Science and Technology:
¶ “Ethanol Burns Clean, But Creates More Emissions Than Gasoline” • Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline in cars. But there is a dispute about the carbon emissions of making ethanol from corn. Research by Reuters shows that US ethanol plants produce over twice the harmful emissions of oil refineries, per gallon of fuel production capacity. [CleanTechnica]
Corn farm (Julian Schöll, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Switching To Renewable Energy Could Save Trillions – Study” • Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12 trillion (£10.2 trillion) by 2050, according to an Oxford University study. The report said it was wrong and pessimistic to claim that moving quickly towards cleaner energy sources was expensive. [BBC]
¶ “Major Toilet Paper Makers Are Wiping Out Climate-Critical Boreal Forest” • The 2022 Issue with Tissue report by the NRDC shows that more companies are bringing sustainable tissue to the market than ever before, offering alternatives to products that are sourced from the climate-critical Canadian boreal forest. Some, however, are not. [CleanTechnica]
Boreal forest (Jeremy Allouche, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Tesla To Build Ten to Twelve Gigafactories; Progressing Faster Than Most Expected Possible” • Tesla continues rapid expansion throughout the world, and despite two new gigafactories having opened earlier this year (in Germany and Texas), the automaker is already looking at where to build next. CEO Elon Musk has his sights set on a high target, as usual. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Retail Investors Show Strong Renewables Support” • Seven in ten retail investors think the UK should increase investment in renewable energy, according to new polling, undertaken by Opinium Research. The new polling also found that six in ten investors are increasing their investments in renewables, largely because of concerns over climate change. [reNews]
Wind turbines (Tom Fisk, Pexels, cropped)
Australia:
¶ “New Australia Lithium Mine For Ford, LG, And Tesla To Be Powered By Giant Off-Grid Solar, Wind, And Battery Project” • Much of the world’s lithium used for EV batteries comes from Australia. Now there’s news of a major lithium mine in Australia using solar and wind energy with batteries to mine more cleanly and – off the grid. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Australians Brace For More Pain From Rain This Summer As Third La Niña Confirmed” • Much of Australia will be facing unusually heavy rains in coming months, the country’s weather forecaster said on Tuesday, after confirming that a La Niña weather event is under way for the third year in a row and would likely last into next year. [CNN]
New South Wales, June 2022 (Qumarchi, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Queensland Energy Minister Says Renewable Generation Capacity Must Be Tripled By 2035” • The Queensland energy minister, Mick de Brenni, says the state needs to triple its renewable energy generation capacity by 2035. Meeting that need will transform the energy sector by building some of the world’s largest green projects. [The Guardian]
US:
¶ “The Remnants Of Kay To Deliver Flooding Rains To The Desert Southwest” • Five days after Hurricane Kay made landfall along the Mexican coast, its remnants are still causing problems hundreds of miles away. An incredible amount of moisture is being pumped into parts of the Southwest, creating the potential for dangerous flash flooding. [CNN]
New Mexico (Joonyeop Baek, Unsplash)
¶ “Americans Should Brace For Higher Natural Gas Prices, Chevron CEO says” • Prices at the pump have fallen along with the cost of a barrel of crude oil. But the CEO of Chevron, one of the world’s largest energy companies, thinks consumers in the US should be prepared for a shock when they get home heating bills this winter. [CNN]
¶ “Ford Plans New Build-To-Order System To Reduce The Cost Of Electric Cars” • Reuters reports that Ford CEO Jim Farley will be in Las Vegas next week to meet with Ford dealers. His mission is to convince them the “build to order” business model is better and could help reduce the cost of delivering Ford electric cars and trucks by about $2,000. [CleanTechnica]
Mustang Mach-E (Bram Van Oost, Unsplash)
¶ “ORNL Research To Bring Reliable Electricity To Puerto Rican Microgrids” • Two Oak Ridge National Laboratory engineers are leading a team for developing a microgrid in the Puerto Rican town of Adjuntas. A community microgrid is being installed for the town, through a partnership between local nonprofit Casa Pueblo and the Honnold Foundation. [EurekAlert!]
¶ “Notre Dame Dedicates Hydro Facility As Renewable Energy Efforts Grow” • The University of Notre Dame has dedicated a hydroelectric facility to generate nearly 7% of campus electricity needs, as the school continues its renewable energy initiatives. The 2.5-MW facility is expected to offset 9,700 tons of CO₂ per year for the university. [Environment + Energy Leader]
Notre Dame (Library of Congress via Pixabay)
¶ “Hurdles Ahead For Saving Michigan Nuclear Power Plant” • The governor of Michigan said she wants a nuclear power plant to reopen, but the company that bought the plant said there are many hurdles to save the facility. ClearView Energy Partners, a non-partisan research group, said the process for saving the plant is “murky at best.” [104.1 WIKY]
¶ “Could The Nation’s Coal Plant Sites Help Drive A Clean Energy Transition?” • A DOE study finds that hundreds of coal power plant sites could be converted to nuclear power plant sites. This would greatly increase the supply of dispatchable clean electricity to the grid and help reach the nation’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. [Department of Energy]
Have a superbly productive day.
geoharvey 
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