Opinion:
¶ “Secretary Pete Actually Grasps Public Policy; This Should not Be Unusual” • At an event, Secretary Pete was asked whether it might be a good idea just to embrace the cheap EVs that can be available from China. Without going off into any weird tangents, he gives a solid answer, showing his work, and he explains the challenge America faces. [CleanTechnica]
Pete Buttigieg (Maryland GovPics, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
¶ “The Day In History When The US Turns Its Back On Fossil Fuels Is Almost Here” • Policies play a critical role in determining whether clean technologies gain acceptance and how quickly that acceptance leads to them replacing old polluting technologies that have made the Earth less habitable for humans. America is now at an inflection point. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Half of Car Sales in China Are Now Plugins!” • Plugin vehicles are all the rage in the Chinese auto market, with plugins scoring 876,000 sales in a 1.76-million-unit overall market. That’s up 23% year over year. Battery EVs were up by just 1% in June, while plugin hybrid EVs jumped 70% in the same period, to a record 393,000 units. The top car is the BYD Song. [CleanTechnica]
BYD Song L (JustAnotherCarDesigner, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Bluetti Enhances Rural Education With 250 Solar Power Kits Donation” • Bluetti, a global renewable energy firm, has donated 250 solar power kits to Teach For Nigeria through its Lighting An Africa Familyproject. The donation is step taken to address the acute issue of power shortages affecting learning in underserved communities. [Businessday NG]
¶ “PPC Announces New Wind Power Plant In Romania” • PPC Group announced the construction of a 140-MW wind farm in the area of Deleni in Vaslui province, eastern Romania, a region of high wind speeds. The new wind plant is designed with 23 GE Vernova 6.1 MW turbines and will be connected to the grid by the end of 2025. [eKathimerini.com]
Wind energy in Romania (Sandri Alexandra, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Methane Is Turbocharging Unnatural Disasters – Australia Must Get Serious About Reducing Emissions” • Methane is the second most significant climate pollutant after carbon dioxide. Australia signed up to the methane pledge in October 2022, but it has no official methane reduction targets, nor any agreed strategy to deal with it. [Climate Council]
¶ “Coal Giant Signs Solar Farm Maintenance Contract To Train Staff In Green Energy Future” • Stanwell Corp, the Queensland government-owned coal power giant and the country’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter, is looking to the green energy future with new intensity after signing up for its first solar farm operations and maintenance contract. [RenewEconomy]
Coal mine (Adani Mining Australia, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
UK:
¶ “UK’s Renewable Energy Hits Record High” • The UK has set records for renewable energy, the latest government data show. In 2023, renewables produced 46.4% of the country’s electricity, up from 41.5% in 2022. This is the third time that renewables surpassed fossil fuels, which provided 36.7% of electricity, down from 40.8% the year before. [Energy Live News]
¶ “Labour Gets Plaudits For AR6 Cash Injection” • The UK’s Labour government was praised for increasing the budget by 50% for this year’s Allocation Round 6 renewables auction. Industry experts and green groups welcomed the move by Keir Starmer’s administration, which puts the funding available at almost £1.6 billion, with £1.1 billion for offshore wind. [reNews]
PM Keir Starmer (Simon Dawson, No 10 Downing Street)
¶ “UK Energy Bible Shows Demand Plummets To 1950s Levels” • The UK saw a notable decline in overall energy demand, going to levels not seen since the 1950s. Domestic sector consumption dropped by 6% to its lowest point in over 50 years. Industrial sector consumption dropped by 1.1%, service sector consumption also fell by 1.3%. [Energy Live News]
US:
¶ “USA’s First All-Electric Police Fleet” • The South Pasadena Police Department became the nation’s first law enforcement agency to completely replace its gasoline-powered vehicles with nonpolluting EVs. The city’s zero-emission police fleet of twenty new Teslas will rely on a bank of new EV chargers installed at the South Pasadena City Hall. [CleanTechnica]
EVs of the South Pasadena Police fleet
¶ “DC Court Of Appeals Overturns FERC Pipeline Approval” • The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was wrong to approve a proposal by Williams Cos to construct a $1 billion pipeline that would traverse five mid-Atlantic states and serve up to 3 million customers. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “‘Return To Office’ Scams Shift The Cost Of Business To Workers And The Environment” • Commuting to jobs that we could just as easily do at home means pointless emissions, and eliminating pointless travel means an emissions-free outcome. Some companies decided that forcing remote workers into the office could save a little money. [CleanTechnica]
Traffic jam in Denver (Dennis Schroeder, NREL)
¶ “Oak Ridge Nuclear Reactor Hermes Is Under Construction To ‘Transform Our Energy Landscape'” • As nuclear power sees a resurgence of investment as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, Oak Ridge has emerged as a hub for technology like the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration reactor. The $100 million investment is now under construction. [Knoxville News Sentinel]
¶ “Owner Of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant Clashes With BGE And Other Maryland Utilities Over Data Centers” • Advocates for building data centers in the state believe they will be a boon for the state economy, but Constellation’s plans put it at odds with its former corporate sibling Baltimore Gas and Electric Co, along with other utilities. [Energy Central]
Have an acceptably perfect day.
geoharvey 