Opinion:
¶ “Women Working For A Clean, Sustainable Future” • RMI is made up of more than 600 passionate, committed, climate change experts, 57% of whom are women. March is Women’s History Month, when we celebrate women’s contributions to society. Meet some of the women of RMI who work to make our world clean and sustainable. [CleanTechnica]
Woman working (IRENA image)
World:
¶ “Germany Threatens To Derail EU Green Deal Over Fossil Car Phaseout” • The German Transport Minister said his country may abstain from an EU vote to end the sale of new combustion engine cars and vans from 2035. The final vote by ministers was expected to be a formality, but Germany is pushing to continue making the vehicles for use with e-fuels. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Orkney Subsea Power Link To Mainland Gets Go-Ahead” • A high-voltage subsea power cable to carry renewable energy from Orkney to mainland Scotland has been approved in principle by regulators. Power firm SSEN formally requested to lay the cable in 2018, but first had to demonstrate to the energy regulator Ofgem that it would be used. [BBC]
NKT Victoria laying a subsea cable to Shetland (SSEN image)
¶ “BEVs Outsell Hybrids In Australian EV Market In February” • Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) hit almost 7% of the Australian light vehicle market in February. That is over double the total from February 2022 and a slight increase from January 2023. If we add the 454 plugin hybrids sold in February, the penetration rate of plugin vehicles rises to 7.2%. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Norway’s Plugins Continue To Grow, Tesla Model Y Bestseller” • February saw Norway’s plugin electric vehicle share continue to grow to 90.1%, from 86.1% year on year. All the growth came from full electrics, whilst plugin hybrids lost share. The overall auto volume was 7,439 units, down some 9% YOY. The bestselling vehicle was the Tesla Model Y. [CleanTechnica]
Oslo (Darya Tryfanava, Unsplash)
¶ “EWEC Meets Over 80% Of Power Demand Using Renewable And Clean Energy Sources” • For the first time, on 10 February, at 2:26 pm, Emirates Water and Electricity Company met 80% of its power demand using carbon-free energy from its solar and nuclear energy plants, supplying about 6.2 GW of the total 7.7 GW system power demand. [Utilities Middle East]
¶ “Goa Aims For 100% Renewable Energy By 2050, Plans To Generate 150 MW Of Green Energy In Two Years” • Goa’s Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, announced that the government of the Indian state has set an ambitious goal of having 100% renewable energy for all sectors by 2050. He was addressing a conference on clean energy in Panaji. [SolarQuarter]
Street in Panaji, capital of Goa (Ronak Naik, Unsplash)
US:
¶ “Scout Chooses South Carolina For New Factory” • Scout Motors is an independent US company backed by Volkswagen Group. Its CEO is Scott Keogh, formerly head of Volkswagen of America. In a press release dated March 3, 2023, Scout Motors announced it will build its first manufacturing facility to make EVs in South Carolina. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Redwood Materials Shares Lessons Learned After One Year Of Operation” • Redwood Materials has recycled used EV battery packs for a year now. With EVs accounting for nearly 19% of all new car sales in California in 2022, the company says that the management of end-of-life battery packs there will serve as a model for other states. [CleanTechnica]
Redwood Materials workers (Redwood Materials image)
¶ “Beacon Wind Project Will Repower ‘Asthma Alley’ With Renewable Energy Facility In Astoria” • Equinor Wind US and bp in the US announced two initiatives in Queens. They will invest $215 million to buy the Astoria Gas Turbines site to turn it into a converter station for offshore wind power, and they will invest in community resources. [Astoria Post]
¶ “West Warms To Geothermal Energy As A Path To Clean Power Goals” • Backers think geothermal can play an important role in the clean energy transition, but they say its potential won’t be unlocked without government investments, utility regulations, and other policies to encourage development. Governors in the western US are getting interested. [Alaska Beacon]
Geothermal power plant in Iceland (Pixy.org, CC0)
¶ “As More Americans Struggle To Pay Power Bills, States Must Be ‘Deliberate’ In Equity Efforts: Report” • A substantial national effort is underway to ensure that the clean energy transition is equitable across racial groups and income levels, but analysis from the Clean Energy States Alliance warns that states must be deliberate in equity efforts. [Utility Dive]
¶ “Renewable Energy Institutional Investment Has Gone “From Niche To Mainstream”” • While there have been bumps along the road, the energy transition has attracted “an unprecedented wave of investment,” Andrew Redinger of KeyBanc Capital Markets said. Institutional investment in renewable energy went “from niche to mainstream” in 24 months. [pv magazine USA]
Wind turbines (Priscila Nissen, Pixy.org, CC0)
¶ “Unpredictable Cherry Blossom Bloom Underscores Climate Change Concerns” • After a mild winter in the Washington metro region triggered some local cherry blossom trees to bloom in early February, the National Park Service announced that this spring’s peak bloom for the iconic trees will occur between March 23 and March 25. [Frederick News-Post]
¶ “Biden’s DOE Announces $1.2 Billion To Extend Or Restart The Life Of Nuclear Plants” • The Biden administration is offering money to recently shuttered nuclear plants that want to come back to life. The funding is part of a $6 billion program offered to prevent the early closings of nuclear reactors as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. [EcoWatch]
Have a dreamily easy day.
geoharvey 
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