World:
¶ “Earth Just Experienced Its Warmest January On Record” • Despite a record snowfall in the south, cold temperatures across the northeast and an emerging La Niña event, which is supposed to cool things down, January 2025 was still warmer than any previous start to the year in the organization’s dataset going back to 1940. [ABC News]
Cardinal in Central Park (Sergio Mena Ferreira, Unsplash)
¶ “Fleets Electrification Law Could Deliver 2 Million EV Sales In EU” • An EU law to electrify company fleets could guarantee demand for over 2 million electric cars for European carmakers in 2030, according to analysis by green group T&E. T&E is calling for an EU target for all fleets with over 100 cars to buy only electric as of 2030. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “News On Tesla’s New Factories In Mexico, Netherlands And IndiaTo Build 4 Million Cars Per Year” • In 2022, Elon Musk said Tesla could probably eventually build 10–12 gigafactories around the world. It currently has one in China, one in Germany, one in Texas, and one in Nevada. Its sales are in decline, so news about gigafactories? Nada. [CleanTechnica]
Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai (Tesla image)
¶ “The Automakers Selling the Most EVs in the World” • If we gather plugin vehicle sales by automotive group, BYD (24.7% share of the plugin vehicle market) repeated the 2023 title win, with a mammoth 14.3% share (or over 2.4 million unit) advantage over Tesla (10.4%, down from 13.2% share in 2023). BYD gained 2.7% points compared to a year ago. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Siemens Gamesa Secures Certificate For 21.5-MW Turbine” • Siemens Gamesa was granted a certificate to develop a prototype wind turbine with a capacity of 21.5 MW and a 276 meter rotor. The prototype structure has been certified by DNV and has until 2027 to develop the model, according to the Danish wind turbine certification authority. [reNews]
Wind turbine (Siemens Gamesa image)
¶ “UK Policies ‘Put Post 2030 PV And Storage At Risk'” • Policies solar and storage is putting £26 billion of investment at risk and could lead to higher energy bills, according to trade association Solar Energy UK. Putting the brakes on deployment of solar farms and grid-scale energy storage early in the next decade poses a risk to the wider economy. [reNews]
¶ “Can Rooftop Solar Power India’s Cities?” • India is seeing a resurgence in residential rooftop solar deployment. The national government’s flagship program was launched in February 2024 to solarize 1 crore (10 million) households by 2027. The objective of the scheme is to provide low-cost electricity to the consumers via rooftop solar. [RMI]
Delhi (Anish Kumar, Unsplash)
¶ “Greece Installs 2.6 GW Of PV Capacity In 2024” • Greece installed a record 2.572 GW of PV capacity in 2024, about 1 GW more than in 2023, when the country added 1.59 GW of PV capacity. Self-consumption net-metered systems added 400 MW of PV capacity, with another 500 MW expected from small solar projects. [pv magazine International]
¶ “A Recent Report Finds Climate Change Is Accelerating Faster Than Predicted. Some Experts Disagree” • If a study in the journal Environment led by iconic climate scientist Dr. James Hansen is correct, things are even worse than all of the latest news would make one believe: He claims Earth is about to blow past 2º C above pre-industrial levels. [Salon.com]
Forested mountainside (Guy Bowden, Unsplash)
¶ “PM Unveils Plans To Make It Easier To Build New Nuclear Reactors” • The Prime Minister announced that more nuclear plants will be approved in England and Wales as red tape is reduced. The reforms will enable small modular reactors to be built in the UK. Ministers said SMRs would deliver clean, secure. and more affordable energy. [MSN] (Affordable? – ghh)
US:
¶ “Musk Plays President While Tesla Misses Electric Truck Boat” • Auto industry observers are wondering if Elon Musk still wants to sell Tesla EVs, now that he’s a Trump advisor. The company suffered a sales drop last year, and the Tesla Semi Class 8 electric truck is heading for stiff competition when it finally goes into full production in 2026. [CleanTechnica]
ZO Motors’ electric truck (ZM Trucks image)
¶ “New Flow Battery Venture Joins Red States And Blue States In Common Cause” • Another twist in the tangled web of red–blue state relations has come up. Two companies, one in Georgia and one in Massachusetts announced a joint venture called Storion Energy. It will lease the electrolyte they need to US vanadium flow battery makers. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “500-MW New York PV Project Gets Nod” • The New York Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Transmission approved construction of Hecate Energy and Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company’s 500-MW Cider Solar Farm. Greenbacker acquired the Cider Solar Farm project from Hecate in 2024, becoming its long-term owner and operator. [reNews]
Solar farm (Hecate Energy image)
¶ “Study Looks At Whether US Farmland Is Better Used For Corn Ethanol Or Solar Power” • A study found that solar panels generate 12 times more energy and 13 times more revenue per acre than corn. Still, without subsidies (which corn gets – ghh), solar projects would have financial losses due to their costs of construction and operation. [Straight Arrow News]
¶ “The Transition To Electric Vehicles And Renewable Power In America” • The recent surge in EV sales in the US has been remarkable. With an ambitious goal set to have 50% of new cars sold be EVs by 2030, consumers are increasingly drawn to the benefits these vehicles offer. The growing popularity is driven in part by practical advantages. [MSN]
Have a just grand day.
geoharvey 