Opinion:
¶ “Fossil Fuel Interests Ramp Up Their ‘Solar Makes Electricity More Expensive’ Falsehood” • It shouldn’t be a surprise that the fossil fuel industry is trotting out its big guns to attack renewable energy and electric cars. They paid to get Trump elected and now they want to make sure they get the maximum return on their investment. [CleanTechnica]
Nothing to see here, folks (Chris LeBoutillier, Unsplash)
Science and Technology:
¶ “Next-Gen ‘Massless’ EV Batteries Could Have No Weight” • Simply removing the weight of the battery would increase an EV’s range by 70%. The scientists behind that estimate have been hard at work developing a “massless” EV battery, meaning a battery that adds no extra weight because it also serves as a working part of the EV’s structure. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “BYD Bus And Commercial Vehicle Sales Explode” • Most of the EV story is about consumer vehicles. But there is a lot more: electric buses, shipping trucks, delivery trucks, ore trucks, etc. BYD sells a lot of those. The company’s electric bus sales were up in 2024 by 18.6%. But BYD’s non-passenger commercial EV sales were up by 138% for the year. [CleanTechnica]
BYD SkyRail (Courtesy of BYD America)
¶ “BYD Car Sales Rose 60% in December, 41% in 2024” • In December, BYD’s plugin vehicle sales were up 60%! Across the full year, they were up 41.3%. In volume terms, BYD’s sales were up by 173,766 units in December 2024 compared to December 2023, and they were up by 1,241,968 units across 2024 as a whole. Meanwhile, Tesla’s sales fell. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “China Plans 48,000 Kilometers Of High Speed Rail By 2030” • China has the most extensive railway network on Earth, with 162,000 km (100,000 miles) installed. As part of its rail network, it currently has 48,000 km of high-speed rail lines and plans to add another 12,000 km by 2030. Travel between major cities will be possible in just 1 to 3 hours. [CleanTechnica]
Fast train in China (Courtesy of CRRC via Reddit)
¶ “Windey Energy Plans 16-MW Onshore Turbine” • Chinese manufacturer Windey Energy is planning to develop an ultra-large 16-MW onshore wind turbine. The groundbreaking scheme is led by Windey Energy under the Inner Mongolia autonomous region’s Science and Technology Innovation Major Demonstration Project. [reNews]
¶ “Trump Calls To ‘Open Up’ North Sea, Get Rid Of Windmills ” • US President-elect Donald Trump has called to “open up” the North Sea and get rid of windmills. Oil companies have been exiting the North Sea in recent decades. Production has declined from a peak of 4.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2000 to around 1.3 million today. [Yahoo]
North Sea Oil & Gas Platform (JanChr, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
¶ “Renewables Near 30% Of Belgian Power Mix” • In Belgium renewables reached the highest level to date in 2024, increasing to just under 30% compared with just over 28% in 2023. In figures released by grid operator Elia, Belgium’s electricity mix last year saw a significant 23% increase in solar generation and low use of gas-fired generation. [reNews]
US:
¶ “Jimmy Carter Was Ahead Of His Time On Energy” • Carter’s environmental legacy is sizable. He is well-known for wearing a sweater and turning down his thermostat (and asking Americans to do the same). But his faith and support of solar technology helped push it to the viable industry that exists today. Solar costs fell 78% while he was in office. [ABC News]
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter fishing, 1978 (National Archives)
¶ “Tesla Reports 1.1% Sales Drop For 2024, First Annual Decline In At Least Nine Years” • Tesla’s global annual sales fell for the first time in at least nine years, with a 2.3% increase in the final quarter not enough to overcome a sluggish start to 2024 despite offers of 0% financing, free charging and low-priced leases. Sales were 1.1% below 2023 sales. [ABC News]
¶ “Equinor Shields Self Against Trump Offshore Wind Threat, Nails $3 Billion For New Wind Hub In Brooklyn” • News from Equinor is that it has $3 billion in new financing, a significant slice of the expected total of $5 billion in capital investments needed for its new wind hub. Equinor seems unfazed by Donald Trump’s attitude toward windpower. [CleanTechnica]
Wind turbine at South Brooklyn Marine Terminal
(Beyond My Ken, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Geothermal Research Funding Opportunity In USA” • The US DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs released the FY25 Phase I Release 2 Notice of Funding Opportunity. The funding is for qualified small business projects in geothermal heating and cooling, and in enhanced geothermal systems. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Shoreline Nuclear Plant Could Get OK To Reopen In 2025” • This year could be pivotal for a plan to reopen a nuclear plant along Lake Michigan. Operations at the Palisades nuclear plant stopped in 2022, but its owner, Holtec International, is seeking approval to reopen, and the Biden administration pledged $2 billion in loans to help the restart. [WMUK]
Have a relaxingly trouble-free day.
geoharvey 