Opinion:
¶ “Redefining Costly, Unproven New Nuclear Technology As ‘Clean’ Is Dishonest” • A Colorado legislative committee recently nixed a bill that sought to boost new, unproven nuclear energy technologies by redefining the fission process as “clean energy,” which it’s not. But proponents will likely keep on pushing new, speculative nuclear projects. [ColoradoPolitics.com]
Small modular reactor (NuScale image)
¶ “Here’s Another, Often Overlooked Reason Why Nuclear Energy Is A Bad Thing” • Once commissioned, a nuclear power plant cannot be shut down without incurring enormous costs. The “payback time” for a nuclear power plant is between 10 and 18 years. Payback for windpower takes about a year, and for solar, it takes less than three years. [The Good Men Project]
World:
¶ “Critical Atlantic Ocean Current System Is Showing Early Signs Of Collapse, Prompting Warning From Scientists” • A crucial system of ocean currents may already be on course to collapse, a report says. The implications are alarming for sea level rise and global weather, with temperatures that plunge dramatically in some regions and rise in others. [CNN]
Atlantic Ocean (Jacob Buller, Unsplash)
¶ “‘Super El Niño’ Is Here, But La Niña Looks Likely” • This El Niño is one of the strongest on record, a rare “super El Niño,” but forecasters believe that La Niña is likely to develop in the coming months. The switch could get flipped to La Niña, with cooler than average conditions in the eastern tropical Pacific, as soon as summer, but more likely by fall. [CNN]
¶ “Zero Carbon Charge Signs Deal To Bring 480-kW EV Ultra-Fast EV Chargers To South Africa” • South African firm Zero Carbon Charge signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese energy storage systems maker Shanghai Magic Power Tech and a local partner for 120 ultra-fast renewable charging stations in South Africa. [CleanTechnica]
EVs charging (Courtesy of Zero Carbon Charge)
¶ “EVs Drop To 17.3% Share In Germany As Hangover Hits” • EV sales dropped in the German auto market in January, as plugin EV sales fell to a 17.3% share, after a sudden, entirely unexpected cancellation of all incentives in late December. Battery EV sales were hit hard, while plugin hybrid EV sales were down slightly, compared to last year. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Electric Vehicle Sales Growing Fast!” • A full 16% of global auto sales were plugins vehicles last year, up from 14% in 2022, 9% in 2021, and 4% in 2020. Going from a negligible 4% to a notable 16% so quickly is a thing of S-curves and disruptive technology. For December of 2023, the plugin vehicle market share was up to 22% globally. [CleanTechnica]
Charging an EV (Ernest Ojeh, Unsplash)
¶ “Dublin Battery System To Support The Irish Power Grid” • In a bid to support Irish grid stability, the Electricity Supply Board has opened a major battery plant at its Poolbeg site in Dublin. It is a 75-MW, 150-MWh fast-acting energy storage. The system is currently the largest site of its kind in commercial operation in Ireland. [Smart Energy International]
¶ “Greece Breaks Records In Renewable Energy For 2023” • The share of renewable electricity production, including hydropower plants, reached a historic high in 2023 in Greece at 57%. It was the first time more than half of the Greek electricity was generated by renewable resources. This came about as Greek windpower capacity exceeded 5 GW. [Greek Herald]
Wind turbines (Harry Cunningham, Unsplash)
¶ “Green Groups Hit Out At Labour’s £28 Billion Rollback” • The UK Labour Party said it will roll back its commitment to invest £28 billion in renewable energy projects each year, including offshore windpower. Green groups criticised Labour’s decision to reduce its previous investment plan for the country’s renewable energy sector. [reNews]
US:
¶ “Michael Mann Awarded $1 Million By Jury In Defamation Suit” • Climate scientist Michael Mann is known for developing the image called the “hockey stick” graph. That image has been used in many papers and reports over the years. It also induced attacks on Mann that were funded by fossil fuel interests. Mann sued his attackers and won. [CleanTechnica]
Michael Mann (Oregon State University, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Noting ‘Unprecedented’ Coral Bleaching And Heat Stress, NOAA Expands Coral Reef Alert System” • Water temperatures are climbing to unprecedented heights, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has added new levels to its alert system to account for increasingly severe coral bleaching and higher mortality rates. [CNN]
¶ “Another Heat Pump Headache For Fossil Fuel Stakeholders” • A coalition of nine US states has joined forces to promote heat pumps, decarbonizing thousands of buildings by pushing oil and gas out of the heating, air conditioning, and hot water business. To the dismay of the fossil energy stakeholders, HVAC industry leaders are eager to pitch in. [CleanTechnica]
Have an imaginatively ordered day.
geoharvey 