Opinion:
¶ “All The Ways Cars Harm The World” • CleanTechnica has many articles showing love for EVs. But here, two authors show how cars, even EVs, are harmful to people and communities. The psychologist Carl Jung said everything has a “shadow” or dark side, and cleantech authors explore the big-time shadow of the pervasive automobile. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla in Canada (Jp Valery, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Satellite To Probe Mystery Of Clouds And Climate” • A joint European-Japanese satellite was launched to measure how clouds influence the climate. Some low-level clouds cool the planet, others at high altitude act as blankets. The Earthcare mission will use a laser and radar to probe the atmosphere to see precisely where the balance lies. [BBC]
World:
¶ “Lion Electric Unveils the Groundbreaking Lion8 Tractor, An All-Electric Class 8 Commercial Truck” • The Lion Electric Company, a maker of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles based in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, unveiled the Lion8 Tractor, an all-electric Class 8 commercial truck, at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo. [CleanTechnica]
Lion Electric truck (Lion Electric image)
¶ “BYD Unveils Plug-In Hybrid With 1,305 Miles Of Total Range” • BYD’s plugin hybrid technology, now in its fifth generation, gets a record low fuel consumption of 2.9 liters per 100 km (62.1 miles), even after the batteries have been depleted. Google says that translates to 0.776 gallons. Divide that into 62 miles and you get 80 miles per gallon. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “EDF Starts Work On Stranoch Wind Farm” • EDF Renewables UK is starting construction on the 102-MW Stranoch wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. I&H Brown was awarded the contract to complete the civil engineering works for the construction phase. Located between New Luce and Barrhill, the site comprises twenty turbines. [reNews]
Wind farm (EDF Renewables image)
¶ “France’s Second Offshore Wind Farm Commissioned” • Ailes Marines, an Iberdrola subsidiary, announced completion of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, making it the second offshore wind farm to operate in France. The project’s 62 wind turbines have a total capacity of 496 MW to contribute to the French renewable energy goals. [Energy Live News]
¶ “In The Largest Windfarm In The Southern Hemisphere, ‘Renewable Energy Farmers’ Look To The Future” • For ten Queensland landowners, the MacIntyre windfarm is a financial lifeline. It is the largest onshore windfarm south of the Equator and covers about 36,000 hectares of rocky grazing country south of the rural town of Karara. [The Guardian]
Train station at Karara, Queensland (Mattinbgn, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “CSIRO Stands By Nuclear Power Costings That Contradict Coalition Claims” • The CSIRO says it stands by its analysis on the costs of future nuclear power plants in Australia after the Coalition attacked the work. CSIRO analysis contradicted the Coalition’s claims reactors would provide cheap electricity and be available within a decade. [The Guardian]
US:
¶ “$179 Million For Innovative Water Reuse And Drought Resilience Projects From Investing In America Agenda” • The Interior Department announced a $179 million investment for innovative water reuse projects to support four projects in Utah and California to help communities create new sources of water to support water reliability. [CleanTechnica]
Lake Mead at Hoover Dam (US Bureau Of Reclamation)
¶ “19 Model Year 2023 Light-Duty EVs Have a Driving Range of 300+ Miles” • Model year 2023 had 19 light-duty EV models from 11 different manufacturers with an EPA certified driving range of 300 miles or more. Model Year 2016 had only one, and the number grew slowly until 2022 when 14 models exceeded that range. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Feds Offer $90 Million For Vast Solar Array On Pennsylvania Mine Land” • The US government is offering up to $90 million to a renewable energy developer to build Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm on 2,700 acres of reclaimed coal-mining land. The $800-million Mineral Basin Solar Project would have a capacity of 402 MW. [Bay Journal]
Coal-mining site (Swift Current Energy)
¶ “New Jersey And Wind Farm Developer Ørsted Settle Claims For $125 Million Over Scrapped Offshore Projects” • Danish wind farm developer Ørsted will pay New Jersey $125 million to settle claims over the company’s cancellation last year of two offshore wind farms. The amount is a little over a third of what Ørsted was once required to pay. [ABC News]
¶ “Renewables Provided Almost 30% Of US Electrical Generation In March” • Renewables are now the second-largest source of US electrical generation behind natural gas, which averaged a 40.5% share during Q1 2024 but fell to 39.4% in March. Electric energy from all renewables grew from 26.3% in March of 2023 to 29.2% in March of 2024. [Electrek]
Wind turbines (Zbynek Burival, Unsplash)
¶ “Ballot Initiative To Reverse Law On Siting Renewable Energy Projects Short On Signatures” • A group working to reverse a state law on siting renewable energy projects says its ballot initiative won’t be on the November ballot. Citizens for Local Choice does not have enough signatures for the initiative to be put on the 2024 ballot. [Michigan Public]
¶ “Five Biggest Solar Projects In The US” • There are now more than five million solar installations in the US, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. While most of these are small-scale plants, there are some that are very large. Here are descriptions of five of the largest five. We should note that other large projedts are coming. [Newsweek]
Have a significantly lovely day.
geoharvey 
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