Opinion:
¶ “The Country That Is Showing The World How To Save Water” • As frightening and as insurmountable a challenge as chronic and growing water shortages may seem, there are solutions at hand that can save us from crisis. Israel, in one of the driest regions in the world, has developed policies and techniques to provide water in cities and farms alike. [CNN]
Advanced agriculture (CaptainHaddock assumed, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Want 1970s Fuel Prices? Buy An EV!” • Gasoline is a lot more expensive than it used to be. It’s easy to look fondly back on the old days when the price of gasoline was under a dollar per gallon, and imagine how great it would be for today’s more fuel efficient vehicles to drive on such cheap gas. Well, you can drive at that low cost, if you buy an EV. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Why Electric Vehicles Won’t Break the Grid” • Days after the California regulators approved a plan to ban sales of new gas cars in 2035, the grid operator asked people to delay charging EVs while demand was driven high by a heat wave. Renewable energy naysayers made fun of that, but grid operators and utilities say EVs will not be a problem. [Scientific American]
Charging an EV (Andrew Roberts, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Is There A Good Alternative To Peated Compost?” • Natural peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests, but they are rapidly disappearing due to widespread extraction. Beadamoss has been growing peat moss for around 15 years, initially to plant it on degraded for restoration. Now, it is looking to supplying peat moss to gardeners. [BBC]
World:
¶ “Bosch’s Plant In Brits, South Africa, Installs Water Harvesting And PV Solar Power Systems” • There is some more good news from South Africa, as Bosch’s Plant in the town of Brits recently installed a photovoltaic solar system. A water harvesting system was also installed as Bosch moves to reduce its environmental footprint in the country. [CleanTechnica]
Solar system at Bosch plant (Bosch image)
¶ “US Banks On Lithuania (!?) To Prove LA100 Renewable Energy Model” • The Biden administration formally committed to help Lithuania achieve its 100% renewable energy goal for electricity and become net energy exporter. Interestingly, success in Lithuania could help the US accelerate the renewable energy revolution at home. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “TenneT Launches 2-GW Cable Tender” • TenneT has launched a 2-GW cable tender for offshore grid connections in the North Sea. The tender for high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables will increase and bundle electricity transmission capacities and reduce environmental impact, the grid operator said. TenneT’s connection capacity is now around 10 GW. [reNews]
Offshore wind (TenneT image)
¶ “China Begins To Lead Way In Renewable Energy” • China’s total installed capacity for renewable energy generation has risen to 1.1 billion kW (1,100 GW) in a decade, with generation capacity of hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass, the National Energy Administration says. The current 5-year plan would have 50% of electricity come from renewables. [China Daily]
¶ “Portion Of Renewables In Korea’s Power Generation Tops 20% For First Time” • According to the Korea Power Exchange, the country’s renewable energy capacity came to 27,103 MW as of September. This means that solar, wind, hydro, and biomass resources are supplying 20.1% of 134,719 MW in the country’s power generation facilities. [The Korea Herald]
Wind farm in South Korea (wonjin, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “BHP To Move Port Hedland To Renewable Power” • Australian miner BHP announced that it had signed a large-scale renewable power purchase agreement with Alinta Energy, which will see the construction and connection of a 45 MW solar farm and 35 MW battery energy storage system into Alinta’s existing Port Hedland power station in Western Australia. [Mining Weekly]
¶ “MPs Say Energy Bills May Rise If Government Gives Drax More Support” • Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused an energy crisis, leading to windfall profits by the UK’s older wind, solar and nuclear contracts. Officials want to “negotiate” with generators on older wind, solar, and nuclear contracts to pursuade them to take new contracts. [The Guardian]
Drax power station (Paul Glazzard, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
US:
¶ “White House Surges Aid To Hurricane-Hit Puerto Rico On A Haunting Anniversary” • Exactly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, yet another catastrophic storm is testing the federal government’s capacity to mount a rapid response on an island exposed by its rudimentary infrastructure and its vulnerability to climate change. [CNN]
¶ “US Hybrid Gets Order For 62 Electric Street Sweepers” • Semi truck electrifying firm US Hybrid had a lot be excited about this past weekend, after the company signed a deal to supply Global Environmental Products with enough of its proprietary electric and hybrid electric propulsion kits to build 62 zero emission street sweepers. [CleanTechnica]
Electric street sweeper (US Hybrid image)
¶ “How Clean Energy Kept California’s Lights On During A Historically Extreme Heat Wave” • The two-week September heat wave, which baked the state with the “hottest and longest” temperatures on record, put California’s grid to an extreme test. Despite record power demand, the lights stayed on because of renewable energy and batteries. [Forbes]
¶ “Nuclear Power Supplied About 10% Of California’s Generating Mix In 2021, EIA Says” • In 2021, three nuclear power plants supplied about 10% of California’s electricity, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s monthly and annual survey data. San Onofre supplied 8%, with two plants in other states supplying 2%, [Power Engineering]
Have a muchly appreciated day.
geoharvey 
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