World:
¶ “Zeekr Sales Increase 87% In 2024!” • Zeekr, a young EV brand under the enormous Geely Holding Group umbrella, had a super end of 2024, and a great year overall. In fact, it beat XPENG’s and NIO’s great numbers, in volume terms and percentage growth terms. Zeekr sold 27,190 EVs in December, a 102% increase year over year. [CleanTechnica]
Zeeker 7X in Europe
¶ “Pony.ai To Launch Robotaxis In Hong Kong” • Pony.ai now has over 250 robotaxis operating in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. It’s now looking to expand into Hong Kong, following somewhat more mature rival Baidu there. To start with, Pony.ai will operate robotaxis at the Hong Kong International Airport as shuttles for airport employees. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Mexico To Build Its Own Cheap Electric Car – Forget Tesla” • You read that right. Mexico – the country – got tired of waiting for Tesla to build a factory and produce cheap electric cars there, and it’s going to build cheap electric cars itself! Well, correction, it will do with with a private sector partner in a unique public-private partnership. [CleanTechnica]
Made in Mexico (Please click on the image to enlarge it.)
¶ “Nordex Takes 750 MW Of German Turbine Orders” • Nordex has secured turbine orders totaling 738 MW from three German wind farm developers for multiple projects across the country. The orders for turbines from the Delta4000 series, were placed late last year by Umweltgerechte Kraftanlagen, DenkerWulf, and WPD for projects in Germany. [reNews]
¶ “Van Oord Takes Delivery Of Boreas” • Offshore installation vessel Boreas was passed to Van Oord in a festive ceremony at the Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore shipyard in China. The Boreas, named after the Greek god of the Northern winds, is purpose-built for the transport and installation of the next generation of offshore foundations and turbines. [reNews]
Boreas ceremony (Van Oord image)
¶ “Albanese Government Approves More Renewable Energy Projects Than Any Government Before It” • With the approval of the 800-MW Prairie Wind Farm, the Albanese Government has a record 70 renewable energy projects. They could power over 8 million Australian homes. This is the most renewable energy of any Australian government. [The National Tribune]
¶ “Oz Wind Giant Gains Government Consent” • The Australia Government approved an 800-MW wind farm in Queensland. Windlab is developing the Prairie wind farm project, which will include 116 wind turbines. It is to be constructed on active cattle property in the Flinders Shire in north-west Queensland, about 340 km south-west of Townsville. [reNews]
Wind farm (Windlab image)
US:
¶ “Los Angeles ‘Not Prepared’ For Size And Growth Of Raging Wildfires: Fire Chief” • Fire departments in Los Angeles have long had to deal with wildfires near homes and businesses. But the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, and Hurst Fire, which burned over 16,000 acres as of Wednesday afternoon, left first responders stretched thin, the fire chief said. [ABC News]
¶ “Climate Change Contributed To The California Wildfires” • Climate change plays a major role in the unprecedented wildfires raging in Southern California. Five wildfires – Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Woodley, and Lidia – are burning in the counties of Los Angeles and Ventura. Climate change is making things that may happen naturally more intense and frequent. [ABC News]
SLO Firefighter, Palisades Fire, 1-8-2025 (Courtesy of Cal Fire)
¶ “US Focus On Domestic EV Battery Supply Chain Pushing Tesla To Move Supplies From China To US” • The most critical element of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was the effort to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, especially cleantech blue collar jobs in the fast growing EV, battery storage, and solar industries. That includes battery cells. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Can Biden’s Ban On Federal Offshore Oil & Gas Drilling Withstand The Trump Administration?” • President Biden took another big step to secure his environmental legacy, with a decree to protect our coasts from offshore oil and natural gas drilling. To do this, he used a law that has no language allowing a subsequent president to revoke a ban. [CleanTechnica]
Teton Range (Michael Gäbler, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “US Solar Power Generation Holds Steady Even During Extreme Fire Seasons” • In a paper in Nature Communications, researchers from Colorado State University show that while wildfire smoke increasingly covers large parts of the US it does not have much of an impact on overall, long-term solar power generation activity. [Tech Xplore]
¶ “DOE Mulls Backing Long-Duration Storage Project” • The developer Hydrostor received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee to help fund a 500-MW, 4000-MWh energy storage project in California. The loan guarantee is for up to $1.76 billion with the US Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Financing Program. [reNews]
Hydrostor project (Hydrostor image)
¶ “Oversized Solar Farm Keeps Lights On Until Midnight” • A massive 2.4-GW solar power plant, coupled with six hours of energy storage, is approved in northern Oregon. It is the nation’s largest approved solar and storage project. It’s driven by two of the most important clean energy trends: low cost solar panels and advancing battery technology. [pv magazine USA]
¶ “Caught In A Climate Bind, New York State Is Reconsidering Nuclear Power” • Just a few years ago, the closure of the Indian Point nuclear power plant was celebrated by a broad coalition of environmentalists, residents and even actors as a victory for public safety and environmental protection. But times may be changing in New York. [Inside Climate News]
Have a sublimely worthwhile day.
geoharvey 
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