Interview:
¶ “Linda Pentz Gunter on the Nuclear Corruption Cases” • Linda Pentz Gunter of Beyond Nuclear tracks nuclear power industry corruption. “Nuclear power is almost completely dependent on the government for not only its continued existence, but also for new reactor construction,” she said. No wonder it corrupts our politics. [Corporate Crime Reporter]
Nuclear power plant (Clora Torrence, Pixy.org, CC0)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Pathbreaking Groundwater Research” • Michael Kiparsky, founding director of the Wheeler Water Institute at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environments, has spent years working on water policy, along with a team from several branches of the University of California system. Now there is funding to take the work nationwide. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Dry Canals, Low Rivers And Shrunken Lakes: Europe Braces For Severe Drought Amid Winter Heatwave” • A winter heatwave, record low levels of rain and a startling lack of snow in Europe are pushing rivers, canals, and lakes across the continent to alarmingly low levels, with experts warning there could be repeat of last year’s severe droughts. [CNN]
Drought (Markus Spiske, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “South Africa Introduces Solar Panel Tax Incentives For Adopting Renewables” • In his National Budget Speech on 22 February, South Africa’s Minister of Finance announced new short-term tax incentives for South Africans to go solar. This is in a bid to increase distributed solar power and help protect citizens from load-shedding. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “13% Of New Cars Were BEVs In France In January” • The car market in France is still 17% below January 2020, the last normal month, but it is now recovering (+9% YOY). The French plugin passenger car market has hit the accelerator, however, largely thanks to pure battery EVs jumping 43%, to 14,649 registrations, for a 13% market share. [CleanTechnica]
Dacia Spring (Alexander Migl, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Renewable Energy Poised To Drive Growth In The Power Sector” • We forecast global non-hydro renewables electricity capacity could increase threefold from 2023 to 2032. By 2032, non-hydro renewables could account for nearly one-third of the world’s power generation. Our report explores the factors we see supporting robust growth. [Benzinga]
¶ “Australia Steps Up Its Renewable Energy Game With Proposed Offshore Wind Zone” • The federal government of Australia has opened a consultation on a offshore wind zone off New South Wales. The government said the proposed zone could support the future of onshore manufacturing with “cheaper, cleaner energy.” [Offshore Engineer Magazine]
Proposed offshore site (Australian government)
¶ “Steady Rise In Belgium’s Renewable Energy Consumption In 2021” • Renewable energy as a share of Belgians’ total energy consumption rose in 2021, accounting for 13.01% of energy use according to FPS Economy. This increase just allowed Belgium to meet the EU’s target for Member States’ renewable energy consumption. [The Brussels Times]
¶ “Big Oil’s Net-Zero Pledges Not Aligned With Climate Science” • The net-zero emissions pledges touted by Canada’s oil and gas sector ring false as it continues its push to expand fossil fuels and oppose climate policy, reports InfluenceMap, an independent think tank that maintains a database of climate policy lobbying by corporate and industry associations. [Penticton Herald]
Pump jack (Delfino Barboza, Unsplash)
¶ “Iran Building 2,000 MW Nuclear Power Plant In Defiance Of Sanctions: Nuclear Chief” • Iran’s nuclear chief says a nuclear power plant in the southwestern province of Khuzestan aims to generate 2,000 MW of electricity, defying decades of sanctions that have targeted the country’s nuclear program. He said it will produce 300 MW in a preliminary phase. [Press TV]
US:
¶ “Arcimoto Gets More Funding, Goes Back Into Production. Is This Part Of A Bigger Trend?” • Arcimoto, a company making the 3-wheeled tandem-seating EVs, had financial problems and was on the brink of bankruptcy. Now, financial news outlets report that Arcimoto has got itself back on track with about $6 million of additional funding. [CleanTechnica]
Arcimoto (Courtesy of Arcimoto)
¶ “How Much Land Would It Require To Get Most Of Our Electricity From Wind And Solar?” • Critics of wind and solar often raise concerns about how much land would be required to decarbonize the US power sector. An NREL study shows that it would take an area comparable to or even smaller than the fossil fuel industry’s current footprint. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Sunrun Installed Almost A Gigawatt Of Solar In 2022!” • Sunrun, the leading provider of residential solar, storage and energy services in America, announced financial results for 2022. Sunrun says it added new installed solar energy capacity in 2022 by 25.2% YOY to 991 MW, modestly exceeding guidance. That’s almost 1 GW in one year! [CleanTechnica]
Solar PV system (Sunrun image)
¶ “Three New-Tech Geothermal Plans To Be Considered For Boosting Power At The Geysers” • Three cutting-edge pilot projects that could give California constant emission-free electricity are being considered to go ahead in and around massive geothermal field in Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties. [North Bay Business Journal]
¶ “City’s Decarbonization Plan Reduces Gas Usage, Increases Renewable Energy” • San Diego’s updated Climate Action Plan calls for eliminating nearly all natural gas use from buildings in the city by 2035. That entails eliminating natural gas hookups in all new construction, as well as reducing 90% of natural gas use in existing buildings. [SDNews.com]
Have a fabulously lovely day.
geoharvey 