Opinion:
¶ “Twenty Ways NREL Made an Impact in 2023” • This year seems to have gone by so fast. However, NREL’s scientists and staff have busily propelled many remarkable achievements as the laboratory leads the energy transition to a clean energy future. Here, we take looks at twenty of NREL’s most-impactful research highlights from 2023. [CleanTechnica]
NREL’s Visualization Lab (Dennis Schroeder, NREL)
¶ “Clean, Renewable Energy: It’s Not Just A ‘Blue State’ Thing” • So-called “red” and “blue” states may seem as divided from each other as ever, but all fifty states have one important thing in common: Renewable energy is on the rise in all of them. While California moves to support a change to clean energy, so do Texas and Florida. [Environment America]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Electric Cargo And Utility Scooters Could Be An Apt Form Factor For Deliveries” • Deliveries of goods and services in urban areas can be a big source of air pollution and traffic congestion. Although e-bikes and electric cargo bikes are starting to make inroads into what was previously only the domain of vans and trucks, so are electric scooters. [CleanTechnica]
Utility scooter (Screenshot from Scootility website)
¶ “Road To Fuel Cell Trucks Leads Through Forklifts” • Forklifts aren’t particularly headline-grabbing, but they might be, if they help spur any buildout of the hydrogen fuel station network. Heavy-duty fuel cell trucks benefit from them, and a green hydrogen twist is already surfacing. Amazon is just one company looking into fuel cell trucks. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “World’s Tallest Wooden Wind Turbine Starts Turning” • A Swedish start-up called Modvion says it has just built the world’s tallest wooden turbine tower. The 2-MW generator on top has just started supplying electricity to the Swedish grid, providing power for about 400 homes. Modvion claims that using wood for wind power is the future. [BBC]
Construction work for wooden wind turbine (Modvion image)
¶ “The Year In Clean Energy: Wind, Solar And Batteries Grow Despite Economic Challenges” • Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023. If the trend is amplified, it will help Earth turn away from fossil fuels and reduce effects of severe warming. Clean energy is growing partly because it is inexpensive. [News and Sentinel]
¶ “Western China Provinces Accelerate Layout Of Clean Energy” • In the past, electricity from Sichuan and Qinghai provinces was transmitted to southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region when there were power shortages in winter. The region relies on its natural resources for green power now. This year, dozens of green power projects came online. [Xinhua]
Landscape in Sichuan Provence (李大毛 没有猫, Unsplash)
¶ “Vietnam Stays Committed To Developing Clean Renewable Energy” • Vietnam is committed to enhancing development of hydrogen energy production and hydrogen-source fuels in the regions with potential and advantages in renewable energy, close to major consumer markets, according to Nguyen Hong Dien, the Minister of Industry and Trade. [Vietnam Plus]
¶ “Masdar To Develop 2-GW Uzbek Wind Farm” • UAE energy company Masdar has signed an implementation agreement with the Government of Uzbekistan to develop a 2000-MW wind farm. The new agreement also includes deployment of 1150 MWh of battery energy storage capacity across five of Masdar projects in the country. [reNews]
Wind turbines (Masdar image)
¶ “Spain Confirms 2035 Nuclear Phase Out Deadline” • Spain has confirmed that it will go ahead with plans to close all its nuclear plants by 2035, though Europe is divided on whether nuclear energy should use to address climate change. Management of radioactive waste and dismantling of the plants will cost about €20.2 billion ($22.4 billion). [Oil Price]
US:
¶ “Memphis Says No To New Gas In Favor Of Solar Power” • In a win for West Tennessee communities, Memphis Gas Light and Water scrapped a proposal to build new dirty gas plants and says it will instead invest in solar power and battery storage. This came after the local utility got serious public pushback over the proposal. [Southern Environmental Law Center]
Tennessee bridge (Small Business Administration image)
¶ “Cummins Fined $1.67 Billion Over Diesel Defeat Devices In Ram Pickup Trucks” • It doesn’t seem that long ago that VW was sued for the “Diesel Gate” scandal in which VW diesel vehicles were found to be using emissions cheat devices. Now, Cummins is accused of using defeat devices for almost one million diesel engines in Ram pickup trucks. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Developers Hope A Balloon-Like Battery Will Aid Wisconsin Renewable Energy Efforts” • When Wisconsin’s largest coal plant, the Columbia Energy Center, closes in a few years, a carbon dioxide-filled “battery” developed by the Italian company Energy Dome will take its place. The facility will use carbon dioxide for energy storage. [Wisconsin Watch]
Columbia Energy Center (Courtesy of Alliant Energy)
¶ “Entrepreneur Recycles Metal And Other Parts Of Old Solar Panels” • As the world pivots from planet-warming fossil fuels to renewable energy, a new pollution problem is rearing its head: What can we do with old or worn-out solar panels? Adam Saghei, CEO of Arizona-based We Recycle Solar, has an answer, what he calls “urban mining.” [VOA News]
¶ “Pattern Energy Closes $11 Billion Financing Of Largest Clean Energy Infrastructure Project In US History” • Pattern Energy Group LP has closed an $11 billion financing and begun full construction of 550 mile SunZia Transmission and the 3,515-MW SunZia Wind, which combine to be the largest project for clean energy infrastructure in US history. [Pattern Energy]
Have an astonishingly wonderful day.
geoharvey is free and without ads.
geoharvey is not tax-deductible.
(, CC-BY-SA 3.0) km² CO₂ NH₃ CH₄ ₹ NOₓ ‽ ♦♦♦♦♦
geoharvey 