World:
¶ “Five Takeaways From The Global Negotiations On A Treaty To End Plastic Pollution” • Nations finished a round of negotiations on a treaty to end plastic pollution and made more progress than they have in three prior meetings. Those meetings went through disagreements, but there has been a “monumental change in the tone and in the energy.” [ABC News]
Plastics (Jas Min, Unsplash)
¶ “G7 Energy Ministers Agree To Close Coal-Fired Generating Stations By 2035” • Energy ministers from the G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US and the EU – agreed at a meeting in Turin to close all of their coal-fired generating stations by 2035, exceptions are Germany, which has until 2038, and Japan. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Prices Of Some BYD Cars In Export Markets Are Double Or Triple Prices In China” • Manufacturing electric cars in China is like taking part in a circular firing squad. The competition is so fierce that companies are selling many cars almost at cost. You can’t buy apples for 25 cents each, sell them five for a dollar, and expect to make a profit. [CleanTechnica]
BYD factory (BYD image)
¶ “Australia Grants Offshore Wind Licences” • The Australian government has granted six feasibility licences to develop offshore wind projects off the coast of Gippsland, Victoria. A further six licences are now being assessed, subject to First Nations consultation. The feasibility licence applications were assessed through a competitive process. [reNews]
¶ “Eurostar Pledges To Power Trains With 100% Renewable Energy By 2030” • Eurostar, the high-speed rail network in the northwest of Europe, announced a goal of enabling 30 million passengers to travel sustainably while lowering carbon emissions. Eurostar’s objective is to power its trains using 100% renewable energy by 2030. [Rail Business Daily]
Eurostar train (Eurostar image)
¶ “AMEA Signs 120-MW South African Solar PPA” • AMEA Power signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for a 120-MW solar scheme in South Africa. The Doornhoek Solar PV Project was awarded to a consortium of AMEA Power and local partners for Bid Window 6 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program. [reNews]
¶ “Indigenous leaders decry lack of consent for nuclear waste on their homelands” • Leaders of Indigenous communities in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario express their strong concern about the lack of Indigenous consent for nuclear waste, uranium mining, and refining on their homelands. A UN declaration supports their position. [NetNewsLedger]
Canadian wilderness (Neil Rosenstech, Unsplash)
US:
¶ “New Jersey Seeks Fourth Round Of Offshore Wind Farm Proposals As Foes Push Back” • New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities opened a fourth round of proposals to build wind farms off its coastline, forging ahead with its clean energy goals. Local opposition and challenging economics, however, are creating blowback to the effort. [ABC News]
¶ “Case Study: Cost Comparison Of Utility Transition To Clean Energy” • Here is a letter to the editor of CleanTechnica explaining what has happened to electricity prices on the islands of Hawaii. The island of Kauaʻi had the most expensive energy, but went to cheapest in about a year. The cheapest electricity is renewables with energy storage. [CleanTechnica]
Rainbow on Kauaʻi (Jake Houglum, Unsplash)
¶ “A Growing Demand For Electricity Is Upending The Utility Industry” • The utility industry is finding itself in a bind that it did not anticipate. This is thanks to four factors: the Inflation Reduction Act, new data centers, artificial intelligence, and crypto mining. In places like Georgia, industrial demand for electricity is surging to record highs. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Buh-Bye, Conflict Minerals: US Gets First Sodium-Ion Battery Factory” • In the latest sodium-ion battery news, the US startup Natron Energy staked out its claim to the first commercial-scale production of a sodium-ion battery in the US when it hit the start button on its factory in Michigan. It plans to make 600 MW of sodium batteries per year. [CleanTechnica]
Sodium-ion battery (Courtesy of Natron via businesswire.com)
¶ “Minnesota’s Biggest Solar Project Will Help Replace A Huge Coal Plant” • One of the largest solar projects in the country is moving closer to completion, but it’s not in a famously sunny state like California, Texas, or even Florida. It’s in Minnesota, on former potato farms near the site of a retiring coal-burning power plant. [Canary Media]
¶ “Data Reveals Big Milestones For California’s Wind, Water And Solar Power Production” • According to data at the California Independent System Operator’s website, during the past 52 days wind, water, and solar power have provided an average of 61.5% of the state’s electricity demand. And renewables meet 100% of demand for at least 15 minutes of 44 days. [MSN]
Wind turbines in California (Tim Drivas, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Walmart Announces Major Investment In Several Innovative Solar Projects Across The Country” • Walmart is investing in 19 new solar projects, including 15 community solar projects in California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, and Maryland. Electrek reported Walmart is partnering with Pivot Energy on 72 MW of community solar projects. [Yahoo]
¶ “US Senate Approves Bill to Ban Russian Uranium Imports” • The US Senate unanimously voted in favor of a bill that would ban the imports of Russian uranium as the latest US attempt to squeeze Russia’s export revenues as it wages its ongoing war on Ukraine. Russia supplies 24% of the uranium used for US nuclear reactors. [OilPrice. com]
Have a genuinely enriching day.
geoharvey 
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