Science and Technology:
¶ “Climate Change Is Messing With Time More Than Previously Thought” • Polar ice melt caused by global warming is changing the speed of Earth’s rotation and increasing the length of each day, in a trend set to accelerate over this century as humans keep emitting planet-heating pollution, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says. [CNN]
Time (Ales Krivec, Unsplash, cropped)
World:
¶ “VinFast Breaks Ground On EV Assembly Plant In Indonesia” • Vietnamese car maker VinFast Auto has broken ground on its electric vehicle assembly plant in Subang, West Java, Indonesia. This strategic move into one of Southeast Asia’s most promising EV markets is set to create numerous job opportunities for the local workforce. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Stellar Year For The Solar Market, At Home And Abroad” • The year 2023, according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory analyst David Feldman, was a year of historic proportions in the solar power industry. International Energy Agency reports say global PV installations increased dramatically, with up to 446 GW of direct current connected. [CleanTechnica]
Solar panels (Michael Förtsch, Unsplash)
¶ “Green Steel Can Cut Climate Impact of Car Production for Just €57 a Vehicle” • Steel made with green hydrogen and electric arc furnaces, or produced from scrap, can reduce CO₂ emissions of producing cars in Europe by 6.9 megatonnes in 2030, analysis shows. That’s equivalent to avoiding the annual emissions of 3.5 million fossil fuel cars. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “SunCable Secures Key Approval For AAPowerLink Project” • Renewables developer SunCable has announced that it has obtained principal environmental approval from the Northern Territory government and the NT Environment Protection Authority for its 800-km HVDC Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) project. [pv magazine Australia]
Solar array and transmission lines (SunCable image)
¶ “Clean Energy Sector Rallies Against Nuclear ‘Mistruths’” • The clean energy industry has accused nuclear energy proponents of threatening the nation’s fragile hold on vital economic reform with “mistruths and outright disinformation.” The Clean Energy Council chief executive said, “The Australian public are being confused and misled.” [The Northern Daily Leader]
¶ “Record Low Fossil Fuel Power Generation” • In Europe, fossil fuel electricity generation fell to its lowest recorded level in the second quarter of 2024, a report by Montel Analytics shows. It suggests the period also saw record high solar and wind power output, leading to an increased number of negative day-ahead electricity prices across Europe. [Energy Live News]
Coal-burning plant (Sam LaRussa, Unsplash)
¶ “Ireland Surpasses 1.2 GW Of Solar Capacity” • Ireland has surpassed 1.2 GW of cumulative installed solar PV capacity, with the residential segment of the market making up 20% of the total additional capacity installed over the past six months. Ireland has more than 100,000 rooftop solar projects, adding over 400 MW to the national grid. [Power Technology]
¶ “Brazil’s Green Power Surge Leads G20 With 89% Renewable Electricity” • In a world where sustainable energy is gaining prominence, Brazil stands out as a shining example. According to the latest findings from the energy think tank Ember, Brazil achieved an astounding 89% of its electricity generation from renewable sources in 2023. [Brazil Energy Insight]
Rio de Janeiro (Agustin Diaz Gargiulo, Unsplash)
¶ “Nuclear Too Slow To Replace Coal, And Baseload ‘Simply Can’t Compete’ With Wind And Solar, AEMO Boss Says” • The head of the Australian Energy Market Operator rejected nuclear power as an option to replace the country’s ageing coal fleet. He said it is too slow and expensive, and that baseload power sources won’t be able to compete. [RenewEconomy]
US:
¶ “Southwest Airlines And Archer Aviation Agree To Develop Operational Concepts For Electric Air Taxi Network” • Southwest Airlines Co and Archer Aviation Inc have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop operational plans for electric air taxi networks to use Archer’s eVTOL aircraft at California airports where SA operates. [CleanTechnica]
eVTOL (Archer Aviation image)
¶ “North American Battery And EV Supply Chain Investment Grew To More than $250 Billion By End Of 2023” • Cumulative battery and EV supply chain investment in North America grew to more than $250 billion by the end of 2023. Investment in supply chains increased rapidly the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act passed. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Agrivoltaics Conserve Precious Water For Arizona Farmers” • Arizona farmers have a problem: too much sun and not enough water. Agrivoltaics offers some relief, however. The searing heat dehydrates crops and evaporates water the state vitally needs to conserve. Creating shade using agrivoltaics is one way to combat the problem. [CleanTechnica]
Agrivoltaics (Argonne National Laboratory image)
¶ “Texas Governor Criticizes Houston Energy As Utility Says Power Will Be Mostly Restored By Wednesday” • The majority of Houston outages that followed Hurricane Beryl should be fixed within the next two days, the city’s main utility company as Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to punish CenterPoint Energy even after the lights come back. [ABC News]
¶ “Severe storms with tornadoes whip through Midwest, cutting power to 460,000” • Storms spawning multiple tornadoes blew through Iowa, Illinois, including Chicago, and Indiana, downing trees and power poles and cutting power to more than 460,000 customers. The National Weather Service confirmed that Des Moines was hit by a tornedo. [ABC News]
Have a vastly contented day.
geoharvey 