Science:
¶ “Natural Gas Isn’t Burning Nearly As Cleanly As We Thought” • Remember those golden days when natural gas was a bridge fuel, cleaner burning than coal? Remember how the USA has a shared dream that it has world-beating emissions reductions because of natural gas displacing coal? Into this pleasant dream some harsh realities intrude. [CleanTechnica]
Natural gas flame (Ayesha Firdaus, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Pakistan, Bangladesh, And India Suffer World’s Most Polluted Air” • This year’s IQAir World Air Quality Report shows only seven countries met the World Health Organization’s pollution recommendations in 2023. But the report said three South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Pakistan and India – had the world’s lowest air quality. [Voice of America]
¶ “Coal Billionaire Is Building The World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant And It’s Five Times The Size Of Paris” • Five times the size of Paris, Earth’s biggest energy plant will make enough electricity to power Switzerland. The Khavda project is turning barren salt desert on the edge of western India into one of the world’s most important sources of clean energy. [CNN]
Post office, village of Khavda (b sarangi, CC0 1,0)
¶ “EVs Grow 94% YOY in Mexico, Tesla Model Y Is Leading The Market” • Mexico was a laggard in the EV transition, until things started to change in late 2021. Now, Mexico is turning into one of the most interesting countries in the region, attracting significant Chinese investment to build EVs locally and rapidly ramping up sales as prices fall. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Aramco CEO Blasts Energy Transition ‘Fantasy’ At CERAWeek 2024” • On the first day of CERAWeek 2024, Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, the world’s largest fossil fuel company, told those in attendance that global oil demand will not peak for some time, so policymakers will need to ensure investments in oil and gas are sufficient to meet demand. [CleanTechnica]
CERAWeek 2024 meeting (CERAWeek 2024 image)
¶ “Yet Another Study Shows EVs Are Cleaner Than ICE And Continue Getting Cleaner” • A recent post by Canary Media shows that EVs are (again) proving to be cleaner than similar internal combustion engine vehicles. ICE vehicles are stuck burning the same fuel for the rest of their serviceable lives, but EVs just get cleaner with cleaner electric grids. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Climate Committee Casts Doubt On Scottish Goals” • The continued delays to the updated climate change plan and further slippage in climate policies have brought the Climate Change Committee to believe no longer that the Scottish Government will meet its 2030 target. Scotland has a statutory 2030 goal to reduce emissions by 75%. [reNews]
Scottish castle (Connor Mollison, Unsplash)
¶ “SA Must Implement Renewable Energy Masterplan Urgently, Says Gaylor Montmasson-Clair” • South Africa should enact the SA Renewable Energy Masterplan as soon as possible, as every day’s delay is wasted, said Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, the plan’s facilitator, yesterday on the side lines of the Solar Storage Live Africa and Future Energy Show. [MSN]
¶ “World Needs A Terawatt Of Renewables Each Year, But Only Solar Is Staying On Track” • The International Renewable Energy Agency describes the need for a “systemic shift away from fossil fuels” of terawatt-scale deployment this decade in order simply to meet the global target set at the COP28 conference held in Dubai in December. [RenewEconomy]
Solar power (Michael Förtsch, Unsplash)
US:
¶ “The Strong, Steady Growth of the US Electric Auto Market, In Charts” • EV sales have grown quite consistently for the past few years, despite a strong narrative to the contrary of late. While CleanTechnica has tracked US EV sales for years and produced quarterly reports on them, it has not produced reports on trends in EV market share – until now. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “300 Million Home Sales Prove It: Wind Turbines Don’t Kill Property Values After All” • Fossil energy stakeholders have been ginning up local opposition to new wind farms, partly on account of their supposed impact on property values. A growing pile of evidence shows that impacts on property values are negligible, according to the DOE. [CleanTechnica]
Wind turbines (Lake Region Electric Cooperative via NREL)
¶ “Can Ford Pull Off A Decent $25,000 EV?” • Various EV outlets and even Bloomberg are reporting that Ford has secret plans to build an affordable EV platform, aiming for both a small pickup and an SUV in the $25,000 range. In this article, I want to talk about why they’re doing this and speculate on whether they can actually pull it off. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “New Analysis Suggests Lower Price Tag For Changes To Vermont’s Renewable Energy Law” • As a proposed revision of the state’s renewable energy policy comes up for a vote in the House this week, lawmakers will have a new price tag to consider. It is less than half the one originally presented by Governor Phil Scott’s administration. [VTDigger]
Vermont (Robert Thiemann, Unsplash)
¶ “Michigan Transfers Renewable Energy Project Authority To State Via Public Act 233” • Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a law creating Public Act 233. Previously, local townships, or at times local elections, had the authority for siting many renewable projects. With the new law, siting authority lies with the Michigan Pubic Service Commission. [WWMT]
¶ “Dairyland Demolishes Power Plant That Stood In Genoa For Over 50 Years” • Dozens people gathered in Vernon County, Wisconsin, to watch the demolition of Dairyland’s retired power plant. The plant was retired in 2021 and President and CEO of Dairyland, Brent Ridge, says they will continue to use the site in Genoa for spent fuel storage, at least. [WEAU]
Have a rewarding fruitful day,
George
geoharvey 