Opinion:
¶ “Developing Countries Around World: Drop Import Duties On Electric Cars” • Zachary Shahan is not an expert in economic development for developing countries. But he says one thing is well known across the world: if you are not a big oil-producing nation, you are sending a lot of your money abroad. National costs of importing oil are immense. [CleanTechnica]
BYD Explorer No 1 (BYD image)
¶ “Many Americans Think They’re Insulated From Climate Change. Their Finances Indicate Otherwise” • Insurers are raising premiums for homeowners in many states across the country, pointing to mounting losses from natural disasters as a factor. Extreme weather and flooding raise prices for everyone at the grocery store. [NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth]
Science and Technology:
¶ “Modern Hurricanes Are Rewriting The Rules Of Extreme Storms” • Hurricanes are fuelled by heat from ocean waters. Ocean temperatures are now breaking all records, and these “engines” are responding accordingly, cutting different paths across the ocean, slowing down, and becoming less predictable and more dangerous. [BBC]
Hurricane Beryl (Matthew Dominick, NASA)
World:
¶ “Mexico EV Sales Report: 90% Growth YOY in June Brings EV Market Share To 2.5%!” • The last three years have had consistent growth for EVs in Mexico at about 100% per year. Battery EV sales exploded at about 400% growth in 2022 and 300% in 2023. EV growth remains high in 2024. Mexico is becoming an arena for Chinese EV makers to compete. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “China’s Carbon Emissions Fall As Economy Slows, While Other Emissions Rise” • Carbon dioxide emissions in China are on track for their first annual decline since 2016, a signal the world’s top polluter may have already hit a peak in its output of greenhouse gases, Bloomberg reports. Coal use for generating power plunged last month. [CleanTechnica]
Midon 3.5-GW solar plant (China Green Development Group)
¶ “Scottish Government Funds Over £7 Million to Support Electric Vehicle Infrastructure” • The Scottish government is providing over £7 million to the Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, The Highland Council, Moray Council and Dundee City Council to encourage private investment in the EV charging network. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “RWE Obtains Oz Offshore Wind Licence” • RWE was granted a feasibility licence from the Australian Government for the development of an offshore wind farm close to the Kent Group islands in the Bass Strait, in Victoria. This area, which RWE said has the potential to generate up to 2 GW, is the first designated offshore wind zone in Australia. [reNews]
Bass Strait, Victoria (Dietmar Rabich, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Chris Bowen Warns Nuclear Power Will Stifle Renewables Investment” • Energy Minister Chris Bowen says that a taxpayer subsidised nuclear power plant program would put investment in renewables on ice, stalling Australia’s energy transition by at least eleven years. He says Labor is already investing billions of dollars to modernise the grid. [pv magazine Australia]
¶ “Statkraft And Boralex Sign Scottish Wind PPA” • Statkraft has signed a fixed-price power purchase agreement with Boralex for a 106-MW wind farm in Scotland. The transmission-connected Limekiln wind farm, to be sited in the Scottish Highlands south of Reay, is under construction and will be commissioned by the end of 2024. [reNews]
Wind farm in Scotland (Boralex image)
¶ “Spain To Launch New $2.5 Billion Plan To Support Green Hydrogen And Renewable Industry” • Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a new plan worth €2.3 billion to boost the country’s transition to clean energy, including subsidies for green energy industries and hydrogen made from renewable power. [Yahoo Finance UK]
US:
¶ “California Continues Its War On Solar To Please Investor-Owned Utilities” • The California Public Utilities Commission, with the active support of the state’s largest investor-owned utilities, depleted the net metering regulations last year. The plan, NEM 3.0, reduces the amount the utilities have to pay their rooftop solar customers by 75%. [CleanTechnica]
Star Charge storage (Star Charge image)
¶ “US DOE Selects Two Winners In Prize To Train Workers for Skilled Jobs In Solar Manufacturing Workforce” • The US DOE announced the winners in the first round of the American-Made Upskill Prize for the Solar Manufacturing Workforce. The two selected teams will receive up to $500,000 each to implement workforce training plans. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “238-MW Texan Solar Farm Produces First Energy” • Avangrid has begun to produce power from the 238-MW True North solar project in Texas with 20-MW commissioned so far. The site in Falls County, near Waco, will enter full production by the end of this year. It will be the largest solar asset in Avangrid’s portfolio and its first solar project in Texas. [reNews]
Solar project (Iberdrola image)
¶ “Solar, Wind Surpass 20% US Generation Capacity” • Between them, solar and wind now constitute more than one-fifth of the total available installed utility-scale generating capacity in the US. A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data just released by FERC reveals that the mix of renewable energy sources is nearly 30% of US generating capacity. [reNews]
¶ “California’s Grid Passed The Reliability Test This Heat Wave. It’s All About Giant Batteries” • California’s power grid emerged from a nearly three weeklong record-setting heat wave relatively unscathed, and officials credit years of investment in renewable energy, especially giant batteries that store power for use when the sun is not up. [The Spokesman-Review]
Have a radically cool day.
geoharvey 