Opinion:
¶ “Exploding Homes And Forever Fires: What Rural Solar Power Critics Want You To Forget” • Rural solar power projects in the US have been encountering more and more opposition driven by misinformation. With that in mind, we should review some of the changes that fossil energy extraction has wrought on rural communities. [CleanTechnica]
Agrivoltaics (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Sodium-Ion Battery News From The US And China” • Sodium has none of the disadvantages of lithium for batteries. It is found abundantly everywhere around the world, and it is cheap. While sodium-ion batteries do not perform as well as the best lithium-ion batteries, they have important advantages over their lithium-based cousins. Their time has come. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “China Now Doing “Extensive” Vehicle-to-Grid Trials” • China’s EV market is about the same size as the EV market in rest of the world combined. The country can also make big top-down changes faster than any other major economy. It is no surprise that one of the first very large-scale vehicle-to-grid programs would be implemented in China. [CleanTechnica]
Charging (Juice, Unsplash)
¶ “China’s Renewable Energy Surge” • China’s renewable energy sector is set to surpass its original wind and solar capacity targets much earlier than anticipated. This accelerated growth is driven by the dual objectives of enhancing national energy security and asserting a dominant position in the global green industry, one researcher says. [Asian Power]
¶ “Farm Site Proposed For Solar Farm” • Environmena proposes to build a solar farm on 0.26 sq km on nine irregular fields in North Dorset. It said the solar farm could produce up to 12 MW of power, connected to the National Grid via an overhead power line in the area. Trees and shrubs would planted across the site, with wildlife areas around the edges. [BBC]
Dorset countryside (Nick Fewings, Unsplash)
¶ “RBC To Boost Renewable Energy Lending To Reach Climate Goals” • Royal Bank of Canada said it plans to triple loans for renewable energy to C$15 billion ($11 billion) by 2030 as part of its efforts to achieve net zero emissions in its lending practices by 2050. RBC has come under attack for being one of the biggest fossil fuel financiers. [Yahoo News Canada]
¶ “Moldova To Build Wind Farms For Energy Independence” • To improve its energy independence, the Republic of Moldova announced its first tender for the construction of onshore wind power facilities with capacities of up to 105 MW. Moldova found itself in an “incredibly vulnerable position” when Russia invaded Ukraine, in February 2022. [Ukrainska Pravda]
Farm in Moldova (Ghenadie Cebanu, Unsplash)
¶ “Paks Nuclear Plant Cuts Output Amid Record Danube Temperatures” • The nuclear power plant in Paks, Hungary, reduced its output by 240 MW due to the heat in the Danube water. The ministry had permitted the limits on the heating of water discharged from the power plant into the river to be exceeded just the day before. [MSN]
US:
¶ “Americans Have Saved Billions With A Law They Know Next To Nothing About” • Two years after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, millions of Americans have used it to save millions of dollars on solar panels, appliances and home insulation. More than 3.4 million households claimed $8.4 billion for upgrades relating to energy. [CNN]
Rooftop solar system (Giorgio Trovato, Unsplash)
¶ “Perspective Pivot: Mapping a Landscape of Voices in Oahu Changes Energy Planning” • Over the course of six weeks, a team of people from NREL, the Hawaiian Electric utility, and Hawaii Natural Energy Institute travelled across Oahu to hear how people perceived hybrid microgrids. Their work will be used for Oahu-wide energy planning. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Archer Gets Two Big Orders For Its Electric Aircraft” • News from Archer is moving on quickly. The latest announcements are that Archer has landed two big orders. Future Flight Global has signed an agreement with Archer and plans to buy 116 electric “Midnight” aircraft from Archer. And the US Airforce is buying aircraft worth $142 million. [CleanTechnica]
Archer eVTOL (Courtesy of Archer Aviation)
¶ “Nearly $100 Million Awarded To Expand Sales And Use Of Renewable Fuels, Renewable Energy In Upper Midwest” • US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA is funding 160 projects in 26 states to expand access to clean energy systems and increase the availability of domestic biofuels. More than half of the projects are in Minnesota. [Agweek]
¶ “Form Energy To Build World’s Largest Battery Energy Storage System In Maine” • Form Energy, headed by Matteo Jaramillo, a former Tesla engineer, makes batteries that can supply the grid for up to 100 hours. It says it will build an 85-MW, 8500-MWh battery storage system on the site of a former paper mill near Bangor, Maine. [CleanTechnica]
Form Energy battery facility (Form Energy image)
¶ “Electric Reliability Council of Texas Could Get A Geothermal Project” • Sage Geosystems, a geothermal baseload and energy storage company, announced the site of its “first-of-its-kind” project, the first geothermal project in ERCOT territory. The 3-MW EarthStore system will be near the San Miguel Electric Cooperative coal power plant. [Power Engineering]
¶ “In Wyoming, Bill Gates Moves Ahead With Nuclear Project Aimed At Revolutionizing Power Generation” • Bill Gates and his energy company are starting construction at their Wyoming site for a next-generation nuclear power plant that he believes will “revolutionize” how power is generated. Gates went to Wyoming for the groundbreaking. [The Wyoming Truth]
Have a decidedly fantastic day.
geoharvey 
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