World:
¶ “Last Year ‘One Of The Worst For UK Butterflies'” • According to conservationists, last year was one of the worst on record for the UK’s butterflies. The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme found for the first time more than half of their species in the UK are in long-term decline. And even the most common butterflies are suffering losses. [BBC]
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Janesca, Unsplash)
¶ “Free Hot Water Project To Help With Fuel Poverty” • A device that will heat tenants’ hot water tank for free is being piloted in some Housing Executive properties in Northern Ireland. It is hoped that the devices, which use excess locally-generated renewable energy, will help mitigate fuel poverty, which afflicts 22% of the country’s households. [BBC]
¶ “Corporate Travel Reduced By A Third On 2019 Levels Despite Increased Flying By Some Companies” • Business travel by the world’s biggest companies fell by 34% between 2019 and 2023, the fourth edition of the Travel Smart Ranking finds. Even so, some big companies are bucking that trend, and 44% of the 326 in the ranking have no travel target. [CleanTechnica]
Airport (Ashim D’Silva, Unsplash)
¶ “XPENG Scores 331% Sales Growth! ” • For the first quarter of 2025, XPENG logged 94,008 deliveries, 331% more than in the 1st quarter of 2024. And XPENG notes that this is the fifth month in a row when XPENG delivered over 30,000 vehicles to customers. It even achieved that result through the always-tough Chinese New Year period. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “BYD Announces Home Solar-Powered Humanoid Robot For $10,000!” • BYD seems to be telling Tesla and everyone else in the market, “What you can do, I can do better, and cheaper.” With 110,000 R&D engineers, who is surprised? BYD may have delayed entry into the humanoid robot market, but it’s coming in with the biggest bang imaginable. [CleanTechnica]
Robot (Maximalfocus, Unsplash)
¶ “New Agreement To Drive Renewables Roll-Out In Europe” • A landmark agreement is set to accelerate the rollout of renewable energy across Europe. The Fast and Fair Renewables & Grids agreement aims to address the problem of local opposition holding up renewable energy projects. The EU aims to reach 42.5% renewable energy by 2030. [reNews]
¶ “Swedes Grant Nod For 2.8-GW Skyborn Project” • Skyborn Renewables cleared a crucial hurdle in its plans for an offshore wind farm in Sweden. The County Administrative Board of Uppsala recommended that the Swedish government approve the 2.8-GW Fyrskeppet offshore wind project. The project is to have up to 187 wind turbines. [reNews]
Offshore wind farm (Skyborn Renewables image)
¶ “Octopus Energy Unlocks French Green Power For 150,000 Homes” • Octopus Energy’s generation arm is powering ahead with its green energy push in France, striking four deals in solar and wind energy to power 150,000 homes. Octopus is now building or managing 500 MW of green power in over 30 wind and solar farms in France. [energy-pedia]
¶ “NYK And Partners to Develop Renewable Energy-Powered Floating Data Center” • NYK Line, NTT Facilities, Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation, MUFG Bank, and the city of Yokohama signed a memorandum of understanding for a demonstration project of an offshore green data center with a mini-float as a disaster countermeasure. [Offshore Engineer Magazine]
Offshore Floating Green Data Center (NYK Line image)
¶ “Finland Ending Use Of Coal As Last Utility-Scale Plant Shuts Down” • Finland is transitioning to renewable energy, including solar and wind. In recent years, the country’s use of coal has been falling after government officials in 2019 passed a law banning the use of coal after 2029. The 175-MW Salmisaari plant has shut down, ending use of coal. [POWER Magazine]
US:
¶ “Over 1,900 Researchers Describe ‘Assault’ On Science By The White House” • Scientists, engineers, and researchers sent an open letter to President Donald Trump’s administration, calling for a stop to its “assault” on science. Nearly 2,000 signators called out the administration for defunding research, firing scientists, and ending public access to data. [ABC News]
White House (Kristina Volgenau, Unsplash)
¶ “US Carmakers Crush It On Q1 EV Sales (Except You-Know-Who)” • EV sales in the US continued to increase during the first three months of this year. Well, aside from Tesla’s. Some analysts surmise that buyers are rushing to lock in prices before tariffs take effect or the federal EV tax credit gets the axe, or both. Time and Q2 sales will tell. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Tesla Board Asks Elon Musk to Step Down” • The Tesla board of directors hasn’t been exactly reasonable and independent. Musk has been allowed to tarnish the Tesla brand (that he once was critical in building up) and drive sales down, down, down as the board has remained silent and seemingly useless. That is, until now. [CleanTechnica]
Elon Musk selling a Tesla (White House, public domain)
¶ “Contract Negotiations Paused With Maine Floater” • Pine Tree Offshore Wind has paused negotiations with the US state of Maine over a 144-MW floating project in the Gulf of Maine. The consortium is pausing the project “due to recent shifts in the energy landscape that have in particular caused uncertainty in the offshore wind industry.” [reNews]
¶ “Nuclear Is Now “Clean Energy” In Colorado After Governor Polis Signs Bill” • Governor Jared Polis signed a bill to crack open the door to a new nuclear energy era in Colorado, disregarding a coalition of environmental groups asking for a veto. HB25-1040, redefines nuclear as a “clean energy resource,” despite the lack of storage for its radioactive waste. [Colorado Public Radio]
Have a fabulously interesting day.
geoharvey 
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