Opinion:
¶ “Chinese Electric Cars Are Leaving The US In The Dust” • With our storied history as automobile leaders of the 1900s, it is easy to assume the US will continue to be the automotive leaders globally and especially domestically. However, we are rapidly being outmaneuvered, out-innovated, and left in the dust by our Chinese competitors. [CleanTechnica]
BYD Z9 interior (BYD image)
¶ “Faster Charging Doesn’t Help As Much As We Think” • One thing we haven’t really seen is what happens when a Bolt goes head to head against the car most people consider the gold standard for EV road trips: a Tesla. Now we have that. The EV Geek on YouTube tested to see how much time driving a cheap EV really loses you. (Not much.) [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “Giraffes Need Endangered Species Protection For The First Time, US Officials Say” • The tallest animal on Earth is in danger, says the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and it is calling for federal protections for giraffe species for the first time. FWS proposes listing three subspecies of northern giraffes as endangered due to poaching, habitat loss, and climate change. [ABC News]
Giraffe (Judah Legge, Unsplash)
¶ “The US Energy Information Administration Acknowledges Electric Vehicles Are Eating Into Chinese Oil Demand” • The US EIA put out an “in-brief analysis” on “What’s driving decreasing gasoline consumption in China?” It notes that with EVs, demand for oil in China has been down for the past few months from the same months in 2023. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Honda Is Building Its Own Solid-State Batteries” • Honda had already announced it is moving on from its relationship with GM and will build its own EVs in the future. In the past few days, it announced that it has opened a 27,000 sq m (300,000 sq ft) demonstration production line for solid-state battery cells at its R&D center in Sakura City. [CleanTechnica]
Honda solid-state battery factory (Courtesy of Honda)
¶ “OX2 Turns Sod On Oz Solar Project” • OX2 has begun the construction of a 119-MW solar farm in Australia, one of the first publicly owned renewable energy projects in the country. SEC is a government-owned renewable energy company in Victoria, a fact that has also enabled a 100-MW battery energy storage system to be added to the project. [reNews]
¶ “Indonesia’s Prabowo Plans To Retire All Fossil Fuel Plants In Fifteen Years, But Experts Are Skeptical” • Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stated that his government plans to retire all fossil fuel-power plants while drastically boosting the country’s renewable energy capacity in the next 15 years. But the country is among those most dependent on coal. [ABC News]
Java (Hugo Matilla, Unsplash)
¶ “SA Secures The World’s First 100% Hydrogen-Capable Gas Turbines” • The South Australian Government has secured an agreement with ATCO Australia to contract GE Vernova to supply a first-of-its-kind, advanced gas turbine that can operate on 100% renewable hydrogen for the Whyalla hydrogen power plant. [Energy Source & Distribution]
US:
¶ “Northern California Faces Possible Record-Breaking Rainfall From Atmospheric River And Another Storm Is Coming” • A powerful atmospheric river is unleashing torrential, flooding rainfall across Northern California and parts of the Pacific Northwest in the wake of a historically strong bomb cyclone. Now another storm is on the way. [CNN]
Flooding from an atmospheric river (DJ Cane, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Water Levels At Reservoirs All Over The Northeast Dried Up Due To Drought Conditions In Recent Months” • Bodies of water that provide for populated regions in the Northeast have dried due to drought conditions in recent months, experts say. Water levels at reservoirs in the region have decreased to the point of concern for water supply managers. [ABC News]
¶ “Record Levels of Solar And Storage Installed for Tech, Retail, And Manufacturing Giants in USA” • Corporations in the US are spending heavily on solar and energy storage to power their operations despite current circumstances. On that topic, the Solar Energy Industries Association just released its annual Solar Means Business report. [CleanTechnica]
Ivanpah Solar Project (Dennis Schroeder, NREL)
¶ “Coal Producer To Produce 5.5 GW Of Solar Power” • Data centers are expected to drive a surge in demand for coal power in the US, but the leading coal producer Peabody is not waiting for it. Following a series of setbacks in recent years, Peabody is converting some of its properties to solar power plants, and they are not talking small potatoes. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “BayWa RE Sells US Solar Trio” • BayWa’s renewables arm has completed the sale of a US solar portfolio totaling 517 MW (dc) of capacity. The three projects, in the service areas of grid operators Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland Interconnector (PJM) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), will be connected in 2025. [reNews]
Solar farm (BayWay RE image)
¶ “Welch Introduces Ambitious Renewable Energy Standard Bill” • Vermont Senator Peter Welch joined with other Democrats to introduce a climate bill for a 100% renewable energy standard within twenty years. The American Renewable Energy Act puts a priority on solar, wind, and geothermal energy, and bio-digesters on farms and wastewater plants. [WCAX]
¶ “Hermes 2 Construction Permits Approved By US Nuclear Regulatory Commission” • The NRC voted to issue construction permits to Kairos Power for the Hermes 2 Demonstration Plant. The permits will authorize Kairos to build a facility with two 35 MW molten salt-cooled reactors that would also include a shared power generation system. [World Nuclear News]
Have an abundantly ducky day.
geoharvey 