Opinion:
¶ “AI Is Sucking Up So Much Electricity We’re Looking To Restart Nuclear Reactors. What Could Go Wrong?” • Google recently announced that it had signed a deal to purchase energy from yet-to-be-built small nuclear plants to power artificial intelligence. Climate and energy expert Reinhard Uhrig decried the new deal. [Red, Green, and Blue]
Kairos Power system (Kairos Power image)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
World:
¶ “Tesla Opens Its First Superchargers In South America!” • Tesla continues to expand into new country markets. Perhaps it’s not doing so as quickly as BYD is, as the Chinese EV giant seems to be expanding into at least one new market every month, but Tesla is gradually bringing its world-leading Model Y and Model 3 to more markets. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Arctic Expedition Shows That EVs Can Conquer Almost Anything” • A video on X shows that EVs, and specifically Tesla’s Cybertrucks, can tackle the longest and the hardest journeys, sometimes far from the fast chargers. The team drive all the way to the Arctic Ocean in Canada, and they left Level 2 charging stations behind for others! [CleanTechnica]
Cybertrucks (screenshot from article’s embedded video – fair use)
¶ “Unpacking The BYD Plan To Become A Global Company” • After increasing its annual sales in China to 3 million cars in only three years, BYD exports to 95 foreign markets, including twenty new ones this year. BYD is happy to focus on emerging markets and countries with no domestic auto industry to defend. Malta is one example. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “EDF, ESB Notch First Power At 450-MW NNG” • ESB and EDF Renewables generated first power from the 450-MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm off east Scotland. The milestone had originally been due last year but was held up due to various challenges including on the project’s electrical system. It paves the way to full commissioning in 2025. [reNews]
Offshore wind farm (NNG image)
¶ “Galileo Seeks Suppliers For Scottish Battery” • Galileo has invited local businesses to register their interest in commercial opportunities arising from a battery system project in Scotland. The developer of the 50-MW scheme opened a formal supplier registration, allowing interested businesses across the Lothians to register interest in the project. [reNews]
¶ “Ohmium Joins 300-MW Floating PTX Project” • Ohmium International has signed a term sheet with SwitcH2 to develop electrolyzers for a 300-MW floating offshore hydrogen and ammonia synthesis project. SwitcH2’s power-to-X project will create an industrial scale floating green hydrogen and ammonia production facility. [reNews]
Floating PTX project (SwitcH2 image)
¶ “Germany Moves To Strengthen Domestic Wind Power Industry” • Germany is planning state guarantees for wind energy production, it said, as part of a package of measures to boost its wind industry. This comes amid concerns from EU governments and companies over Chinese firms gaining momentum in the sector. [Reuters]
¶ “Gold Giant Orders Biggest Off-Grid Solar Farm Yet As It Combines Renewables To Reduce Remote Mine Diesel Costs” • Australian off-grid power specialist Pacific Energy says it will deliver its biggest solar farm yet, as part of ambitious plans to power a remote Western Australia gold mine with more than 70% renewable energy. [RenewEconomy]
Examining a Solar array (Pacific Energy via LinkedIn)
¶ “Ukraine Issues Nuclear Ultimatum To NATO” • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an ultimatum to NATO, warning that his country may pursue nuclear weapons if it is not granted membership. Zelensky had told Donald Trump when they met that Ukraine would either join an alliance like NATO or be “forced to pursue nuclear weapons.” [Newsweek]
US:
¶ “Nearly $75 Million In Federal Grants To Help Alaska Native Communities With Climate Impacts” • Nearly $75 million will be aimed at helping Alaska Native communities as they deal with the impacts of climate change. The grant is going to tribal health consortium for resilience to extreme weather and changes to the environment in coastal communities. [ABC News]
Coastal Alaska (Joshua Sukoff, Unsplash)
¶ “New York Officials Consider Criminal Charges Against Big Oil” • A growing body of evidence shows that Big Oil knew about the climate dangers of its products but promoted them to the public anyway, the authors of a 50-page document, published by Public Citizen write. “This conduct was not just amoral,” they say. “It was criminal.” [CleanTechnica]
¶ “How Solar and Battery Kept An Appalachian Farm Going” • After over a week without grid power, Erik at the Farpoint Farms YouTube channel discusses his use of solar power before, during, and after the storm. He never built his solar array to cover all of his needs off grid, but he estimates its contributions to be about ⅓ of the overall farm’s needs. [CleanTechnica]
Solar array (screenshot from article’s embedded video – fair use)
¶ “Ford Launches Tool To Help Businesses Go Electric, Save Money” • One of the biggest incentives for EVs has been lower operational costs. But it takes some math to figure out if EVs will save you money compared to something else, how much they’ll save you, and how long it will take you to see the savings. Ford has a tool to help with that. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Hochul: New York State Reaches Solar Power Benchmark Ahead Of Schedule” • Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 6 GW of distributed solar have been installed across New York state, a year ahead of the state’s goals of adopting solar energy for homes and business. The 6 GW of solar energy is enough to power more than 1 million homes. [The Daily Gazette]
Have an impressively funny day.
geoharvey 