Opinion:
¶ “The Price Of Durable Carbon Removal Is The Price Of Carbon” • We lack a carbon market that effectively incentivizes emissions reductions at the scale needed to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. Tethering the carbon price to the cost of carbon dioxide removal provides a pathway to effectively determine the value of carbon emission reductions. [CleanTechnica]
Wind and coal (Tim van der Kuip, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Bold Predictions in AgTech and Cellular Agriculture for 2024” • Agricultural technologies (AgTech) is an arena of the clean tech ecosystem that can address a good chunk of our global climate changing emissions. Estimates range widely depending on how things are measured, but suffice to say, I think we can leave it at “a good chunk.” [CleanTechnica]
New solid state battery (Courtesy of Adden Energy)
¶ “Harvard Spinoff Lobs A Solid-State Battery Bomb At Fossil Fuels” • New energy storage technology is driving fossil fuels out of the global economy, and Adden Energy, a Harvard University spinoff, is adding fuel to the fire. Their new solid state battery can last for 6,000 cycles and takes about the same amount of time to charge as it takes to fill a tank of gas. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Bosch Press Conference is All About Energy | CES 2024” • At the Consumer Electronics Show, the Bosch room was mobbed with journalists, and we can presume that a lot of them, like me, are here on Bosch’s dime to cover whatever exciting new thing they could unveil. Bosch believes hydrogen will be central in meeting future energy needs. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “EVs Take 30% Share In Germany – Policy Chaos From Traffic Light Coalition” • December saw plugin EVs take 30% share of the German auto market, down YOY from a huge pull-forward in December 2022, when incentives for plug-in hybrids ended. Full year 2023 BEV volumes were up 11.4% over 2022. Volkswagen was December’s best EV seller. [CleanTechnica]
Volkswagen ID.4 (Mariordo, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Wind Overtakes Coal For Electricity Generation In Europe” • Europe’s power producers generated more electricity from wind than from coal for the first time in the last quarter of 2023. Europe’s utilities generated a record 193 TWh of electricity from wind sites in the quarter compared to 184 TWh from coal-fired power plants, data from Ember shows. [Reuters]
¶ “Ilmatar Starts Up Finnish Wind Farm” • All of the 36 wind turbines at Ilmatar’s 221-MW wind farm in South Ostrobothnia, Finland, have been brought into operation. The site forms part of the developer’s first hybrid renewable energy park, which eventually will also include a 150-MW solar farm and a 25-MW battery. [reNews]
Wind farm (Ilmatar image)
¶ “France Drops Renewables Targets, Prioritises Nuclear In New Energy Bill” • The proposed text, which is slated to go before the cabinet early next month and then be submitted to lawmakers, reaffirms France’s commitment to nuclear power to ensure “energy sovereignty.” But the proposed text does not commit to building renewable capacity. [France 24]
US:
¶ “Possible Gas Explosion At Downtown Fort Worth Hotel Injures 21” • An explosion at a building in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, the Sandman Signature Hotel, may have been caused by a gas leak. It injured 21 people, sent heavy debris across a block, and forced nearby employees to evacuate. Officials said one person is in critical condition. [ABC News]
Sandman Signature Hotel (Sandman Signature image)
¶ “$32.5 Million to Advance Transportation Electrification in the USA” • The US DOE announced selection of sixteen projects totaling $32.5 million to advance technology integration in areas critical to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. The selected projects were in nine states and Washington, DC. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Leading Heat Pump Manufacturers Successfully Develop Next-Generation Prototypes” • The US DOE announced that four more heat pump makers successfully produced heat pump prototypes as part of the Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge, a DOE initiative supporting transition to cold-climate heat pumps. [CleanTechnica]
Daikin heat pump (Daikin image)
¶ “Duke Energy To Build Solar Farm In Upstate” • A new solar farm is coming to South Carolina as part of an investment of $61 million by Duke Energy. The Laurens County Council approved the final reading of a Fee in Lieu Tax Agreement by the county and Duke Energy unanimously. The Beaverdam Solar Center, will have a capacity of 41 MW. [FOX Carolina]
¶ “Alaska Lawmakers Eye Bills On Neighborhood Solar, Green Bank And Renewable Energy Benchmarks” • Alaska lawmakers are set to take up several renewable energy policy proposals, including for neighborhood solar projects, loans for sustainable energy programs, and setting standards for utilities’ clean power generation. [Alaska Public Media]
Solar array in Ft Yukon, Alaska (US DOE, public domain)
¶ “BOEM Consults On Six New York Bight Lease Areas” • The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has launched a public consultation on the potential development of six wind lease areas offshore New York and New Jersey, in an area known as the New York Bight. BOEM estimates that the area could create up to 7 GWs of offshore wind energy. [reNews]
¶ “EIA Says 40% Of US Electricity Is Now Emission-Free For The First Time” • The pace of the green energy transition has sped up greatly in recent years. Figures released at the end of 2023 show roughly 40% of US electricity production is now emission-free. Emission-free electricity is that generated renewably or by nuclear reactions. [Singularity Hub]
Have an enthusiastically considerate day.
geoharvey 
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