Opinion:
¶ “How New York’s Utilities Are Spreading Disinformation About Renewable Energy” • Worried about the climate crisis? Live in Brooklyn, Long Island, or Upstate? If so, your gas bill is paying for anti-climate disinformation. Nearly all of New York’s gas utilities are working to defeat our state’s nation-leading climate law, the 2019 Climate Act. [City Limits]
Brooklyn (Nelson Ndongala, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “One Of Europe’s Top Banks Is Being Sued For Financing Fossil Fuels” • Climate activist groups took legal action against BNP Paribas, one of Europe’s biggest banks, alleging the French lender’s loans to big oil and gas companies violate a legally binding duty to ensure its activities do not do harm to the environment. [CNN]
¶ “The Battle For Germany Begins – Tesla Leads On Models And Brand, Volkswagen Group First Among OEMs” • After subsidies caused a December sales rush with historic performance, the Germany plugin vehicle market was bound to have a hangover month in January. The market started the year with a 33% drop over the same month last year. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla Model Y (Michal Lauko, Unsplash)
¶ “Adani Group’s Two Renewable Energy Projects Approved By Sri Lanka” • Sri Lanka’s investment promotion body approved two renewable energy projects of India’s Adani group to be set up in the north and eastern regions of the island nation at a total investment of $442 million. They are wind farms with capacities of 250 MW and 100 MW. [Telegraph India]
¶ “US Energy Secretary Discusses Plan To ‘Warproof’ Ukraine’s Electrical Grid” • Russian attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid since mid-October. The US is sending a third round of help to restore damaged infrastructure. The ultimate goal is to help Ukraine build a new “warproof” distributed power grid, the US Secretary of Energy said. [Voice of America]
Energy Secretary Granholm (US Dept of Labor, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “India To Increase Renewable Energy In Ports To 60%” • India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways revealed its plans to increase the share of renewable energy to 60%. Under the Green Shipping initiative, major ports implemented various activities that would help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the ports and shipping sector. [Ships & Ports]
¶ “TotalEnergies Signs Renewable Power Purchase Agreements With Sasol And Air Liquide” • TotalEnergies announced that it has signed Corporate Power Purchase Agreements with Sasol South Africa and Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa for the supply of 260 MW capacity of renewable electricity over a term of 20 years. [Eurasia Review]
Wind farm in South Africa (Kalle Pihlajasaari, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Poland Signs Agreement with US For Its First Nuclear Power Plant” • The Polish government and Westinghouse have signed a contract to have Poland’s first nuclear power plant designed and built. The agreement was signed by the president of the Polish state-owned Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe and representatives of the US firm Westinghouse. [El American]
US:
¶ “It’s Never Been This Warm In February. Here’s Why That’s Not Good” • More than 130 cities from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes could set new records for daily and monthly high temperatures this week. Highs will climb up to 80 degrees as far north as Ohio and West Virginia – certainly unusual, but getting less so in the warming climate. [CNN]
Cherry blossoms (Kristina Paukshtite, Pexels)
¶ “Los Angeles Blizzard Warning Is First Since 1989” • A massive storm has brought major blizzards and temperatures below freezing to much of the northern US. Forecasters are predicting record snowfall of up to eight feet (2.4 meters) in mountains to the east of Los Angeles by Saturday. The city of Santa Barbara could have up to five feet. [BBC]
¶ “New Design For Lithium-Air Battery Could Offer Much Longer Driving Range” • Scientists at the US DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory and Illinois Institute of Technology have a lithium-air battery that could make a thousand mile EV range real. Such batteries could even power domestic airplanes and long-haul trucks one day. [CleanTechnica]
Heart Aerospace’s ES-19 (Courtesy of United Airlines)
¶ “Interior Department Proposes First-Ever Offshore Wind Sale In Gulf Of Mexico” • The Biden-Harris administration took a step to grow America’s clean energy economy, as the Interior Department proposed the first offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. This is part of the Administration’s actions to expand offshore wind opportunities. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “PG&E Will Test Technologies Of Tesla And Sonnen Virtual Power Plants” • This summer, Pacific Gas & Electric will run tests on two different virtual power plants – one that uses residential batteries supplied by Sunrun, and one that uses Tesla Powerwall batteries. One operates like extra baseload power, and the other is more like a peaker plant. [CleanTechnica]
Installation (Sunrun image)
¶ “New Legislation Would Reform Vermont’s Renewable Energy Standard” • H.320, An act relating to the Renewable Energy Standard, is a proposal to reform Vermont’s Renewable Energy Standard to prioritize the development of new renewable resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout Vermont and the rest of New England. [Solar Power World]
¶ “Entergy Texas To Purchase 150 MW Of Solar Power” • Entergy Texas customers will soon benefit from a cleaner energy resource in Polk County. Longroad Energy announced commencement of construction of Umbriel Solar, a 150-MW PV project. Entergy Texas has entered into a long-term Power Purchase Agreement for Umbriel’s total output. [Entergy Newsroom]
Have an entirely auspicious day.
geoharvey 