World:
¶ “Do We Need Cocoa-Free Chocolate, And Is It Nice?” • The key ingredient of chocolate is cocoa, which is made from fermented, roasted and ground cacao beans. The wholesale price of cocoa increased by an astonishing 300% in 2024. This is due to climate change-related weather impacts on cacao farms, particularly in West Africa. There are alternatives. [BBC]
Cocoa beans (Etty Fidele, Unsplash)
¶ “La Niña Exits After Three Weak Months, Leaving Earth In Neutral Climate State” • La Niña, the natural cooling flip side of the better known and warmer El Niño climate phenomenon, has dwindled away after just three months. The La Niña that came into being in January, months later than forecast, was a weak one, according to NOAA. [ABC News]
¶ “Kia Concept EV2 Blends User-Focused Design With Material Innovations As A Vision For The Future Of Kia Interiors” • Kia’s designers have revealed new details on the inspiration behind its new Concept EV2’s interior design. This comes as part of the model featuring in the brand’s Transcend Journey exhibit at Milan Design Week 2025. [CleanTechnica]
Kia Concept EV2 interior (Kia Global News Center)
¶ “BYD, NIO, XPENG, And Zeekr Could Get Big Boost From Trump’s Tariff Circus” • Naturally, Trump’s massive tariffs on Chinese-produced goods are aimed at hurting China and helping the US. However, aside from the basic logic of the tariffs being in serious question, there often are side effects of our actions that we didn’t initially consider. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ireland’s Ardnacrusha Moment, Again: A Blueprint for Full Electrification” • In the 1920s, the young Irish Free State chose to spend roughly 20% of its national budget on the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric scheme. What if Ireland spent the same money on a major chunk of decarbonization technology as it did 100 years ago on that dam? [CleanTechnica]
Ardnacrusha plant (The Banner, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “ContourGlobal Commissions Chilean PV Site” • KKR-owned ContourGlobal commissioned a 221-MW solar PV plant with a 1200-MWh battery storage system that can deliver 200-MW for six hours after sunset. This milestone marks the final stage before commencing commercial operations in the coming weeks and starting to fulfil its long-term PPA. [reNews]
¶ “Ørsted Installs First Foundation At Changhua 2b And 4” • Ørsted has completed the installation of the suction bucket jacket foundation for the 920-MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms in Taiwan. The site is Ørsted first in the Asia-Pacific region to use SBJs, which minimize both installation noise and seabed disturbance. [reNews]
Installing an SBJ foundation (Ørsted via LinkedIn)
¶ “India’s Installed Renewables Capacity Reaches 220.10 GW As Of End-March” • India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said the country’s installed renewable energy capacity reached 220.10 GW as of 31 March. The ministry said the greatest part of the increase was solar, with 23.83 GW. The total installed solar capacity stands at 105.65 GW. [Asian Power]
¶ “WindEurope 2025: Irish TSO Opens €1 Billion Grid Tender” • As Ireland’s Transmission System Operator, EirGrid announced a procurement program of over €1 billion for works related to the delivery of an offshore electricity grid for Ireland. In 2021, Ireland opted to move towards a plan-led rollout of offshore renewables and infrastructure. [reNews]
Offshore substation (TenneT image)
¶ “Spain’s Nuclear Shutdown Set To Test Renewables Success Story” • Spain is ignoring various calls to reconsider its nuclear decommissioning plans, betting renewables and battery storage will make up for the upcoming energy shortfall. The country is plowing ahead with plans to shut down its seven nuclear reactors over the next decade. [Energy Connects]
US:
¶ “Greening Forms US PV And BESS JV” • Greening USA, a Greening subsidiary, has partnered with Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure in a JV to co-develop renewable energy projects in the US. The alliance will make it possible to promote PV and energy storage (BESS) systems, both by combining the two technologies and independently. [reNews]
Solar array (Greening image)
¶ “How Trump’s Executive Order On Coal Could Impact Energy Use In The US” • President Donald Trump’s quest to conduct a resurgence of coal production and use in the US is farfetched and unlikely, energy experts say. Coal power capacity has been declining here and worldwide in recent decades, mainly because we have cheaper and cleaner fuels. [ABC News]
¶ “Robots To Work With Humans To Demonstrate Solar Module Installation” • Rosendin, an electrical contracting company, has announced that its Renewable Energy Group will demonstrate its new autonomous robotic system for installing solar modules in Texas. The robotic system reportedly can install solar panels three times as fast as human workers. [pv magazine India]
Robots and humans (Rosendin Renewable Energy Group)
¶ “Businesses In New York Support Clean Trucks” • Two bills would delay the implementation and enforcement of New York’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule until 2027. They would provide a two-year pause on a policy that New York adopted in 2021 after extensive public engagement. A number of businesses signed a letter opposing them. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Why Analyst Forecasts Dropped for Tesla (TSLA) Throughout Q1” • Troy Teslike tracks Tesla’s production figures well enough that some Wall Street analysts subscribe to his work. Throughout the first quarter the analysts, inlcuding Teslike, were wrong in their expectations about Tesla’s production numbers. There are reasons why this might happen. [CleanTechnica]
Have a brilliantly pacific day.
geoharvey 
Leave a comment