World:
¶ “This Is How Much Climate Change Has Impacted Polar Bear Populations” • The melting of Arctic sea ice in the Hudson Bay is seriously impacting polar bears’ ability to hunt, sustain energy, and ensure the survival of cubs. This as lead to a 50% population decline since the mid-1990s, according to a paper published in the journal Science. [ABC News]
Polar Bear (Hans-Jurgen Mager, Unsplash)
¶ “BYD Becomes Fourth Best Selling Automaker in the World!” • Among automakers, in 2024, Toyota was the top seller with 10.82 million sales (down 3.7% from 2023). Volkswagen AG was second with 9.03 million sales (down 2%). Hyundai Motor Group was third with 7.23 sales (down 1.8%). And BYD was fourth with 4.27 million sales (up 41.3%). [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Solar Surpasses Coal For The First Time In The EU” • The Ember European Electricity Review for 2025 has some good news for renewable energy. It is is that solar generated more electricity in the EU last year, at 11%, than coal, which dropped to 10%. It is the first time solar has surpassed coal as the source of electricity in that region. [CleanTechnica]
Changes in generation (Ember image)
¶ “Polestar Arctic Circle Cars Showcase Swedish Performance DNA” • Polestar has created a new collection of unique ‘Arctic Circle’ cars that build onto the formula applied to the one-of-a-kind Polestar 2 Arctic Circle first shown in 2022. Now, additional Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 versions have been built to present a complete line-up of EVs. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “First Major Components Arrive For 105-MW Wind Farm” • The first major components for the 105-MW Fasikan wind farm in Sweden have arrived at Sundsvall Harbor. Construction work at the wind farm project has been ongoing since last year. Arise, the construction manager, said the delivery of the components marked “a key milestone.” [reNews]
Arival of first major components (Arise image)
¶ “Nigeria Seeks $1.1 Billion To Power Rural Communities With Renewable Mini-Grids” • Nigeria’s Federal Government is looking for $1.1 billion in funding to build renewable energy mini-grids. This ambitious project aims to bring electricity to underserved communities, a lifeline for many who have been living in darkness. [Okay.ng]
¶ “EIFO Finances 1.5-GW Polish Offshore Wind Farm” • The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark will provide a finance guarantee of €800 million for the 1500-MW Baltica 2 offshore wind farm. The project is being developed in the Baltic Sea by Ørsted and Polish energy company PGE. Baltica 2 is to be fully commissioned in 2027. [reNews]
Offshore windpower (Martina Nolte, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
¶ “Australia Eyes Renewable Energy Investments Previously Meant For US” • As US President Donald Trump works to roll back many Biden-era clean energy policies, Australia’s renewable industry hopes to attract investments that had been allocated for the US. The opportunity comes as Australia seeks funding for its own climate goals. [Straight Arrow News]
¶ “Study Doubles EU Wind Power Potential” • The report found “substantially higher onshore wind potential” in Europe, as some countries’ potential doubles. France and Spain could generate enough electricity equivalent to the EU’s projected 2050 demand of around 4,000 TWh, the modelling by the bloc’s researchers at the JRC found. [Euractiv]
Wind turbine (Craig Wallace, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
US:
¶ “USDA Orders Removal Of Climate Change Mentions From Public Websites” • The US Department of Agriculture directed agency officials to remove content related to climate change from its public websites, say internal emails obtained by ABC News. Web managers are to identify, archive, or excise materials mentioning climate change. [ABC News]
¶ “Shocker: Trump Tariffs Will Hurt Tesla” • Donald Trump is barely in office, and he’s already launching the US toward a tariff bonanza and trade wars. Elon Musk probably thinks that he and his allies can talk sense into Trump. But as reality dawns, we may start hearing that automakers like Tesla are not selling as many cars as they’d like. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla (Tesla Fans Schweiz, Unsplash)
¶ “State Farm And Other Insurance Companies Are Major Investors In Fossil Fuels” • Risalat Khan, a senior strategist with Insure Our Future, told Truthout recently, “The insurance industry has the option of cutting exposure to fossil fuel expansion overnight, but rather than doing that, they’re continuing to play both sides.” [CleanTechnica]
¶ “US Offshore Wind Developer Set To Fight Trump” • Atlantic Shores began life as a 50-50 joint venture of EDF and Shell. Now Shell has dropped out. But EDF intends to forge ahead with 2.8 GW of offshore wind energy in New Jersey. And it may have the resources to wage a battle over the legal authority of Trump’s offshore wind shutdown. [CleanTechnica]
Atlantic Shores (Courtesy of Atlantic Shores, cropped)
¶ “Trump’s Orders Upend Green Transition For Co-ops And Condos” • Trump’s executive orders may get blocked by the courts, but they upended the calculus of many co-op and condo boards that invested to electrify their building systems. The orders are based on Trump’s claim that the nation is facing an energy emergency. [Habitat Magazine]
¶ “Lawmakers Say No To Storing Nuclear Waste In Wyoming” • Despite growing support for nuclear energy nationally and in Wyoming in particular, there are simply too many concerns to entertain the possibility of opening the state to the country’s growing stockpile of spent nuclear fuel waste, a number of state lawmakers say. [Cap City News]
Have a nicely aligned day.
geoharvey 