Opinion:
¶ “More Green Investment Hasn’t Softened Red Resistance On Climate” • Even as billions of dollars in clean energy investments surge into Republican leaning communities around the country, state and federal GOP officials are hardening their resistance to efforts to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels, dashing the hopes of environmentalists. [CNN]
Wind turbines in Lubbock County (Pete Alexopoulos, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Why There Is Serious Money In Kitchen Fumes” • Heat exchange equipment called Lepido, developed in Sweden, by start-up Enjay addresses a gap in the market for recovering energy from kitchen fumes, and uses it to heat other areas inside restaurant buildings. It helps cut heating bills, and it reduces emissions in the process. [BBC]
¶ “Towing Electric Planes To Increase Range? I’m Not Convinced, But It’s Interesting” • Damon Vander Lind, founder and CEO of startup Magpie Aviation, came up with a solution for powering larger electric airplanes. It is to tow the aircraft to altitude and let it go on its own from there. It needs less battery weight, and it might just work. [CleanTechnica]
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 (Gerard van der Schaaf, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
World:
¶ “34% Plugin Vehicle Market Share In China – March 2023 Sales Report” • Plugin vehicles are all the rage in the Chinese market. Plugins scored over half a million sales last month, up 23% year over year, pulling the year-to-date tally to over 1.3 million units. Plugins took a 34% market share, with full battery EVs taking 24% of the country’s auto sales. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “DAF’s Electric Truck Assembly Plant In The Netherlands Is Officially Open” • We are finally starting to see some traction in the electrification of commercial vehicles. DAF’s all new Dutch assembly plant for battery-electric trucks was officially opened last week by Micky Adriaansens, the minister of Economic Affairs and Climate. [CleanTechnica]
DAF Electric Truck Assembly (Courtesy of DAF)
¶ “Tesla Leads Italy’s BEV Market Rebound In March” • Italy’s EV market is finally giving some positive signs, after months of subdued numbers. The overall car market jumped 40% year on year in the month. Full electric cars made a splash, however, achieving an excellent 81.5% gain year on year, for the second highest percentage of sales ever. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “TotalEnergies Signs 260 MW Of Renewable Power Purchase Agreements With Sasol And Air Liquide In South Africa” • TotalEnergies has signed Corporate Power Purchase Agreements with Sasol South Africa and Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa for the provision of 260 MW of renewable power over a 20-year period. [SolarQuarter]
Renewable Energy (Pixabay, Pexels)
¶ “Suzlon Secures Second Order For Their 3-MW Series Turbines From Juniper Green Energy Of 69.3 MW” • Suzlon Group announced an order for 3 MW product series to develop of a 69.3 MW wind power project for Juniper Green Energy Private Limited. The project is in Gujarat and is expected to be commissioned in 2024. [pv magazine India]
¶ “Siemens Gamesa Lands 1-GW Onshore Deal With RWE” • RWE has signed a framework agreement with Siemens Gamesa covering turbines for 1 GW of onshore wind farms in Europe to 2027. RWE will mainly use the Siemens Gamesa 5.X model with a flexible nominal output of 6.6 MW to 7 MW, including in its home market of Germany. [reNews]
Wind turbines (Thomas Reaubourg, Unsplash)
¶ “Government Committee Calls For End To Onshore Wind Ban And Claims UK Will Miss Renewable Energy Targets” • An all-party government committee claimed the UK will miss its target of decarbonising the power sector by 2035 at its current pace. The committee is calling for the end to the ban on constructing new onshore wind farms. [New Civil Engineer]
US:
¶ “Environmental Groups Sue FAA For SpaceX Launch” • Green groups are suing the Federal Aviation Administration over the SpaceX launch of a massive Starship rocket last month. The rocket exploded over the Gulf of Mexico about four minutes into flight. The suit alleges that the FAA failed to investigate properly potential harm the launch could cause. [CNN]
SpaceX Starship launch (Osunpokeh, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Mississippi River Crest Reaches Historic Proportions As Iowans Cope With Yet Another Flood” • As a slow-moving crest works its way down the Mississippi River, flood-weary Iowans did their best to cope with the rising water. In Davenport, River Drive looked like a river, but sandbagging efforts by the residents of the city may be working. [CNN]
¶ “Green Hydrogen Sails Under Anti-ESG Radar In Texas” • Public officials in Texas are revving the anti-ESG movement into high gear, to protect fossil energy stakeholders. But the seeds of failure are already written on the wind. That means literal wind, as Texas has an ample supply of wind energy for a homegrown green hydrogen industry. [CleanTechnica]
Green hydrogen pipeline (Courtesy of AES)
¶ “California Regulators Approve PG&E, Energy Vault Green Hydrogen And Battery Microgrid” • The California PUC has approved a proposal from Pacific Gas & Electric for an 8.5-MW hybrid battery energy storage and hydrogen fuel cell system to provide power to a Northern California substation that is prone to wildfire-related shutoffs. [Utility Dive]
¶ “Georgia Power Argues New Rate Hike Request This Week Ahead Of Summer Peak Electricity Demand” • The snakebitten $30 billion nuclear expansion at Vogtle is one of the reasons 2.7 million Georgia ratepayers could be saddled with paying $500 more each year on electric bills by 2025, according to clean energy advocates. [Now Habersham]
Have a copacetically frolicsome day.
geoharvey 