geoharvey

Opinion:

¶ “The Oil And Gas Industry Is Behind Misinformation On Wind” • The fossil fuel industry has long funded misinformation about renewable energy. Offshore wind appears to be their latest target. Since 2019 at the latest, a nationwide campaign against offshore wind has been growing, using misinformation and obstruction. [Center for American Progress]

Offshore windpower (Reegan Fraser, Unsplash, cropped)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Gas-Killing Flow Battery Uses Table Salt For Long Duration Energy Storage” • Low cost renewables are are beginning to edge gas power plants aside, with help from energy storage systems. Pushing storage costs down will help kick the energy transition into high gear. A Dutch flow battery startup, Aquabattery, plans for plain old table salt to do it. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “This Shipping Container Uses Water And Solar Power To Capture CO₂ From The Air” • A startup based in the UK, Mission Zero Technologies, wanted to find a cheaper, more efficient way to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now it says it has done just that, and at a fraction of the cost of the methods used by other technologies. [Fast Company]

Carbon capture equipment (Mission Zero Technologies image)

COP28:

¶ “COP28 Slug Fest Over Language Heats Up” • COP28 is set to wrap up on December 12, but this year’s conference is bogged down in semantics as the delegates from various nations push their own agendas. The central failing of this and all past COP conferences is that the rules require any final statement to be approved unanimously. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “What Do COP28 Double Down, Triple Up And The Nuclear Commitments Mean?” • The Double Down, Triple Up pledge was signed by almost 120 countries. It is to triple countries’ renewable generating capacity and double the rate of efficiency programs by 2030. Also, 22 countries have signed a similar pledge to triple nuclear power. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines (Jason Blackeye, Unsplash)

¶ “China Backs G20 Goal To Triple Global Renewable Energy By 2030” • China supports the G20 push to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, said Xie Zhenhua, China’s envoy for climate change. He also said during a COP28 news conference, that the world cannot forge ahead on energy transition without considering countries’ differing conditions. [China Daily]

World:

¶ “Clearly Ford Did Not Get The Fuel Cell Truck Memo: F-MAX Is Ready To Roll” • Despite the hydrogen fuel cell skeptics, the money just keeps flowing into new fuel cell ventures. In the latest positive sign for the technology, the Turkish firm Ford Otosan has a series of deals aimed to bring its F-Max heavy duty fuel cell truck to the European market. [CleanTechnica]

F-MAX fuel cell truck by the Turkish firm Ford Otosan

¶ “Supercapacitor Market To Hit $7.1 Billion By 2031, At A CAGR 15.9%, Says Transparency Market Research” • The supercapacitor market is projected to thrive, with a CAGR of 15.9% between 2023 and 2031. Transparency Market Research says supercapacitor sales are expected to reach approximately $ 7.1 billion by the end of the period. [GlobeNewswire]

¶ “Van Oord To Upgrade Svanen Heavy-Lift Vessel” • Van Oord plans to upgrade its heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen. Among other things, the gantry crane will be extended by 25 meters, so the vessel is ready to handle the next generation of monopile foundations. This will make the Svanen one of the world’s largest heavy-lift installation vessels. [reNews]

Svanen (Van Oord image)

¶ “Renewable Energy Market ($1,977.6 Billion) – Germany, UK, France, Italy, And Denmark Dominating Europe” • According to a report by Allied Market Research, The global renewable energy market size was valued at $881.7 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $1,977.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2030. [EIN News]

¶ “Bangladesh Approves 1.5 GW Of Solar” • The government of Bangladesh approved tariffs for 200 MW of PV in November and 310 MW in October. In November, national authorities approved two 100 MW solar projects to be developed in Feni district in southeastern Bangladesh and Mymensingh district, in the north-central part of the country. [pv magazine India]

Solar power (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “Washington Post Asks Why Tesla Autopilot Can Be Used In Places Where It Shouldn’t Be” • An article in the Washington Post on December 10, 2023 asks, if Tesla Autopilot is not intended to be used on roads that have cross traffic, why does Tesla allow it to activate on those roads? It’s a fair question, one that involves a number of factors. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Kia EV9 Buyers To Get Limited Free Charging From Electrify America” • Electrify America and Kia America have announced a special deal for the buyers of Kia’s new EV9 SUV, offering 1,000 kWh of free charging. This 1,000 kWh deal is redeemable at any Electrify America charging station nationwide through Electrify America’s app. [CleanTechnica]

Electrify America charging a Kia EV9

¶ “Hawaiian Electric Opens Negotiations For Fifteen Renewable Projects” • Hawaiian Electric will begin contract negotiations with developers for fifteen renewable energy projects to trim reliance on imported oil. The company seeks long-term contracts for 517 MW of variable generation, 654 MW of firm generation and 2.1 GWh of energy storage. [Power Technology]

¶ “Former Top Ohio Utility Regulator Surrenders In $60 Million Bribery Scheme” • Ohio’s former top utility regulator pleaded not guilty to charges related to a $60 million bribery scheme linked to a legislative bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants. It has already resulted in a 20-year prison sentence for a former state House speaker. [CBS News]

Have an appreciably amusing day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Fossil Fuels: Can Humanity Really Kick Its Addiction?” • The unprecedented productivity of the industrial world means most of us enjoy prosperity and health our grandparents would find astonishing. Our hunting and gathering ancestors got by on the equivalent of 277 kWh of energy a year. The average American uses 50 times that now. [BBC]

Lighting America (NASA, Unsplash)

¶ “1.8 Million Barrels Of Oil A Day Avoided From EVs” • BNEF estimates that EVs currently prevent 112 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year. Shockingly, almost twice as many barrels of oil are not burnt each day because of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers than because of electric passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs! [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Four East African Countries Are Going For Nuclear Power – Why This Is A Bad Idea” • East Africa has the fastest growing population in Africa, and this leads to a higher electricity demand. It is in many ways tempting for these countries to pursue a nuclear power plant build. But there are several risks of choosing the nuclear path.[Tech Xplore]

Nuclear plant (Jametlene Reskp, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Floating Offshore Wind Turbines Keep Getting Weirder (And That’s A Good Thing)” • Floating offshore wind turbines can be located in waters too deep for conventional turbines. US startup T-Omega Wind has come up with a novel floating turbine design that could open the door for new wind farms, while cutting costs to the bone. [CleanTechnica]

COP28:

¶ “Extinction Rebellion Climate Activists Dye Venice’s Grand Canal Green In COP 28 Protest” • Climate activists in Extinction Rebellion claimed responsibility for dumping a chemical dye into its historical Grand Canal and turning it fluorescent green under a protest banner that read: “While the government speaks, we hang by a thread.”[CNN]

Grand Canal (Christian Holzinger, Unsplash)

¶ “Coalition Opposes Australia Tripling Renewable Energy, Backs Nuclear Power Pledge At COP28” • The federal Coalition has declared at the Cop28 climate summit that it will back a global pledge to triple nuclear energy if the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, becomes prime minister, but will not support Australia tripling its renewable energy. [The Guardian]

¶ “We Really Could Triple Renewables By 2030, But It Won’t Be A Breeze” • In the past week almost 120 global leaders have pledged to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity before 2030. That is an “ambitious yet achievable goal”, according to the International Energy Agency. Nevertheless, it is not going to be an easy goal. [The Guardian]

Renewable energy (Mark König, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “Sales Of Gas-Powered Sports Cars Surge Before Automakers Go Electric” • It took less than six weeks for French automaker Bugatti to sell all 99 units of the Mistral, a $5 million roadster built with a hell-raising 16-cylinder engine. Maybe it was the allure of an open-top hypercar. Or maybe it was the news that Bugatti is going electric. [ABC News]

¶ “Bear Attacks In Japan Are At A Record High. Climate Change And An Aging Population Are Making The Problem Worse” • In Japan, experts say bears are increasingly venturing out of their traditional habitats and into urban areas in search of food. Some suggest this is because climate change is interfering with some of the animals’ traditional sources of food. [CNN]

Bear (Zdeněk Macháček, Unsplash)

¶ “EV Sales Growing Faster Than Expected” • Electric vehicle sales continue to grow faster than most people expected, even faster than professional analysts in the field expected, and very surprisingly, they have grown much faster than oil companies forecasted. That’s one of the big takeaways from BNEF’s latest Zero-Emission Vehicles Factbook. [CleanTechnica]

US:

¶ “Massachusetts Decides To Move Away From Natural Gas For Residential Use” • Massachusetts is the first US state to begin phasing out natural gas as a residential heating source. Also, the state’s Department of Public Utilities rejected arguments from utilities and the gas industry that proposed the use of “renewable natural gas” and hydrogen. [CleanTechnica]

Massachusetts home (todd kent, Unsplash)

¶ “Ford And Resideo Partner To Show How EVs And Homes Can Work Together” • Ford and Resideo Technologies unveiled their joint project, the “EV-Home Power Partnership.” This simulation initiative will look at vehicle-to-home energy management. The companies will explore the potential of EV batteries to help with home energy usage. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New York City Makes 8,500 Acres Of Parking Lots Eligible For Solar Canopy Development” • The New York City council passed a zoning initiative it calls the “City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality.” It says the initiative will move the city toward more equitable and sustainable living landmark legislation that relaxes restrictions on solar developments. [CleanTechnica]

Have an altogether admirable day.

