Opinion and Interview:
¶ “Mangrove Lithium CEO Talks Lithium Resources, Refining, And Localization” • When he started working on his PhD, Dr Saad Dara focused on water desalination and treatment, largely for oil and gas. Then someone asked if lithium chloride could be converted into lithium hydroxide, and that led to Mangrove Lithium. Here is an interview. [CleanTechnica]
Uyuni salt desert in Bolivia (Alexander Schimmeck, Unsplash)
¶ “Coal 2 Nuclear: Another Smokescreen That Obscures Real Climate Solutions” • After the failure of the much-trumpeted “nuclear renaissance” that never was, the nuclear lobby and its federal lackeys have come up with another PR clunker – Coal 2 Nuclear (hence, C2N). In reality, this is less C2N than CPR for an ailing nuclear power industry. [CounterPunch]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Why California’s storm is unlikely to reverse its drought” • Given the decades-long drought in California, you might be wondering if this extreme weather could in some ways be a positive. But the downpour is unlikely to have a big impact on the drought. Experts say it would take consecutive years of severe wet weather to reverse it in the long-term. [BBC]
Low water level (Ross Stone, Unsplash, cropped)
World:
¶ “The Past Eight Years Were The Eight Warmest On Record For Planet” • The last eight years have been the eight warmest on record as the growing concentration of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere pushes global temperatures toward a dangerous tipping point, analysis by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows. [CNN]
¶ “Volkswagen’s Worldwide Deliveries Of 100% Electric Vehicles Grew About 24% In 2022” • Volkswagen is advancing quickly in ramping up EV production. Worldwide ID model deliveries more than doubled in 2022, and sales in China had an increase of 102.9% year over year. The ID.4 is the company’s top EV model globally. [CleanTechnica]
Volkswagen ID.4 (Ssu, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “World’s Longest Electric Vehicle Highway – It’s Now Under Construction” • Although all hopeful EV drivers can see from the road is concrete pads surrounded by temporary fencing in Kalbarri, this is the beginning of construction for the world’s longest EV highway, from Kunnanurra in the north of Western Australia to Esperance in the south. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “MyHydro To Start Construction Of The First Of 33 Small Hydropower Plants In DRC” • The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the lowest electrification rates in the world, at around 10%. The country is blessed, however, with over 50% of Africa’s total water resource. MyHydro plans to install turbines of a new design by Natel Energy. [CleanTechnica]
Natel Energy turbine (MyHydro image)
¶ “Sisco Sapena Launches H2PLT, The Company Behind Spain’s First Green Hydrogen Microgeneration Network” • H2PLT plans to create Spain’s first green hydrogen microgeneration network. It will use small PV farms and surplus solar electricity to make green hydrogen. The hydrogen is stored and used to generate electricity as needed by a fuel cell. [PR Newswire]
¶ “EDF Renewables Unveils UK Mega-Solar Project” • EDF Renewables and Luminous Energy have unveiled plans for a solar farm with battery in the UK east Midlands region. With a potential output of up to 800 MW, Springwell Solar Farm could provide the equivalent energy to supply around half of all the homes in Lincolnshire. [reNews]
Solar panels (EDF image)
¶ “$35 Billion Solar Venture Backed By Forrest, Cannon-Brookes Goes Into Voluntary Administration” • One of Australia’s largest renewable projects backed by prominent billionaires Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes has collapsed. Sun Cable said the move followed an “absence of alignment” with the shareholders’ objectives. [News.com.au]
US:
¶ “Extreme Weather Has Cost The US More Than $1 Trillion In The Past Seven Years, Feds Report” • The US was lashed by 18 extreme weather and climate disasters costing at least $1 billion each last year, a report shows. They came as tornadoes, extreme heat and cold, deadly flooding and hurricanes, and a climate change-fueled drought in the West. [CNN]
Climate and weather disasters (NOAA image)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
¶ “Google, Ford, GM, And Solar Companies Partner To Promote Scaling Of Virtual Power Plants” • A coalition of heavy hitters, including Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, OhmConnect, Olivine, SPAN, SunPower, Sunrun, SwitchDin, and Virtual Peaker, is to scale up the market for virtual power plants for grid resilience and decarbonization. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “How Many EV Chargers Does America Need? S&P Global Says ‘Lots’” • Even though many EV owners charge at home, the total number of EV chargers motorists can use will need to quadruple between 2022 and 2025 and grow more than eight-fold by 2030, an S&P Global report says. By 2030, nearly 30 million EVs will be on the US roads. [CleanTechnica]
Charger (Sophie Jonas, Unsplash)
¶ “US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Went Up Again In 2022” • US greenhouse gas emissions grew by 1.3% in 2022, according to a report by the Rhodium Group. US emissions are now 15.5% below 2005 levels, the report said, leaving the nation on an uphill climb toward meeting its commitment to cut emissions 50% to 52% by the end of the decade. [Scientific American]
¶ “BP Starts Construction On Ohio Solar Power Facility” • British energy company BP announced that it started construction on a solar power facility in Ohio that could eventually provide enough clean energy to meet the equivalent demand of nearly 20,000 average households. The 134-MW Arche Solar project is in rural Ohio, near the Michigan border. [UPI]
Have a truly glorious day.
geoharvey 