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Opinion:

¶ “Degrowth: Dangerous Idea Or Answer To The World’s Biggest Crisis?” • Conventional economic logic has a core assumption: Bigger economies are better, and maintaining or boosting growth is paramount to improving society. But what if growth is doing little to fix our problems, or even fostering the destruction of the planet and jeopardizing its future? [CNN]

Building construction (Priss Enri, Unsplash)

¶ “An Electric Car Can Be Your Best Friend When The Lights Go Out” • The electric car, coupled with more rooftop solar systems, is shifting the paradigm from getting all one’s electricity from a utility company to making more of it ourselves and using it right there at home. So it might be possible to be comfortable at home when bad weather makes the grid fail. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Dirty Tricks To Save The Amazon” • Preserving the Amazon should be considered one of our generation’s greatest priorities, if we are to ward off the worst effects of climate change. One man just played a tremendous role in moving that preservation a giant leap forward, and … I have mixed feelings about it, or at least, how he did it. [CleanTechnica]

Amazon forest (Neil Palmer, CIAT, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Stop Funding Russia’s Nuclear Weapons” • As Washington and the commentariat wring their hands about Vladimir Putin’s nuclear sword rattling, the US and the EU continue to shovel hundreds of millions of dollars to Rosatom, a Russian nuclear firm that maintains Moscow’s nuclear weapons complex and just filched a $60-billion Ukrainian nuclear plant. [The Hill]

Science and Technology:

¶ “The World Will Probably Warm Beyond The 1.5°C Limit. But Peak Warming Can Be Curbed.” • The world’s current climate pledges are insufficient to maintain the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Global warming will likely surpass the 1.5°C limit. But researchers chart several potential courses in which the overshoot period is shortened. [CleanTechnica]

Please click on the image to enlarge it. (NASA, public domain)

World:

¶ “Fears Of Compromise On Key 1.5°C Global Temperature Issue” • A key target to stop climate change raising global temperatures is now in doubt at a UN summit. Climate change talks have been trying to limit the average rise in temperatures to 1.5°C. But senior figures here in Egypt worry about backsliding on efforts to keep the 1.5°C goal. [BBC]

¶ “Hywind Tampen Floating Wind Farm Delivers First Power” • The Hywind Tampen floating wind farm in the North Sea has begun producing power from its first turbine. Owned by the partners developing the Gullfaks and Snorre oilfields, the Hywind Tampen wind farm is expected to meet about 35% of the electricity demand of the two fields. [reNews]

Floating wind turbines (Equinor image)

¶ “Top Africa Renewable Firm Sees South Africa Power Woes Persisting” • Africa’s biggest renewable power company said it will take years for South Africa’s electricity supply woes to ease after the government’s bias toward coal led to the collapse of wind and solar energy manufacturers. The country still relies on coal for over 80% of its power. [Engineering News]

¶ “Scathing Report Accuses Electricity Providers Of Delaying New Zealand’s Shift To Renewable Energy” • A scathing report accuses electricity providers of delaying New Zealand ‘s shift to renewable energy sources. The report says the power companies are purposely putting off building key infrastructure so they can keep hiking the cost of power. [Newshub]

Geothermal plant (Herman Darnel Ibrahi …, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “Green Hydrogen To Help Power Western Australia’s Town Of Denham In Australian Renewable Energy First” • Hydrogen made with renewable energy will be used to help power an Australian town for the first time as part of a landmark trial. The hydrogen will be used to power a fuel cell capable of generating enough electricity to supply about 100 homes. [MSN]

¶ “Forrest Unveils 10-GW Renewable ‘Super Hub’ To Power Grid And Green Hydrogen” • Queensland’s push to be a hydrogen superpower gained serious momentum with the announcement of a renewable energy “super hub” that will host more than 10 GW of wind and solar projects to produce green hydrogen at an industrial scale. [RenewEconomy]

Solar power (Supplied image)

US:

¶ “NREL And SMUD Launch Groundbreaking Automation Tool For Interconnecting Customer Solar To The Grid” • NREL has developed software that helps utilities identify optimal inverter modes and settings for distributed solar. The standalone system allows utility engineers to seamlessly interconnect PV generation, cutting wait times and costs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Fossil Vehicle Bans Are Likely To Hit Mom-And-Pop Gas Stations The Hardest” • The California Air Resources Board’s decision to phase out fossil fuel-powered cars by 2035 was an important step to address air quality and climate change. But there will be winners and losers. Mom-and-pop gas station owners seem likely to be losers. [CleanTechnica]

Gas station (Mehluli Hikwa, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “US Stakeholders Make Their Moves As Race For Global Green Hydrogen Takes Shape” • The falling cost of wind and solar energy has opened the door to a more equitable distribution of energy resources worldwide. That trend is taking hold in the US, where a new green hydrogen industry is beginning to leverage growth in the wind and solar power. [TriplePundit]

¶ “Baker Vetoes Nuclear Decommissioning Group” • Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts vetoed the creation of a special commission to study the economic and environmental effects of decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. He said the comission would “be duplicative of, and would interfere with” work already under way. [CapeCod.com]

Have a plainly grand day.

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