Opinion:
¶ “Europe, China, And India Can Electrify All Rail, Why Can’t The US?” • India is at 83% rail electrification, and is ahead of schedule to achieve almost 100%. China is at 72%, on its way to 100%. It’s built 40,000 km (30,000 miles) of grid-tied electrified high-speed rail since 2007. Europe is at 60% so far. And then there’s the US, with 1%. [CleanTechnica]
Electric train (Pixy.org, public domain, CC0)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Climate Change Is Contributing To The Rise Of Superbugs, UN Report Says” • Climate change and antimicrobial resistance are two of the greatest threats to global health, a report from the UN Environment Programme says. The report highlights the role of climate change and other environmental factors behind the rise of antimicrobial resistance. [CNN]
¶ “New Sodium And Aluminum Battery Aims To Integrate Renewables For Grid Resiliency” • A research team, led by the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, demonstrated that a storage battery built with the low-cost metals sodium and aluminum provides a pathway towards a safer and more scalable stationary energy storage system. [CleanTechnica]
System with batteries (Sara Levine, PNNL)
¶ “Carnivores’ Attacks On Humans Are Becoming More Common, And Climate Change Isn’t Helping” • Attacks on humans by carnivorous animals have increased steadily since 1950, as growing human populations in new areas make such incidents more common, a study says. Some experts say climate change may contribute to the problem. [NBC News]
World:
¶ “An ‘Inland Tsunami’: Fifteen Million People Are At Risk From Catastrophic Glacial Lake Outbursts, Researchers Find” • Glaciers around the world are melting at an alarming rate, and are leaving massive pools of water in their wake. The meltwater forms glacial lake behind natural dams of ice or land. The dams sometimes give way destructively. [CNN]
Glacial lake (Takisha Rappold, Pixy.org, CC0)
¶ “Tesla Is First In World BEV Sales By Big Margin, 2022 World EV Sales Report” • Looking only at battery EVs, Tesla again got the title, with 18.2% share of the global BEV market. BYD took second place at 12.6%. Looking at plugin vehicle sales overall, Tesla, with a 13% share of the market, lost the 2022 title to BYD, which had an 18.4% share. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “XPeng Enters 4 European Countries” • XPeng is one of the most exciting car companies. Early on, it decided to go beyond its safe, huge home market of China and become a notable global force in the EV revolution. Now those plans are starting to come to fruition.The latest news from XPeng is that it is now selling two of its models in Europe! [CleanTechnica]
Xpeng P7 sedan (Windmemories, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Renewable Energy Surge Signals A Tipping Point For Power Sector Emissions” • An expected surge in renewables electricity generation through 2025 signals coming to the tipping point of emissions in the power sector, the International Energy Agency said. It expects renewables’ share of global power generation mix to rise from 29% in 2022 to 35% in 2025. [Oil Price]
¶ “RWE Boss: German Nuclear Power Plants Are Dispensable” • The head of energy group RWE, Markus Krebber, believes the last three German nuclear power plants still in operation are dispensable. “In the overall European energy supply, the good four gigawatts of output of the last three German nuclear power plants make no difference.” [Market Screener]
German nuclear plant (Pixy.org, CC0)
US:
¶ “Senators Form Bipartisan Colorado River Caucus As Tensions Rise In West Over Water Crisis” • As the Colorado River sinks further into crisis and tensions rise between Western states over how to divvy up painful water cuts, a bipartisan group of senators is formalizing a new caucus to examine how the US government could help in the situation. [CNN]
¶ “Plan Now For Home Efficiency Federal Rebate Programs” • The US DOE isn’t expected to issue guidance on how states should implement the rebate program until later this year. Then state energy offices will need to develop their own systems for administering benefits to eligible residents. But planning for them should start now. [CleanTechnica]
Please click on the image to enlarge it (State of Rhode Island)
¶ “New Survey Reveals That Two-Thirds Of Renters Want Green, Energy Efficient Homes” • A survey of 2000 US renters shows that one key criterion for two-thirds of them when choosing a place to rent was “green practices” at the building, with 40% of them saying that they wouldn’t rent a property that doesn’t have green practices. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “New Energy Storage Facility Could Be Coming To Pueblo Under Pilot Plan” • Pueblo could soon become home to an iron-air battery storage system to back up energy from solar and wind plants. The system will be on the site of Xcel Energy’s Comanche 3 power plant, which is slated to close December 31, 2030 as the last coal-burning plant in Colorado. [Pueblo Chieftain]
Proposed Form Air battery system (Xcel Energy image)
¶ “DOE Releases Report, Aims To Meet Puerto Rico Target Of 100% Renewable Energy By 2050” • The US DOE and the Federal Emergency Management Agency released a progress report from a study on Puerto Rico’s transition to 100% renewable energy. The study is used to help inform investment decisions for Puerto Rico’s energy grid. [Pasquines]
¶ “Minnesota Just Passed A 100% Clean Energy Bill” • Minnesota governor Tim Walz signed a 100% clean energy bill. SF 4 requires all Minnesota utilities to produce 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. The road map to carbon-free electricity before 2040 has stages: 80% for public utilities and 60% for other utilities by 2030, and 90% for all utilities by 2035. [Electrek]
Have an easily outstanding day.
geoharvey 