Opinion:
¶ “Red America Is Making Money Off Green Energy” • The wind industry is investing billions in Wyoming, but a State Senator, Larry Hicks, proposed a temporary ban that “puts a moratorium on wind and solar for the next five years.” He said, “It’s a simple little bill.” A simple little five year plan? How do you say, “Aw, shucks” in Russian? [miningjournal]
Wind turbines in Wyoming (CGP Grey, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Honoring Judith Mohling” • We remember Judith Mohling, who educated many about the dangers of nuclear weapons, and particularly Rocky Flats, which made plutonium bomb parts near Boulder, Colorado. She led a successful letter writing campaign about illegal plutonium burning at the facility. A service is planned for May 31 in Boulder. [RMPJC]
World:
¶ “Why Glaciologists Believe The Birch Glacier Collapsed And Buried A Nearby Swiss Town” • Blatten, a village in the Swiss Alps, was buried beneath ice, rock and mud after a massive piece of a nearby glacier collapsed. The collapse likely occurred as a result of permafrost thawing underneath and along the sidewalls that surrounded the glacier. [ABC News]
Village of Blatten (Johannes Löw, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Western Canada Wildfires Emergency Hits Another Province As Thousands Flee” • Scott Moe, the Premier of Saskatchewan, declared a state of emergency as 14 wildfires rage uncontrollably in the province. A day earlier, 17,000 people were told to flee wildfires in the neighbouring province of Manitoba that had been made worse by climate change. [BBC]
¶ “Ørsted Awards £100,000 Hornsea 3 Grant” • Ørsted awarded its first Hornsea 3 Legacy Fund grant of £100,000 to the North Norfolk District Council to fund the creation of an eco-learning hub. To be based in Holt Country Park, the facility will provide a dedicated space for environmental education and sustainability initiatives in the local community. [reNews]
Hornsea 3 Project Director Jessica Westcott (Ørsted image)
¶ “Vatican City Is To Be Powered By Solar” • Pope Francis wants the Vatican to run entirely on green energy, highlighting a need to transition to a sustainable development model. He announced that solar panels will be installed on a Vatican-owned property outside Rome, and the power they generate could supply all of Vatican City’s energy needs. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Top End Solar Farms Finally Allowed To Send Power To The Grid” • Three utility-scale solar farms in the Northern Territory are finally being allowed to send power to the grid, five years after they were actually built. How the three solar projects were stranded has been one of the most extraordinary episodes in Australia’s green energy transition. [RenewEconomy]
Solar project in Queensland (Kgbo, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “NLC, Mahapreit Form JV To Develop 5 GW Of Renewable Energy Projects In Maharashtra” • Through a subsidiary, the state-owned coal miner NLC India Ltd, agreed on a joint venture with Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology Ltd to develop 5 GW pf renewable energy projects in Maharashtra. [pv magazine India]
¶ “Valorem Inaugurates First Greek Wind Farm” • The French renewables developer Valorem commissioned its first wind farm in Greece. The 27-MW Magoula wind farm has six Vestas V150 turbines. It is to generate 68 GWh of electricity per year, enough to meet electric demand of 18,000 households, while avoiding 26,000 tonnes of emissions per year. [reNews]
Wind farm ceremony (Valorem image)
US:
¶ “Supreme Court Limits Environmental Impact Studies” • The Supreme Court put limits on the scope of federally mandated environmental impact statements for major transportation and energy projects. In the past, groups that opposed particular projects have often sued to block them, alleging that studies were incomplete or inaccurate. [ABC News]
¶ “Green Energy Firms Brace For Federal Funding Cuts” • The Trump administration has been particularly hostile to green energy. One of the President’s actions since taking office was temporarily suspending renewable energy projects on federal lands. Now, US green energy companies have to be ready for funding cuts that may be in the budget. [BBC]
Solar array (USDAgov, public domain, cropped)
¶ “The US Solar Industry Is Safe In Texas – For Now” • Some lawmakers in Texas thought they had a win this year, when they advanced several bills aiming to whack their state’s booming renewable energy industries. The bills are now officially dead and the US solar industry, in particular, can live to fight another day. So it is, for now. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Toyota Plans To Get Out Of The EV And PHEV Slow Lane In The US” • The car industry is buzzing with news about Toyota – yes, Toyota – announcing it has big plans to bring more battery-powered electric and plug-in hybrid models to customers in the US between now and the end of the decade. Wait, Toyota said that? Yes, Virginia, it did. [CleanTechnica]
Toyota Rav4 cars (Toyota image)
¶ “New $168 Million Beneficial Electrification Program” • ComEd has roughly four million customers in Illinois, about 70% of the state’s population. ComEd’s new $168 million, three-year plan will start in 2026, helping its customers transition to and take advantage of EVs. The new plan is an extension of a plan that is already running. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “NuScale Secures US NRC Approval For Uprated 77-MW SMR Design” • US nuclear power company NuScale Power received small modular reactor design approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its uprated 250 MW thermal, (77 MW electrical) NuScale power modules. NuScale plans to deploy its technology by 2030. [Power Technology]
Have an astonishingly comfortable day.
geoharvey 