World:
¶ “Global Breakthrough To Tackle Emissions From Shipping” • Countries agreed on a global deal to tackle shipping emissions, after nearly ten years of negotiations. The agreement covers the vast majority of the world’s commercial shipping and means that starting in 2028, ship owners will have to use increasingly cleaner fuels or face fines. [BBC]
Ship (Jens Rademacher, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “UN Shipping Agreement A Victory For Multilateralism But A Failure For The Climate” • Negotiators at the UN’s shipping body managed to clinch a deal that might save multilateralism for another day, but will likely lead to destruction of rainforests by promoting first-generation biofuels, says T&E, the European environmental organization. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Green Mining, Green Iron, Green Shipping, and Community Support” • Andrew Forrest has scoffed at “net zero,” challenging the mining industry and maritime shipping to go for “real zero.” To this end, he purchased battery electric mining equipment. Now, he is expanding his renewable energy resources to power that equipment. [CleanTechnica]
Fortescue electric mining trucks trucks
¶ “Tesla Stops Selling Model S And Model X In China” • These are not exactly big sellers in China, or anywhere, but nonetheless it’s notable that Tesla has just removed the “Order” button for the Model S and Model X in China, because this is almost certainly due to Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Things could get more interesting in that regard. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Geo Trasporti Toasts Delivery Of 27 Turbine Blades” • Wind transport company Geo Trasporti is toasting the successful delivery of 27 wind turbine blades for the Mondonuovo wind farm in Italy, owned by RWE. Geo Trasporti said transporting wind blades is a complex operation due to their length, weight and oversized dimensions. [reNews]
Geo Trasporti moving a blade (Allison Transmission image)
¶ “Cornish Hospitals Get Funding For Solar Panels” • Plans are under way to install thousands of solar panels at hospitals in Cornwall. Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said it got a national funding grant of nearly £2.2 million to install 2,725 solar panels across eleven sites. The trust said it expected to save £6.5 million over the lifetime of the panels. [BBC]
¶ “Clearstone Energy Given Go-Ahead For 700-MW BESS Plans” • UK developer Clearstone Energy has secured consent for two battery energy storage projects totalling 700 MW. The 300-MW, 600-MWh Bramford Storage BESS in Suffolk and the 400-MW, 800-MWh Great Oak Energy Hub in Sussex were both approved by local planning authorities. [reNews]
Great Oak Energy Hub (Clearstone Energy image)
¶ “Nuclear Waste Returns To Germany Amid Protests” • A ship carrying containers filled with highly radioactive nuclear waste docked in the northern German port of Nordenham, Lower Saxony, amid protests and a heightened police presence. The nuclear waste is from reprocessed fuel elements from German nuclear plants that were decommissioned. [Bundle]
US:
¶ “Vesper Energy Launches 600-MW Solar Project In Texas” • A Texas-based solar energy developer inaugurated a large project in that state. Vesper Energy said the 600-MW Hornet Solar installation, which features some 1.36 million modules and covers more than six square miles in Swisher County, is now fully operational. [POWER Magazine]
Hornet Solar project (Vesper Energy)
¶ “First Vehicle From Slate Auto May Be An Affordable Electric Pickup Truck” • TechCrunch reported that Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, is the financial force behind a new Michigan EV company. The company, Slate Auto, expects to start production as early as next year, sources say. Its first vehicle may be a two-door electric pickup truck starting at about $25,000. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Will New Lower-Cost Tesla Cybertruck Double Cybertruck Sales?” • Typically, a significant step down in price increases the buyer pool exponentially. So, one has to ask, will a $10,000 lower price-point combined with more range lead to significantly more Cybertruck demand and sales? Sales are dismal enough that it has to do a lot better. [CleanTechnica]
Cybertruck (u/Kruzat, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “‘2000-V: Solar Odyssey’ – How And Why The Industry Is On Its Way To 2000-V Systems” • The renewable energy landscape is evolving faster than ever. Building on the successful evolution from 600-V to 1500-V utility-scale solar systems, the next step to 2000 V promises to deliver substantial efficiency gains and cost reductions. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Renewables Beat Fossil Fuels For First Time In Monthly US Energy Generation” • Renewable energy sources generated more electricity than fossil fuels in the US during March, data released by the global energy think tank Ember shows. This marks the first month on record where clean energy outpaced oil and gas in the nation’s power supply. [Straight Arrow News]
Wind turbines (Karsten Würth, Unsplash)
¶ “Renewable Energy Continues To Grow On Public Lands” • Renewable energy on public lands has burgeoned in recent years with efforts at both the national and state levels to move away from fossil fuels. State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said New Mexico’s solar capacity grew seven-fold in just six years. [New Mexico Political Report]
¶ “Sysco And NextEra Energy Resources Break Ground On Oklahoma Solar Project” • Sysco Corporation, the world’s largest food distributor, and NextEra Energy Resources, one of the largest US energy developers, celebrated the groundbreaking of the Rumble Solar Energy Center in Oklahoma. The project will have 250 MW of capacity. [CSRwire]
Have a gloriously unimposing day.
geoharvey 