Science and Technology:
¶ “Glory Days Of Amphibious Aircraft Return, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Edition” • Amphibious aircraft have seen a comeback partly as a means of avoiding crowded airports, and partly on account of rising tensions between Taiwan and China. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China has brought a large amphibious aircraft into production. [CleanTechnica]
PBY-5A Catalina, 1943 (US Navy photo)
¶ “Researchers Claim New Process Destroys Forever Chemicals” • The scientists at Ritsumeikan, a Japanese company, say they have developed an eco-friendly way to eliminate harmful forever chemicals using visible LED light. The process has achieved a nearly complete breakdown of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at room temperature. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Deep-Sea Mining Of Rare Metals Produces ‘Dark Oxygen,’ New Study Finds” • Mining of rare metals on deep sea and ocean floors could create “dark oxygen” or cause harmful changes to the marine ecosystem, according to research. Some of the polymetallic nodules contain rare-earth elements essential to low-carbon energy technologies. [ABC News]
Polymetallic nodules on ocean floor (Philweb, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
World:
¶ “Vietnam Allows Big Companies To Buy Clean Energy Directly To Meet Their Climate Targets” • By decree, Vietnam will allow electricity-guzzling factories buy electricity from wind and solar power producers. This will help big companies like Samsung Electronics meet their climate targets and relieve pressure on the country’s overstrained grid. [ABC News]
¶ “Azerbaijan Calls For $1 Billion Fund To Address Global Warming – Is This A Joke?” • Azerbaijan, the host country for the next global climate meeting, COP 29, is asking wealthy nations and fossil fuel companies to contribute to a $1 billion fund that will help poor countries cope with the accumulating horrors of an overheating planet [CleanTechnica]
BP oil rig in the Caspian Sea (BP image)
¶ “Adani Green Begins Wind Power Generation From The World’s Largest Renewable Energy Plant” • Adani Green Energy Limited, India’s largest renewable energy company, made 250 MW of wind capacity operational at the 30,000-MW renewable energy plant at Khavda, Gujarat. So a total of 2,250 MW at the Khavda plant is on line. [Free Press Journal]
¶ “BasiGo’s Impressive Progress With Electric Buses In Kenya Illustrates Incredible Opportunity To Tackle Africa’s Transport Challenges” • BasiGo recently announced that its bus fleet has driven over 2 million kilometers! In the process, 937.2 tonnes of CO₂ emissions have been avoided, and 409,842 liters of diesel were also avoided. [CleanTechnica]
Electric buses (BasiGo image)
¶ “Egypt To Raise Electrical Capacity With Two $700 Million Renewable Energy Projects By October” • Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy announced plans to raise the country’s electrical capacity by 750 MW through two renewable energy projects by October 2024. The projects will require a total investment of $700 million. [Economy Middle East]
¶ “Ocean Winds forms Portuguese partnership” • Ocean Winds and Martifer Renewables & Energy formed a partnership to take joint action in Portugal’s first tender for offshore wind farms, set to take place this year. The partners will provide clean energy projects aiming to contribute to Portugal’s renewable energy targets of 2 GW by 2030. [reNews]
Floating offshore turbines (Ocean Winds image)
¶ “Small Modular Reactors Are A ‘Chimera’ For Now” • Small modular reactors won’t be fully commercially available till the late 2040s at least, an independent grouping of Australia’s top technologists says. Katherine Woodthorpe, president of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, told AAP, “They are a chimera at the moment.” [Yahoo]
¶ “Fourteen Countries In The World Get Almost All Of Their Electricity From Renewables” • Since 2020, fourteen countries have consistently generated over 95% renewable electricity, according to Ember’s Yearly electricity data. In eight of these countries, electricity has been almost entirely renewable-based for over twenty years. [Our World in Data]
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
US:
¶ “US DOE Announces Plans For Low-Carbon Cement And Concrete Center of Excellence To Reduce Industrial Emissions” • The US DOE Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office announced its plan to create a Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence to accelerate the development of novel low-carbon cement and concrete technologies. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “US Military Invests In Silicon Battery, With Possible EV Connection Emerging” • Today’s electronic military requires batteries, and plenty of them, to power the increasing load of portable electronic gear carried by soldiers. A lighter, longer lasting, more reliable battery would help ease the load. That’s where NanoGraf comes in. [CleanTechnica]
Soldiers in the field (US Army image)
¶ “UW Scientists Break Ground On Nuclear Fusion, Which Could Be The Future Of Energy” • A University of Wisconsin-Madison team of scientists made a major step toward creating a clean, reliable source of energy. It is part of a broader approach to using nuclear fusion energy that does not create large amounts of radioactive waste. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
¶ “NRC Completes Safety Review For Kairos Demonstration Nuclear Plant” • The US NRC staff has concluded after a safety review that a construction permit can be issued for Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 advanced demonstration facility at a site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The demonstration facility will have two 35-MW thermal test reactors. [NucNet]
Have a sufficiently humorous day.
geoharvey 
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