Science and Technology:
¶ “New EV Battery Has 15-Year, 930,000-Mile Expected Service Life” • We’ve come to the point where, if you buy a new electric car, you probably never have to worry about the car’s battery wearing out. CATL, the largest battery producer in the world, has a new battery it says has a service life of 1.5 million km (930,000 miles) or 15 years. [CleanTechnica]
CATL facility in Arnstadt (Giorno2, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
World:
¶ “Zimbabwe To Cull 200 Elephants To Feed Citizens Left Hungry By Drought” • Zimbabwe has authorized a slaughter of elephants to feed citizens left hungry by its worst drought in decades. Nearly half of the country’s population facing the risk of acute hunger, so it plans to cull 200 elephants. It has 84,000 elephants, nearly double its capacity. [CNN]
¶ “Data Center Emissions Much Higher Than Reported” • The Guardian compiled emissions data from data centers at Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple for the years 2020 through 2022, and found they are 7.62 times as high as officially reported. Also, Goldman Sachs says a ChatGPT query uses ten times as much electricity as a Google search. [CleanTechnica]
Google data center (Google image)
¶ “Venezuelan Opposition Calls On US To Cancel Oil Company Licenses To Pressure Maduro” • Venezuela’s main opposition coalition called on the US to cancel the licenses that allow energy companies like Chevron to operate in the country. The purpose is to pressure President Nicolás Maduro to negotiate a transition from power. [ABC News]
¶ “JSW Energy Commissions 300-MW Wind Plant” • JSW Renew Energy Two Limited, a subsidiary of JSW Energy, has commissioned the 300-MW wind power project awarded by Solar Energy Corporation of India in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. The company’s total installed capacity is 7,726 MW, and 2,114 MW more is under construction. [Asian Power]
Wind turbines (Laura Penwell, Pexels, cropped)
¶ “Genex Secures State-Backed PPA For 750-MW Solar Project” • The power company Stanwell Corporation, which is owned by the state of Queensland, has signed a 15-year deal to purchase renewable energy from Genex Power’s Bulli Creek project. At 750-MW, the Bulli Creek solar farm is set to be the largest solar project in Australia. [pv magazine Australia]
¶ “Banks Pledge $386 Billion To Support India’s Renewable Energy Industry” • Financial institutions have pledged a total of $386 billion in investments to help India boost its renewable energy, Renewables Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi said. India aims to have 500 GW of renewables capacity installed by 2030. It has about 153 GW now. [OilPrice.com]
Solar panels (Caspar Rae, Unsplash)
¶ “Geothermal Energy Could Outperform Nuclear Power” • Fervo Energy, a scrappy Texan upstart, is applying hydraulic fracturing – along with other petroleum industry techniques – to the sleepy geothermal sector. Should it succeed, it would mean this relatively fringe source of energy could become a major player in the energy mix. [Hindustan Times]
US:
¶ “A Once-In-1,000-Year Rainfall Event From An Unnamed Storm Floods Homes In North Carolina” • Floodwaters surged into homes, stranded vehicles, and forced rescues in coastal North Carolina as a tropical storm-like system dumped historic amounts of rain in just hours. At one station, eighteen inches of rain fell in twelve hours. [CNN]
Storm (R.O.Y, Pexels, cropped)
¶ “A Polluting, Coal-Fired Power Plant Found A Key To Solving America’s Biggest Clean Energy Challenge” • The polluting coal plant is on its way out, scheduled for retirement in the next five years. It’s generated billions of dollars’ worth of electricity in its 50-year life, but the most valuable of its parts is its connection to the grid that powers our homes. [CNN]
¶ “Two Charged In Case Of Illegal Exports For Russian Nuclear Energy” • Two men have been charged with illegal smuggling and conspiring to violate export controls by selling equipment to Russia’s nuclear energy industry, according to the US Attorney’s office in Boston. Such cases are relatively common, and they can be very sophisticated. [ABC News]
Nuclear containment (Sean P Twomey, Pexels)
¶ “Massive Pipeline Fire Burning Near Houston Began After A Vehicle Struck A Valve” • Flames gradually subsided after a massive pipeline explosion caused by a vehicle that went through a fence and struck an above-ground valve, according to officials. The natural gas liquids in miles of pipes had to empty before the fire was out. [ABC News]
¶ “State of Electric School Buses, 2024 Edition” • As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress authorized $5 billion to help school districts transition to electric school buses. In the first round of funding applications, ending in August 2022, the EPA received about 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for 12,000 buses. [CleanTechnica]
Charging school buses (Courtesy of Zum)
¶ “First Offshore Wind Lease Sale In Gulf of Maine To Power More Than 4.5 Million Homes” • The Department of the Interior announced an offshore wind energy lease sale for eight areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine on October 29, 2024. These areas are sufficient for about 13 GW of capacity. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Vestas Secures First US Turbine Order For NY Offshore Wind Project ” • Denmark’s Vestas, which has wind projects across the globe, secured its first contract to supply turbines to an offshore wind project in the US. Vestas will supply 54 V236-15.0-MW turbines to Equinor’s 810-MW Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project off Long Island. [The Well News]
Have a marvelously fine day.
geoharvey 