World:
¶ “BMW And Mercedes Offer Family Friendly Electric Cars” • Recently, CleanTechnica received word of two new electric cars – one from BMW and one from Mercedes – that are designed specifically to meet the needs of families who have children that need to be taken hither and yon, usually with a full complement of stuff and a few friends. [CleanTechnica]
BMW iX3 (BMW image)
¶ “EVs Take 98.4% Share In Norway” • November saw plugin EVs take 98.4% share in Norway, up from 94.9% year on year. Full battery EVs alone took 97.6% share, and plugin hybrid EVs took the other 0.8%. Overall auto volume was 19,889 units, up some 70% YOY. The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in November. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “High-Speed Train Coming To Vietnam Soon” • VinSpeed High-Speed Railway Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, a unit of Vietnam’s Vingroup conglomerate, signed a strategic cooperation and technology transfer agreement with Siemens Mobility GmbH to advance development of high-speed rail in Vietnam. [CleanTechnica]
Rendering of a VinSpeed High Speed Train (VinGroup image)
¶ “European Energy Lifts Måde PtX Capacity” • European Energy has started hydrogen production at the expanded Måde Power-to-X facility in Denmark after increasing the electrolyser capacity. The company said that the upgrade to 8.1 MW follows installation and commissioning of an additional unit, which was produced by Plug Power. [reNews]
¶ “Seatrium, Maersk Reach Jack-Up Agreement” • Seatrium Energy International and Maersk Offshore Wind have agreed on the delivery of a jack-up that is due to work on Equinor’s Empire Wind project in the US. The Singapore shipbuilder said it will deliver the ship by 28 February 2026 and the Danish shipping giant will pay the contract balance. [reNews]
Jack-up ship (Maersk Offshore Wind image)
¶ “Flow Power Reaches Financial Close On Its First Stand-Alone Big Battery, In Victorian Coal Country” • Australian renewables provider Flow Power reached financial close on its first “battery only” project, its largest so far at 100 MW and 223 MWh. Finnish energy storage giant Wärtsilä will supply the battery hardware and software. [Renew Economy]
¶ “Japan Is Preparing To Restart World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant, Fifteen Years After Fukushima” • The Japanese region of Niigata is expected to endorse a decision to restart the world’s largest nuclear power plant, as the country pivots back to nuclear after the 2011 Fukushima Disaster. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa isabout 220 km (136 miles) northwest of Tokyo. [MSN]
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant (D a, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped)
US:
¶ “What The Threatened ‘Blockade’ Of Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil Tankers Means For Gas Prices” • Oil prices jumped about 3% after President Trump threatened to blockade all sanctioned oil tankers traveling in and out of Venezuela. Venezuela, which has the largest known oil reserves in the world, exports hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil each day. [ABC News]
¶ “Relentless Storms Hitting The West, A Major Pattern Change For Christmas Week” • Repeat atmospheric rivers continue to point relentless streams of rain and gusty wind toward the West Coast. An atmospheric river is diminishing in Washington state, but another is forming in Oregon. This second on is expected to be followed by one in California. [ABC News]
Atmospheric river (GOES imagery)
¶ “It’s A Heckuva Good Time To Launch A New EV In The US, Says Faraday Future” • For all the doom and gloom settling over the vehicle electrification movement in the US, a few bright spots continue to seep through. The latest news involves a new EV from the California-based global automaker Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “US Misses The Offshore Wind Boat And Aquaculture” • When President Donald Trump decided to stop almost the entire US offshore wind industry in its tracks, he achieved the expected results in terms of lost jobs and missed opportunities to harvest more power from the sea. But the global wind industry just flexes its muscles elsewhere. [CleanTechnica]
SeaTwirl machines (Courtesy of SeaTwirl)
¶ “Coal Decreased From Half To One-Seventh Of US Electricity Production In Fifteen Years” • Fifteen years ago, coal-fired power plants accounted for half of US electricity production. Today, coal accounts for approximately one-seventh. The change is largely the result of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which started in the early 2000s. [Warp News]
¶ “Nuclear Firm Working With Chinese Military Companies Pushes For $900 Million US Uranium Contract” • On its face, Orano Federal Services, a North Carolina-based nuclear fuel cycle company, is a plausible partner for a $900 million DOE contract to produce uranium for US nuclear plants. But the firm also works with the Chinese military. [freebeacon.com]
Have a marvelously calculated day.
geoharvey 
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