Science and Technology:
¶ “New Aluminum-Ion Battery Offers Promising Solution For Renewable Energy” • Researchers have developed an innovative aluminum-ion battery that not only offers enhanced safety and recyclability but also delivers exceptional longevity, through well over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles, making it a contender for large-scale energy storage applications. [i-hls.com]
Aluminum ingot (Romary, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
World:
¶ “How The EV Sector In Canada Can Thrive Even In The Era Of Tariffs” • Writing in The Conversation, Charles Conteh of Brock University in Ontario and Tia Henstra of Brock University argue that tariffs (assuming they ever actually go into effect) should not be seen as a detriment to Canada’ electric car industry but rather as a way to accelerate it. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “XPENG Sales Up 238% In January” • XPENG had quite a good 2024, but 2025 is entering with fireworks that make the 2024 results look like sparklers. XPENG’s January 2025 sales were 238% higher than its January sales of the year before. With 30,350 deliveries, this was the third month in a row that XPENG were greater than 30,000 sales. [CleanTechnica]
XPENG Mona M03 (XPENG image)
¶ “Power Sector Crisis Will Deepen Without Urgent Reforms: Task Force Report” • Bangladesh’s power sector has long been dependent on a few companies, as weak government policies allow certain firms to win power project tenders repeatedly with no competition, according to a report by the Task Force on Economic Reforms. [The Business Standard]
¶ “China Hits Clean Energy Goal Six Years Ahead Of Schedule” • A record pace of installations of solar and wind power in recent years helped China achieve its 2030 renewable energy capacity target six years early. In 2020, China set a goal to have at least 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030. China has already hit that target. [OilPrice.com]
Wind turbines in China (Paolo Dala, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
“Oil India Launches Wholly-Owned Subsidiary, OIL Green Energy Limited” • State-run Oil India Limited incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, OIL Green Energy Limited, to focus on the business of renewable and non-conventional energy. The announcement was made through a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. [Indianmasterminds]
¶ “Myanmar Implements Eleven Solar Power Plant Projects” • A total of eleven solar power plant projects are under construction and development across Myanmar, according to the Electricity and Energy Development Commission. They will have a total capacity of 1,026 MW. The government is expediting renewable energy projects. [Global New Light Of Myanmar]
Myanmar (Gerd Eichmann, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “Budget 2025-26 Goes Big On Nuclear; Experts Question Move” • Union Minister for Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman made major announcements about nuclear energy in India. She spoke of private companies and nuclear energy’s role in the country’s energy mix. But experts warn of the safety risks of developing nuclear energy in the country. [Down To Earth]
US:
¶ “Joseph Stiglitz Asks Whether America Is Witnessing The End Of Progress” • Project Syndicate published an essay by Joseph Stiglitz that began, “Though the United States has long led the world in advancing basic science and technology, it is hard to see how this can continue under President Donald Trump and the country’s ascendant oligarchy.” [CleanTechnica]
Joseph Stiglitz (New America, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Unions Warn Members About Musk’s Masked Severance Promises” • The Trump regime has let go hundreds of federal employees, including several whose job is to do objective audits of federal agencies. The Washington Post reported that 2.3 million federal employees were offered a severance package. Unions said not to trust the offer. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “South Carolina Is Untapped Ground for Solar Energy” • As South Carolina anticipates a big increase in energy demand in the coming years, some utilities are turning to solar as a way to build out energy quickly and cheaply. Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO at Silicon Ranch, said solar is the fastest and least costly way to get power to the grid. [Inside Climate News]
Installing a transformer (Courtesy of Silicon Ranch)
¶ “Lightsource Bp Brings 288-MW Solar Portfolio In Texas Online” • Lightsource bp announced two solar power projects in Texas with a combined 288 MW of generation capacity are now online, pushing the company’s operational fleet in that state to over 1 GW of power production. The projects are in Starr County and Brazoria County. [POWER Magazine]
¶ “Exxon Mobil’s Strong Fourth Quarter Fueled By Increasing Production” • Exxon Mobil posted strong fourth quarter profits as it increased production in the Permian basin at home, and in Guyana. The Texas company earned $7.61 billion, or $1.72 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31. It earned $7.63 billion, or $1.91 per share, in Q4 of 2023. [ABC News]
Have a marvelously reflective day.
geoharvey 