Opinion:
¶ “How To Get Your City Or County To 100% Renewables” • With funding quickly becoming available from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, cities and counties need a more nimble, iterative planning process that can help them determine which energy actions to take. Here are two questions they need to answer. [CleanTechnica]
Henderson, Nebraska (Taylor Siebert, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Should The Infrastructure Investment Act Bail Out A Retired Nuclear Reactor?” • Some 115 organizations and 179 people sent a letter to US Energy Secretary Granholm asking for a rejection of Holtec Decommissioning International’s request for a federal bailout to restart the retired Palisades atomic reactor on the shore of Lake Michigan. [CleanTechnica]
Science and Technology:
¶ “How undersea cables may affect marine life” • Thousands of miles of cables crisscross our deep seas, carrying data or electric power. These artificial structures can serve as shelter to a vast array of bottom-dwelling sea life that have been found to take up residence on or near them. But we don’t know much about the effects of their electromagnetic fields. [BBC]
Work on a submarine cable (US Navy, public domain)
World:
¶ “Open The Gates! 25% BEV Share In Europe!” • Even while the overall automotive market continued falling, Europe’s passenger plugin electric car market had a historic month in December, with 413,500 registrations. That is a massive 46% improvement over November, which had already beaten the December 2020 record of 282,000 units. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “ABB Delivers Its Millionth EV Fast Charger” • ABB E-mobility celebrated a major milestone recently with the delivery of its one millionth (!) EV charger, and marking major strides in the company’s stated mission to enable an emission-free future. ABB E-mobility has a presence in 85 global markets, and continues to grow and expand worldwide. [CleanTechnica]
Chargers (ABB E-mobility image)
¶ “MOL Signs Collaboration Deal With Nagasaki Prefecture For Shipbuilding-Related Industries And Renewable Energy Projects” • Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd signed an agreement with the Nagasaki Prefecture Department of Industrial and Labor Affairs to develop and promote renewable energy projects and shipbuilding-related industries. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]
¶ “Renewable Energy Market Will Reach $1,998.30 Billion By 2030” • Precedence Research estimates the size of the renewable energy market at $1,030.95 billion in 2022 and expects it to grow to over $1,998.30 billion by 2030, for an annual growth rate of 8.6%. International leaders have been pushed to quick action by the upheavels in the gas market. [AltEnergyMag]
Rooftop solar system (Jeroen van de Water, Unsplash)
¶ “Solar And Wind With Batteries Are Set To Produce Cheaper Electricity Than Natural Gas In Alberta And Ontario” • In Alberta and Ontario, wind can now produce electricity at lower costs than natural-gas-fired power, and more reductions are on the horizon, according to a report from Clean Energy Canada based on newly commissioned research. [GlobeNewswire]
¶ “Renewable Energy Attracts South Africa’s Coal Miners” • More coal companies are moving to cleaner resources to power their operations in South Africa. The country continues to battle with energy shortages, and the coal companies are seeking their own energy sources. The coal companies are also looking to reduce their carbon emissions. [ITWeb]
Transmission lines (Matthew Henry, Unsplash)
¶ “France Seeks Strategy As Nuclear Waste Site Risks Saturation Point” • The fuel-cooling pools in La Hague, in the northwest of France, could be full by the end of the decade and state-owned Orano, which runs them, says the government needs to outline a long-term strategy to modernise its ageing facilities no later than 2025. [International Business Times]
US:
¶ “EPA Blocks Mining Project Proposal That Threatened Alaskan Salmon” • The EPA has blocked the controversial Pebble Mine project, which was set for development in Alaska, over concerns about adverse effects on salmon fisheries, an agency release said. It could have become the largest copper, gold and molybdenum extraction site on the continent. [CNN]
Wetlands near Bristol Bay (US EPA, public domain)
¶ “Large Glacier Near Seattle Has ‘Completely Disappeared,’ Says Researcher Who Has Tracked It For Years” • Nestled between the snowy ranges of Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak, a significant glacier in Washington state has disappeared after existing full of ice and snowpack for millennia, according to a researcher who has tracked the glacier for years. [CNN]
¶ “PG&E To Stand Trial Over Deadly California Wildfire” • The California utility giant PG&E must face trial for manslaughter for its role in a 2020 wildfire that killed four people, a state judge has ruled. It is the latest legal trouble for Pacific Gas & Electric, which has been blamed for a series of deadly wildfires in the state in recent years. [BBC]
Wildfire in California (US Forest Service, public domain)
¶ “Clean Energy To Communities Program Launched By US DOE” • The US DOE announced that it launched the Clean Energy to Communities program to provide up to $50 million to support a range of clean energy needs of communities. The program is especially to help small communities that might ‘’fall through cracks.” [CleanTechnica]
¶ “EDF Renewables Signs PPA For Texas Solar Farm” • EDF Renewables North America has executed a 20-year virtual power purchase agreement from its Millers Branch solar project. Under the deal, with Thermo Fisher Scientific will take the full output of the 200-MW (AC) project, which is in Texas. It is expectedto be commissioned in December, 2025. [reNews]
Have an actually ideal day.
geoharvey 