Opinion:
¶ “The Fossil Fuel Industry Puts Future Generations At Risk” • We need to take radical action to save ourselves from extinction, but will we do so in time? Based on our behavior, the odds are clearly against us and getting longer by the hour. So we have a choice. Either we adopt a “failure is not an option” approach to addressing the climate crisis, or we die. [CleanTechnica]
Warm land masses (NASA Earth Observatory)
¶ “If Regional Communities Don’t Want Windfarms, Why Would They Accept A Nuclear Power Station?” • Here’s the thing about the Coalition’s latest nuclear policy. It tries to use one of the most contentious issues in rural areas, the rollout of renewables and electric power transmission lines, to push nuclear power, which is even more controversial. [The Guardian]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Flower Turbines And The Potential Of Small-Scale Wind” • One major difference between the large wind turbines and those that could be used in a city is the type of turbine. The small, vertical axis wind turbines such as those Flower Turbines makes can produce energy efficiently and can be used on city buildings as well as residences. [CleanTechnica]
Newly made turbines (Photo by Flower Turbines)
¶ “Hurricanes And Heat – It Isn’t Nice To Fool With Mother Nature!” • Warmer air holds more moisture, so today’s more powerful hurricanes can dump more rain. The hurricanes move more slowly they did than in the past, so the heavy rain lasts longer. And our cities have insufficient provisions to manage all that stormwater. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Nissan Demonstrates Autonomous-Drive Mobility Services Progress on Public Roads” • Nissan has begun demonstrations of a prototype vehicle equipped with its own in-house-developed, autonomous drive technologies, showcasing progress in its goal towards rolling out autonomous mobility services within fiscal year 2027. [CleanTechnica]
Nissan prototype on the road (Nissan image)
¶ “Masdar, Azerbaijan Ink 1-GW Renewables Deal” • Masdar and State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan have signed a Shareholder Agreement for three wind and solar projects totaling 1 GW in capacity. The projects are part of a 10-GW pipeline that Masdar took on to support Azerbaijan’s goal for 30% of its energy capacity to be renewable by 2030. [reNews]
¶ “Renewables Plans Must Match COP28 Goal” • An International Energy Agency’s report, “COP28 Tripling Renewable Capacity Pledge: Tracking countries’ ambitions and identifying policies to bridge the gap”, found very few countries have 2030 targets for installed capacity in the Nationally Determined Contributions, under the Paris Agreement. [reNews]
Fatih Birol (IEA image)
¶ “Coal To Power: SSE Transforms Former Plant With Batteries” • SSE Renewables‘ Ferrybridge battery storage project in West Yorkshire s poised to become SSE Renewables’ second battery storage facility and will be three times larger than its first battery asset in Salisbury. The former coal site will accommodate 136 battery storage units. [Energy Live News]
¶ “Solar Power Could Generate 54 Times More Profits Than Palm Oil: Maybank” • Large-scale solar ventures will allow palm oil producers to generate up to 54 times more operating profits per hectare compared to oil palm, Maybank Investment Bank said. One plantation has already made its renewable energy ambition public with a 1-GW capacity target. [The Edge Malaysia]
Palm oil plantation in Malaysia (Craig, public domain)
¶ “Great British Energy To Close Door On Putin” • The leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, is to warn of the national security threat to Britain that comes with the nation’s continued dependence on energy from rogue foreign states. His position is that with Labour, Britain will close the door on overseas fossil fuel dependency. [reNews]
¶ “Eraring Deal Signals Death Of Baseload Power In Australia, And Dutton’s Nuclear Fantasy” • Australia’s Coalition, led by Peter Dutton, came out in support of nuclear small modular reactors before it dawned on them that these sorts of machines don’t actually exist, and when they do, they are likely to be terribly expensive. [RenewEconomy]
Eraring power plant (CSIRO, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
US:
¶ “Kia Georgia Begins Assembly of the 2025 Kia EV9 All-Electric SUV” • A historic milestone arrived at Kia Georgia’s assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, as Kia team members gathered to celebrate the start of assembly of the battery-electric 2025 EV9 three-row SUV. The car is the first saleable EV to be assembled in the state of Georgia. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “A 200-MW Solar Power Project Is Completed In Wisconsin, Energy Storage To Follow” • The Grant County Solar Project, with its 200-MW capacity, has over 430,000 solar panels on more than 1,400 acres of land, including almost 350 acres of native pollinator habitat. The array has about 10% of Wisconsin’s solar power capacity. [CleanTechnica]
Solar project in Wisconsin (Alliant Energy image)
¶ “US Industrial Natural Gas Consumers Could See 56% Higher Bills With Methane Leak Price” • Remarkably, in 2022 the USA managed to get a greenhouse gas price through Congress. It was not on carbon dioxide, but rather on methane, our number two greenhouse gas problem. It is put explicitly on gas produced by the oil and gas industry. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Macquarie Injects $85 Million Into The US Solar Pipeline” • Macquarie Asset Management entered into an $85 million debt investment agreement with US developer Sol Systems to support of the construction and operation of solar projects in Illinois and Ohio. Construction of the five projects agreed on is expected to be complete by the end of 2025. [reNews]
Have an amazingly successful day.
geoharvey 