Opinion:
¶ “Nuclear Reactors Can Become Dirty Bombs – And You Don’t Even Need a War” • The alarming stories about the Ukrainian reactors captured by Russians potentially being used as dirty bombs drives home one clear message: nuclear power plants and their high-level nuclear waste are inherently dangerous and their use should be discontinued. [Common Dreams]
Chernobyl exclusion zone sign (Kilian Karger, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Europe Has So Much Natural Gas That Prices Just Dipped Below Zero” • EU gas storage facilities are close to full, tankers carrying liquefied natural gas are lining up at ports, unable to unload their cargoes. Europe now has more natural gas than it knows what to do with. So much, in fact, that spot prices briefly went negative earlier this week. [CNN]
¶ “Svalbard: The Race To Save The Fastest-Warming Place On Earth” • Deep inside the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is home to the world’s northernmost permanent settlement, Longyearbyen, which is estimated to be heating at six times the global average. One resident who has been there three years finds the changes in that time shocking. [BBC]
Spitsbergen, Svalbard (Janik Rohland, Unsplash)
¶ “Indonesia To Put 2 Million Electric Motorbikes On Road By 2025” • Indonesia hopes for zero emissions by 2060 and to cut its carbon footprint by 29% by 2030. As part of this they plan to put two million electric motorcycles on the road by 2025. A large number of electric motorcycle makers and competitive prices make the goal reasonable. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “DB Schenker Pre-Orders 2,000 E-Trailers” • E-trailers look very much like a conventional semi trailers except they have their own battery packs and an e-axle that powers some of the wheels. Instead of requiring a tractor to do all the work, e-trailers share the task of transporting cargo. Freight carrier DB Schenker just pre-ordered 2,000 of them. [CleanTechnica]
E-trailer (Krone image)
¶ “China Electric Car Sales – 26% Fully Electric, 35% Have A Plug” • Plugin vehicles continue to be hot in the Chinese auto market. They grew 78% year over year in September. They scored over 636,000 registrations last month, a new record. Plugin hybrids surged 148% year over year. With 161,000 registrations, it was their fifth record month in row. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Global Energy Crisis A ‘Turning Point’ For Renewable Energy Adoption, IEA Says” • The global energy crisis set off by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could “hasten” the transition to renewable energy, the International Energy Agency said. Investment in renewable energy needs to double to more than $4 trillion by the end of the decade. [The National]
Wind farm in South Africa (Charl Folscher, Unsplash)
US:
¶ “Bosch Set To Invest $260 Million, Create 350 Jobs In South Carolina” • Bosch announced that it is producing of EV motors at its Charleston, SC Rexroth facility. The company plans to invest $260 million more to expand production of EV components at the site, and expects to create at least 350 high-paying jobs in the region by 2025. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Biden–Harris Administration: 389 School Districts Get Nearly $1 Billion From EPA’s Clean School Bus Program” • Under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, nearly $1 billion of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program rebate competition was awarded to 389 school districts in 50 states; Washington, DC; and several Tribes and US territories. [CleanTechnica]
Electric school bus (GreenPower Motor Company image)
¶ “Ford Makes Deals To Buy Cleaner Steel” • Making steel uses large amounts of carbon and emits a lot of CO₂. Fortunately, there are companies working on making lower-impact steel. Ford is working with some of them to get that greener, leaner steel into their vehicles. It is acting to ensure a stable supply of low carbon steel for its products. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “First Comes The Sub-Zero Gas Prices In Texas, Then The Flaring” • A glut of natural gas in the Texas shale patch has grown so large prices have fallen below zero. This is raising fears among environmentalists that drillers are burning off more of the fuel at wells. Flaring gets rid of gas that companies can’t or aren’t willing to put into pipelines. [Regina Leader Post]
Flaring (Pixabay, Pexels, cropped)
¶ “Bow, NH, Exploring Renewable Energy Installations On Town-Owned Land” • Bow’s Energy Committee asked the Select Board to consider installing solar PVs on town-owned properties to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. The committee aims to identify buildings and town-owned land that can be used to generate renewable energy. [Concord Monitor]
¶ “GM Says It Will Power All Of Its US Sites With Clean Energy By 2025” • General Motors said it has deals to power all of its US sites with clean energy by 2025. GM’s clean energy portfolio now includes sourcing agreements from sixteen renewable energy plants. GM reports that that portfolio has produced over $75 million of positive cash flow since 2017. [Electrek]
Wind farm (Kindel Media, Pexels)
¶ “Northern Maine Transmission Line Gets Key Vote From State Regulators” • State regulators gave initial approval to a proposed transmission line connecting a massive renewable energy project in Aroostook County to the New England grid. They held off on issuing contracts to give Massachusetts officials time to decide on picking up some of the costs. [Maine Public]
¶ “TVA Developing Plans For 20 Small Nuclear Reactors To Power Tennessee Valley By 2050” • To decarbonize and electrify America’s economy, the head of its biggest public power utility thinks several hundred new nuclear reactors may be needed in the next generation, including 20 or so new smaller reactors in the Tennessee Valley. [Chattanooga Times Free Press]
Have a fundamentally superior day.
geoharvey 
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