Opinion:
¶ “Methane is a global climate concern, but new technologies offer hope” • Scientists estimate we could slow the worldwide rate of warming as much as 30% by cutting methane pollution from human-caused sources as quickly as possible. New technologies enable us to locate and measure methane emissions faster and with greater precision than ever before. [CNN]
MethaneSAT will launch in 2023 (Environmental Defense Fund)
¶ “Renault Twingo ZE First Impressions” • The Renault Twingo ZE is the fully electric version of the 2014 Twingo III. The platform for this car was designed with the possibility of an electric drivetrain in a joint venture with Daimler. The Twingo ZE is not a conversion from a pure gas model, but is rather based on a dual-powertrain platform. [CleanTechnica]
Science and Technology:
¶ “StoreDot’s Super Fast-Charging Batteries Pass Durability Benchmark” • At CleanTechnica, we have started to get pretty skeptical of battery technology claims. Most speculative stories we don’t cover, because all too often, the technology doesn’t work out. StoreDot is delivering cells that have tested in an EV form factor that is ready for production. [CleanTechnica]
StoreDot battery system (StoreDot image)
World:
¶ “Europe Faces Tough Decisions Over Nuclear Power” • With the war in Ukraine, Russian supplies of natural gas was cut off, and energy prices are at emergency levels. Some tout nuclear power as an answer, but half of the French nuclear power plants are not operating in the wake of Covid-19. The French Prime Minister says use less energy. [BBC]
¶ “Solaris Showed Off Two Buses, New Tools At Transexpo 2022” • Solaris, one of the leading electric vehicle manufacturers in Europe, presented two battery-powered buses at the Transexpo Fair, the Urbino 12 electric bus and the Urbino 18.75 electric bus. The former is the most popular model, and the latter is classic articulated model. [CleanTechnica]
Solaris Urbino 18.75 electric bus (Solaris image)
¶ “Qatar’s First Large-Scale Solar Power Plant Starts Operation” • The 800-MW Al Kharsaah solar power plant in Qatar has been completed, and it has been started up and connected to the country’s grid. Developed by TotalEnergies, in partnership with QatarEnergy and Marubeni, the plant is located 80 km west of the capital, Doha. [Energy Digital Magazine]
¶ “Russia Removed From Nuclear-Energy Stage At Washington Summit” • Russia has lost its place on stage at a key international nuclear summit in Washington that takes place next week. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that executives from Rosatom and Russia’s industry regulator were dropped from the agenda. [South China Morning Post]
IAEA Zaporizhzhia inspectors (IAEA Imagebank, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Australia:
¶ “Victoria unveils offshore wind strategy” • Victoria has released its Offshore Wind Implementation Statement, which sets out the next steps to establish a Victorian offshore wind industry. These include the creation of a new government agency – Offshore Wind Energy Victoria – to streamline and drive coordinated development of the sector. [reNews]
¶ “Akaysha Energy 850-MW, 1680-MWh Battery Coming To New South Wales” • Remember when Tesla installed a 100-MW, 129-MWh Hornsdale battery in South Australia in 2017? Back then, it was huge. But my, how the world has changed. Akaysha Energy announced it will build an 850-MW, 1680-MWh battery in New South Wales. [CleanTechnica]
Rendering of the Akaysha battery (Akaysha image)
¶ “Broken Hill Mine Flipped Into Renewable Energy Storage” • The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has unveiled the re-purposing of a defunct mine in Broken Hill, in New South Wales, for renewable energy storage, using compressed air. Arena has conditionally approved A$45 million in funding to construct the 200-MW, 1600-MWh facility. [Mining Weekly]
US:
¶ “Audi’s Line Of EVs May Soon Be Produced In The US” • Audi’s line of EVs may soon be produced in the US, as soon as 2023, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which encourages EV makers to build their vehicles in the USA. For BEVs and PHEVs to remain eligible for tax credits, the final assembly must happen in North America. [CleanTechnica]
Audi e-tron (Liam Walker, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Tesla To Build 1,000 GWh Of Battery Cells Domestically, Over Double Entire World’s 2022 Output” • In the Q3 Tesla earnings call, Elon repeated one important message three times. It is that Tesla plans to make a 1,000 GWh of batteries a year, vertically integrated, domestically. There is a lot to that statement, so here’s a break-down of what it means. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Electrify America Adds MEGA Battery Backup To Charging Stations” • Electrify America has unveiled its first application of megawatt-level battery storage in Baker, California, ensuring that there’s always enough power to for its customers to charge up their EVs, regardless of the grid. The system has a solar canopy and its own battery. [CleanTechnica]
Electrify America charging site (Electrify America image)
¶ “Alabama Power Seeks Proposals For Renewable Energy Projects” • Alabama Power is seeking proposals for renewable energy projects from 5 MW to 80 MW including solar, wind, geothermal, tidal or ocean currents, low-impact hydro, biomass, and biogas from sewage treatment processes, solid municipal waste, or landfills. [pv magazine USA]
¶ “UConn, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Announce Partnership For Research And Innovation” • UConn has reached a partnering agreement with the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory for clean energy innovation and grid resilience. NREL will establish a research collaboration with UConn at the UConn Tech Park. [UConn Today]
Have a delightfully peaceful day.
geoharvey 