Science and Technology:
¶ “Plastic Recycling Not Requiring Sorting Could Be Comin” • Northwestern University chemists developed a plastic upcycling process that can drastically reduce, or perhaps even fully bypass, the laborious chore of pre-sorting mixed plastic waste. The new process selectively breaks down polyolefin plastics consisting of polyethylenes and polypropylenes. [CleanTechnica]
Waste plastics (Nick Fewings, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Climate Change Has Fueled Wildfires Of ‘Unprecedented Intensity’ In Spain And Portugal, Experts Say” • Climate change made weather that fueled deadly wildfires in Portugal and Spain this summer around forty times more likely, researchers found. Fuelled by temperatures above 40°C (104°F) and strong winds, the fires set records for the area burned. [Euronews]
¶ “Can The EU Help Greece And Other Thirsty Member States?” • Certain regions in Greece face their fourth consecutive drought year. Lack of water is affecting consumers and several economy sectors, especially the agriculture. Are national authorities and the European Union doing enough to help? Euronews went to the fire areas to try to find out. [Euronews]
Kambos plain (Robin Rönnlund, CC BY-SA 4.0)
¶ “EVs At 26.0% Share In France; Renault 5 Consolidates Lead” • August’s auto market saw plugin EVs at 26.0% share in France, up from 22.4% year on year. Battery EVs grew 30% and gained an additional 4% share of the overall market, whereas plugin hybrids were slightly down. The Renault 5 was France’s best-selling BEV in August. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “400-MW Wind Farm Given Nod In Australia” • Woolnorth Renewables has been granted state planning permission for a 400-MW wind farm in Victoria, Australia. The Government of Victoria has granted a permit for the developer to build the Mt Fyans project. The 81-turbine wind farm will be built on private land in southwest Victoria. [reNews]
Wind farm (Woolnorth Renewables image)
¶ “India Adds 30 GW Renewable Energy Generation Capacity So Far In 2025” • India has added 30 GW of renewable capacity so far this year and is expected to close 2025 with an addition of up to 43 GW, said Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi. The government’s goal is 500 GW of renewable genrating capacity by 2030. [Punjab News Express]
¶ “CWHI Ships Out First Monopiles For Inch Cape” • CWHI has shipped out the first eight XXL monopiles for ESB and Red Rock Renewables’ 1,100-MW Inch Cape offshore wind farm. Produced at the Chinese company’s Qinzhou Yard, the monopiles were shipped aboard the COSCO vessel Xian Taikou. They are now on the way to Scotland. [reNews]
Xian Taikou shipping monopiles (CWHI image)
¶ “Russia Pledges To Help China Expand Nuclear Power” • Russia has said it will help China grow its nuclear power capacity and overtake the US as a leading producer of nuclear energy. China is boosting the number of its nuclear reactors and “has ambitious plans for the development of atomic energy,” Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said. [The Daily Signal]
¶ “Sweden’s Largest Solar Farm Powers Up” • Developers have commissioned Sweden’s largest solar farm. Nordic independent power producer Alight and renewables developer Neoen said the 100-MW Hultsfred solar farm is fully operational. The solar farm has 174 000 low-carbon PV panels installed around the runway of Hultsfred Airport in Småland. [reNews]
Solar panels at Hultsfred Airport (Alight and Neoen image)
US:
¶ “VinFast Rocks Into USA And Canada With 10-Year Warranty” • No matter what car you’re buying these days, you are almost definitely not getting a 10-year warranty on the vehicle. Unless you’re buying a VinFast. VinFast is offering the 10-year warranty in both the US and Canada. This is the longest term by far. The usual warranty is three to five years. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Trump Takes Aim At 1.2-GW SouthCoast Wind” • The Trump administration signalled its intent to withdraw federal permitting for the 1,200-MW EDP Renewables and ENGIE joint-venture SouthCoast Wind. The Department of Justice revealed the plan in a filing on a challenge to the project by the Massachusetts municipality of Nantucket. [reNews]
Offshore windfarm (Jesse De Meulenaere, Unsplash)
¶ “The Renewable Energy Smackdown Is Failing” • President Donald Trump’s “American Energy Dominance” plan left a big, gaping hole where wind and solar energy ought to be. However, industry stakeholders are not taking the smackdown lying down. A case in point is the North American branch of the leading global energy firm ENGIE. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Colorado Goes Big On Clean Energy Before Tax Credits Vanish” • Colorado is pushing hard to approve a massive amount of renewable energy projects while they are eligible for federal incentives. The Republican tax and spending law that passed this summer drastically shortened the timeline for wind and solar projects to qualify for federal tax credits. [Canary Media]
Twin Buttes Wind Farm (Joshua Heyer, CC BY-SA 2.0)
¶ “Florida’s Planned Coral ‘Baby Boom’ Will Help Fortify Its Coastal Reefs” • The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is funding growth of 5,000 juvenile corals over the next two years along with hundreds of thousands of coral larvae that will be installed in reefs as part of its Coral Reef Restoration and Recovery Initiative. [ABC News]
¶ “These Conservatives Want Government To Stop Working Against Clean Energy” • Hundreds people filled a downtown Cleveland conference hall for the National Conservative Energy Summit. One major theme: the need for both the federal and local governments to remove increasingly high hurdles to building renewable energy. [Canary Media]
Have a basically magical day.
geoharvey 