geoharvey

Opinion:

¶ “Kentucky Disaster Shows How The US Is Ill-Prepared And Under-Insured For Devastating Floods” • About 1% of properties in the hardest-hit areas in Kentucky have federal flood insurance, government records show. And the flood maps used by insurance companies are incorrect because risks have increased due to the changing climate. [CNN]

Rescue in Kentucky (Kentucky National Guard, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Why I Expect Putin To Lose, And Why That Scares The Hell Out Of Me” • I believe Putin will lose the war in Ukraine because his strategy is to terrorize civilians while the Ukranian strategy is to destroy Russian military targets. The problem is that Putin seems to be willing to risk widespread nuclear chaos as part of his terrorism. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ “One-Third Of The Food We Eat Is At Risk Because The Climate Crisis Is Endangering Butterflies And Bees” • Species of bees, butterflies, and bats are all pollinators. Without them, fruits, vegetables and other plants wouldn’t be pollinated, and that’s a major problem for our food supply. They are in decline because of climate change. [CNN]

Monarch butterfly (Gary Bendig, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “German Households Face Levy Of Hundreds Of Euros On Gas Bills” • German households will have to pay hundreds of Euros more a year for gas under a levy to help energy companies cover the cost of replacing Russian supplies. For an average family of four, the additional charge will amount €480 ($489; £404), according to Verivox. [BBC]

¶ “Mainstream Renewable Power To Create 100 Jobs At New Dublin HQ” • Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power announced plans to re-enter its home market and develop three offshore windfarms in Ireland. The company said it intends to create “significant” offshore energy farms to support Irish carbon emissions targets. [Silicon Republic]

Offshore windfarm (Nicholas Doherty, Unsplash)

¶ “Queensland Hydrogen Tilt Needs Big Renewable Push” • A huge increase in renewable energy is needed if Queensland is to realise its green hydrogen potential, with the labor pool required for construction compared to the mining boom, according to not-for-profit and industry-funded group Construction Skills Queensland. [PerthNow]

¶ “Coal Miner Seriti Buys Windlab In Shift To Renewable Energy” • Seriti Resources, a key coal supplier to South Africa’s power utility, will buy a majority stake in renewable energy developer Windlab Africa. The deal is worth $55 million, and it will give Seriti a 51% stake in the wind and solar power business, the coal company said.  [Mining.com]

Collgar wind farm, Western Australia (Windlab Africa image)

¶ “Israeli Companies To Launch Renewable Energy Projects In Seven Arab Countries” • Two Israeli energy companies, Enlight Renewable Energy and NewMed Energy, signed two memoranda of understanding to jointly set up, develop, and operate the projects in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. [Xinhua]

¶ “UN Can Facilitate IAEA Power Plant Visit, But Russia Puts Conditions” • The UN has the logistics and security capacity to support a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, a spokesman said, but a Russian diplomat imposed conditions, saying routing a mission through Kyiv was too dangerous. [Reuters]

Kyiv (Artem Zhukov, Unsplash)

¶ “Russia Defence Minister Discussed Ukraine Nuclear Plant With UN Chief” • Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and UN chief Antonio Guterres discussed the security situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, which is currently under Moscow’s control and has been the target of fighting, Moscow said on Monday. [Kyiv Post]

US:

¶ “California Has BIG Plans For Offshore Floating Wind Power” • The state of California announced plans to add massive amounts of offshore floating wind power to its energy mix. The California Energy Commission adopted the recommendations of report that establishes planning goals for enough electricity to power 3.75 million homes by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

Floating wind turbines (Courtesy of GE, Glosten)

¶ “Massachusetts Enacts A Climate Law Of Its Own” • Last week, Massachusetts enacted a package of climate-related policies which was signed by outgoing governor Charlie Baker. Here’s a rundown of the provisions in that bill as provided by local news source WBUR. The legislation establishes Massachusetts as a climate leader. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Vermont University And FEMA Provide Drone Training For Public Safety” • Here is a bit of news about “first responders” and drone programs that some might find useful. The University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Lab hosted a FEMA-funded initiative that provided drone training to fifteen emergency-response jobs in the state. [CleanTechnica]

Drone (DJI courtesy image)

¶ “Renewable Energy Growth Expected To Be 20-Times Greater Than Natural Gas Over Next Three Years” • According to a review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data recently released by FERC, 66,315 MW of projects in the solar pipeline have high probability of going forward. There are 17,383 of high probability windpower and just 4,319 of gas. [Solar Power World]

¶ “California Lawmakers Float Legislation To Keep Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open” • California lawmakers are looking at draft legislation to keep the state’s last operating nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, open beyond its planned 2025 closure date. But there are still significant logistical and political challenges ahead before that could happen. [CNBC]

Have a transcendentally lovely day.