southern Fars province. The city of Estabhan was hardest hit with heavy rain swelling the Roudbal river, governor Yousef Kargar said. Floods in Iran have been worsened by droughts, because rain water is unable to permeate through the sun-baked earth. [BBC]
¶ “Baby Steps For EV Chargers In Australia” • Slowly and with baby steps, Australia’s charging network is being built out. As well as large networks of high-speed chargers being built by state governments, along the coastal highways circling this vast country, motoring associations and commercial providers are ramping up their provisions. [CleanTechnica]
Australian charger (Courtesy of Ampol/AmpCharge)
¶ “Northvolt Partners With Stora Enso For Lignin-Based Battery Anodes” • Lignin is a polymer found in the cell walls of plants. It gives trees their strength, and it could be used as a renewable carbon source. Swedish battery maker Northvolt wants to source more of its raw materials locally, so it is working with Stora Enso, a Finnish firm, on lignin. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Solar Park Powering Astronomical Observatory In Chile’s Atacama Desert” • A solar plant with a capacity of 9 MW has now been completed at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The PV installation is also intended to power the world’s largest telescope, which is currently under construction at the site. [CleanTechnica]
Rendering of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ESO image)
¶ “Germany Could U-Turn On Plan To Scrap Nuclear Power As Energy Costs Soar” • Germany’s government is facing its biggest test yet as it faces Russian threats to cut gas supplies, with the country’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, reportedly considering undoing the decade-old Merkel legacy policy of closing the country’s nuclear plants. [MSN]
US:
¶ “Emergency Declared As Wildfire Rages Near Yosemite National Park” • A state of emergency has been declared in part of California as a wildfire continues to rapidly spread near Yosemite National Park. The Oak Fire has exploded in size since starting on Friday, and it has already burned 11,900 acres (4,815 hectares) of land. [BBC]
Wildfire (CalFire image)
¶ “New Mexico Submits First Infrastructure Bill EV Charging Plan, Ignorance Breeds Controversy” • Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that New Mexico is the first state to submit its EV charging plan to the federal government, a requirement to get funding from the infrastructure bill’s EV charging fund. But the plan wasn’t without controversy. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “PNM Inundated With Companies Seeking Clean Energy” • Public Service Company of New Mexico announced that it commissioned a 50-MW solar facility to provide clean energy to a Facebook data center in Los Lunas. PNM is supplying nearly 400 MW of clean power to Facebook, but other companies are expected to follow. [Albuquerque Journal]
49.5-MW solar facility for a Facebook data center (PNM image)
¶ “We Spent $95 To Drive 2,700 Miles On A Summer Roadtrip. Life With An EV Is Sweet Indeed” • My family embarked on a massive EV road trip. We rented a Model 3 and drove 2,661 miles across the Northeast to see family and friends and enjoy seven beautiful states. What blew our mind is how little we spent on fuel for our vacation. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Kinder Morgan Is Diving Deeper Into Renewable Energy” • Kinder Morgan is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. Its assets transport, process, store, or export fossil fuels. While that makes it a key player today, there are questions about the company’s future as the economy transitions to cleaner energy. [Nasdaq]
Have a pleasingly comfortable day.
geoharvey 