World:
¶ “Rising Visitor Numbers Are Leaving A Harmful Human Footprint On Antarctica’s Ecosystems” • A study published in Nature Sustainability warns that surging tourism and expanding research bases are polluting the southern continent, accelerating snow melting, and threatening fragile ecosystems already at risk from climate change. [Euronews]
Penguin on watch (Jeremy Stewardson, Unsplash)
¶ “CLT As The Fastest Lever For Housing, Jobs, And Climate” • Canada is in the middle of two crises that are converging in uncomfortable ways. Housing supply has failed to keep up with demand for decades, but building constructions remain a major source of GHG emissions. Cross laminated timber can deal with both issues. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “BYD’s Sales Transition: Clearing Out The Old To Make Way For The New In China” • Sealion 06 sales are still ramping up as it is rolled out to different markets in China this month. Initial reports already place it as the best-selling vehicle in its class and the second best-selling SUV, even before it was available in the whole country. [CleanTechnica]
BYD Sealion 06 (BYD image)
¶ “Greens Pass Resolution Against Nuclear Power” • At their delegates’ meeting in Vicques in the Swiss canton of Jura, the Greens passed a resolution calling for a definitive exit from nuclear energy. They said that among the various forms of renewable energy, solar energy has the greatest potential, and they want subsidies increased. [blue News]
¶ “Energy Company Secures Contract To Harness Near-Limitless Power From Deep Beneath Island” • A Portuguese island chain will soon generate more electricity from underground heat after an energy company won a contract for €24.5 million to upgrade existing facilities. The new system on the island of São Miguel in the Azores will generate 5 MW. [NewsBreak]
Village of Maia (José Luís Ávila Silveira, public domain)
¶ “Taiwan Referendum Fails To Reopen Nuclear Power Plant” • Taiwan’s referendum to reopen the Manshan Nuclear Power Plant has failed after voter turnout fell short of the required threshold, foreign media reported. The failure reflects ongoing safety concerns over nuclear energy production and waste management in Taiwan. [24 News HD]
¶ “Fire Breaks Out At Nuclear Plant After Russia Claims Downing Ukrainian Drone” • A fire broke out at Russia’s Kursk Nuclear Power Plant after the military shot down a Ukrainian drone. The facility said the blaze has been extinguished, according to the News.Az, citing the Kiyv Post. The drone detonated on impact, sparking the fire. [Latest news from Azerbaijan]
Kursk NPP (Way 147711211, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
US:
¶ “Oil & Gas Pollution Linked To 90,000 Premature Deaths A Year In The US” • It may be time to focus on some other issues of Oil & Gas. A study published this week in the journal Science Advances says that extracting, transporting, refining, distributing, and burning fossil fuels causes at least 90,000 premature deaths in the US every year. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Firefighters Battle Wildfire In California’s Napa Valley” • A growing wildfire in California’s wine country sparked evacuation orders. The Pickett Fire in Napa County has burned over 5,800 acres since it broke out on Thursday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. On Saturday evening, the fire was just 11% contained. [ABC News]
Smoke over a vineyard (CalFire image via flickr)
¶ “Two-Thirds Of River Trash Is Plastic (Research)” • Recent research conducted at the University of California, Santa Barbara found that rivers have far too much plastic in them. In this article, Chase Brewster, a project scientist in UCSB’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory and the paper’s lead author, answered some questions about the research. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “PJM Surplus Interconnection Can Support 153 GW Of Solar, Wind, And Storage” • In the PJM Interconnection, thermal and renewable generating facilities have surplus interconnection capacity that could support about 153 GW of solar, wind, and storage, according to a working paper by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. [Utility Dive]
Wind turbines (Veronica White, Unsplash)
¶ “Tesla Shareholder Group Challenges Musk Compensation Award” • A shareholder organization called SOC Investment Group has asked NASDAQ to invalidate the latest proposed compensation package for Elon Musk on the grounds that it violates NASDAQ’s rules designed to protect shareholders of publicly traded companies. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Texas Regulators Consider Cost Caps For Entergy Gas Plants” • The Public Utility Commission of Texas is considering putting cost caps on an Entergy proposal to build two gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity of about 1.2 GW, saying the utility failed to consider alternatives and has not shown the projects to be cost effective. [Utility Dive]
Have an excusably celebratory day.
geoharvey 