Opinion:
¶ “Whether Powered By Electrons Or Molecules, Automobiles Are A Curse” • After readers commented that there are too many cars in the world, Bloomberg ran a story entitled “EVs Can’t Fix a Global Epidemic of ‘Car Harm,’ Study Finds.” The modern world moves itself around in roughly 2 billion motor vehicles, 65% of which are cars, Bloomberg says. [CleanTechnica]
Highway intersection (Denys Nevozhai, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “‘Tell Him He’s Dreaming’: Bowen Rubbishes Coalition Claim Australia Could Have Nuclear Power In A Decade” • Australia’s energy minister dismissed Coalition MP Ted O’Brien’s claim that Australia could develop a nuclear power industry in a decade. He said, “Tell him he’s dreaming.” The build time for a nuclear plant in the US is 19 years. [The Guardian]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Tesla’s Giga Press Has Led To Systemic Industry Change; Now EVs Will Cost Less To Build Than ICE Vehicles By 2027” • The giga press has altered the way EVs are made. New manufacturing processes, along with lower battery costs, mean that EVs will be less expensive to build than internal combustion engine cars by 2027, one analyst says. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla giga press (Courtesy of IDRA)
¶ “Wave Energy Is (Really, Finally) Coming For Your Fossil Fuels” • Wave energy could harvest 29,500 TWh of electricity from the ocean every year, which is why researchers are still trying to design energy conversion devices, even after early failures. Now all that hard work may be about to pay off, and wave energy is set for a breakthrough. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Electricity And Airplanes – Lowering The Carbon Emissions Of Flight” • We have two news stories that focus on different ways of using electricity to reduce the carbon emissions of airplanes. The first comes from Mercedes-Benz, about an electric refueling vehicle for airplanes. The other is from Airbus, about an eVTOL passenger vehicle. [CleanTechnica]
Proposed electric eVTOL vehicle (Courtesy of Airbus)
World:
¶ “Saudi Oil Giant Aramco Announces $121 Billion Profit Last Year, Down From 2022 Record” • Saudi oil giant Aramco reported it made $121 billion in profit last year, down from its 2022 record due to lower energy prices. Aramco had reported a $161 billion profit in 2022, likely the largest ever reported by a publicly traded company. [ABC News]
¶ “Australian Plug-in Vehicle Sales Exceed 10% In February 2024” • In a very newsy month down under, the most important item has to be that Australian plug-in electric vehicle sales in February have exceeded 10% for the first time since September, 2023 (9.6% battery EV, 1% plugin hybrid). The number for battery EVs is up to more than double that of January. [CleanTechnica]
Great Wall Motors ORA (Photo courtesy of Tip Schaffter)
¶ “Foundation Stone Laid For NTPC REL’s 630-MW Barethi Solar Power Project In Madhya Pradesh ” • India’s Union Power Minister said India has the world’s fastest growing economy. “We need to add more power capacity to meet the growing demand. The Barethi solar power project is very important since it is 630 MW and further it is clean energy.” [PIB]
¶ “EVs At 26.3% Share In France, With Peugeot e-208 Leading” • February saw plugin EVs at 26.3% share in France, up from 23.8% share in February 2023. Full electric volume grew 32% YOY, and plugin hybrid volume grew 12%. February’s overall auto volume was 142,598 units, up 13% YOY. The Peugeot e-208 was once again the best selling full battery EV. [CleanTechnica]
Peugeot e-208 (Calreyn88, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Power Demand! Is India Again Moving Towards The Coal Sector?” • In India, seven years ago, private-sector coal firms largely stopped building new power plants, fleeing massive losses and the looming threat of cheaper renewable power. But now some major companies are looking to invest in new and existing plants, Reuters reported. [MSN]
¶ “The EU to achieve at least 32% renewable energy by 2030” • The European wind power sector has seen significant growth and development over the past decade. Europe is a global leader in wind energy, both onshore and offshore. As of 2021, Europe had over 220 GW of installed wind power capacity, with the majority being onshore. [Business News This Week]
Wind turbines (Thomas Reaubourg, Unsplash)
¶ “‘Who’s Paying For These?’ O’Brien Confirms Taxpayer Funds Are Needed To Prop Up Coalition Nuclear Push” • Taxpayers would be forced to foot the bill for a portion of the Coalition’s mooted nuclear energy push, the opposition has confirmed, as it bats away questions over the cost, timeframe and commercial viability of local nuclear generation. [News.com.au]
US:
¶ “Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe Says He’s Changing Mindsets Of What’s ‘Possible In An Electric Vehicle’” • A common complaint of EVs is that they’re too expensive. That’s why Rivian, the electric carmaker from Irvine, California, just launched three new models to meet this “huge need in the market,” RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and CEO said. [ABC News]
Rivian R2 (Rivian image)
¶ “Facebook Parent Meta Inks Deals For Solar Power In Missouri” • Meta is building an $800 million data center in Kansas City, joining 21 data centers it operates worldwide. As of December 31, Meta expected to spend about $15.12 billion related to renewable energy agreements, most of which is due beyond five years, the company said in its annual report. [KSDK]
¶ “Bill Proposes Study To Build New Millstone Nuclear Reactor” • A state legislative committee is considering a bill that calls for studying the feasibility of adding a new nuclear reactor at the Millstone Station power plant in Waterford. The legislation was introduced by state Rep Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport. He was not available for comment. [Energy Central]
Have a pleasantly supportive day.
geoharvey 