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Opinion:

¶ “A Dangerous Fuel Threatens To Undermine The World’s Renewable Energy Promises” • While commitments to reduce fossil fuel use are getting attention, some people at COP28 have an eye to human rights and forest destruction. They are warning about a powerful impostor in the renewable energy sphere: forest biomass. [National Observer]

Cut wood (Yusuf Onuk, Unsplash)

¶ “The Guardian View On Sellafield Scandals: Ministers Must Put Public Safety Before Secrecy” • There will be many reasons why Britain’s energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, went public with her unease about “serious and concerning” allegations raised by the Guardian this week over cybersecurity, site safety, and a “toxic” workplace culture in Sellafield. [The Guardian]

COP28

¶ “On COP28 Sidelines, Emirati ‘Green City’ Falls Short Of Ambitions, Still Has Lessons” • Now 17 years and billions of dollars in the making, Masdar City was first envisioned as a sustainable city of tomorrow with features like no cars, subway “pods,” and solar-powered buildings rising from the desert sands. Critics call it a “failed city.” [ABC News]

Podcar, but no people (Jan Seifert, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Andrew Forrest Goes On The Offensive At COP 28” • Andrew Forrest is the second wealthiest man in Australia. He made his fortune in mining but has become a passionate advocate for replacing fossil fuels with renewables. He says his mining firms will be fossil fuel free by 2030. At COP28, he is leading the effort to phase out fossil fuels. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “US Department of Energy Announces The Country’s Clean Energy Achievements at COP28” • The US DOE announced a range of initiatives on issues from zero-emissions transportation and building decarbonization to clean hydrogen and nuclear energy to spur the transition to clean energy systems and help keep the goal of 1.5°C within reach. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines (Priscilla Du Preez, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “ACWA Power Signs Deal To Develop Largest Green Hydrogen Project In Indonesia” • Saudi Arabian company ACWA Power is set to develop in the largest green hydrogen facility in Indonesia with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara, Indonesia’s state-owned electricity provider and PT Pupuk Indonesia, a state-owned chemical producer. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ “Tesla Giga Shanghai Hits New Production Record” • Tesla Giga Shanghai hit a monthly production record and rolled out 90,802 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in November, mostly for delivery in December, according to reports. They also say the Model Y is sold out for 2023 in China, and Tesla indicated it is still targeting 1.8 million vehicle sales in 2023. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model 3 Highland

¶ “World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Power Plant Completed In Dubai” • A 950-MW solar energy complex has been inaugurated in Dubai. The hybrid facility consists of the most powerful concentrated solar power system on the planet and a PV unit. It is the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. [Balkan Green Energy News]

¶ “Nuclear who?” • Authors of the “World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023” describe the future role of nuclear energy in the global energy mix as “irrelevant” and “marginal.” They add that there were 407 operational reactors producing 365 GW in the middle of the year, which is less than the installed solar capacity expected at the end of the year. [pv magazine Australia]

Pickering nuclear plant in Canada (John McArthur, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “Large Majority Of US Adults And Half Of Republicans Agree With Biden’s Goal To Slash Climate Pollution” • A broad majority of US adults – 73% – say the federal government should develop its climate policies with the goal of cutting the country’s planet-warming pollution in half by the end of the decade, according to a new CNN poll. [CNN]

¶ “Ford Mustang Mach-E To Lose Tax Credit in January” • Ford announced to dealers that the Mustang Mach-E would be losing access to the tax credits it currently qualifies for. The problem is that Ford needs to provide EVs with batteries that do not include materials sourced from certain foreign countries, notably China, and it does not have a way to do that. [CleanTechnica]

Ford Mustang Mach-E (Ford image)

¶ “Sixt Dumping Teslas Due To High Depreciation And Repair Costs” • We said for years that a top reason to buy a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y is a low total cost of ownership. But the key buyers who can analyze these numbers statistically are fleet buyers, and rental car companies have gone from big Tesla fans to avoiding and dumping Teslas. Yikes! [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Ford EV Sales Up 43%” • Ford’s EV evolution continues. Ford has three EV models: the Mustang Mach-E, the F-150 Lightning, and the E-Transit electric van. Sales of these EVs were up a lot in November. Overall, they increased 43% compared to November 2022. The biggest jump in sales wsa the F-150 Lightning, which was up 113% for the month, YOY. [CleanTechnica]

For F-150 Lightning

¶ “California Gov Gavin Newsom Advances Water Tunnel Project Amid Opposition From Environmentalists” • A long-sought and disputed project in drought-prone California aimed at capturing more water from “atmospheric rivers” reached a key milestone when the Newsom administration finished an environmental review for an underground tunnel. [ABC News]

¶ “New Jersey Receives More Than 300 MW In Applications For New Community Solar Program” • The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced it has over 300 applications for the Community Solar Energy Program, since opening the solar program on November 15, 2023. totaling more than 300 MW of new solar capacity. [Solar Power World]

Have a perfectly nice day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “First Hydrogen And The Hydrogen Truck Revolution” • The global market for hydrogen commercial trucks is growing fast, by $3.84 Billion in 2023 alone. Projections show a staggering CAGR of 41% during the forecast period expected to push the market to $120 Billion by 2033. First Hydrogen is poised to make the most of that growth. [CleanTechnica]

Next Gen HD FCEV delivery van (CarbonCredits.com)

COP28:

¶ “Talks At COP28 Set To Intensify In Bid To Break Impasse Over Fossil Fuels” • Negotiations on how the world can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and stave off the worst impacts of the climate crisis will reach a fresh intensity over the next few days, with nations wrangling over whether to phase out or phase down fossil fuels. [The Guardian]

¶ “IMF Head Advocates For End Of Fossil Fuel Subsidies At COP28 Climate Summit” • The gist of Kristalina Georgieva’s message at COP28 is that we don’t have to wring our hands and fret about how expensive addressing the looming climate crisis will be. Instead, we can stop directing trillions of dollars to fossil fuel companies that don’t need support. [CleanTechnica]

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing director of IMF

¶ “Amazon Deforestation Declines But Fossil Fuels Remain Contentious, COP28 Shows” • COP28 saw Amazonian countries arriving with a string of environmental triumphs since the last climate summit. While the nations largely agree on the need to preserve the Amazon Rainforest, the conference has a split over fossil fuel use and deforestation targets. [Mongabay]

¶ “COP28 Pledge To Triple Nuclear Generation By 2050 ‘Highly Unrealistic’” • Countries that pledged to triple nuclear generation by 2050 face an uphill battle that is likely to leave them short of their goal, scientists and energy researchers wrote in their annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report. The report says the target is “highly unrealistic.” [Regina Leader Post]

Nuclear power plant (Nicolas Hippert, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “Mercedes And BMW Big Overachievers On EV Range” • Unfortunately, official range ratings are not uniformly created and are not uniformly accurate. The good news is that Consumer Reports has tested a bunch of electric cars uniformly, in the same scenarios, so the results can be fairly compared. The big winners are Mercedes and BMW. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “World EV Sales Now Equal 17% Of World Auto Sales” • In October, global plugin vehicle registrations were close to beating their previous monthly sales record (1,291,000 units), which was just set in September 2023. They reached 1,279,00 units sold in October. In the end, plugins had a 17% share of the overall auto market (12% battery EV share). [CleanTechnica]

