Opinion:
¶ “Is The Decline Of Oil In Sight?” • The idea of “peak oil” has been around for decades. It foresees a peak in the amount of oil we can extract and an irreversible decline in production. Last month, the International Energy Agency recently announced that we may soon reach a different but related value: a peak in the global use of (or “demand for”) oil. [CNN]
Charging an EV (myenergi, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Renewable Solar Energy Can Help Purify Water And The Environment” • Chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated that water remediation can be powered in part, and perhaps even exclusively, by renewable energy sources. Their method integrates solar energy into an electrochemical separation process. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Battery Swapping For Large Trucks – Is This The Way To Go?” • Mitsubishi Fuso has worked with Ample to collaborate on its battery swapping technology for large electric trucks. The focus has been on smaller “last-mile” electric delivery trucks rather than the larger, long-distance semi trucks you often see on the highway. [CleanTechnica]
Ample charging station (Screen shot from an Ample video)
World:
¶ “VW Partners With XPENG And Audi Partners With SAIC In China” • Volkswagen Group announced that it is investing close to $700 million into XPENG, providing a capital increase, and in exchange getting 4.99% of the company’s shares at $15 per share. Audi is forming a somewhat similar partnership with Chinese automaker SAIC. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Porsche Opens First ‘Charging Lounge’” • Porsche announced it is opening its first “Porsche Charging Lounge.” It said, “Porsche is planning to set up its own fast-charging stations along Europe’s most important routes, with a premium charging experience one expects of the brand.” The first Charging Lounge has six 300-kW fast chargers and four 22-kW chargers. [CleanTechnica]
Porsche’s first Charging Lounge
¶ “I Squared Capital To Build Up To 1 GW Of Solar Plants In Malaysia” • I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investment manager, announced that HEXA Renewables, its portfolio company, signed a memorandum of understanding to develop up to 1 GW of hybrid solar photovoltaic projects in the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. [Business Wire]
Australia:
¶ “Wholesale Electricity Prices Down Almost 60% A Year On From Australia’s Short-Lived Energy Crisis” • Emissions from Australia’s main electricity grid dropped more than 6% in the June quarter from a year ago to a record low for the period, and wholesale prices stabilized, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator. [The Guardian]
Wind turbines (Pixabay, Pexels)
¶ “Australia Is Touted As A Future Clean Energy ‘Superpower,’ But Research Suggests Other Nations Will Outperform Us” • An analysis by CSIRO found Australia was near the top of the pack on factors such as the quality of renewable resources. But we are not the world’s best, and others are nipping at our heels. There’s still much work to be done. [CSIRO]
¶ “Northam Green Hydrogen Hub Set To Supply Renewable Energy To Heavy Vehicles” • Buses, concrete mixers, road trains, and rubbish trucks powered by green hydrogen could hit West Australian roads in the next eighteenth months. The new green hydrogen plant could be the first in the country to produce green hydrogen for vehicles commercially. [ABC]
Infinite Green Energy hub (Infinite Green Energy image)
US:
¶ “Advocates Forced DTE To Cut Pollution, Invest In Clean Energy With Settlement Approved” • The Michigan Public Service Commission approved a settlement led by advocacy organizations that will require DTE Energy to emit less pollution and invest more in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and assistance to low-income ratepayers. [NRDC]
¶ “Lithium Extraction And Conversion From Geothermal Brines – Ten Projects Get $10.9 Million From US Government” • The US DOE announced $10.9 million for ten projects across nine states that will advance innovative technologies to extract and convert battery-grade lithium from geothermal brine sources within the US. [CleanTechnica]
Please click on the image to enlarge it. (US DOE image)
¶ “New Hampshire Communities Use Solar Power To Save Money And Build Resiliency” • With energy costs spiking over the past few years, cost-effective renewable energy has come back to the forefront in New Hampshire. More communities in the state are taking advantage of the power of the sun, generating their own power with solar panels. [WMUR]
¶ “Democrats Push More Resilient, Lower-Carbon Infrastructure At US Senate Climate Hearing” • The changing climate is hurting infrastructure and the national economy, members of the US Senate Budget Committee said. Members of both parties agreed on the need to speed up the approval process for large energy and infrastructure projects. [Iowa Capital Dispatch]
Wind farm (musicFactory lehmannsound, Pexels)
¶ “Legislature Approves Wind Power Procurement And Labor Standards Bill, Sending It To Mills” • Just before the legislative session wrapped up, the House and Senate gave final approval to a bill that adds labor standards to a measure that will shape the buildout of Maine’s budding offshore wind industry, sending it to Gov Janet Mills’ desk. [Maine Beacon]
¶ “No New Nuclear Facilities Along Vulnerable Coasts, Alaska Regulators Say” • Lt Gov Nancy Dahlstrom signed a package of regulations that dictate where small nuclear “microreactors” may be built in Alaska. An 18-wheeler can transport a microreactor. Such reactors must not be built in areas vulnerable to coastal flooding. [Alaska Public Media]
Have a classically comfortable day.
geoharvey 
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