Science and Technology:
¶ “Battery Minerals: A Common Fight Over Uncommon Things” • The current media and political churning over the production and distribution of battery minerals is generating some energy of its own. If we could only get our hands on some Vibranium! In reality, however, this is a classic question of balanced resource allocation. [CleanTechnica]
Mudpots near the Salton Buttes (Deborah Bergfeld, USGS)
¶ “Rethinking Renewable Energy Control Systems To Create A Smarter Grid” • With the entrants of diverse distributed energy resources and utility requirements, optimizing and monetizing solar energy systems are increasingly complex. Monitoring and control technology are struggling to keep pace to meet the more sophisticated demands. [pv magazine USA]
World:
¶ “A Critical System Of Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse As Early As The 2030s, Research Suggests” • A vital system of Atlantic Ocean currents that influences weather across the world could collapse as soon as the late 2030s, scientists suggest. And a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, would be catastrophic. [CNN]
AMOC (R Curry, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Solar Partners Join Forces To Help Newborns And Mothers In Africa By Installing Solar Powered Freshwater Solution” • Solar technology firm LONGi and Swedish solar energy wholesaler Senergia partnered to support the non-profit “Project Vita” by donating a solar-powered freshwater system for a maternity clinic in Mozambique. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “EVs Take 94.3% Share In Norway – New Record High” • July saw plugin EVs take 94.3% share in Norway, up from 89.9% year on year. Battery EVs took almost 92% of the market, close to a record, and plugin hybrid EVs contributed 2.4%. Overall auto volume was 6,456 units, down 14% YOY. The Volkswagen ID.4 was the month’s best seller. [CleanTechnica]
VW ID4 charging (Mariordo, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “ESB Lines Up Voltalia To Build Irish PV Project” • ESB said that Voltalia will be the main engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the development of Middleton House Solar Farm, located to the northeast of Lanesborough, Ireland. Construction of the 57-MW project is scheduled to commence in September 2024. [reNews]
¶ “Alberta Renewable Energy Pause Left Legacy Of Cancelled Development: Study” • Alberta’s moratorium on renewable energy approvals left a legacy of cancelled projects. A report by The Pembina Institute says 53 wind and solar projects were abandoned after the United Conservative Party government paused approvals for seven months. [MSN]
Alberta countryside (Chong Wei, Unsplash)
¶ “Water Level In Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Pond Decreases Due To Heat” • Despite the fact that all reactors remain in cold shutdown, the water in the cooling pond is critical to the plant’s nuclear safety, according to IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. Scientists at the station recently detected a steady fall in the water level. [Українська правда]
US:
¶ “Extreme Heat, Bone-Dry Vegetation And Human Misconduct Prompt Intense Wildfire Season” • It’s only August, but wildfires have burned over 4.4 million acres, up 278% from last year, the National Interagency Fire Center said. Record temperatures of prolonged heat waves have left many parts of the West with bone-dry vegetation. [ABC News]
Drought (Juanita Swart, Unsplash)
¶ “Natural Gas Expansion Goose Cooked By Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub” • A proposal to bring more natural gas into New Jersey hit a brick wall last month, after regulators failed to prove that New Jersey needs more gas. Natural gas is in competition with offshore wind farms and the forthcoming Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Environmentalists Think Kamala Harris May Go After Big Oil For Climate Crimes” • Environmentalists want to hold Big Oil accountable and think Kamala Harris may make that happen if she is elected president. The basis for any prosecution would be the decades Big Oil and its fossil fuel companies spent spreading climate disinformation. [CleanTechnica]
Kamala Harris (Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “New York State Struggling To Green Its Grid” • Governor Kathy Hochul and the agencies charged with implementing the state’s ambitious Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act recently admitted that the state won’t meet its initial goal of getting 70% of its electric energy from renewable sources by 2030, Newsday reports. [Habitat Magazine]
¶ “Over $1 Billion Secured For 400-MW PV Solar-Plus-Storage Project In Utah” • rPlus Energies recently announced that it had secured over $1 billion in debt financing for a solar power and energy storage project. The funding is for 400 MW of solar PV and 400 MW, 1,600 MWh of battery storage at the Green River Energy Center project in Utah. [CleanTechnica]
Utah (rPlus Energies image)
¶ “California Lawmakers Are Negotiating A Sweeping Package To Speed Up Solar And Wind Energy” • California lawmakers are crafting a end-of-session package of proposed laws that could streamline building solar and offshore wind energy projects, according to people familiar with the discussions. California’s legislative session ends Aug 31. [LAist]
¶ “US Nuclear Plant Unfit For Quick Resurrection, Former Lead Engineer Says” • The first US nuclear plant to try reopening after being prepared for permanent closure is not fit to restart anytime soon because it sidestepped important safety work for years before retirement, said Alan Blind, engineering director at the Palisades plant from 2006 to 2013. [Reuters]
Have an entirely entertaining day.
geoharvey 
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