World:
¶ “In Sweden, Organic Steel Production Is Already In Progress” • The blast furnaces of Luleå, Sweden, are saying goodbye to fossil fuels. SSAB, the country’s leading steel mill, is pivoting its output to produce environmentally friendly, so-called ‘green steel’, free of fossil fuels. “We will reduce the total CO₂ amount emitted to the atmosphere by 7% in Sweden.” [Euronews]
Steel making (yasin hemmati, Unsplash)
¶ “Who Should Control Venezuela’s Oil After Maduro?” • It is easy to misunderstand Venezuela’s oil business. Just to treat it like a standard industry story, framing it exclusively in terms of reserves, rigs, investment, and output. Those things matter, but they fail to capture the importance of oil to the country. A plan is needed for the huge reserves. [Euronews]
¶ “EU Leaders Meet As Trump Demands ‘Complete And Total Control’ Of Greenland” • The leaders of all 27 EU nations will meet this week. “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump wrote to the Norwegian prime minister. [ABC News]
President Trump (White House photo)
¶ “Avoiding Contrails on Night & Winter Flights Is Aviation’s Fastest Climate Win” • An analysis by T&E shows that contrail warming is highly seasonal and concentrated in time. In 2019, 75% of European contrail warming was in fall and winter and 40% in late evenings and nights. Contrails can trap heat and warm the planet. But they can be avoided. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Canada Opens Up To China’s EVs: Motivated By The Long Term, Not Tariffs” • Canada will reduce tariffs on Chinese-made EVs from a prohibitive 100% to a markedly lower 6.1%, under a framework that caps volumes and links the change to broader trade normalization. The change is based on merit and not on China’s sheer economic strength. [CleanTechnica]
BYD Explorer and cars to export (Photo from BYD)
¶ “Octopus Energy Launches New ‘Groundbreaking’ Tariff Cutting Social Housing Energy Bills By Up To £200 ” • Millions of social housing tenants face some of the highest energy costs in the UK, with limited ability to cut bills through home upgrades such as solar panels. However a new tariff from Octopus Energy aims to change that. [GB News]
¶ “Ørsted Completes Turbines At 920-MW Taiwan Giant” • The last turbine at the 920-MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms off Taiwan was installed last week. Ørsted said the milestone marked the completion of a key phase of construction. The project features 66 turbines, each with a capacity of 14 MW, installed by Siemens Gamesa. [reNews]
Offshore wind farm (Ørsted image)
¶ “Russia Targets Nuclear Power Plant Substations, Thousands In Kyiv Without Power, Water” • A Russian mass attack overnight on January 20 killed and injured civilians across two Ukrainian regions, targeted substations serving nuclear power plants, and triggered widespread outages of electricity, water, and heating, local authorities said. [The Kyiv Independent]
US:
¶ “Breaking Down Trump’s Argument For Acquiring Greenland” • President Trump has stepped up his pressure campaign to take Greenland, the Arctic island and semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, citing US national security needs. He has not ruled out taking it by military force over the objections of Greenlanders and the Danes. [ABC News]
Nuuk, capital of Greenland (Bogomil Shopov, Unsplash)
¶ “Solar Power Generation Drives Electricity Generation Growth Over The Next Two Years” • The US EIA says that natural gas, coal, and nuclear combined for 75% of US electric generation in 2025. It expects these sources will fall to about 72% in 2027. It expects solar and windpower to rise from about 18% in 2025 to about 21% in 2027. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Trump Or No Trump, The US Solar Industry Had A $22.2 Billion Year In 2025” • Mercom Capital ran the numbers for 2025. It found that the solar sector “decreased 16% year-over-year in 2025, with $22.2 billion raised in 175 deals, compared to $26.3 billion in 157 deals in 2024.” Total value for the year was down, but deals for what is coming were up. [CleanTechnica]
Solar panels (Werner Slocum, NREL)
¶ “Al Gore: It’s ‘Insane’ Of Trump To Fight Offshore Windpower” • Al Gore, chairman of Generation Investment Management and a former vice president, said the campaign against wind by the Trump administration is “insane,” in an interview with David Rubenstein. He said, “Renewable is taking over” in powering the electrification of economies. [The Edge Malaysia]
¶ “2025 US Geothermal Market Report Documents Industry Growth” • The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NREL) published the 2025 US Geothermal Market Report, an in-depth update on the state of US geothermal energy. It documents the growth of the industry over the past four years and includes a discussion of geothermal technologies. [CleanTechnica]
Cape Station geothermal plant (Fervo Energy)
¶ “Affordability Is Scrambling Energy Politics In Massachusetts” • Just about everyone in Massachusetts agrees: Energy bills are too damn high. Natural gas prices in the state rose 70% between 2020 and 2025, according to the US EIA, and its residential electricity rates are the third highest in the country, behind only California and Hawaii. [Canary Media]
¶ “A Nuclear Free New York” • The first of a series of “Forums for a Nuclear-Free New York” was held last week following New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposition for expanding nuclear power in New York State. Earlier in the week she called in a “State of the State” address for an additional four gigawatts of nuclear power in New York. [Counterpunch]
Have a sensibly inspired day.
geoharvey 
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