Opinion:
¶ “Understanding The New Federal Tax Credit For Electric Cars: It’s Complicated” • The US government has become intent on speeding up the transition to clean energy and transportation. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is meant to put some federal policy muscle into that process, but it has changed the incentive structure considerably. [CleanTechnica]
More efficient EVs (Image courtesy of Vitesco)
¶ “Researchers Agree: The World Can Reach A 100% Renewable Energy System By Or Before 2050” • An energy system 100% based on renewables has become the scientific mainstream. Hundreds of scientific studies have shown that 100% renewable energy systems can be achieved on global, regional, and national levels by or before 2050. [Innovation Origins]
¶ “Revisiting Degrowth For Sustainability – It’s Necessary, But Challenges Traditional Economics” • Coined in 1972, degrowth theory got attention after a MIT computer simulation showed a world destabilized by growing material consumption. Degrowth, however, will require business models that work in harmony with society and the environment. [CleanTechnica]
Garden path (Aniston Grace, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Giga Ontario May Be Next For Tesla” • During the recent Tesla stockholder meeting, Elon Musk suggested that Tesla might build 10 to 12 new factories in the coming years. When a member of the audience shouted out “Canada!” Musk answered, “I’m half Canadian. Maybe I should.” Just across from Detroit, Ontario is already a hub for making cars. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “970 Million People Do Not Have Access To Clean Cooking, 600 Million Do Not Have Access To Electricity In Africa” • The IEA’s Africa Energy Outlook 2022 says that 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. It also says more than 970 million people still have no access to clean cooking and are exposed to dangerous amounts of smoke. [CleanTechnica]
Cooking on an open fire (Gasmeans, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Top Coal Firm In World Cashing In On Global Energy Crisis” • Glencore, the world’s largest coal shipper, is cashing in on the global energy crisis to the tune of nearly $9 billion in the first six months of 2022. Much of that is because of the war in Ukraine. It exemplifies what UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called “grotesque greed.” [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Renewable Energy For Treatment Plant” • In Queensland, the cost of running one of Livingstone Shire Council’s major power consuming utilities has been greatly reduced, with the transition to renewable energy. An array of PV solar panels with inverters and battery storage has been installed at the Yeppoon Sewage Treatment Plant. [CQ Today]
Sewage treatment plant with PVs (Livingstone Shire Council)
¶ “Federal Government Will Cover Cost Of Connecting Massive New Queensland Wind Farm To National Grid” • The Australian federal government has agreed to cover $160 million of the cost of connecting what will be one of the world’s biggest wind farm precincts, the Southern Renewable Energy Zone, to Australia’s power grid. [ABC]
¶ “UN Security Council To Discuss Ukraine Nuclear Plant Crisis” • The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to address the crisis at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex. Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of having bombed the power plant. A source in the Security Council presidency said that the meeting would be on 11 August. [RTE]
UN Building, New York (Mike Peel, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “G7 Demands Russia Return Control Of Zaporizhzhia Plant To Kyiv” • The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations demanded that Russia return control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and all other nuclear facilities within its borders to Kyiv to ensure their safe operation. Some 500 Russian soldiers are using the facility as a base. [UPI]
US:
¶ “IRA Puts Economic Muscle Behind Search For Sustainable Aviation Fuel” • There’s a lot yet to unpack in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Some say the legislation torpedoed the EV revolution by placing so many restrictions on EV incentives that hardly any electric cars will qualify. But it does promote sustainable aviation fuel. [CleanTechnica]
Aviation (John McArthur, Unsplash)
¶ “Norwegian Battery Maker “Accelerating” US Development Due To Inflation Reduction Act” • The Inflation Reduction Act hasn’t even made it through Congress yet, hasn’t been signed into law by Joe Biden yet, is still in the “hot news” category, yet companies are already responding and accelerating business development plans! [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ohio Court Rules Icebreaker Can Proceed” • The proposed six-turbine Icebreaker offshore wind project in Lake Erie has received a favourable decision from the Ohio Supreme Court which has ruled the project may proceed. The court held the Ohio Power Siting Board properly issued a permit that allows the project to move ahead. [reNews]
Building a wind turbine in Lake Erie (LEEDco image)
¶ “CEC Adopts Historic California Offshore Wind Goals, Enough To Power Upwards Of 25 Million Homes” • The California Energy Commission adopted a report establishing offshore wind goals . Preliminary findings in the report set planning goals of 2,000-5,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030 and 25,000 MW by 2045. [California Energy Commission]
¶ “Ford Makes Largest Purchase Of Renewable Energy From A Utility In American History” • Ford Motor Company took a major step towards its renewable energy goal. It announced the largest renewable energy purchase ever made in the US from a utility, 650 MW of renewably generated electricity from DTE Energy, which is based in Michigan. [Jalopnik]
Have a spectacularly ducky day.
geoharvey 