Jenny Ueberberg in her Tesla (Jenny Ueberberg, Unsplash)

¶ “Solar Levelized Cost Of Electricity Is 29% Lower Than Any Fuel Fossil Alternative” • Solar power is the cheapest new-build electricity in many markets, even amid inflation and price rises, Ernst & Young noted in a report. The global weighted average levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar is 29% lower than the cheapest fossil fuel alternative. [pv magazine USA]

US:

¶ “Navajo Nation Faces Possible New Threats After Decades Of Uranium Mining” • Just miles from the site of the 1979 Church Rock Mill spill, the largest nuclear release in US history, uranium extraction operations could resume near the Navajo Nation. Navajo leaders say the health and prosperity of their community could be in further jeopardy. [ABC News]

Mill tailings dam breach of 1979 (EPA image, public domain)

¶ “General Motors Is Installing 500 Charging Stations With Its Partners” • GM partnered with Pilot Travel Centers and EVgo to install up to 500 charging stations at Pilot Flying J rest stops. The project builds on Pilot Company’s recently announced “New Horizons” initiative to invest $1 billion to fully upgrade its travel centers. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Flow Battery To Be Tested At 1970s Gas Station Rehabbed For EV Charging” • Flow batteries have been around a while, but overshadowed by lithium-ion batteries. However, flow batteries have advantages in lower costs, longer duration, and a reduced environmental footprint. A Chicago gas station is being set up to use flow batteries for EV charging. [CleanTechnica]

Smart Energy Plaza (Argonne National Laboratory image)

¶ “Tri-State Announces Early Closures Of Coal Plants” • Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced a proposal to close two coal-fired power plants earlier than planned, thanks to the rising costs and shrinking demand. Tri-State is still under a contractual obligation to purchase nearly $136 million worth of coal between 2024 and 2041. [The Durango Herald]

¶ “South Fork Wind Is Also A Victory For Whales” • South Fork Wind is leading on offshore wind as the first full-size project to generate electricity in our federal waters. It shows that we don’t need to choose between clean energy development and wildlife protection. We can build on this important precedent at the start of this vital new US industry. [NRDC]

Blade installation (South Fork Wind)

¶ “Minnesota Agencies Criticized For Delayed Alerts About Recent Leaks And Spills” • In Minnesota, when radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant leaked into the ground, neighbors didn’t find out for months. Other problems of similar natures have come up. State agencies are facing growing criticism for withholding information. [KSTP]

¶ “Investors Sue NuScale For Concealing True Cost Of Flagship Nuclear Reactor Project-Hagens Berman” • Hagens Berman, a national trial attorney firm, is urging investors in NuScale Power Corporation who suffered substantial losses to submit their losses now. Failures by NuScale to deliver on promises caused its stock price to fall sharply. [GlobeNewswire]

Have a monumentally manageable day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Tripling Renewable Energy By 2030 Is Possible And Essential” • If we are serious about phasing out fossil fuels, we must replace them with renewable energy as soon as we can. At COP 28, some climate activists want to see an agreement to triple the amount of renewable energy in the world by 2030. That’s ambitious, but it’s entirely possible according to Bloomberg. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines (Harry Cunningham, Pexels)

Science and Technology:

¶ “US DOE Analysis Highlights Geothermal Heat Pumps as a Pathway to a Decarbonized Energy Future” • The US DOE announced results of an analysis highlighting that, deployed at mass scale, geothermal heat pumps could decarbonize heating and cooling and save energy in US buildings while reducing the need for new grid transmission. [CleanTechnica]

COP28:

¶ “These Small Words Could Make Or Break The Global Climate Summit” • The thorniest issue at the global climate summit in Dubai is clear: Fossil fuels. As negotiators thrash out the terms of core agreements that will emerge from COP28, the big question is whether countries will ultimately agree to a phase-out of oil, gas and coal, a phase-down – or neither. [CNN]

Jaenschwalde lignite-fired power plant (A.Savin, WikiCommons)

¶ “At COP28, Net Zero World Showcases Progress Transforming Emerging Energy Economies” • During the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the US and its Net Zero World partner countries announced progress on building clean, secure energy systems in leading emerging economies. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “US Departments Of Energy And Transportation, Along With Transport Canada, Are Taking Action To Reduce Rail Sector Emissions” • On the margins of COP28, the US Secretaries of Energy and Transportation, and Canada’s Minister of Transport issued a statement saying the two countries have created a Rail Decarbonization Task Force. [CleanTechnica]

Bullet trains (wu yi, Unsplash)

¶ “At COP28, Countries Launch Declaration Of Intent On Clean Hydrogen” • More than thirty countries launched the COP28 Declaration of Intent on the Mutual Recognition of Certification Schemes for Renewable and Low-Carbon Hydrogen and Hydrogen Derivatives. Endorsers of the declaration seek to help facilitate a global market. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “UK EV Share At 25.7% – 2024 ZEV Mandate Already Shaping Market” • November saw the UK EV share at 25.7% of the auto market, down from 27.7% YOY. Plugin hybrid volumes grew by 56% YOY, whilst full electric volumes fell by 17%, potentially a hold-back ahead of incoming policy changes. Overall auto volume was up 9.5% YOY. [CleanTechnica]

EV (Hyundai Motor Group, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Renewable Energy Capacity To Reach 170 GW By March 2025 On Moderation In Module Prices: ICRA Analyst” • India will add 38 GW of renewable energy capacity by March 2025 to touch 170-GW mark, aided by moderation in solar module prices, an ICRA analyst said. The country’s installed renewable energy capacity was 130 GW in October 2023. [BQ Prime]

¶ “World Bank Unveils $5 Billion Renewable Energy Plan For Africa” • The World Bank will allocate $5 billion to deliver “reliable, affordable, renewable electricity” to 100 million Africans by the end of the decade, its president said. The World Bank estimates that around 600 million people in Africa do not have access to reliable electricity. [Macau Business]

African scene (Thomas Bennie, Unsplash)

¶ “Coal Power Generation Drops 47% In Germany In Q3 Of 2023” • Germany generated 47.3% less electricity from coal-fired power plants in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, the Federal Statistical Office announced. At 23.9%, the share of electricity from coal-fired power plants was less than that of wind power. [Clean Energy Wire]

¶ “Sellafield Nuclear Site Has Leak That Could Pose Risk To Public” • Sellafield, Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site, has a worsening leak from a huge silo of radioactive waste that could pose a risk to the public, the Guardian can reveal. The leak of radioactive liquid from a decaying building at the vast Cumbrian site is likely to continue to 2050. [The Guardian]

Aerial view Sellafield, Cumbria (Simon Ledingham, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Green Bond Framework Rules Out Nuclear Energy” • The Australian Treasury released the Green Bond Framework, which outlines how the government will issue green bonds. It has ruled out investment in nuclear energy in its new green bond program, which will focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate change adaptation. [Banking Day]

US:

¶ “US Air Force Tests Electric Aircraft, Fuel Cells, and ‘FIERCE’ Jet Fuel For Decarbonization” • The US Air Force is on a mission to decarbonize. Electric aircraft and hydrogen fuel cells are in the mix, and it also appears that USAF could backshelf biofuel blends in favor of new drop-in sustainable aviation fuels made of captured carbon and water. [CleanTechnica]

ALIA electric aircraft by BETA Technologies (Courtesy of USAF)

¶ “Why US Drivers May Be Thinking About EVs All Wrong” • According to a July 2023 Pew Research Center survey, half of Americans say they’re unlikely to consider an EV, and 13% are sure they don’t want one. In fact, according to the report, the share of the public interested in purchasing an EV is down 4% from May 2022. [BBC]

¶ “Solar Poised For Record-Setting 2023 While Economic Challenges Mount” • The US solar industry added 6.5 GW of new electric generating capacity in Q3 2023, for a 35% increase, year-over-year, as federal clean energy policies begin to take hold. The United States is expected to add a record 33 GW of solar capacity in 2023. [Solar Energy Industries Association]

Have a magnificently easy day.

