Opinion:
¶ “Cities Should Prioritize Electric Vehicle Adoption in 2024” • Without easy access to charging, many apartment dwellers are skeptical about EVs. They need local leaders who can explain reasons why transportation should be electrified: economic development, workforce expansion, health benefits, climate pollution, and more. [CleanTechnica]
Neighborhood in New York City (Franz Boccalatte, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “New Zealand Exceeds 50% Electric Vehicle Penetration In December 2023!” • With the threat of loss of subsidies, New Zealanders have bought electric vehicles at an unprecedented rate, achieving 50% penetration in December 2023. Changes in government regulations and decreased the prices of EVs led to what may be a short-term rush. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Honda Mulls $14 Billion Plan To Build Electric Cars In Canada” • US media say Americans don’t like EVs. But it seems the companies who make electric cars didn’t get the memo. Japanese media source Nikkei announced that Honda is thinking about a $14 billion investment to manufacture batteries and electric cars in Canada. [CleanTechnica]
Honda EV (Honda image)
¶ “BYD Building Sodium-Ion Battery Gigafactory (30 GWh)” • At CleanTechnica we have had numerous articles about sodium-ion batteries over the years. Now things are getting real, though. BYD has begun construction on a 30 GWh sodium-ion battery factory in China. The company is investing 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) into the new factory. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Kenya Joins Consortium To Develop Battery Systems For Renewable Energy” • Kenya is one of the nine African countries forming a consortium to lead the world in developing battery systems to enable renewable energy. They intend to develop innovative battery storage under the Battery Energy Storage Systems Consortium. [Business Daily]
Wind power in Kenya (Andrew Owuor, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “India Welcomes First Fully Renewable-Powered Container Terminal” • Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals, operated by Singapore’s PSA International at Jawaharlal Nehru Port, made its status as India’s first container terminal powered by renewable energy public. The energy comes from a 7.8 MW solar farm, developed by O2 Power. [Construction World]
¶ “Australia Nears Half-Way Mark To 82% Renewables” • Nearly 40% of electricity demand in Australia was supplied by renewable sources over the course of 2023, data from OpenNEM shows, edging the nation closer to the halfway mark on its target of 82% renewables by 2030. The average share of solar and wind power on the grid was 38.4%. [Renew Economy]
Australian rooftop solar power (Western Power image)
¶ “As Nuclear Debate Nears, French Minister Sees Potential For Fourteen New Reactors” • France requires more than the six new nuclear plants currently planned and possibly needs to build more than fourteen new plants, Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said just days before a parliamentary debate begins on the issue. [Reuters]
US:
¶ “Coal State Killing Coal With Solar Power, One Megawatt At A Time” • The coal state of West Virginia has been achingly slow to join the solar power revolution. It ranks a lowly 49th in a ranking of installed solar capacity by state. Nevertheless, three solar and energy storage projects are moving forward there, indicating that a change is in the wind. [CleanTechnica]
Solar power in West Virginia (Courtesy of FirstEnergy)
¶ “Microsoft, Qcells Strike Massive Supply Deal For US-Made Solar Panels” • South Korea’s Qcells said it will supply Microsoft with 12 GW of American-made solar panels through 2032 in what the companies called one of the largest ever deals of its kind. Qcells will make the solar panels for Microsoft at its new $2.5 billion Georgia factory. [Yahoo Finance]
¶ “Giant Subsea ‘Starfish’ To Help Push The Cost Of Floating Offshore Wind Down And Downer” • A majority of US offshore potential is in areas where the water is too deep for conventional turbines, and floating turbines are 50% more costly than those built in shallow waters. The US DOE is working to bring floating turbine costs down 70% by 2035. [CleanTechnica]
Cable layout for floating offshore wind farms (Aker Solutions)
¶ “PUC Scales Back Renewable Electricity, Adds New Natural-Gas Plants” • The Colorado PUC is adding more fossil fuel-generated power and scaling back Xcel Energy’s proposed investments in clean energy. High energy bills are largely due to volatile natural gas prices, and the PUC claims that increasing use of gas is a win for ratepayers. [Public News Service] (What‽)
¶ “Gorham To Be Home To Maine’s First Giant Battery Project” • Energy storage is needed to support renewable energy in Maine. This spring, one of New England’s largest battery storage projects will be built in Gorham, Maine. It presages other storage projects seen as critical for optimizing the region’s growing fleet of solar and wind power plants. [News Center Maine]
Battery project (Courtesy of Plus Power)
¶ “Future Of Xcel Energy’s Coal-Fired Power Plants? Oak Park Heights Options Include Solar, Batteries” • Recently, a coal-fired generator in Minnesota retired, the biggest to date. This marked a major milestone in Xcel Energy’s goal of delivering 100% carbon-free electricity in the state by 2040. Other plants will close soon. So what’s next? [Pioneer Press]
¶ “Massachusetts and New Hampshire Release Updated Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Guides” • Massachusetts and New Hampshire both released updated guides for residents in the event of an emergency at the Seabrook nuclear plant. Each state outlines its own communities and emergency plans for areas within ten miles of the plant. [WHAV]
Have an emphatically merry day.
geoharvey 
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