Science and Technology:
¶ “Changing Seasons: Jet Shift Causes Seasonally Dependent Future Changes In The Midwest Hydroclimate” • A study found that future mean precipitation during the Midwest rainy season will not change greatly relative to current precipitation. But it found a significant increase in the late spring precipitation and a decrease in the late summer. [CleanTechnica]
Jet Stream (NOAA image)
World:
¶ “EU Lifts Curbs On Food Imports From Fukushima Area As Japan Set To Release Nuclear Water Into Sea” • After positive results from tests, the EU has lifted all import restrictions on food, including fish produced near the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, just as Tokyo prepares to release treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean. [CNN]
¶ “A New Outbreak Of Canadian Wildfires Is Sending A Plume Of Unhealthy Smoke Into The US Yet Again” • New wildfires in western Canada are sending of unhealthy smoke into the US again. The smoke is spreading unhealthy air into the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan, and down to Indiana. [CNN]
North America, July 14, 2023 (CSU/CIRA & NOAA)
¶ “Europe Heatwave: Red Alerts Issued In Fifteen Italian Cities” • Potential record temperatures are expected in Europe next week as another heatwave approaches. Red alerts have been issued for fifteen cities across Italy as extreme heat affects southern Europe, according to the European Space Agency, which uses satellites to monitor land and sea temperatures. [BBC]
¶ “Volkswagen EV Sales Growing 50% In 2023” • Volkswagen Group’s electric transition is continuing at a good pace. Its pure electric sales were up nearly 50% in the first six months of 2023 from the first six months of 2022, from 217,200 to 321,600. Furthermore, there are another 200,000 or so battery EV orders on the books just in Western Europe. [CleanTechnica]
VW ID.4 (Rainer Zietlow, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “One-Third Of All Electricity Will Come From Renewables By 2030” • RMI, formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Institute, in collaboration with Bezos Earth Fund, has issued a new report that claims fully one-third of all the electricity the world needs will come from renewable sources in 2030. Today, about 12% comes from renewables. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “First Utility-Scale Airborne Wind System Is Launched By Kitemill” • The launch of Norwegian company Kitemill’s latest airborne wind energy technology, the KM2 system, will bring AWE to utility-scale, Kitemill says. The KM2 system features a 16 meter wingspan and can do vertical take-off and landing. It could generate 100 kW on average. [Energy Monitor]
KM2 system (Kitemill image)
¶ “How Big Oil Hijacked Germany’s Multi-Billion-Dollar Offshore Wind Auction” • European oil and gas supermajors BP Plc and TotalEnergies have won all of the capacity on offer in Germany’s 7-GW offshore wind auction. BP and TotalEenrgies each took two sites. Germany currently has 8 MW of offshore wind capacity. [Oil Price]
¶ “Municipalities Grant BioPower approval For 1-GW Solar Project In South Africa” • US-based renewable power company BioPower Operations has announced plans to build a 1GW solar power facility in the South African state of Mpumalanga. The company has established a joint venture, which would be around $2.5 billion investment. [PV Tech]
Droogfontein solar plant in South Africa (Globeleq image)
¶ “Novouralsk Nuclear Plant Blast: What We Know As Russians Rushed To Hospital” • More than 100 people were hospitalized and one killed after an explosion at a uranium enrichment plant in Russia’s Urals region, the largest of its kind in the world, local media reports say. Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, owns the plant. [Newsweek]
US:
¶ “Can Biden Achieve His Cornerstone Climate Goal? Why 100% Clean Power Is Still Out Of Reach” • One of President Joe Biden’s climate commitments is a crucial goal: Transforming the US electric grid to run entirely on clean energy by 2035. But federal analysis shows clean and renewable sources will make up about 86% of US energy in 2035. [CNN]
Hydropower (American Public Power Association, Unsplash)
¶ “US Heatwave: A Third Of Americans Under Extreme Heat Advisories” • The US heatwave is forecast to intensify. Heat advisories were issued for at least 113 million Americans, in Florida, from Texas to California, and on up to Washington. About 27 million people are forecast to see temperatures of over 110°F (43°C) in the coming days. [BBC]
¶ “Tesla Tells US Customers Tax Credit Likely To Decline In 2024” • Very few automakers have EVs on the US market that are eligible for the full $7,500 consumer tax credit. Tesla’s order log often goes six months, and things do change. The company wants to make sure people order now if they are expecting to get the full tax credit. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla (Tesla Fans Schweiz, Unsplash)
¶ “In The California Desert, Old EV Batteries Now Store Solar Power” • B2U Storage Solutions is employing the excess supply of used EV batteries to meet the high demand for stored clean energy. “It’s pretty simple: Take it out of the car, put it in, cable it up, and it’s ready to go,” says Rachel Harper, B2U’s operations project manager. [Marketplace.org]
¶ “Seabrook Nuclear Plant Faces Ongoing Challenge Of Concrete Degradation” • The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported NextEra Energy Seabrook nuclear plant’s overall performance last year “preserved public health and safety.” But agency officials also discussed a decade-long problem with the power plant’s concrete: alkali-silica reaction. [NHPR]
Have an easily superb day.
geoharvey 
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