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Opinion:

¶ “A Perfect Storm For A Nuclear Accident Is Brewing At Koeberg” • Eskom’s project to extend the life of Koeberg’s two reactors for another 20 years is the very definition of crisis management. Koeberg’s licences run out in July next year. If it doesn’t get licences by then, both reactors will have to shut down. But Koeberg simply is not safe. [BusinessLIVE]

Koeberg nuclear plant (Paul Scott, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Science and Technology:

¶ “A New Automated Home EV Charger – Will This Tech Ever Thrive?” • Two companies, KEBA and Easelink, are behind a new push for automated charging. With their product, a driver does not need to plug in, just place the vehicle over a charging matrix. There is a question about whether the convenience of the system will make it worth the cost. [CleanTechnica]

COP28:

¶ “Is the world about to promise to ditch fossil fuels?” • COP28 may be close to a big breakthrough on reducing the gases heating our planet, its UAE hosts believe. Showing “cautious optimism”, the UAE negotiating team believes COP28 is getting ready to commit to phasing down fossil fuels over coming decades. Or even ditching them altogether. [BBC]

Smoke (Travis Leery, Unsplash)

¶ “Are The Solutions To Fight Climate Change Making Progress?” • It’s not all doom and gloom at the COP28 climate summit. The Earth’s climate is changing rapidly and urgent action is needed to avoid the most damaging consequences for people and nature. But there is hope, and delegates in Dubai are discussing several very concrete ways to limit warming. [BBC]

¶ “Wind Energy Lifeline Grows In Ukraine With Phase II Of Biggest Wind Farm In Eastern Europe” • Despite all the talk about nuclear energy over at the COP28 conference, national security risks have taken center stage. After almost two years of full-on war in Ukraine, the security and resiliency advantages of wind energy are clear. [CleanTechnica]

Wind farm in Ukraine (Courtesy of DTEK)

¶ “TotalEnergies Signs Agreement On Investment For 1-GW Wind Power Project In Kazakhstan” • TotalEnergies’ signed an agreement for the Mirny wind project in Kazakhstan at COP28. Mirny will supply more than 1 million people with electricity and will avoid the emission of 3.5 million tons of CO₂ annually in the country. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

World:

¶ “How Old Fishing Nets Could Be Part Of The Climate Crisis Solution” • Brikole, is a startup “circular business” that recycles discarded nets from the industrial tuna fishing industry in the Seychelles. It converts the nets into products such as bags, hammocks or board shorts. Recycling the discarded products, it cleans up waste as it offers jobs. [CNN]

Fishing boat (Rassin Vannier,
Seychelles News Agency, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Olive Oil Price Skyrockets As Spanish Drought Bites” • Spain is the world’s biggest olive oil producer, covering 70% of EU consumption and 45% of that of the entire world. So a persistent drought in olive-producing areas of Spain has an enormous impact. Olive oil prices have increased by more than 70% this year alone after a sharp rise in 2022. [BBC]

¶ “EVs Take 90.6% Share In Norway” • November saw plugin EVs take 90.6% share in Norway, up from 89.3% year on year. Petrol-only vehicles saw record low share of 0.6% of the auto market. Overall auto volume was 10,348 units, somewhat below seasonal norms. The Tesla Model Y was again September’s bestseller, and several new models debuted. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model Y (Michal Lauko, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “New BYD Vessel Can Transport 7,000 Vehicles Around The World” • BYD has its own shipping vessel to carry thousands of plugin vehicles around the world. Explorer 1 was built by Guangzhou Shipbuilding International, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. It just completed a 7-day trial based out of Yantai, Shandong. [CleanTechnica]

US:

¶ “‘Our Future Is Electric,’ But GM’s Chief Sustainability Officer Wants More EV Infrastructure Support” • Kristen Siemen, chief sustainability officer at General Motors , appealed for EV policy support and infrastructure to help make our transportation all electric. A robust EV infrastructure is needed for of profitable plug-in passenger vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

2025 Sierra EV Elevation (Provided by GM)

¶ “Eleven Cool Things And Ten Concerns About The Tesla Cybertruck” • Here are lists of all the quirks and perks of the Cybertruck, based on a 40-minute review from Marques Brownlee. If you really want to get the low-down on the Cybertruck, by all means use the link provided, but these lists are a good, quick alternative. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Cubico Commissions Mississippi Solar Project” • Cubico Sustainable Investments has commissioned Delta’s Edge, a 135-MW solar PV project situated in Carroll County, Mississippi, USA. With this site now producing power, Cubico now has over 750 MW of operational renewable energy projects in the USA and over 1.4 GW across USA and Mexico. [reNews]

Solar project (Cubico image)

¶ “Approved Oil Company Secures Deal To Power All NYC Agencies With Renewable Diesel” • New York City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services has awarded Approved Oil Company a multi-year contract. Under this contract, the company will supply renewable diesel to the fleets of various New York City agencies. [Biomass Magazine]

¶ “Regulators Weigh Another Georgia Power Rate Hike” • In Georgia, regulators are considering Georgia Power’s proposal to raise electricity rates to pay for the two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. Under a deal the Public Service Commission is considering, monthly bills would increase by just under $9 for the typical residential customer. [WABE]

Have a totally copacetic day.

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COP28:

¶ “Fossil Fuel Industry Nearly Quadrupled Registrations At Climate Summit Since Last Year, Watchdog Report Says” • More than 2,400 people connected to the fossil fuel industry registered to attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. That’s nearly four times the number that signed up for last year’s climate gathering, according to an analysis. [CNN]

Entrance to COP 28 (UNCTAD, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Climate Summit Leader Defends Controversial Comments” • Sultan Al Jaber, President of COP28 and oil executive, held a surprise news conference, in which he fiercely defended his commitment to climate science, after an increasing number of scientists and advocates expressed alarm at the comments and concern for the direction of the talks. [CNN]

¶ “Kamala Harris Announces New $3 Billion US Pledge To Global Climate Action At Dubai Summit” • Vice President Kamala Harris announced new funding for climate action at the COP28 summit in Dubai. She said the US would pledge another $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, the main finance vehicle to help developing nations adapt to the climate crisis. [CNN]

Kamala Harris (Lorie Shaull, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Al Gore And Science Take Center Stage On Day 5 Of COP28” • Al Gore may have got in the best zinger of COP28 so far when he told Reuters,” This industry is way more effective at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions. [They named] the CEO of one of the largest and least responsible oil companies in the world as head of the COP.” [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “India Builds Its Largest Renewable Energy Project In Salt Deserts” • Rising from the bare expanse of the large salt desert that separates India from Pakistan is what will likely be the world’s largest renewable energy project when completed three years from now. The Khavda renewable energy park will supply 30 GWh of electricity annually. [ABC News]

Gujarat (Tasmay and Shikha Rachhadia, Unsplash)

¶ “Global CO₂ Emissions Rise Through 2050 In Most IEO2023 Cases” • The US EIA said “Growing populations and incomes increase fossil fuel consumption and emissions, particularly in the industrial and electric power sectors.” This offsets emissions reductions from improved efficiency, lower carbon intensity of fuels, and growth in clean energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “BMW iX With ONE Battery Pack Drives 978 Km On Single Charge” • ONE (Our Next Energy), a battery company, said it had equipped a BMW iX with one of its Genesis battery packs. The car then drove for 978 km (608 miles) on a single charge, using the European WLTP testing standard. But this was no ordinary battery pack. [CleanTechnica]

BMW iX (Courtesy of Our Next Energy)

¶ “Australia’s Biggest Solar Farm To Supply Renewable Energy To Coles” • CleanCo has signed an agreement with Coles to supply its supermarkets in Queensland with power from Neoen’s recently completed 400-MW Western Downs Green Power Hub solar farm. The Western Downs Green Power Hub is the largest solar farm in Australia. [pv magazine Australia]

¶ “Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Suffers Eighth Power Blackout” • The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost off-site power for the first time since May, and it had to rely on emergency diesel generators for nearly five hours at the weekend, prompting renewed safety concerns amid the on-going war. The 750-kV line has been restored. [World Nuclear News]

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant (IAEA image)

