Opinion:
¶ “Greener School Playgrounds Are An Overlooked Climate Solution” • The new schoolyard at PS 184M Shuang Wen, a grade school in Manhattan’s Chinatown, features new play equipment, a yoga circle, a stage and basketball and tennis courts. It also has a porous turf field that can capture an estimated 1.3 million gallons of stormwater runoff. [CleanTechnica]
Manhattan’s PS 184 (Courtesy of Trust for Public Land)
¶ “‘Advanced’ Nuclear Reactors: No Climate Cure” • Contrary to claims by their promoters, “advanced” nuclear technologies are not new, and we cannot be sure they are safer, more secure, or economically competitive. Legislatures should focus on proven renewable technologies instead of doling out billions of taxpayer dollars for dubious projects. [Energy Intelligence]
Science and Technology:
¶ “The Enormous Heat Pumps Warming Cities” • Ground-source heat pumps can be used in cities. Rather than each home having its own borehole, Heat the Streets uses more than 200 boreholes drilled 100 meters (330 ft) beneath the street linked to a huge communal network of horizontal, underground pipes just below street level, known as a heatmain. [BBC]
Stockholm, heated by heatpumps (Adam Gavlák, Unsplash)
¶ “The Straight Skinny On Gas Stoves And Indoor Pollution” • Right-wing media are outraged when cities curb the use of gas stoves. Rather than join in the screaming match, researchers in the Bronx decided to do some actual scientific testing to see what exactly happens when people cook indoors on gas stoves. The results may surprise you. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “The Black & White Building In London Showcases Wood Construction Techniques” • The Black & White building shows that commercial buildings can be truly green. Many so-called “green” buildings cover a steel and concrete core with a pretty wooden façade, but the frame of the Black & White building is structurally engineered wood. [CleanTechnica]
The Black & White building (Ed Reeve, courtesy of AHEC)
World:
¶ “Chinese Electric Cars Are Filling European Streets” • Chinese EVs are making their way into European markets at large. XPeng announced its first deliveries to Norway in October 2020. Now, Chinese EVs from XPeng, BYD, and MG are common sights in Oslo, to say nothing of models from Volvo and Polestar, both owned by Chinese firm Geely. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Australian Mining News: Not Just Lithium, But Rare Earths!” • Australian firm Wyloo Metals has invested in Neo Performance Materials, a producer of rare earths and advanced permanent magnets, and in Hastings, developer of the Yangibana rare earth project in Western Australia, which may produce 15,000 tonnes of mixed rare earths carbonate per year. [CleanTechnica]
Corvette project (Courtesy of Patriot Battery Metals)
¶ “Audi South Africa And Rubicon Add 43 EV Charging Stations To The Growing Network” • Sales of battery-electric vehicles breached the 500 units per year mark in South Africa for the first time ever in 2022. Lately, Audi South Africa, in partnership with Rubicon, brought 43 additional EV charging stations online in the country. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Renewables Account For 92% Of Brazil’s Power Produciton In 2022” • The Brazilian Power Trading Chamber announced that 92% of the country’s 2022 electricity production came from renewable energy sources. There was a 64.3% increase in output of solar power plants in 2022, compared to 2021. Windpower output increased by 12.6%. [Renewables Now]
Brazilian wind farm (AES Tiete image)
¶ “GE Renewable Energy Strengthens Position In Spain Through Agreement With Repsol” • GE Renewable Energy was selected by Repsol to supply 22 units of its 6.1-MW wind turbines – the most powerful GE wind turbines installed in Spain – to six of the wind farms in its Delta II project (Santa Cruz I, Amp, II, III, and San Isidro I and II) in Aragon. [Energy Global]
US:
¶ “Biden Administration Takes Another Step Toward Advancing A Controversial Oil Drilling Project In Alaska” • The Bureau of Land Management advanced the massive ConocoPhillips Willow oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, releasing the final environmental impact statement before the controversial project can be approved. [CNN]
Nuiqsut, Alaska (Paxson Woelber, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)
¶ “NYC Wants Uber And Lyft To Be 100% Electric By 2030” • In his State of the City address on January 26, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that Uber and Lyft will be required to operate only zero-emissions EVs by 2030. The mayor’s new policy initiative has the potential to affect an estimated 100,000 for-hire vehicles. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Vermont Lawmakers Revisit Renewable Energy Standard As Greenhouse Gas Emissions Deadlines Loom” • With Vermont’s 2025, 2030, and 2050 greenhouse emission deadlines slowly but surely approaching, state lawmakers are working quickly to make sure the legally binding deadlines are met. Some want to revisit the Renewable Energy Standard. [WPTZ]
Vermont (Kevin Davison, Unsplash)
¶ “Two Groups Challenge Grid Operator Rules That Restrict Renewable Energy” • An environmental law organization, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of the Solar Energy Industries Association. Earthjustice challenged a rule that prohibits renewables from providing ancillary services. [pv magazine USA]
¶ “Climate Activists Accuse Shell Of Inflating Renewables Spend” • In a letter of complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, campaigning group Global Witness has accused fossil-fuels giant Shell of adding gas-related investments to its spending on renewables to inflate its overall investment in clean sources of energy. [reNews]
Have a plainly perfect day.
geoharvey 