Opinion:
¶ “A Cash Crop That Never Runs Out” • The 7,000-acre Ferrell Ranch in Beaumont, Kansas, has 50 wind turbines. The ranch had survived years when drought dried up income by relying on oil revenues, but today the wind turbines are providing a reliable cash crop for the ranch. Yale Climate Connections spoke with Pete Ferrell. [Yale Climate Connections]
Bison don’t mind wind turbines (Credit to Pete Ferrell)
Science and Technology:
¶ “A Critical Climate Goal May Be ‘Deader Than A Doornail,’ And Scientists Are Bitterly Divided Over It” • Ever since countries agreed in 2015 to try to restrict global warming to 1.5°C, that number has been our goal. Some prominent scientists argue we can’t meet it, and it’s irresponsible to act like we can. Others say that is wrong and even dangerous. [CNN]
¶ “Agrivoltaics In Action: Evidence Shows Solar Panels Nurture Habitats And Farms, Too” • An organized effort to stop rural solar development is still sputtering along, but the case for converting marginal farmlands into clean energy powerhouses is getting stronger. The key element is the emerging science of agrivoltaics, which nurtures farms. [CleanTechnica]
Caterpillar on milkweed (Lee Walston, ANL)
¶ “Extremely Fast EV Charging Delivers 100 Miles In Five Minutes” • The dream of an EV that can repower as fast as a gasmobile is edging closer to to reality. The Israeli startup StoreDot is reaching for the the brass ring of extremely fast EV charging, and they have the attention of BP, Daimler, VinFast, Volvo Cars, Polestar, and others. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Radioactivity Not Invited! Argonne Uses Heavy Ions To Safely And Quickly Produce Degradation in Nuclear Materials” • The DOE Office of Science user facility is well known to physicists for its ability to study nuclei. Now, its high energies are also rapidly providing new information about what happens to a material inside a nuclear reactor. [CleanTechnica]
Argonne National Laboratory scientists (ANL)
World:
¶ “A Climate Conspiracy Theorist Said The Government Deliberately Lit Wildfires. He Just Pleaded Guilty To Starting 14 Himself” • A Canadian man who posted conspiracy theories on social media claiming the government was deliberately starting wildfires pleaded guilty to starting 14 blazes, forcing hundreds of people from their homes. [CNN]
¶ “Shell Faces Calls For Climate Action By Institutional Investors” • Oil companies are used to individual shareholders pressing their boards of directors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but this year, 27 institutional investors are challenging the board of directors of Shell to align its activities with the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accords. [CleanTechnica]
Follow This demonstration (Follow This image)
¶ “Prince George Teralta Hydrogen For Energy Initiative Actually Makes Sense” • It’s incredibly rare that any hydrogen for energy play pencils out compared to alternatives. But there’s a place in the African country of Mali where geological hydrogen vents up through the ground and is burned to generate electricity for a 4,000 person village. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Traffic Through The Panama Canal Is Being Reduced Because Of Drought, Disrupting Global Trade” • A severe drought that began last year has forced authorities to reduce ship crossings by 36% in the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes. The drought is one of the most severe ever to hit the Central American nation. [ABC News]
Panama Canal (Rikin Katyal, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “The EU Got Its First Climate Report Card. It’s Not Good” • Now is not the time for Green Deal fatigue. In fact, Europe must accelerate its efforts. That’s the blunt conclusion in an important, first-of-its-kind assessment from the EU’s top climate science advisory body. Another conclusion is that nuclear energy is not as useful as other types. [POLITICO.eu]
US:
¶ “Montana Supreme Court Upholds Climate Ruling That Said Emissions Can’t Be Ignored” • Montana’s Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the state’s Republican governor to block a landmark climate ruling that said regulators must consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when issuing permits for fossil fuel development. [ABC News]
Montana (Matthew Lancaster, Unsplash)
¶ “Could Hybrid Cars Push Reluctant Drivers To EVs?” • After a year of slowed EV adoption in the US, such auto giants as Ford had billions of dollars in losses. Some car makers are rethinking their business strategies. Instead of pushing an all-electric future onto consumers worried about range, many are embracing an older approach: the hybrid. [BBC]
¶ “Rough-And-Tumble Ford Electric Pickup Truck Goes Up Against Gasmobiles” • Ford launched the F-150 Lightening EV in 2022 to great acclaim from MotorTrend, among others, but it is not resting on its laurels. The company has come just up with an attention-getting off-road racing version of the Lightening, and it’s ready to roll. [CleanTechnica]
F-150 Lighting Switchgear Demonstrator (Courtesy of Ford)
¶ “Hawaii Used Rooftop Solar To Shore Up The Grid. New Rules Threaten That” • With the 2022 shutdown of Oahu’s major coal plant looming, Hawaii utilities assembled the most powerful US network of homes with solar and batteries, to send electricity to the grid as needed. But state regulators approved a program that removes the incentives. [Canary Media]
¶ “What’s Stopping Climate Policies From Working Effectively?” • To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, the US enacted such laws as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. A paper in Nature Climate Change explains why they don’t work as planned. [University of Colorado Boulder]
Have a jolly good day.
geoharvey 