¶ “Sellafield Nuclear Site Hacked By Groups Linked To Russia And China” • The UK’s most hazardous nuclear site, Sellafield, has been hacked by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China. The astonishing disclosure and its potential effects have been consistently covered up by senior staff at the vast nuclear waste and decommissioning site. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ “Autonomous Electric Truck Transports GE Appliances” • Einride is one of many startups that have been built on big goals regarding autonomous, electric transport. Most of them never get far and never make much of an impact. Einride got a deal actually putting its autonomous truck to work … in Selmer, Tennessee, of all places. [CleanTechnica]

Autonomous Electric Truck (Courtesy of Einride)

¶ “DOE: $13 Million to Connect More Puerto Rico Communities with Residential Solar And Battery Storage” • The DOE released a slate of community groups and nonprofits getting up to $13.85 million to help vulnerable Puerto Rican households get solar and battery storage and provide education and consumer protection services to residents. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New York Developer Launches $1.2 Billion Renewable Energy Fund For USA” • Fresh off the launch of the New York Climate Exchange, New York City is becoming an epicenter of renewable energy development. Though space for new wind turbines and solar panels within the city is limited, the $1.2 billion fund will set up clean power assets across the US. [CleanTechnica]

New York wind project (Courtesy of energyRe)

¶ “Texas Goes Green: How Oil Country Became The Renewable Energy Leader” • If you had to guess which state in America was hands down producing the most green renewable energy, what would you guess? Well, it’s Texas. The state that epitomizes oil and gas and got rich powering the nation for decades is now the biggest producer of wind and solar. [PBS]

¶ “Native Americans Are Building Their Own Solar Farms” • Tribes struggled to tap into the billions in renewable energy incentives offered by the government. They’ve struggled to have any access to electricity. When Two Bears left politics in 2017, he formed Indigenized Energy, a native-led energy company that installs solar farms for tribal nations, free of charge. [BBC]

Have a stupendously edifying day.

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Opinion:

¶ “This Awesome Water Capsule Should Be Electric! Oh, Wait …” • As soon as I saw its picture, I felt myself entering the market for a little boat. It looks so cool. It’s got coverage from the sun – but not in the old, typical way of a normal boat. It’s small and seems like it could be affordable – no need for more in order to chill on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. [CleanTechnica]

Jet Capsule ZERO (Courtesy of Lazzarini Design)

¶ “Shipping Ports Move Molecules So Electrification Is Hard For Them To Grok” • How many cognitive biases get in the way of electrification? Ports are in the business of handling masses of gases, liquids, and solids, and so are predisposed to think that there are going to be lots of energy carrying molecules in their ports to be used by port vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Adding Context To That Consumer Reports Electric Car Reliability Report” • Almost everyone in the US has seen the headlines. “Consumer Reports pummels EV reliability,” says a headline in the Detroit Free Press. I decided to actually read what Consumer Reports had to say. Maybe the people at the Detroit Free Press should have. [CleanTechnica]

EV charging (Oxana Melis, Unsplash, cropped)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Green, Blue, Gold, And More: What The Different Colors Of Hydrogen Mean” • The color tells how the hydrogen was made. That is increasingly important as hydrogen becomes a promising energy source in the face of the climate crisis. When burned, hydrogen doesn’t emit CO₂, a stark contrast to fossil fuels. But we need to know how it was made. [Fast Company]

World:

¶ “World’s Largest Floating Solar Power Plant Taking Shape On Hydropower Plant” • The plans for the world’s largest floating solar power plant show how quickly the floating solar field can grow. The project is to expand an existing 145-MW floating solar array at the Cirata hydropower reservoir in West Java, Indonesia, to reach up to 500 MW. [CleanTechnica]

Floating solar array at Cirata plant (Courtesy of Sungrow)

¶ “Record 29.7% EV Share In France – Two Top Ten Teslas” • In France, a record 29.7% EV share was set in November, up from 24.4% year on year. Full electrics alone took over 20% of the auto market for the first time. Overall auto volume was 152,709 units, up 14% YOY, though still below the 2017-2019 seasonal average of roughly 180,000 units. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Indonesia Eyes ‘Phenomenal’ Geothermal Power Potential” • Indonesia is home to 40% of global geothermal resources and is keen to harvest energy from the Earth’s crust. But experts do not agree about whether the industry will be able to hit its ambitious goals to generate large amounts of energy given the costs and lack of incentives. [South China Morning Post]

Geothermal energy in Indonesia (Selisik, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Masdar And EDF Sign Major Agreement With Government Of The Kyrgyz Republic To Develop Up To 3.6 GW Of Hydropower And Renewable Projects” • Masdar and EDF igned an agreement with the Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic to explore the development of hydropower and renewable projects with a combined capacity of up to 3.6 GW. [PR Newswire]

¶ “Cop: 22 Countries Pledge To Triple Nuclear Capacity” • The US and 21 other countries have committed to work towards tripling global nuclear energy capacity by 2050, from 2020 levels. The US stressed that financing and high-level political engagement would be needed to deliver on the ambitions to keep global warming well below 2.0°C. [Argus Media]

Sizewell B nuclear plant (John Fielding, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

US:

¶ “Harris Goes To Dubai To Tackle Climate Change And War” • Filling in for President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris flew to the Middle East to tackle a pair of challenges that have flummoxed White Houses for decades: climate change and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Each carries political risk for next year’s elections. [ABC News]

¶ “GM Expects Its Electric Vehicles To Become Profitable In 2025” • When GM chief financial officer Paul Jacobson spoke to analysts at a Barclays conference, he admitted the company had not found the pace it had expected to meet its EV making goals. Nevertheless, he expressed confidence that GM’s EVs would be profitable in 2025. [CleanTechnica]

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV 3LT (Courtesy of GM)

¶ “An IRA Grant Could Help Low-Income Residents In New Hampshire Go Solar” • The New Hampshire DOE requested a $70 million federal grant to expand community solar programs for low-income residents. Such an infusion of funds could lower energy bills, accelerate decarbonization, and even catalyze affordable housing. [Canary Media]

¶ “New York Opens Offshore Wind Solicitation” • The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has launched expedited solicitations for offshore wind and land-based renewable projects as part of a plan to bolster New York’s renewables industry. One goal is to get 70% of the electricity from renewables by 2030. [offshoreWIND.biz]

Have an enthusiastically received day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “CATL Creates Fast Charging Electric Car Skateboard With 1000 Km Range” • CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, is not waiting for customers to come looking for batteries. It created what it calls its CATL Integrated Intelligent Chassis, a skateboard design that incorporates all the bits and pieces needed to make a fully functional electric car. [CleanTechnica]

CATL skateboard (CATL image)

¶ “COP28 President Says There Is ‘No Science’ Behind Demands For Phase-Out Of Fossil Fuels” • The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, claimed there is “no science” showing a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to keep global heating to 1.5°C, The Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting revealed. Al Jaber is chief executive of the UAE’s state oil company. [The Guardian]

¶ “New CO₂ Energy Storage System Could Blow Past Li-Ion” • Carbon dioxide reaches a liquid state when compressed and it expands with a pop when released, and now the Italian startup Energy Dome is ready to harness the action for a new energy storage system that could provide far more storage at far less cost than lithium-ion batteries. [CleanTechnica]

Energy Dome energy storage system (Courtesy of Energy Dome)

World:

¶ “At COP28 meeting, oil companies pledge to combat methane. Environmentalists call it a ‘smokescreen’” • Fifty oil companies representing nearly half of global production pledged to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring by 2030, the president of this year’s UN talks said. Environmental groups called the move a “smokescreen.” [ABC News]

¶ “Court Of Appeals Rules Belgium Must Cut Emissions Faster” • The court of appeals in Brussels has ruled that Belgium must cut its carbon emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels and do it by 2030, according to a report by The Guardian. As of the end of 2021, the country had only managed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 24%. [CleanTechnica]

Belgium (François Genon, Unsplash)

¶ “EVs Take 60.6% Share In Sweden – Model Y Back On Top” • November saw plugin EVs take 60.6% share in Sweden, down YOY from the (anomalous) 64.6% pull-forward in November 2022. Full electrics alone took 39.7% of the market. Overall auto volume was 25,404 units, down 1% YOY. The Tesla Model Y was the best selling EV in November. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “XPeng Sales Up 245% in November” • XPeng has had its ups and downs in the past couple of years, but I continue to think that it’s got some of the best electric cars in the world and some of the best tech in the world. XPeng delivered 20,041 “smart” electric vehicles in November. That’s an increase of 245% over its November 2022 total. [CleanTechnica]

