Science and Technology:
¶ “Lucid And BMW Execs Claim Efficiency More Important Than Range For Electric Cars” • Peter Rawlinson, CEO of Lucid, and Frank Weber, the head of development at BMW, agree on a smaller battery with efficiency. “Then we can make a battery pack for about $2,500 – maybe $2,000 – instead of $20,000 or $25,000 today,” Rawlings said. [CleanTechnica]
Lucid Gravity (Lucid image)
¶ “Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries Offers Benefits Over Mining Virgin Metals” • According to a Stanford University lifecycle analysis published in Nature Communications, we should recycle lithium-ion batteries because recovering critical metals from used lithium-ion batteries has much less environmental impact than mining the metals. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ “VinFast Aggressively Pursues The Micro-EV Market” • VinFast has unveiled the Minio Green, a highly anticipated model that captured the attention of Vietnamese consumers. VinFast says the Minio Green, with its high economic efficiency and agile performance, is an ideal choice to replace motorcycles for intra-city commuting. [CleanTechnica]
VinFast Minio Green (Courtesy of VinFast VN)
¶ “New Coal Power Plant Projects In China Hit The Highest Level In Nearly Ten Years, Report Says” • China’s power industry began construction on nearly 100 GW of new coal plant capacity last year, the most in nearly a decade, a report from two clean-energy groups said. They are concerned about China’s ability to meet its carbon reduction goals. [ABC News]
¶ “OX2 Submits EIA For 2.4-GW Halla Offshore Wind Farm” • OX2 has submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment for the 2400-MW Halla offshore wind farm. OX2 said it is the first EIA carried out for an offshore wind power project in Finland’s economic zone. The project was designed for a maximum of 160 wind turbines. [reNews]
Offshore wind farm (Nicholas Doherty , Unsplash)
¶ “Eastern Green Link 1 Enters Construction” • Eastern Green Link 1 will transport green electricity for two million homes along over 190 km of predominantly undersea cable linking the south-east of Scotland with the north-east of England. The £2.5 billion project was given the green light by Ofgem last year and works are now underway. [reNews]
¶ “Cheaper Solar Panels, Batteries To Expand Renewables’ Role In Power Market, Scatec CEO Says” • Cheaper solar power and battery storage are expanding the technologies’ role in stabilizing energy systems and thus offering increased opportunities for renewables, according to Terje Pilskog, the CEO of renewables developer Scatec. [Yahoo]
Solar panels (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)
¶ “Adani Green Energy Withdraws From $442 Million Wind Power Project In Sri Lanka” • After the political climate in Sri Lanka changed and the government revoked a power purchase agreement, Adani Green Energy, which is a part of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group, decided to withdraw from its $442 million wind energy project in Sri Lanka. [Newsx]
¶ “Australia’s Residential Battery Installations Rise 30% In 2024” • Residential battery installations have grown 30% in Australia since 2023, according to the CEC Momentum Monitor. Its latest figures show that 121,551 household battery systems have been installed in Australia, a figure that includes the 28,262 units put in over 2024. [pv magazine International]
Home battery system (Sonnen image)
¶ “Nuclear Plants Could Use Three Times More Water Than Current Coal Plants” • A 2018 Australian National University study found that only hydropower consumes more water than nuclear. The Coalition’s promised nuclear plants could consume three times as much water as existing coal sites. Where could that water come from? [MSN]
¶ “No Coal, Gas Or Nuclear: Greens Cut Deals To “Dutton-Proof” Labor’s Flagship Renewable Policies” • The Australian Greens have had a busy week “Dutton-proofing” the federal Labor’s flagship renewable energy policies to prevent them being used to support coal, gas, or nuclear power in the event of a Coalition election victory this year. [RenewEconomy]
Windmill and nuclear plant (Boudewijn Huysmans, Unsplash)
US:
¶ “New EV Charging Station Schemes Thwart Trump’s National EV Infrastructure Squeeze” • President Trump froze a $5 billion federal program aimed to install EV fast charging stations. The funds have largely already been awarded, however. Also, plenty of other EV charging station plans are in the works through other channels already. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Charybdis Begins Sea Trials” • The first US-made offshore wind turbine installation vessel has begun sea trials, and is to be ready for this year’s construction schedule. Dominion Energy’s Charybdis began sea trials this month off of Brownsville, Texas. It is contracted to Dominion Energy’s 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind array. [reNews]
Charybdis (Dominion Energy image)
¶ “Red States Plot Judicial Takeover Of New York” • Late last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to bolster New York’s environmental efforts by requiring large fossil fuel companies to pay for critical projects protecting the state’s people. This week 22 Republican-led states sued, claiming the law is unconstitutional. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “The Great Disappearing Data Center Demand Crisis” • A Duke University research team has developed “curtailment-enabled headroom,” a more accessible and potentially less expensive way to address data centers’ energy demands. It’s one of a growing list of solutions to the data center demand crisis, which turns out to be not much of a crisis after all. [CleanTechnica]
Have a gracefully progressing day.
geoharvey 