Opinion:
¶ “Lessons from Chernobyl, 40 Years Later” • The Chernobyl Disaster had seismic political consequences. No less an authority than General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev speculated that Chernobyl, not his policy of perestroika, or economic reform, was the “real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later.” [The National Interest]
Abandoned bumper cars, Chernobyl (Viktor Hesse, Unsplash)
World:
¶ “Can Plug-In Solar Panels Actually Power Our Everyday Appliances?” • Plug-in solar panels can be set up on balconies, terraces, and shed roofs. The UK has given them the green light, and they are being sold in supermarkets to help households cut their energy bills. A panel costing £500 ($680) could save its owner up to £110 ($150) per year. [Euronews]
¶ “New NASA Satellite Is Watching Mexico City Sink In Real Time” • Mexico City has long been recognized as one of the fastest sinking sites in the world, but researchers didn’t have the ability to track the movement from space continuously until now. It is sinking at a rate of 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) each month, as water is removed from groundwater. [ABC News]
Mexico City sinking (David Bekaert, JPL-Caltech, NASA)
¶ “Top Selling Electric Vehicles In The World For March 2026” • Plugin vehicle registrations were up 5% year over year in March, ending the month at around 1.7 million units. But full battery EVs (+12% YOY) and Plugin hybrid EVs (-8% YOY) did very differently. Pure electrics are back to double-digit growth, but plugin hybrids remained in the red. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Maritime Decarbonization Is Closer, Cheaper, And More Practical Than It Looks” • The IMO’s Net-Zero Framework came out of the latest meeting bruised, delayed, but still alive. That is not victory. The US has not been passive. Formal adoption is now scheduled for November 30 to December 3, 2026, after the US midterm elections. [CleanTechnica]
Ships in the Port of Singapore (Shawn, Unsplash, cropped)
¶ “Solar Power Shields Farmers From Energy Crisis” • Times are bad for farmers in Bangladesh. Right when they needed a steady diesel supply to irrigate vast swathes of cropland – Boro paddies, seasonal vegetables, maize – the world entered what the head of the International Energy Agency has called “the biggest energy security threat in history.” [The Daily Star]
¶ “Welsh Windfarms To Power Construction Materials Giant” • A major construction materials company signed a long-term deal to use renewable energy from Welsh windfarms as part of efforts to cut its carbon emissions. Under a 15-year contract, Breedon Group plc, a maker of such materials as concrete, asphalt and cement, will buy electricity from RWE. [Nation.Cymru]
Cefn Croes wind farm (Blue73, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped)
US:
¶ “Meta Platforms Enters Solar-Power Pact” • Meta Platforms wants to get some of its solar power from space. The Facebook parent has agreed to purchase up to 1 GW of solar power from Overview Energy, a startup that aims to deploy satellites to provide power to customers on Earth’s surface. Overview plans for an in-space demonstration in 2028. [MSN]
¶ “$3.2 Million Awarded For Tribal Solar Projects” • Tribal Energy Alternatives has recently awarded $3.2 million in grant funding to fourteen Tribal Nations, Tribal-serving organizations, and community-serving entities. The grants will support solar energy access, workforce development, and long-term energy resilience. [CleanTechnica]
Four Corners Power Plant to close in 2031 (NPS, public domain)
¶ “Who Is Tesla Selling 1 Million Humanoid Robots To Each Year?” • It seems Tesla ended sales of the Model S and Model to start producing the Optimus humanoid robot. So instead of making about 40,000 units of the Model X and Model S each year, Tesla plans to build about 1 million robots a year in the same factories. But who’s buying them? [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Nissan To Produce ICE Trucks And SUVs Instead Of EVs In US” • The US is becoming a true backwater nation lately. With the lame, anti-EV trend that is so atypical globally, Nissan has decided not to produce EVs in the US as it had planned. Instead it will produce expensive gas powered pickup trucks on those production lines. [CleanTechnica]
Have a superbly lovely day.
geoharvey 