Science and Technology:
¶ “Could Living In A Bamboo Home Help Solve The Climate Crisis?” • While bamboo has been used in construction in Asia for thousands of years, it’s starting to be used for sustainable housing in parts of the US and elsewhere. Giant bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on the planet. It can be harvested when it is just three years old. [CNN]
Bamboo house interior (Maria Orlova, Pexels)
¶ “Tesla To Employ Thousands Of Its “Humanoid Robots” In Its Factories” • Elon Musk has long talked about Tesla’s innovation in building “the machine that builds the machine.” He emphasized that he sees that manufacturing will be Tesla’s #1 competitive advantage. Now Tesla seems to be working on using humanoid robots in factories. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “To Get Lithium For Batteries, Geothermal Energy Could Soon Help” • The Lithium Story Map allows visitors to scroll through the role of lithium in renewable energy, see how the critical material is obtained, and understand why the Salton Sea region of California may prove a key domestic source – with a little help from geothermal energy. [CleanTechnica]
Aerial view of the Salton Sea (Dicklyon, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
World:
¶ “Hurricane Ian: Cuba Suffers Complete Blackout After Storm” • Cuba is completely without power after Hurricane Ian slammed the western end of the island, its government has announced. The electrical system is experiencing total collapse, after one of the main power plants could not be brought back online, leaving 11 million people in the dark. [BBC]
¶ “Hundreds Of Thousands Evacuated As Typhoon Noru Makes Landfall In Vietnam’s Da Nang” • Typhoon Noru made landfall near Vietnam’s popular beach city of Da Nang on Wednesday morning, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated. Typhoon Noru left the Philippines around 8 pm on Monday. [CNN]
Typhoon damage in the Philippines (Carl Kho, Unsplash)
¶ “Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Pipeline Terror Attack On Nord Stream Pipeline” • Ukraine has accused Russia of causing leaks in two major gas pipelines to Europe in what it described as a “terrorist attack.” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said the damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2 was “an act of aggression” towards the EU. [BBC]
¶ “Venice’s Fight Against Rising Seas” • This statement is far from hyperbole: Venice is at very real risk of being consumed by the sea. In worst-case scenario, the city could disappear beneath the waves by as early as 2100. Part of the problem is rising sea levels. But also, many buildings in the city are slowly sinking due to groundwater extraction. [BBC]
Flooded Venice (Egor Gordeev, Unsplash)
¶ “Queensland Takes Its Own Road To A Decarbonised Grid” • The Queensland government revealed details of its new energy blueprint, with A$62 billion ($40 billion) of new investment to 2035. The plan is for 25 GW of new wind and solar (50:50 mix) by 2035, in addition to 7 GW of new rooftop solar, new pumped storage, and transmission lines. [Renew Economy]
¶ “Scottish Power Secured Record-Breaking 19 Renewable Energy Projects In First Half Of 2022” • Scottish Power has confirmed it secured 19 renewable energy projects in the first six months of 2022 totalling more than 9 GW, a record for the firm. Along with others, ScottishPower received leasing through the ScotWind initiative in January 2022. [Current News]
Wind turbines (Scottish Power image)
¶ “GE To Work On Converting Old, Gas-Fired Power Station In Britain Into A Battery Storage Facility” • A decommissioned gas-fired power station in Britain is set to be repurposed and converted into a battery storage facility. GE will supply the 50-MW project’s battery storage system, which will store energy from 43 onshore wind farms. [CNBC]
¶ “Germany Delays Exit From Nuclear Power To Offset Energy Shortfall” • Germany’s planned exit from nuclear power by the end of this year has been officially delayed in order to shore up energy supplies during an expected shortfall this winter, the economic minister, Robert Habeck, announced. The decision is an awkward U-turn for Germany. [The Guardian]
Isar nuclear plant (E.ON, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)
US:
¶ “Florida officials urge evacuation as Ian approaches” • More than 2.5 million Floridians were under some kind of evacuation warning Tuesday as Hurricane Ian marched closer to the state’s west coast. The Category 3 storm was churning 120 mph winds Tuesday night with its center roughly 180 miles south-southwest of the city of Punta Gorda. [CNN]
¶ “US Plan To Add 500,000 EV Chargers In All Fifty States Gets Final Approval” • An Associated Press report says that all fifty states have received final approval to begin construction of the first nationwide network of EV charging stations. When it is complete, there will be at least one DC fast charger every 50 miles along the interstate highways. [CleanTechnica]
EV chargers (Image courtesy of ABB)
¶ “Seventeen EV Models Have EPA Combined Rating Of Over 100 MPGe In Model Year 2022” • For Model Year 2022, 17 EV models achieved over 100 miles per gallon equivalent. MPGe is a unit of measure used by the EPA to represent EV fuel economy in a common unit with gas-powered vehicles. The best rating was for the Tesla Model 3, at 132 MPGe. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Seabrook Nuclear Plant False Alarm: Here’s Why It Took Nearly An Hour To Notify Public” • On July 12, it took nearly an hour to notify the public that the alarm at the NextEra Seabrook nuclear power plant was false. The state Department of Safety’s report finds that this happened because there was no procedure in place for an inadvertent alarm. [Seacoastonline.com]
Have a simply splendid day.
geoharvey 