Opinion:
¶ “Ego, Greed, And The Hertz EV Debacle” • Bloomberg Hyperdrive is out with the saga of how some self-important Wall Street bozos totally mismanaged the Hertz campaign to make electric cars part of its fleet. It is a classic tale of idiots with more money than brains moving too fast and breaking things, with no thought to the consequences. [CleanTechnica]
Hertz rental Teslas
World:
¶ “EVs Take 91.5% Share In Norway” • March’s auto market saw plugin EVs take 91.5% share in Norway, up from 91.1% in March of last year. Battery EVs alone took almost 90% share. Overall auto volume was 9,750 units, 50% down year over year, and the lowest March in 15 years. The Tesla Model Y was again Norway’s best selling vehicle. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Roam’s Electric Motorcycles Will Soon Be Available In 30 Stores In Kenya” • The electric motorcycle scene in Kenya is starting to get very exciting now as a lot of the startups that have been doing pilot programs over the years are now transitioning to early commercialization of their products. Roam Air electric motorcycle is a leader. [CleanTechnica]
Roam electric motorcycle (Courtesy of Roam)
¶ “Eastern Railway Installs 1-MW Rooftop Solar Plant” • Eastern Railway has installed a 1-MW rooftop solar power plant at the Asansol Railway Workshop in West Bengal. The installation of solar power is part of Eastern Railway’s larger renewable energy strategy, which aims at harnessing clean energy sources to power its operations. [Construction World]
¶ “AutoFlight Delivers First Electric Air Taxi To Customer In Japan” • AutoFlight has achieved a significant milestone by officially delivering its first Prosperity aircraft to a customer in Japan, marking the world’s inaugural delivery of a civilian ton-class eVTOL aircraft. The five-seater Prosperity aircraft went to a commercial operator. [CleanTechnica]
AutoFlight Prosperity (AutoFlight image)
¶ “Investment Deficit Puts Planet On Path To Miss 1.5°C, Study Finds” • A lack of investment in green energy has left the world on track to overshoot the 1.5°C temperature increase that many scientists regard as a critical threshold in global efforts to contain climate change. REN21, a renewable energy think tank, published the finding. [Insurance Journal]
¶ “Ballarat Community Group Looks At ‘Microgrid Model On Steroids’ To Power City” • The Ballarat Energy Network, together with over twenty of the Victorian community’s largest businesses and industries, will start a project that could see Ballarat become the first regional city in Australia to be powered by 100% locally generated renewable energy. [pv magazine Australia]
Ballarat (Ballarat Council image)
US:
¶ “Power Forward Communities Awarded $2 Billion For Home Decarbonization” • Power Forward Communities was awarded a $2 billion, seven-year National Clean Investment Fund grant from the EPA for funding affordable residential decarbonization throughout the country, with a specific focus on low income and disadvantaged communities. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ford Settles It: EV Gloom And Doom Was Premature” • Ford has adopted a cautionary approach that seems to be aimed at managing expectations for the near term. Still, the mysterious “skunkworks” low-cost EV project remains in play over the longer term, raising the possibility of a Model-T scale speedup in EV adoption. [CleanTechnica]
Ford Model T (Rmhermen, public domain)
¶ “Study Examines Cost Competitiveness of Zero-Emission Trucks” • A recent study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) explored how the total cost of driving for zero-emission and diesel Medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles could evolve over time under different scenarios, from the present day to 2050. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Leeward Energy Starts Operations At Huge South Texas Solar Project” • Dallas-based Leeward Renewable Energy completed construction and commenced operations at its 200-MW Horizon Solar Project in South Central Texas. The project will provide Verizon Communications with renewable energy under a power purchase agreement. [Dallas Innovates]
Horizon Solar Project (Leeward Renewable Energy image)
¶ “More Power, More Water: Solar-Over-Canal Projects Are Coming To California” • California is pioneering innovations to generate clean electricity while conserving water. The state is teaming up with the Biden Administration on a solar-over-canal pilot project to clean solar power and transform the state’s water system. [California State Portal]
¶ “Plans Filed For New Jersey’s Garden State Energy Path Grid Upgrade” • National Grid Ventures and Con Edison Transmission have submitted plans to build transmission infrastructure that will connect offshore wind power to the New Jersey electricity grid. Garden State Energy Path will be able to carry 6 GW of electricity from four wind farms. [reNews]
Jersey City (Jonathan Roger, Unsplash)
¶ “California Publishes $6 Billion Transmission Plan” • The California Independent System Operator has recommended 26 new grid projects at an estimated cost of $6.1 billion. The first phase includes $4.59 billion for three transmission lines to deliver energy from floating turbines off Humboldt County, in the state’s North Coast area. [reNews]
¶ “California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant’s $1.1 Billion Federal Funding Challenged” • Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy group, has sued the US Energy Department seeking to block $1.1 billion in federal funding that aims to help California’s PG&E continue running its aging Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. [Reuters]
Have an unabashedly splendid day.
geoharvey 
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