Opinion:
¶ “Enron Egg Parody Stunt Shows Us How Ridiculous Nuclear Promises Can Be” • In a presentation, a fake CEO tells us about a nuclear device that’s supposedly safe to keep in your home with the family. A quick search shows the design is full of intentional flaws. The Enron Egg parody is a commentary on the endless stream of hucksters. [CleanTechnica]
Humpty Dumpty (WW Denslow, public domain)
World:
¶ “Breaking Fossil Domination In Plastics: Interview With Lignin Industries CEO Fredrik Malmfors” • Fredrik Malmfors of Lignin Industries talks about his company and its patented technology. They are taking on fossil-based plastics with good old-fashioned horse sense, supply chains, waste materials, and … What? carbon sequestration technologies? [CleanTechnica]
¶ “ProLogium Unveils Fast Charging Inorganic Battery At CES 2025” • South Korea’s ProLogium is at CES 2025 to introduce its 4th generation lithium ceramic battery system. The company says its new battery technology addresses many of the concerns electric car drivers experience every day: total cost of ownership, range anxiety, and safety. [CleanTechnica]
ProLogium battery (ProLogium image)
¶ “OnPath Energy To Invest About £1 Billion In UK Renewables” • OnPath Energy has announced plans to invest around a billion pounds in clean energy projects across the UK over the next five years. Richard Dunkley, the CEO at OnPath Energy, commented, “The new government has been very firm in its commitment to accelerating the transition to net zero.” [reNews]
¶ “Nearly Half Of The UK’s Energy Is Already From Renewables – Why Are Bills So High?” • Electricity from renewables should be cheaper to generate than from gas. But the UK’s reality is far more complicated. The biggest driver of high electricity prices is the UK’s marginal pricing model, which means that electricity prices are mostly dictated by gas prices. [AOL.com]
UK wind turbine (Oast House Archive, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Permitting And Grids Holding Back EU Wind Progress” • The EU built 13 GW of new wind farms last year, a figure that falls well below the 30 GW annual target needed to meet 2030 goals. WindEurope estimates show that three main hurdles block the growth of wind energy. One big problem is lack of access to the transmission grid. [Power Engineering International]
¶ “Chile Generated More Than 40% Of Its Electricity From Solar And Wind Sources In December” • In December 2024, Chile set a record by generating 42% of its electricity from solar and wind sources, according to the international energy think tank Ember. The previous monthly record of 39.6% of all electricity was set in September of 2024. [BNamericas]
Solar array in Chile (Digitmed, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
US:
¶ “California Wildfires Maps Show Evacuations, Power Outages, Air Quality” • Wildfires are tearing through thousands of acres in Los Angeles County, California, as strong Santa Ana wind gusts stoke the blazes. The Palisades Fire, which is 8% contained, has impacted over 20,400 acres and the 3% contained Eaton Fire has impacted over 13,600 acres. [ABC News]
¶ “L.A. Fires Show The Reality Of Living In A World With 1.5°C Of Warming” • The Southern California blaze was a kind of hell. Residents at a nursing home were evacuated in wheelchairs and pushing walkers, many in their night clothes, as embers fell. Fire fighters, with hoses at the ready but without water at hydrants, could only watch as houses burned. [Time Magazine]
Palisades Fire (CalFire image)
¶ “$1.67 Billion To Montana Renewables To Significantly Expand US Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production” • As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda, the DOE’s Loan Programs Office announced closing a $1.67 billion ($1.44 billion of principal and $233 million of capitalized interest) to Montana Renewables, LLC. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Three-Wheeled Electric Vehicles Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels” • A market for three-wheeled electric vehicles is beginning to take shape, and that’s good news for the US EV startup Aptera. The company just earned a big vote of confidence from the A-list battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions, smoothing the path to full production this year. [CleanTechnica]
Aptera (Courtesy of Aptera)
¶ “25% Of Americans Avoiding Tesla Tech Because Of Elon Musk” • Three things are no secret: (1) Elon Musk benefits more than any other individual from Tesla’s success, (2) Elon Musk has gotten extremely involved in political matters (emphasis on “extremely”), and (3) many people won’t buy Tesla products because of those first two facts. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Vineyard Wind 1 Finishes Monopile Installation” • The CIP-Avangrid joint venture Vineyard Wind has completed monopile installation at the 804-MW Vineyard Wind 1 site off the coast of Massachusetts. An announcement on Vineyard Wind’s website shows all 62 monopiles installed. Vineyard Wind is starting cable laying, which will run through April. [reNews]
Ship loading wind components (Wosketomp, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Seven States Power Corporation Receives $439 Million Investment From USDA New ERA Program For Renewable Power Solutions” • Seven States Power Corporation is proud to announce that it will receive $439 million in federal funding through the US Department of Agriculture’s New Empowering Rural America program. [FOX40 News]
¶ “Constellation Energy To Buy Calpine In Blockbuster $16.4 Billion US Power Deal” • Nuclear power provider Constellation Energy agreed to buy privately held natural gas and geothermal company Calpine Corp for $16.4 billion. It is one of the biggest acquisitions in US power industry history. The deal comes at a time of rising electricity demand. [Reuters]
Have a consummately gracious day.
geoharvey 
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