Opinion:
¶ “Bill McKibben, Pope Francis, And The Warmest September” • The data from September, 2023 shows average temperatures for the month were 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels and 0.5°C hotter than any September ever recorded. But there is good news: “The planet is now adding a gigawatt a day of solar power. A nuclear plant’s worth every day of solar power.” [CleanTechnica]
Bill McKibben has only praise for Pope Francis (Vatican image)
World:
¶ “The Climate Crisis Is Coming For Your Hoppy Beer” • Hops in major beer-producing European countries like Germany, Czech Republic and Slovenia are ripening earlier and producing less since 1994, scientists found. And, perhaps most alarmingly for the IPA lovers of the world, they are starting to lose their critical bitter component. [CNN]
¶ “Tesla, Daimler, And New Flyer Keep The Ball Rolling On Heavy Duty EVs” • We should take a look into large, heavy duty EVs in the supply chain, delivering such things as the food we eat. In today’s heavy duty EV roundup, we’ll briefly talk about two electric truck stories and one bus story that show us progress is being made to help our lives cleaner. [CleanTechnica]
Daimler Trucks truck (Daimler Trucks image)
¶ “Indigenous Communities Protect The Amazon” • About 1.5 million Indigenous people live in the Amazon forests South America. Deforestation and fires have eaten into this iconic forest in recent decades, putting it in danger of becoming a net carbon emitter. Indigenous communities, however, are helping protect some of its most intact parts. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Private Sector’s $4.4 Billion Investment In Renewable Energy To Boost Egypt’s Capacity” • The private sector is working on Egyptian renewable energy projects valued at $4.4 billion, said the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker. These projects aim to increase Egypt’s renewable power capacity to 10,000 MW by 2025. [SolarQuarter]
Egypt (Flying Carpet, Unsplash)
¶ “Singapore Is Set To Start Importing Green Energy From Indonesia Within Five Years” • Singapore could start importing 2 GW of renewable energy annually from Indonesia within five years, in what is the Republic’s biggest effort so far to import low-carbon electricity. The imports would account for about 15% of Singapore’s annual needs. [Spectra]
¶ “GE Vernova’s Hydro Power Business Commissions Four 175-MW Units For Nigeria’s Second Largest Hydropower Plant” • GE Vernova’s Hydro Power commissioned four 175-MW Francis hydropower turbines and generators at the Zungeru project in Nigeria. The 700-MW Zungeru project is the second largest hydropower plant in Nigeria. [General Electric]
Construction at Gure dam (Okeile, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Zelenskiy Pledged Not To Attack Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, Says IAEA Chief” • In an interview with the Guardian, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promised him that Ukraine will not attack Europe’s biggest nuclear plant in any counteroffensive against Russia. [The Guardian]
US:
¶ “NREL Analysis Identifies Drivers Of Offshore Wind Growth” • As much as 20% of regional power needs along the Atlantic coast could be served by offshore wind farms by 2050, according to researchers with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory who modeled deployment of th emerging offshore wind sector in new depth and detail. [CleanTechnica]
Block Island Wind Farm (Suzanne Tegen, NREL)
¶ “What’s In The EPA’s New Pollution Standards For Cars And Trucks?” • Transportation is the highest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, accounting for 39% of total emissions. Rapid electrification of the transport sector and the extensive adoption of zero-emission EVs can dramatically cut GHG emissions and help achieve US climate goals. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “People Are Okay With Wind And Solar Installations In Their Neighborhoods, Studies Say” • A major poll gave us a fascinating revelation: The majority of people in the US say they wouldn’t mind fields of solar panels or wind turbines being built in their communities. More surprisingly, these respondents are part of a large pool of bipartisan voters. [CleanTechnica]
Wind turbines in Washington (Murray Foubister, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Grid Operator MISO’s Outdated Ban On Essential Services From Renewables Threatens Future Grid Reliability” • MISO operates the grid across fifteen states and Manitoba. It explicitly prohibits wind, solar, and battery hybrid systems from providing the services that help maintain a reliable power grid. FERC said it should be ready to change that. [Earthjustice]
¶ “Green Mountain Power Proposes Energy Storage For All Vermonters” • Vermont utility Green Mountain Power submitted a petition to the Vermont Public Utility Commission asking it to approve a Zero Outages Initiative costing $280 million. It aims to harden the grid and decentraleg energy by providing batteries to customers. [Utility Dive]
House in Vermont (Craig Tidball, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “With Tensions Rising, Michigan Democrats Unveil Clean Energy Reforms” • As Michigan Senate Democrats negotiate a plan to wean Michigan off fossil fuels, their House counterparts unveiled the latest piece of the party’s sweeping energy reform package, shifting approval for large wind and solar arrays to the state Public Service Commission. [Bridge Michigan]
¶ “‘Clean’ Nuclear Power? NC Legislature Says Yes With A Veto Override” • Nuclear power, once the environmentalists’ scourge of for its radioactive waste, is now “clean” in North Carolina. At least that’s the view of state law after both chambers of the state’s General Assembly overrode Gov Roy Cooper’s veto of energy legislation passed in September. [Winston-Salem Journal]
Have an indisputably nice day.
geoharvey 