XPeng EV (XPeng image)

¶ “Rooftop Solar Installations Rise 34.7% To 431 MW In Jul-Sep: Mercom” • The rooftop solar installations in India registered a 34.7% year-on-year jump to 431 MW during July-September 2023, aided by a fall in module prices, Mercom India said in a report. The rooftop solar installations were at 320 MW during the same period of 2022. [Business Standard]

¶ “Tuvalu Aims To Transition To 100% Renewable Energy By 2030: Prime Minister Of Tuvalu” • Kausea Natano, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, affirmed his country’s efforts to achieve a full transition to renewable energy by 2030. He told the Emirates News Agency that Tuvalu’s objective may seem ambitious, but the country is “very serious about achieving it.” [ZAWYA]

Funafuti atoll (Stefan Lins, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Scotland’s Renewable Energy Projects Revealed In New Map” • A new map has been drawn up to show the scale and progress of Scotland’s renewable energy projects. The interactive guide was published by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. It has data and shows the status of different developments, which can be filtered through parliamentary regions. [The National]

US:

¶ “Climate Change Is Costing The US $150 Billion A Year” • In total, extreme weather events cost the US $150 billion per year, due to direct impacts such as infrastructure damage,injuries, and agricultural losses, the authors of a report estimate. And the cost of extreme weather events is expected to grow in the near term as sea levels and temperatures rise. [CNN]

Storm damage (Chandler Cruttenden, Unsplash)

¶ “US joins in other nations in swearing off coal power to clean the climate” • US Special Envoy John Kerry announced that America was joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which means the Biden Administration commits to building no new coal plants and phasing out existing plants. No date was given for closing the existing plants. [ABC News]

¶ “How The US, Oil Industry Plans To Drastically Cut Methane Emissions” • Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Compact requires oil firms to reduce their methane emissions by 80% to 90% over the next five years while providing monitoring records to an international verification body. [ABC News]

San Ardo Oil Field (Loco Steve, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

¶ “Texas Grid Faces Winter After Failed Attempt To Get More Power Online” • The Electric Reliability Council of Texas asked companies if they were willing to bring onlin some shuttered power plants running on gas and coal and, if so, what it would cost ERCOT. As it happened, not a single company thought reviving an old power plant made sense. [KRGV]

¶ “Where Things Stand In The Effort To Restart The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant” • Holtec International, the owner of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, remains optimistic in efforts to restart the shuttered plant. It launched an attempt to restart operations in early 2023. The effort still continues, with some big decisions still looming. [The Holland Sentinel]

Have an incomprehensibly delightful day.

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World:

¶ “COP28 Host UAE To Ramp Up National Oil Production” • United Arab Emirates, the country hosting COP28 climate talks aimed at cutting fossil fuel emissions is massively ramping up its own oil production, the BBC has learned. Should this surprise us? Sultan al-Jaber, the president of COP28, is also the chief executive of the UAE’s state oil firm Adnoc. [BBC]

Sultan al-Jaber (Kiara Worth, UN Climate Change)

¶ “Drastic Emissions Cuts, Transition To Renewable Energy Crucial As ‘Humanity’s Fate Hangs In The Balance’, Secretary-General Tells World Climate Action Summit” • UN Secretary-General António Guterres gave remarks to the World Climate Action Summit, COP28, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The remarks are available in this article. [UN Press]

¶ “26% BEV Share In China! – China EV Sales Report” • Plugin vehicles are all the rage in the Chinese auto market. Plugins scored more than 808,000 sales last month, up 41% year over year, for the market’s third record month in a row. The last two months of the year may continue the record streak. So far, 2023’s sales are over 6.2 million units. [CleanTechnica]

BYD Song Pro 2023 (Quzhouliulian, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

¶ “‘Liquid Air’ Energy Storage Could Save The Day For Offshore Wind Industry” • Offshore wind has been bedeviled by high costs and market uncertainties. Long duration energy storage could come to the rescue. Ørsted is banking on a new high tech “liquid air” energy storage system, and they have reportedly seen good results from an initial analysis. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Record-Low EV Battery Prices In 2023” • Thanks to a variety of factors, lithium-ion battery packs are at record low prices. After dropping 14%, they are down to $139/kWh. The steep price drop and record low average price come on the heels of price increases in 2022 that had brought battery prices back to 2020 levels. The world changes fast. [CleanTechnica]

Lithium-ion batteries (Vardan Papikyan, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Tesla Secures Massive 1.6-GWh Megapack Order For Giant Project” • Tesla has secured a massive Megapack order for a new giant energy storage project that will likely become the largest storage facility in the world. That project, the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, is in Victoria. It will have capacities of 600 MW and 1,600 MWh. [Electrek]

¶ “At COP28, Countries Launch Declaration To Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity By 2050” • At COP28, over twenty countries from four continents launched the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy. The declaration says that nuclear energy is key to dealing with climate change and sets a goal of tripling the nuclear energy capacity by 2050. [Department of Energy]

Nuclear power plant (Jametlene Reskp, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “US Coal Electricity Dropped In 2022, Down To 20% Of US Electricity” • US coal-related CO₂ emissions decreased by 7% in 2022 relative to 2021. This decrease was largely due to an 8% decline in coal-fired power generation because of retiring coal-fired capacity. The carbon intensity of electricity declined by 4% in the US in 2022. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New England’s Decades-Old Shrimp Fishery, A Victim Of Climate Change, To Remain Closed Indefinitely” • In New England, the shrimp business fell victim to warming waters in 2013 because of a moritorium by regulators. A healthy shimp population needs cold water. The moratorium will remain in place indefinitely, fishery regulators ruled. [ABC News]

Shrimp (Jerry Shen, Unsplash)

¶ “Electric Vehicles And Hybrids Are 18% of US New Vehicle Market” • An update from the US EIA shows that combined EV and hybrid vehicle sales are up to a record-high 18% of the US new vehicle market. “Sales of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and [battery EVs] rose in the US to 17.7% of new light-duty vehicle sales in third-quarter 2023.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Lower US CO₂ Emissions Due In Part To Shifts In Power Generation Sources” • A forecast by the US Energy Information Administration is for the US energy sector to emit about 4,790 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2023, a 3% decrease from 2022. Much of this decline results from lower electricity generation from coal-fired power plants. [CleanTechnica]

Emissions (US Energy Information Administration)

¶ “Work Resumes On $10 Billion Transmission Project Despite Tribal Objections” • The tractors are back at work clearing land and building access roads for a $10 billion transmission line that the Biden administration describes as an important part of the nation’s renewable energy transition. Tribal leaders vow to keep pushing to protect the land. [KRWG]

¶ “New Jersey Plans To Restart Offshore Wind In 2024 After ‘Bump In The Road’” • The Governor of New Jersey is looking to restart the state’s offshore wind programs reiterating that it is committed to offshore wind as a key component of its renewable energy program. The state is commitment to having 100% clean energy by 2035. [The Maritime Executive]

Offshore wind farm (Ørsted file photo)

¶ “Renewable Energy Company’s Billion-Dollar Investment Promises Brighter Future For Armstrong County” • A renewable energy company from Brazil is capitalizing on the wind blowing in Armstrong County, Texas. A billion-dollar investment will deliver a new funding stream for the county in the first part of project development. [KVII]

¶ “Court Rejects Anti-Renewables Challenge To PJM Rule” • The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that allows renewables to compete fairly with fossil fuel power plants in PJM. The ruling eliminated a provision giving fossil fuels advantages they needed to remain competitive. [Earthjustice]

Have a powerfully restorative day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Why Hold UN Climate Talks 28 Times? Do The Talks Even Matter?” • The Conference of Parties process gives every nation in the world, whether rich or poor, large or small, a seat at the table to discuss how climate change is impacting them and how they believe the world should confront it. And ultimately, COP is the only game in town. [ABC News]

