Opinion:
¶ “Domestic US Automakers Still Need To Prepare For Chinese Competition” • Recent news is that the Biden administration plans to raise import taxes up on Chinese EVs from the current 25% to 100%. This would put a high price of Chinese EVs, which are not be eligible for major federal tax credits. But automakers still need to prepare. [CleanTechnica]
Chevy Bolt (Greg Gjerdingen, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Scientists Have Figured Out How To Make Algae-Based Plastic That Completely Decomposes” • Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and materials company Algenesis may have found the answer to making plastics products that break down without forming into microplastics, tiny pieces of plastics that can linger for millennia. [ABC News]
¶ “Eight Things To Know About Electric School Bus Repowers” • Repowering existing school buses with a new electric drivetrain shows promise to provide school bus operators with a lower cost and more sustainable vehicle compared to buying a brand-new electric school bus. Here are eight things people should know about that. [CleanTechnica]
Repowering buses (Unique Electric Solutions image)
World:
¶ “Poor Kenyans Feel Devastated By Floods And Brutalized By The Government’s Response” • Floods and mudslides in Keyna, worsened by climate change, killed at least 267 people and impacted more than 380,000. To save lives in the future, the government ordered evacuations and demolition of homes built illegally too close to rivers. [ABC News]
¶ “Flash Floods Kill Hundreds And Injure Many Others In Afghanistan” • Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses, the The World Food Program said. The UN agency said it is distributing fortified biscuits to survivors of one of the floods that hit Afghanistan. [ABC News]
Afghanistan (EJ Wolfson, Unsplash)
¶ “125-MW Energy Storage Facility To Be Built Near Woodstock” • A renewable energy company based in Quebec, Boralex Inc, announced it was awarded a contract to build a battery system in South-West Oxford by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator, the corporation that manages Ontario’s electric power system. [London Free Press]
¶ “Solar Prices Drop Up To 25%” • Solar prices in Pakistan have dropped by 15% to 25% due to widespread imports and increased supply relative to consumption in the country. Market sources suggest that one reason for the decrease in the prices of solar panels is the halt in imports of solar panels from China to the US, the EU, and India. [The Express Tribune]
Solar panels in New Zealand (Thomas Coker, Unsplash)
¶ “KRG, Iraqi Officials Convene Symposium On Drought And Climate Change Impacts” • A symposium on the critical issues of drought and climate change impacts convened in Erbil, drawing the participation of key officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraq, including Iraq’s President Latif Rasheed and KRG President Nechirvan Barzani. [Kurdistan24]
US:
¶ “US Coal-Fired Electricity Generation Decreased In 2022 And 2023” • Electricity generation from units that primarily consume coal in the Lower 48 states decreased for all hours of the day by about 23% between 2021 and 2023, according to our Form EIA-930, Hourly and Daily Balancing Authority Operations Report. The decline was mostly in 2022 and 2023. [CleanTechnica]
Coal-fired power plant (Sam LaRussa, Unsplash)
¶ “Largest Virtual Power Plant in USA Supports California’s Grid with 16,200 Home Solar-Plus-Storage Systems” • Sunrun, the leading US provider of clean energy as a subscription service, has networked over 16,200 customers’ solar-plus-storage systems to support the California electric grid during the summer months, using its CalReady power plant. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “More Electric Trucks Coming To US, But China Still Leads” • In the US, the transition to electric trucks is picking up speed, especially in Southern California. SoCal is where the majority of products manufactured in foreign countries enter the US, and the exhaust from all those diesel trucks in the area is a really oppressive burden. [CleanTechnica]
Volvo electric trucks (Courtesy of Amazon)
¶ “The Energy Transition Is Happening In Texas. Here’s One Example” • It’s not just the Texas legislature. When the CEO of ERCOT gave an update in late April, he mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act bringing more renewable energy to Texas. One of the programs will get more solar panels on top of North Texas homes and businesses. [NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth]
¶ “US Nuclear Power Regulator Seeks Documents On NuScale’s Protection Against Quakes” • An official with the US NRC has ordered staff to supply documents that could lead to a review of a 2020 approval of NuScale’s small modular reactors after an engineer raised concerns about its ability to resist earthquakes, documents showed. [Yahoo Movies Canada]
Have a sensationally tranquil day.
geoharvey 