World:
¶ “Valencia’s Deadly Flood Still Haunts Spain. Would It Have Happened In A Fossil Fuel-Free World? ” • On 29 October 2024, an intense storm, brought catastrophic flash flooding to the city of Valencia. A study in the science journal Nature Communications found that climate change caused by human activity made the city’s flooding worse. [Euronews]
After the flash flood (Pacopac, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped)
¶ “Geothermal Energy Could Replace 42% Of The EU’s Fossil Electricity” • New technologies can bring geothermal electricity to wider parts of Europe. A report by energy think tank Ember found that 43-GW of enhanced geothermal capacity in the EU could be developed for below €100/MWh, which is comparable in cost to coal and gas electricity. [Euronews]
¶ “Olympic Skiers Voice Concern Over Receding Glaciers” • US skiers Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are among the many Olympic skiers who have expressed concern about the melt of the world’s glaciers. And Olympic host city Cortina is a fitting place for them to be talking about climate change: Glaciers once visible from town have plainly shrunk. [Euronews]
Skiing (Alex Lange, Unsplash)
¶ “Asia-Pacific Takes The Lead In Global Wind Expansion As The Philippines Moves Into The Investment Spotlight” • The wind industry’s next growth phase is being written in Asia-Pacific, and the shift is happening faster than many expected. Market signals show that the region is no longer an emerging contributor but the central driver of record installations. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “IEA Focus On Clean Energy Gives US Officials Heartburn” • The US is the primary source of funding for the IEA, it feels it has a right to dictate how the IEA operates. This week, the head of the DOE took himself off to Paris to threaten and cajole the IEA to stop its support for renewables and revert to reporting on oil and methane production. [CleanTechnica]
Fatih Birol (IEA image)
¶ “Boom Power Wins Fenwick Solar Approval” • Boom Power’s 238-MW Fenwick solar farm in South Yorkshire has been given a Development Consent Order by the UK government. The solar project will also have a co-located battery energy storage system. Boom Power has previously secured a solar project DCO for the 400-MW East Yorkshire array. [reNews]
¶ “Five Companies Apply For Norwegian Floater Funding” • Five companies have applied to Enova for 9 billion Norwegian Kroner ($950 million) to build floating offshore demonstration projects over the next five years. The Norwegian state-owned enterprise can award up to 2 billion kroner per project, and final decisions are to come in the spring of this year. [reNews]
Towing a floating wind turbine (WindEurope image)
¶ “Australia Hits Record Renewable Output In Q4” • A record 2.1 GW of new renewable capacity in Australia was commissioned in the final quarter of 2025, the latest quarterly investment report by the Clean Energy Council shows. Nine large wind and solar projects were switched on during the quarter, enough to power at least 1.4 million homes. [Asian Power]
¶ “Scotland Proposes New Community Benefit Figures” • The Scottish government has published proposed updates for its community benefits recommendations for onshore renewable energy developments. It has proposed increasing the rate to £6,000 per MW per year for onshore wind, up from a previous rate of £5,000. [reNews]
Wind turbine (Iberdrola image)
¶ “Space-Based Solar Power Will Be Economically Viable By 2040” • After years of accelerating competition to develop viable space-based solar farm models, it looks like the technology’s big moment has come. An increasing amount of studies are finding that the futuristic approach is viable as energy demand trends spike in the AI boom. [OilPrice.com]
¶ “The Ukrainian Mountain Villages Using Renewable Energy To Solve Wartime Blackouts” • As Russian missiles and drones put much of Ukraine into darkness this winter, the mountain region of Ust-Chorna has largely kept the lights on, thanks to green energy. The district’s four villages rely on a small network of hydroelectric power stations. [The Kyiv Independent]
Ust-Chorna (MSha, public domain)
US:
¶ “Health And Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Repeal Of Endangerment Finding” • Less than a week after the US EPA repealed its own endangerment finding, which gave the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a coalition of health and environmental organizations sued the agency over its decision. [ABC News]
¶ “Battle Over Colorado River Water Ends In A Draw” • Twice, the seven states that rely on the Colorado River for drinking water and irrigation have been given deadlines by the federal government to find a solution to the chronic lack of fresh water in the river and twice the states have failed to do so. Now it is up to the feds to impose a solution. [CleanTechnica]
Colorado River (US Geological Survey, public domain)
¶ “Oregon Adopts New Building Codes” • The Oregon Building Code Division’s Residential and Manufactured Structures Board voted to approve a package of updates to the state’s residential energy code, including a requirement that new homes must be built with energy-efficient heat pumps instead of ducted air conditioning. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Google Set To Reopen Nuclear Power Plant Despite Safety Concerns” • Iowa’s Duane Arnold Energy Center is about to be an intersection of atomic power and high-speed computing. Google is working with NextEra Energy to reopen the nuclear plant by 2029 to meet data center power demand, an electricity draw that will contribute to higher utility rates. [MSN]
Have a momentously amusing day.
geoharvey 