Science and Technology:
¶ “Scientists Created A Compact, Room-Temperature Fusion Reactor That Fits On A Tabletop” • Most approaches to fusion involve enormous machines designed to squeeze plasma under extreme heat and pressure, mimicking the sun. But a team at the University of British Columbia (UBC) has taken a very different route. It fits on a lab bench. [Yahoo News]
UBC fusion reactor (UBC image)
World:
¶ “European Carmakers Look To EU For Salvation” • Europe’s car industry is “in mortal danger,” EU industry chief Stéphane Séjourné said a few months back. The European automotive industry continues to be in a crisis that can be seen as an acute threat to Europe’s economic future. The auto sector will meet with Ursula von der Leyen on Friday. [Euronews]
¶ “Global EV Sales Report: Plugin Vehicles Reach 26% Share!” • Global plugin vehicle registrations were up 19% in July 2025 from July 2024. In the top twenty models, the Tesla Model Y stood at #1, and the Model 3 was #5, both probably helped by a rush to buy before subsidies end on October 1. But BYD took ten of the top twenty, and the rest were all Chinese. [CleanTechnica]
BYD Song, 2024 (JustAnotherCarDesigner, CC0 1.0)
¶ “Good News For Solar And Virtual Power Plants In Canada” • A CBC story shows that in Blatchford, a residential community in Alberta, twenty homes with rooftop solar panels and storage batteries are networked together to become a virtual power plant or VPP. Eventually, the network will include 100 homes with 2 MWh of energy storage. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “BYD Is In Europe Because Of Its Buses And Trucks” • BYD’s most visible success has been in electric buses, with BYD vehicles now operating in many major European cities. The presence in cities represents part of BYD’s deployment of 70,000 electric buses worldwide, though Europe accounted for just 2.5% of that total volume as of early 2022. [CleanTechnica]
BYD bus made in Komárom, Hungary (Photo from BYD)
¶ “Taxpayer-Funded Clean Energy Finance Corporation Floats A$126 Billion Investment On Shared Renewable Energy In The Pilbara” • A report commissioned by the federal government’s ‘green bank’ argues that A$126 billion ($83 billion) should be spent in the Pilbara over the next 25 years on shared renewable energy infrastructure. [The West Australian]
¶ “Energy Firm Switches On New Facility That Will Transform Power Grid” • Romania took another step toward a clean energy future, Renewable Energy Magazine reported. Clean power firm Econergy announced that its 87-MW Oradea solar farm is grid-connected and in commercial operation. It is Econergy’s fourth Romanian solar installation to go live. [The Cool Down]
Solar facility (Econergy image)
¶ “Servotech Renewable Ties Up With China’s Zhuhai Piwin To Manufacture BESS In India” • Servotech Renewable Power System, an Indian firm, entered into a partnership with Zhuhai Piwin New Energy Co Ltd, based in China. The collaboration will focus on local manufacturing of advanced battery energy storage systems in India. [pv magazine India]
US:
¶ “Another Sodium Energy Storage Startup Vows To Carry On After Natron Crashes” • Natron, which planned to make sodium batteries, is gone due to withdrawal of federal support. But now, Inlyte, in partnership with the Swiss sodium battery specialist HORIEN Salt Battery Solutions, will build a factory in the US, based on a sodium-iron formula. [CleanTechnica]
Inlyte batteries at a charging site (Inlyte image)
¶ “2026 Chevy Silverado EV Gets 454 Miles In Highway Range Test” • Recently, a 2026 Silverado EV was driven 454 miles on one charge during a 70 mph range test. While there had been earlier tests with similar range results, they had been done at speeds of 20 to 25 mph, so this result represents a significant improvement in range. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Donald Trump Slams Wind Power Again: ‘Any Country That Relies On Windmills Is Dead'” • US President Trump launched a fresh attack on the wind power industry, reiterating his belief that any country that relies on “windmills” is “dead”. In a social media post, he argued that they have multiple disadvantages, including “high” energy costs. [NDTV Profit]
Wind turbines (Karsten Würth, Unspash)
¶ “Elmya And Atlantica Form 4-GW Renewables JV” • Elmya Energy and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure formed a joint venture to develop 4 GW of renewable energy projects in the US. The joint venture, Elmantic, will initially focus on greenfield development of wind, solar, and energy storage projects in ERCOT and WECC markets. [reNews]
¶ “Alaska Discovers Over 1,200 TWh Hidden Under The Ice” • For years, the US has chased the dream of energy independence. From offshore drilling to wind farms and desert solar arrays, every strategy has aimed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and foreign oil. But what if the future of clean, constant energy is under frozen rivers in Alaska? [info-culture.com]
Yukon River in Alaska (BLM Alaska, public domain)
¶ “Trump Imposes Regulations On Renewable Energy, Citing Inefficiency And High Costs” • US President Donald Trump is putting major regulations on the renewable energy industry since his return to power. The industry is engulfed in uncertainty as projects are canceled due to permitting freezes, reductions in tax benefits, and trade regulations. [Chosun Biz]
¶ “Is A ‘Nuclear Renaissance’ Possible In The US?” • The nuclear energy field is now “in a hype bubble that is driving unrealistic expectations,” according to Edwin Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization that has long acted as a nuclear safety watchdog. [Undark Magazine]
Have a deliberately amusing day.
geoharvey 