Al Wasl Plaza (Palácio do Planalto, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “What Drives This Madness On Small Modular Nuclear Reactors?” • A key point to remember is that 55% of the budget of the US DOE is related to commercial nuclear generation. The other 45% covers dams, wind, solar, tidal, wave, biomass, biofuel and geothermal, energy. But also, small towns in decline might want to host nuclear reactors. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Energy-Rich Scotland Does Not Require Any Nuclear Power Stations” • Nuclear power consistently fails to deliver energy on time or on budget. The much-touted Small Modular Reactors don’t yet exist, depend heavily on government subsidies to come on stream, and will generate more toxic nuclear waste for which there is no safe disposal. [The National]

Small Modular Reactor meeting (NRC, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Behold The Hyundai Uni Wheel. Transportation May Never Be The Same” • The Hyundai Uni Wheel is clever, but itis also difficult to describe. It puts the drive reduction gear and flexible driveshaft components inside the wheel. So it’s not an in-wheel motor, but functions very much like one without adding the weight of the motor to the wheel. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “COP28: Poor Countries Win 30-Year Fight For Climate Cash” • In a surprise, COP28 delegates agreed to launch a long-awaited fund to pay for damage from storms and drought worsened by climate change. Such deals are normally sealed last minute after days of negotiations, but COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber put the decision on the floor on day one. [BBC]

Hot weather (Bayu Syaits, Unsplash)

¶ “2023 Set To Be Hottest Year On Record” • There may still be an entire month to go in 2023 but the UN announced that 2023 is set to be the warmest on record. New climate data shows the world is heating up at an unprecedented pace, and UN chief António Guterres called on leaders at the COP28 conference to get us out of “deep trouble.” [ABC News]

¶ “Electric Mobility Projects In Kenya Start to Show Potential For Significant Petrol And Diesel Abatement” • One big problem for many African is escalating bills for imported fossil fuels. Such bills use hard-earned and scarce foreign currency. The transition to electric mobility presents an important opportunity to reduce this dependence. [CleanTechnica]

Electric buses (Courtesy of BasiGo)

¶ “The Global Impact of Renewable Electricity On Energy Security and Economy” • According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the adoption of renewable energy sources in 2022 resulted in a remarkable $521 billion saving, primarily by reducing the reliance on expensive fossil-fuel imports. [EnergyPortal.eu]

¶ “380-MW Australian Solar Farm To Start Construction In 2024” • Acciona Energia announced the construction of the 380-MW Aldoga solar farm on the central Queensland coast of Australia will start in the first quarter of 2024 and last eighteen months. The project comes with an associated investment of A$500 million ($331 million). [reNews]

Solar farm (Acciona Energia image)

¶ “Renewable Energy Power In China Reached Record High” • Installed capacity of China’s renewable energy power generation surpassed 1.4 billion kilowatts (1,400 GW) as of end-October, accounting for 49.9% of the country’s total, according to the National Energy Administration. This marks a year-on-year growth of 20.8%. [China Daily]

¶ “Vestas 15-MW Prototype Certified” • Vestas has received a type certificate for its V236-15MW offshore wind turbine. The turbine manufacturer installed the first prototype unit at the beginning of the year. After reaching it nominal power rating of 15 MW in April, the turbine broke the world record for power produced by one turbine in a 24-hour period – 363 MWh. [reNews]

Vestas prototype turbine (Vestas image)

¶ “Closer To Nuclear Plant Than Ever, Latest Korean Quake Renews Calls To Retire Aging Reactors” • In Korea, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit the city of Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province. As the earthquake was not far from the city’s Wolsong nuclear power plant, critics of nuclear power are becoming more vocal about safety concerns. [The Hankyoreh]

US:

¶ “Kohler Launches KDH Hydrogen Engine” • Standalone engine-builders Kohler recently unveiled a new direct injection, hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine based on its KDI 2504 TCR in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. The new Kohler engine isn’t a hydrogen fuel cell. It’s a conventional reciprocating piston engine that burns hydrogen. [CleanTechnica]

Kohler engine (Kohler Energy, via EquipmentWorld)

¶ “Connecticut Scraps 2035 ICE Vehicle Ban Plan” • When Gov Gavin Newsom announced that California would ban the sale of most internal-combustion vehicles in 2035, a number of states followed suit. But now, Connecticut governor Ned Lamont may be withdrawing proposed regulations aligning with California’s clean vehicle standards. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Tesla Cybertruck Arriving! What To Expect” • Deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck finally starting! Today is the day. About four years after the initial unveiling event, the first buyers will get their electric Bladerunner, apocalypse-ready Tesla Cybertrucks. Surprisingly, we still don’t have full final insight into the price. That will surely come. [CleanTechnica]

Have an unimposingly magnificent day.

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Opinion:

¶ “What Is COP28 In Dubai And Why Is It Important?” • COP28 is the 28th annual UN Conference of the Parties meeting on climate change. It is a venue where governments will discuss how to limit and prepare for the future climate change. The “parties” of COP28 are countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement of 1992. [BBC]

Representatives at COP28 (USDA, public domain)

¶ “CCS, CDR, DAC – The Dangerous Lies Behind Those Carbon Management Schemes” • We are told, “Trust us,” by people we know have been lying to us for fifty years. They want us to think their carbon management plans are a done deal, when in fact they are just pie in the sky blandishments with no possibility of living up to their promise. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Highview, Ørsted Seek To Unlock More Value From Wind” • Highview Power and Ørsted completed a joint investigation into the benefits of combining long-term energy storage and offshore wind. They showed that combining offshore wind with Liquid Air Energy Storage has value for reducing wind curtailment for a more flexible zero carbon grid. [reNews]

Offshore wind turbines (Shaun Dakin, Unsplash)

¶ “Wärtsilä Is Putting Out Grid-Scale Battery Fires Before They Start” • Wärtsilä recently completed rigorous fire safety testing of its GridSolv Quantum energy storage system, and the enormous scope and scale of the test program set a new standard for grid-level fire safety testing. They did this despite the fact that their batteries have never caught fire. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “Labour Vows To ‘Rewire Britain’ As Pylon Plans Spark Row In Tory Party” • Labour is promising to “rewire Britain”, making its case to rural areas that it will connect farmers and businesses to the National Grid at record speed. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak faces a battle over electricity pylons with some urging him to pull the plug on crucial grid infrastructure. [The Guardian]

Pylons (Casey Horner, Unsplash)

¶ “27% Of New Cars In France Now Plugin Electric Cars!” • Plugin vehicle sales continue to rise in France, with last month’s plugin vehicle registrations ending at 40,379 units, divided between 25,473 BEVs (17% overall market share) and 14,906 PHEVs (10% market share). The former jumped 51% year over year, while the latter were up by 34%. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “‘One Of The World’s Largest’: Battery Farm To Be The First Project Funded By Victoria’s Resurrected Electricity Agency” • A battery farm that can power 200,000 homes was announced as the first project funded by the Victorian government’s State Electricity Commission. The project’s 600 MW of capacity will be in three battery components. [The Guardian]

Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub (Equis Australia image)

¶ “Clean Energy Council Notes Decline In Australian Renewable Energy Investment” • Utility-scale renewables in Australia are in dire straits. A Clean Energy Council report says 2023 looks to be “the worst [year] for large-scale renewable energy investment” since it began tracking data in 2017. Announcements have come out, but little else. [PV Magazine]

US:

¶ “GOP Bill Would Pull Farmland Tax Credits From Farmers Hosting Solar Power Installations” • Farm fields with solar PVs would no longer qualify for state tax credits under a Republican bill. GOP lawmakers claim it’s about protecting farmland from “nonsense” renewable projects, and Wisconsin should pursue nuclear energy instead. [Wisconsin Public Radio]

Solar farm in Wisconsin (Wikideas1, public domain)

¶ “’Ghost Forests’ Threaten New Jersey’s Water, Ecosystem” • Acres of “ghost forests” have been popping up in southern New Jersey, as an increase of saltwater in the soil has been killing what remains of the Atlantic white cedar trees that populate the area. Climate change events and logging created a situation where the soil lost its fresh water, experts say. [ABC News]

¶ “Coal Mine Is Shedding Jobs Ahead Of A Power Plant’s Coal-To-Gas Conversion” • A Wyoming coal mine plans to lay off 19 workers, because the power plant it supplies fuel to is converting to gas. It is the latest of thousands of jobs lost in the US coal industry in recent years. The workers at the Black Butte Mine will lose their jobs in mid-December. [ABC News]

