Opinion:
¶ “The End of the Oil Age” • Historians label time periods for dominant technologies. The Stone Age and the Bronze Age are well known examples. In the latter half of the 1900s, my father, a petroleum geologist, frequently referred to the 20th century as the Oil Age. But the 21st century will almost certainly be the Electricity Age. [CleanTechnica]
Drake Well Museum (ChubbyWimbus, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Cheap, Clean Energy Could Unleash The Power Of Thermal Storage” • Rocks and hotness have been around for billions of years, but it’s only now that the two can be used to help the world decarbonize. And that is all because the insanely low cost of solar and wind power has come to make thermal storage economically possible. [Canary Media]
World:
¶ “How Ironic Is It That Stellantis Is Now Making A Profit On Plugin Vehicles?” • Stellantis was a laggard in EVs. Former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne told customers to not buy the Fiat 500e, falsely claiming that the company was losing money on each sale. Now Stellantis is the second best-selling EV brand in the EU. [CleanTechnica]
Fiat 500e (Alexander Migl, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Jordan Sets Ambitious Goal: 31% Renewable Energy By 2030, Amani Azzam Reveals Strategy” • Jordan is embarking on a transformative journey towards sustainability, with the Jordanian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry unveiling a strategic plan to escalate its reliance on renewable energy sources to 31% by the year 2030. [BNN Breaking]
¶ “Cutting-Edge Grid Planning Tools Drive India’s Distributed Energy Future” • India has a goal of adding 450 GW of renewable energy to its power system by 2030. The country also plans to achieve 40% renewable electricity capacity by that year. The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is working to help Indian distribution companies on that. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm in Tamil Nadu (Rajavel vanaraj, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “NSW Rejects Claim It Lags On Renewables, Citing 18 Projects Approved In 2023” • The New South Wales government rejected industry criticism its approvals of renewable energy projects lag other states, saying planning had finalised support for eighteen significant wind, solar and battery projects, with a total 7.6 GW of capacity, in 2023. [The Guardian]
¶ “Suzlon Secures Order For Ten Wind Turbines For 30-MW Project In Gujarat” • Suzlon Group, India’s largest renewable energy developer, announced an order to develop a 30-MW wind project for EDF Renewables. Suzlon will install ten wind turbines with a Hybrid Lattice Tubular tower and a capacity of 3 MW each at a site in Gujarat. [IndianWeb2.com]
Jaisalmer wind project in Rajasthan (Suzlon image)
¶ “Egypt Signs Seven Agreements With International Developers To Attract $41 Billion Over Ten Years” • Egypt announced that it signed seven memoranda of understanding for green hydrogen and renewable energy. These agreements are expected to attract investments totaling $41 billion over ten years, Egypt’s Cabinet reported. [Economy Middle East]
¶ “Alberta To Ban Some Renewable Energy Projects, Greens Say Move Is ‘Uncertainty Bomb’” • Alberta, which produces most of Canada’s crude oil, will ban renewable power projects on prime agricultural land and erect buffer zones to ensure wind turbines do not spoil scenic views, the provincial government said. Few details are available for now. [MSN]
Scenic view in Alberta (Nathan Schneider, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Only Three Wind Farms Were Connected To The Power Grid Last Year” • According to Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Australia needs to be building 40 wind turbines every month until 2030. He made that statement in 2022, but only three wind farms with a total of 115 turbines were connected to grid, the Clean Energy Council has said. [ABC]
US:
¶ “In California, NREL Helps Kern County Embrace Clean Energy In Partnership With Community Colleges” • Five years ago, Sonya Christian, the president of Kern County College District’s Bakersfield Community College, asked NREL for ideas on curricula along with research and development opportunities. Now it’s happening. [CleanTechnica]
Tour of Jack’s Solar Garden (Werner Slocum, NREL)
¶ “Texas Battles The Second-Biggest Wildfire Disaster In State History” • A rapidly spreading Texas wildfire that has killed one person, forced residents to evacuate, cut off power to homes and businesses, and briefly paused operations at a nuclear weapons facility. The second-largest fire in Texas history, it has burned 850,000 acres of land north of Amarillo. [BBC]
¶ “Turning An Old Nuclear Bomb Site Into A Solar Farm?” • The US DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration want commercial solar developers to build solar farms on land where nuclear bombs were tested from the 1950s to the 1990s. Who would do that, though? Apparently, six companies would, as they turned in proposals. [CleanTechnica]
Nevada Test Site (US Federal Government, public domain)
¶ “Apple Ends Electric Car Program” • The much ballyhooed Apple electric car program is reportedly over. The company told employees in an internal meeting it had scrapped the project and that members of the group would be shifted to different roles, including in Apple’s artificial intelligence division, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “House Approves Bipartisan Bill Aimed At Bolstering Nuclear Energy” • The House approved bipartisan legislation that aims to bolster nuclear energy. The vote was 365-36, with one additional lawmaker voting present. All of the “no” votes were Democrats, and among them there were several members of the Progressive Caucus. [The Hill]
Have a movingly amusing day.
geoharvey 