World:
¶ “EU Lawmakers Agree To Ban Russian Gas Imports By 2027” • The EU is trying to end all energy dependency on Moscow and to stop financing its war against Ukraine. The EU will ban gas from Russian sources, both pipelines and liquefied natural gas, from entering the bloc by mid-2027 but with exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia. [Euronews]
LNG carrier (Daniil Serhiyevich, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Why Are European Natural Gas Prices Tumbling Despite The Cold Winter?” • European natural gas prices have fallen sharply in recent days, as surging US LNG flows flood the market. The Dutch Title Transfer Facility benchmark dropping below €28/MWh, a level not seen since April 2024. European gas prices are down more than 45%. [Euronews]
¶ “Monsoon Season Or Climate Disaster? What’s Driving Asia’s Flash Floods As Death Toll Hits 1,400” • More than 1,400 people were killed after record-breaking rainfall and storm surges across parts of Asia. Experts have pointed towards global warming as a cause of the worsening the impact of floods, along with human actions such as forest cutting. [Euronews]
Indonesian flood (Iqro Rinaldi, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Turkey’s Energy Minister Warns Of Threat To Oil And Gas Supplies” • Turkey’s energy minister called for the oil and gas supply in the Black Sea to be protected after three Russian fuel tankers were targeted off the Turkish coast. Turkey is concerned by the threat to undersea pipelines that carry natural gas from Russia to Turkey also. [ABC News]
¶ “NCP Chlorchem And Terra Firma Start One Of South Africa’s Largest Behind-The-Meter Solar Projects” • NCP Chlorchem, a chemical producer, and Terra Firma, a developer of solar and batteries, started a 27-MW multi-phase solar project. It will be one of the largest standalone behind-the-meter industrial installations in South Africa. [CleanTechnica]
Solar installation (Terra Firma image)
¶ “Tesla Lobbying UK on EV Policies … as Trump Guts Critical US Auto Policy” • The Guardian reports that Tesla was “privately warning” the UK government that its plans to water down EV policies will hurt EV sales and make it harder for the UK to reach its climate goals. We should note that Tesla has been trying to use its influence to have wise policy. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 3 Delivers First Power” • Orsted’s 913-MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 is now feeding power into the grid. Borkum Riffgrund 3 is about 72 km off the coast in the German North Sea. It has 83 Siemens Gamesa turbines, each with 11-MW capacity. It connects to the grid through the DolWin epsilon offshore converter platform. [reNews]
Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm (Ørsted image)
¶ “FY2029 Renewable Energy Construction Spending To Peak At $23 Billion” • Over the five years starting in 2025, Australia is projected to add an average of 8.9 GW of new renewable capacity each year, more than triple the 2.7 GW annual average of the past five years, according to the report, Renewable Energy Construction Outlook – Australia. [pv magazine Australia]
¶ “UK Approves The 190-MW Helios Solar Project” • The UK government granted planning permission to Enso Energy and Cero Generation for the 190-MW Helios solar farm in North Yorkshire. The array, which will be co-located with a battery energy storage system, will connect to the grid via underground cable at the nearby Drax power station. [reNews]
Solar panels (Chelsea, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Does Miliband’s ‘Golden Age Of Nuclear’ Blind The UK To A Future Renewable Dream?” • To most, “renewable energy”brings images of wind farms and hydroelectric dams. For Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, “renewable energy” seems to mean nuclear power plants. That is not equal to “environmentally sustainable” with hope for a clean energy future. [Palatinate]
US:
¶ “Car Crashes Are A Public Health Crisis. Autonomous Cars Are The Cure” • A report by Waymo has data on nearly 100 million driverless miles in four US cities. Compared to the experience of human drivers on the same roads, Waymo self-driving cars were involved in 80% fewer crashes causing injury and 91% fewer with serious injury or fatality. [CleanTechnica]
Wreck (Scott Greer, Unsplash)
¶ “Inside The Shop Building The World’s Quickest Classic Minis” • In California, Electric Classic Cars has been working closely with Gildred Racing on their “Super Cooper” program. They rework the iconic Mini by swapping its wheezy original 40 hp four-cylinder engine with a 300 hp Tesla motor, making it an entirely different animal. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Rare Win For Renewable Energy: The Trump Administration Funds Geothermal Network Expansion” • The US DOE approved an $8.6 million grant that allows the first utility-led geothermal heating and cooling network to double in size. Co-recipients of the award are Eversource Energy, the city of Framingham, and the Boston non-profit HEET. [Ars Technica]
Geothermal plant (Ásgeir Eggertsson, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped)
¶ “BOEM Reviewing 2.6-GW New England Offshore Permit” • The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management asked a federal court to stall a lawsuit against the construction permit for the 2,600-MW New England Wind offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts. BOEM wants the lawsuit stalled while the it reconsiders the project’s permits. [reNews]
¶ “Tech Maven Bashes Nuclear Stocks And Shares The Real Way To Play AI’s Energy Boom” • Investment manager Paul Wick cited Oklo Inc and NuScale Power Corp as two companies that are working to develop nuclear power technology with little or no revenue but “lots of news releases.” He cited Bloom Energy Corp, a fuel cells maker, as an opportunity. [MSN]
Have a conscientiously sensible day.
geoharvey 
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