Opinion:
¶ “Electric School Buses Can Fight Inequity In The USA, Or Worsen It” • Most students, especially those from low-income and communities of color, ride diesel-powered buses that expose them to health issues. Electric school buses offer a solution, but they can actually deepen inequities if programs aren’t designed and deployed properly. [CleanTechnica]
All-electric school bus (Courtesy of GreenPower Motors)
World:
¶ “Auckland Flooding: Three People Dead After Torrential Rain In New Zealand” • Auckland is said to have had 75% of its usual summer rainfall in just 15 hours. Scientists caution against attributing individual weather events to climate change, but research by NIWA has found the warming planet is leading to more extreme weather in New Zealand. [BBC]
¶ “25% Plugin Vehicle Share In France!” • While the overall French auto market in 2022 had its worst year since 1975, with only 1.5 million units registered, plugin sales continued to grow. December was a record month for battery EVs, which had sales up 7%, to 24,733 registrations. Plugin hybrids continued to be slow, but they had 14,486 sales. [CleanTechnica]
Peugeot e-208 GT (Vauxford, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “What China Is Doing On Solar And Wind Power Storage To Secure Supply Amid Weather Challenges” • China’s solar and wind power generating capacities are the largest in the world, over 35% of the global total. With the strong growth of renewable capacity, lithium battery output surged 70% last year to 957 GWh, according to reports. [South China Morning Post]
¶ “Asia’s First Steam Field Continues To Power Homes” • Asia’s first commercial-scale geothermal steam field was discovered 50 years ago in Tiwi, a small town in the Philippine province of Albay. It is still providing clean, renewable energy to 2.7 million homes. Geothermal is the biggest industry in Tiwi and a major source of local employment. [The Manila Times]
Geothermal plant in Tiwi (Chris Newhall, USGS, public domain)
¶ “Can India Take Advantage Of Its Enormous Green Energy Potential?” • India’s decarbonization progress over the coming months and years can make or break the global fight to limit average temperatures to 2°C above pre-industrial averages. India aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, but so far progress has been uneven, to say the least. [Yahoo Finance]
¶ “Permian Set To Lead BPx Energy’s Low Carbon, Renewables Efforts” • BP plans to sell $25 billion in oil and gas assets to fund its renewables business. The company is not completely through with oil and gas, and in fact, it sees significant contributions from the shale assets. But it has set a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. [Midland Reporter-Telegram]
Wind turbine (Priscilla Du Preez, Unsplash)
¶ “Cracking Under Pressure: Inside The Race To Fix France’s Nuclear Plants” • Complicated procedures, replicated across sites this winter, have hampered the ability of EDF to get its reactors back online after lengthy shutdowns. The two Penly reactors are examples. Scheduled to be back online this month and next, they are being delayed to May and June. [Yahoo Finance]
US:
¶ “Duke Energy’s Idaho Project Is Part Of A Much Bigger National Expansion Through Clean Energy” • Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions recently made news by launching its 120-MW Jackpot Solar project in Twin Falls County, Idaho. So the part of Duke Energy that focuses on sustainable projects is having a big impact in Idaho. [CleanTechnica]
Duke Energy Idaho project (Duke Energy image)
¶ “Federal And State Initiatives Aim To Spur Offshore Wind Development” • There are some serious advantages to offshore wind, but the difficulties of of offshore development are not easy to overcome. CleanTechnica recently received press releases that show us the federal government and the State of New York are trying to make it happen. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “GM Switching To Cylindrical Battery Cells” • General Motors is reportedly planning to switch from pouch cells to cylindrical cells for its EVs. This caused some stress between GM and battery supplier, LG Energy Solution. They had agreed to build and operate three battery factories jointly in the US, but now a fourth factory seems to be on hold. [CleanTechnica]
2022 BrightDrop EV600 (42-BRT, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “How Did Renewables Fare During Winter Storm Elliott?” • The Wall Street Journal blamed renewables for rolling blackouts after winter storm Elliott, based on little data. But the picture that’s emerged since is one of inaccurate forecasting of electricity needs to weather the storm, large-scale fossil fuel plant failures, and gas shortages. [Kansas Reflector]
¶ “Utah Company Advances Wyoming Pumped-Storage Project” • Salt Lake City-based rPlus Hydro announced that it submitted its final application to FERC to build a 900-MW pumped storage project north of Rawlins, Wyoming. The Seminoe Reservoir would be the lower reservoir. An upper reservoir would be built in nearby mountains. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
Have an impressively quiet day.
geoharvey 
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