Opinion:
¶ “The Future Of EVs Can’t Rely On One Man’s Mental Health” • In a number of recent articles, like one at Futurism, Elon Musk has been described as broken. To justify that position, the author points to incidents that Twitter employees told him about. The author claims that as public opinion of Musk fell, Musk’s mental state fell with it. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla Cybertruck (Tesla image)
Science and Technology:
¶ “First Electric VTOL Flight In Florida” • Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft continue to coast forward, and one of the latest landmark achievements from the industry is the first eVTOL flight in Florida. That same flight is also the first time an eVTOL aircraft has taken flight at a major international airport in the US. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “World Temperatures Will Blow Past Paris Goals This Decade, Asserts New Study” • A paper by scientists of a dozen institutions says the world’s average temperature will surpass 1.5°C above preindustrial times much sooner than most forecasts. It says extreme action is needed, or they will reach 2°C above those levels before 2050. [Phys.org]
Lead author James Hansen (Bruce Gilbert, Earth Institute)
World:
¶ “Plans For £4 Billion Offshore Wind Farm Could Meet Manx Energy Demands” • Power generated from a £4 billion offshore wind farm could meet the Isle of Man’s peak energy demands, the company behind the plans said. Renewable energy firm Ørsted is seeking views on the proposals for the project in area off the island’s east coast. [BBC]
¶ “Presidential Aspirants Agree On Renewables, Diverge On Nuclear Energy” • Among Taiwan’s four presidential candidates, there is broad agreement on the importance of renewable energy in Taiwan’s energy mix in the future. But there is considerable disagreement on whether Taiwan should continue to use nuclear power and in what form. [Focus Taiwan]
Wind farm off Taiwan (Courtesy of Taiwan Power Co)
¶ “Wind Power Projects In Thatta Come Online” • All twelve of the wind power projects in the Thatta district of Sindh, with a total capacity of 610 MW, were connected to Pakistan’s national grid, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. The plants are part of the 3,000-km-long China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. [The Express Tribune]
¶ “Renewables Hit Record High In Australia” • Renewable energy hit a record high of 72.9% of total generation of the National Electricity Market on Sunday, as a wave of wind and solar across Australia’s main grid sent coal output and operational demand to new lows. The new peak beat the previous peak of 72.5%, which was set on October 24. [Renew Economy]
Bald Hills wind farm (John Englart, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “How A False Claim About Wind Turbines Killing Whales Is Spinning Out Of Control In Coastal Australia” • Quentin Hanich, editor-in-chief of Marine Policy, spent this week debunking a fake article on social media that claimed to be from his publication. It said offshore wind projects in regions of New South Wales would kill 400 whales a year. [The Guardian]
¶ “West Coast Council Backs Locally Generated Hydroelectricity” • The West Coast Regional Council is calling for the Government to back local hydropower as the country moves away from coal and gas. The council has submitted this on the Government’s discussion documents, “Advancing New Zealand’s Energy Transition,” on its local power needs. [RNZ]
Southern Alps (Peter Burdon, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Brazil Installs 1.6 GW Of Wnd Energy” • In Brazil, the National Electric Energy Agency announced that in April, the country surpassed the 3-GW mark of growth in the electricity generation matrix in 2023. Of the total, approximately 1.6 GW are related to wind farms (49.15% of the total) and 1.2 GW of photovoltaic solar (37.19% of the total). [REVE]
US:
¶ “How Researchers, Farmers, And Brewers Want To Safeguard Beer Against Climate Change” • In the face of human-caused climate change impacting water access and weather patterns in the Willamette Valley, hops growers need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike. [ABC News]
Hops growing (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)
¶ “There’s another wildfire burning in Hawaii” • A wildfire is burning in a remote Hawaii rainforest, underscoring a new reality for the normally lush island state. The ingredients are the same as they were in Maui’s historic town of Lahaina: severe drought fueled by climate change is creating fire in Hawaii where it has almost never been before. [ABC News]
¶ “Vineyard Wind 1 Installs First 853-Foot-Tall GE Haliade-X Wind Turbines” • We hear a lot about offshore wind installations that were halted as the economic calculus changed, rendering some of the projects unprofitable. Here we have some news about the forward progress with Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts. [CleanTechnica]
GE Haliade-X turbine (Courtesy of Avangrid)
¶ “With Smart Policy, Truck Electrification Is Within Reach” • Only 10% of vehicles on US roads are medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks, but they produce nearly 25% of our transportation emissions. An analysis of fifteen states adopting the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation shows 60% of medium-duty and 43% of heavy-duty trucks can be electrified now. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “In A First, MIT Trains Students To Resolve Conflicts Over Clean Energy Projects” • As the US injects hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act, criticism is growing louder about where, how, and whether new development should be allowed. MIT is training students on conflict resolution. [St Louis Post-Dispatch]
Have a noticeably grand day.
geoharvey 