Science and Technology:
¶ “Four Alarming Charts That Show Just How Extreme The Climate Is Right Now” • Soaring temperatures. Unusually hot oceans. Record low levels of Antarctic ice. Record high levels of carbon pollution in the atmosphere. The year 2023 is only half over, and extreme climate records are being broken. Here are graphs that show it happening. [CNN]
Weather (NOAA, Unsplash)
¶ “Aluminum-Ion And Lithium-Sulfur Battery News” • Here’s an update on some battery news from this week. Researchers from a pair of German universities reportedly created new anodes for aluminum-ion batteries that significantly improve performance. Lyten announced the opening of its pilot battery factory in the US for lithium-sulfur batteries. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Gas Stoves Pollute Homes With Benzene, Which Is Linked To Cancer” • When the blue flame fires up on a gas stove, there’s more than heat coming off the burner. Researchers at Stanford University found that among the pollutants emitted from stoves is benzene, which is linked to cancer. The benzene can spread through the home. [NPR]
Gas stove (Kwon Junho, Unsplash, cropped)
World:
¶ “Australian Wind Farms Set First Record Of 2023” • Wind farms on Australia’s eastern seaboard set a record of over 7 GW on June 8, covering over 30% of grid demand. Wind capacity has grown, and more is coming online. As Australia moves further into winter, wind power is picking up. We can bet that more records will be broken. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “FedEx Canada Adds 50 Brightdrop Electric Delivery Vans, Merchants Fleet Orders 12,500 Electric RAM Vans” • FedEx took delivery of 50 electric delivery vans and thinks that is worth celebrating. The reaction at the CleanTechnica spritzer bar is “Meh.” Merchants Fleet has more than 30,000 of them on order. Our reaction to that is “Yowzah!” [CleanTechnica]
FedEx delivery (Fedex image)
¶ “EU Countries Strike Deal On Renewable Energy Law With Ammonia Caveat” • EU countries’ ambassadors struck a deal on a landmark renewable energy law after the Commission agreed to possibly exempt certain ammonia plants from renewable fuel targets. The law requires 42.5% of EU energy to be renewable by 2030, up from a 32% target. [Reuters]
¶ “Renewable Energy Soars, Fossil Fuels Decline In Electricity Report” • Renewable energy sources grew remarkably while fossil fuel-based electricity production declined, the International Energy Agency’s Monthly Electricity Statistics report shows. Fossil fuel generation declined 8.1% in the OECD, and nuclear genaration was off 3,1%. [Energy Live News]
Wind turbines (Efe Kurnaz, Unsplash)
¶ “IAEA Director General Speaks Of Visiting The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant” • After his visit to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stressed the utmost need for maintaining the required levels of water in the pond that are essential for cooling the nuclear station. [Yahoo News]
US:
¶ “How ‘Tornado Alley’ Is Changing” • Perryton, Texas, was torn up by a tornado. The latest research suggests that such incidents are set to become more common across the US. Though the central states currently witness more tornadoes than anywhere else, in the future, the main area of peril could also include the southeast. Tornado alley is widening. [BBC]
Tornado (Will Campbell, National Weather Service, public domain)
¶ “Tesla Cuts Model S And Model X Prices By $8,500 In Q2 Inventory Push” • After reducing prices, Tesla went further by dropping the price of inventory Model S and Model X cars by a whopping $7,500. This combines with earlier offers of an additional $1,000 off (with referral code), three years of free Supercharging, and more. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Interior Department Announces $578.8 Million In Payments To Support Vital Services In Communities” • The Department of the Interior disclosed that over 1,900 state and local governments will receive a total of $578.8 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding for 2023. PILT payments are important because public lands don’t pay taxes but need services. [CleanTechnica]
Oshkosh electric fire truck (Courtesy of Oshkosh Corp)
¶ “CVS Health Adds 18 MW Of Renewable Energy For Michigan Sites” • CVS Health is adding to its efforts with an 18-MW energy agreement with Constellation Energy to purchase zero-emission, renewable energy. This commitment will cover the electricity needed by all of the 147 CVS Health locations throughout the state of Michigan. [Environment + Energy Leader]
¶ “Georgia Power Says Vogtle Nuclear Reactor Delayed Another Month By Turbine Problem” • Commercial operation of a new reactor at a Georgia nuclear power plant has been delayed for at least another month. Georgia Power Co that Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, has a problem in a system used to cool its main electrical generator. [11Alive]
Have a brilliantly whumsical day.
(“Whumsical is more Whimsical than Whamsical.”)
geoharvey 
Leave a comment