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World:

¶ “UN Chief Warns ‘Humanity Has Opened The Gates To Hell’ As He Convenes Climate Summit” • UN Secretary General António Guterres issued a stark warning as he gathered world leaders for a high-level summit on the climate crisis: “Humanity has opened the gates to hell.” He said, “Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge.” [CNN]

António Guterres giving address (UN News)

¶ “Volvo Cars Says It Will Cease Production Of All Diesel Models Starting Early 2024” • In a bold move towards sustainability, Volvo Cars has unveiled an ambitious roadmap to sell only fully electric cars by 2030 and become a climate-neutral company by 2040. This ambitious plan shows that Volvo is a pioneer among legacy car manufacturers. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Panama Taps Solar Energy To Heat Water And To Reduce Deforestation” • Alongside countering deforestation, solar hot water heating can help Panama cut its reliance on fossil fuels, particularly petroleum gas. Termosolar Panama says the fuel is used to heat most of the over 30 million litres of hot water Panamanians use daily. [UNEP]

Boiling water for school meals (UNEP image)

¶ “SBM Installs French Floating Wind Platform” • SBM Offshore installed the first floating wind unit to the Provence Grand Large floating wind project 17 km off the coast of Marseille. The anchor piles and moorings lines were pre-deployed in August 2023. In September SBM Offshore completed the hook-up of the first floater and its 8.4-MW turbine. [reNews]

UK:

¶ “UK Smashes Low Carbon Record With Wind Power” • On 18th September at 2pm, the grid achieved a new low carbon intensity record, hitting just 27 g/kWh, National Grid ESO said. A record set earlier this year was 33 g/kWh. Wind power accounted for 48% of the electricity supply on that day, with nuclear energy second at 18.9%. [Energy Live News]

Whitelee wind farm (Rosser1954, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “The UK Is Delaying The Switch To Electric Cars. Automakers Are Furious” • The UK government said it would delay a ban on the sale of new gas and diesel cars by five years. The move has angered carmakers who warned it undermines their efforts to switch to EVs. The PM claimed he wants to avoid “unacceptable costs on hard-pressed British families.” [CNN]

¶ “Rishi Sunak’s Plans To Delay Climate Targets Attacked, As UK Government Pushes Anti-Green Drive” • Britain will delay a series of key climate targets, its beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said at a hastily organized press conference. The move angered businesses and political allies and intensified the UK government’s assault on green policies. [CNN]

Rishi Sunak (HM Treasury, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

US:

¶ “Biden Administration Announces $4.6 Billion Grant Program To Reduce Planet-Warming Pollution” • Competitive grants totaling $4.6 billion were revealed by the Biden administration. States, cities, and tribes can apply for grants to reduce the planet-warming pollution that is fueling the climate crisis. The grants program will be managed by the EPA. [CNN]

¶ “DeSantis Unveils Energy Agenda From Texas Oil Country” • Flanked by two oil rigs in West Texas, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis shared his vision for America’s energy sector, with an emphasis on ending efforts to fight climate change. He wants to greenlight more pipelines and allow mining and extraction of oil, gas, coal, uranium, and other minerals on federal lands. [CNN]

Ron DeSantis (Tom Williams, public domain)

¶ “Highway Traffic Pollution Puts Communities Of Color At Greater Health Risk, Data Analysis Shows” • More than 49 million Americans live within a mile of a highway and face startling health risks from traffic pollution, according to an ABC News data analysis done in collaboration with ABC-owned television stations. [ABC News]

¶ “Working Remotely May Have Significant Carbon Reduction Benefit” • A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that working from home can reduce the carbon footprint of an individual employee by more than 50%. It sheds light on factors that influence environmental effects of different work models. [CleanTechnica]

Work from home (Ian Harber, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Wave Energy Legislation Unanimously Passes California Legislature” • The California State Senate passed California Senate Bill 605 unanimously. The bill directs the California Energy Commission to evaluate the feasibility, costs, and benefits of using wave and tidal energy across the 840-mile California coastline. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ “Xcel Energy Proposes $15 Billion Plan To Add Renewable Energy To Its System” • Xcel Energy proposed a $15 billion plan to add an “unprecedented” amount of renewable energy over the next seven years to double the amount of renewable energy on the system. Xcel hopes to get $10 billion in tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. [Denver Gazette]

Wind turbines in Colorado (Jeffrey Beall, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Wolverine Power Agrees To Buy Palisades Nuclear Power” • The shuttered Palisades Nuclear Power Plant met the first step on the long road to reopening when Wolverine Power Cooperative, a Michigan-based nonprofit power company, signed a long-term agreement with Holtec International to buy power when the plant reopened. [MITechNews]

¶ “Citizens Advisory Panel Hears Update On Vermont Yankee Decommissioning” • The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel met Monday evening to hear updates on the status of decommissioning the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. The power plant in Vernon was shut down at the end of 2014. [WAMC]

Have an interestingly resplendent day.

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This entry was posted on September 21, 2023 at 5:34 am and is filed under nuclear power, renewable power, solar, wind.

Tags: nuclear, nuclear power, photovoltaic, renewable power, solar power, wind power