Coal mine (Dominik Vanyi, Unsplash)

¶ “A $30 Billion Meltdown In Clean Energy Puts Biden’s Climate Goals At Risk” •No one expected the transition from fossil fuels to be easy. But a year after President Joe Biden’s climate law promised billions of dollars for America’s switch to clean energy, some of the nation’s most ambitious renewable power projects have been shelved. [MSN]

¶ “Fervo Energy Revs Up Its First Geothermal Generating Station” • Fervo Energy is using the horizontal drilling perfected by the oil and gas industry to access regions where it is hot enough to make superheated steam for generating electricity. The drilling can be expensive, but once a heat source is tapped, free energy can be had for years. [CleanTechnica]

Project Red (Courtesy of Fervo Energy)

¶ “US Discovers Lithium Bonanza For EV Batteries Right In Its Own Backyard” • The DOE released the results of an analysis of Salton Sea lithium resources by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Direct Lithium Extraction technology could lead to production of more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough for over 375 million EV batteries. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Will Keeping California’s Last Nuclear Power Plant Open Raise Your Utility Bill In San Diego?” • The price tag to keep Diablo Canyon open is a matter of debate. That’s important because costs to extend the plant’s operations would be passed onto all customers of power companies regulated by the Public Utilities commission. [San Diego Union-Tribune]

Have a remarkably cozy day.

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Opinion:

¶ “The Corruption At The Heart Of COP28 Revealed” • COP28 is perhaps the world’s last chance to avoid a climate catastrophe. Yet reports indicate it may be little more than a dog and pony show, a fake conference intended to convince the rubes that serious action is being taken while secret deals are being made behind the curtain. [CleanTechnica]

COP 28 (Climate Justice Alliance image)

¶ “Empowering Electrification – Overcoming Grid Limitations with Battery Solutions” • “Electrify Everything” is the biggest cleantech call to action in the world these days. When it was a new and just slightly used phrase, it was catchy, but it didn’t seem ready to become the predominant climate call to action. But this is absolutely what is needed. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Wave Devouring Propulsion: A Revolutionary Technology For Green Maritime Sustainability” • Academics from Cranfield University working on the concept of using wave energy for propulsion designed a method of achieving greater thrust from the power of the waves by harnessing submerged flapping foils on a vessel. [CleanTechnica]

Ship (Borderpolar Photographer, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “Groundbreaking Transatlantic Flight Using Greener Fuel Lands” • The first transatlantic flight by a large passenger plane powered only by alternative fuels has landed. Operated by Virgin Atlantic, it flew from London’s Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport. It would be challenging for similar commercial flights to happen because of lack of fuel. [BBC]

¶ “Coal Power, Traffic, Waste Burning A Toxic Smog Cocktail In Indonesia’s Jakarta” • Pollution is causing a rise in respiratory illnesses and deaths in Java, experts say. Smog in Jakarta comes from coal-fired plants, vehicle exhaust, industries, and trash burning. Many residents of the city are demanding that the government take action. [ABC News]

Jakarta (Afif Ramdhasuma, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “New Scheme Uses Rooftop Solar, Grid Renewables To Reduce Social Housing Power Bills” • Residents of Melbourne’s social housing will see their power bills cut by as much as $400 per year thanks to a new partnership which will use onsite solar PV and renewable energy from the grid for power at the social housing apartment complexes. [One Step Off The Grid]

¶ “Beam Global Is Ramping Up Rollout Of Its Off-Grid Solar-Powered EV Charging Infrastructure” • Beam Global came into being because a charging station can have big enough power needs that new power lines have to be put in, even where utility power are nearby. It can be cheaper to put in a battery system for a solar-powered charging station. [CleanTechnica]

EV Charging (Beam Global image)

¶ “Renewables Data Underline Need For Federal Government Measures” • In Australia, the Clean Energy Council released its Q3 Renewable Projects Quarterly Report, confirming that 2023 has been a challenging year for large renewable energy projects. They reached a total of only 509 MW of financially committed projects thus far. [Clean Energy Council]

¶ “West Africa’s Potential Renewable Energy Capacity At 2000 GW: Report” • West Africa has a potential renewable energy capacity of 2,000 GW, which could meet the basic energy needs of its population, according to a report by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and PWC Middle East. The continent’s current installed base is 59 GW. [ZAWYA]

Liberia (Luis Gómez-Ordoñez, Unsplash, cropped)

US:

¶ “Labor Union Wins This Year Are A Win For EVs” • A United Auto Workers white paper says, “In order to preserve American jobs and work standards, what is needed is a proactive industrial policy that creates high-quality manufacturing jobs making EVs and their components.” That statement was important for the recent UAW labor agreements. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Biden Rule Requires States To Track CO₂ Emissions” • Last week, the Biden administration finalized a rule requiring states to track greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The new rule requires each state’s DOT to establish declining carbon emissions targets using fuel sales, fuel efficiency, and vehicle-miles-traveled data. [CleanTechnica]

Tractor-trailer (Daphne Fecheyr, Unsplash)

¶ “Vermont Environmentalists Push For More Aggressive Clean-Energy Goals ” • Climate activists gathered at the Vermont Statehouse to push lawmakers to require utilities to get more of their power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Members of 350Vermont argued that Vermont’s renewable energy is lagging behind other states’. [Seven Days]

¶ “Governor Hochul Announces More Than Two Gigawatts Of Community Solar Has Been Installed In New York” • Governor Kathy Hochul announced that more than 2 GW of community solar has been installed in New York, enough to serve 393,000 homes, reaffirming the State’s position as the top community solar market in the US. [Governor Kathy Hochul]

Solar farm (Wikideas1, public domain, cropped)

¶ “Eight-Year Delay In Pilgrim Decommissioning” • The Pilgrim Nuclear plant could take eight years longer to decommission than was expected six months ago. Owner Holtec International announced its second four-year delay since May, and the delay could have big implications for the disposal of radioactive water still at the plant. [Connecticut Public]

¶ “Arkansas Accepts $142 Million Settlement From Entergy Over Alleged Nuclear Plant Mismanagement” • The Arkansas Public Service Commission has agreed to a $142 million settlement with Entergy over the alleged mismanagement of its Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Mississippi, which supplies power to multiple states, and overcharging for electricity. [KATV]

Have a comfortably constructive day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Moving energy” • The renewable energy future starts with the political leadership. Once a leader in New England in the energy transition off of fossil fuels, Vermont is now the only state in the region to not have updated its renewables requirement in the last eight years as the reality of the costs of the climate crisis have sunk in. [Rutland Herald]

Vermont (Patrick Bald, Unsplash)

¶ “UN Nuclear Chief ‘Ignoring’ Huge Costs For India, Neighbours In The Event Of A Mishap” • The UN nuclear chief said nuclear energy must be part of the equation to tackle climate change. Keen observers of the nuclear power industry find such advocacy of nuclear power as a climate solution to be bizarre and against the true interest of humanity. [Counterview]

Science and Technology:

¶ “The Best Is Yet To Come: New Tandem Silicon-Perovskite Solar Cell Sets Record” • Solar cells may seem like old hats by now, but there is still plenty of room for innovators to push costs down and pump efficiency up. A new record-setting silicon-perovksite solar cell is just one example of the renewable energy firepower emerging from the lab. [CleanTechnica]

New record (Courtesy of LONGi via prnewswire)

World:

¶ “Toxic Gas Putting Millions At Risk In Middle East, BBC Finds” • Toxic pollutants released when gas is flared are putting millions more people to risk than previously feared, a BBC investigation suggests. Flaring is going on across the Gulf, including in the UAE, the COP28 hosts. Research suggests pollution is worsening air quality across the entire region. [BBC]

¶ “Lightning And Hailstorms Kill 24 In Western India” • At least 24 people have been killed by lightning, hailstorms, and intense rain in the Indian state of Gujarat, officials said. Such storms are unusual in the state during winter. Scientists have been warning that rising global temperatures are fuelling a surge in extreme weather events. [BBC]

Lightning (Rahul Viswanath, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Mercedes-Benz Expanding Solar At South Africa Factory, Investing In EV Charging Countrywide” • Mercedes-Benz South Africa is investing R100 million ($5.35 million) in a solar array with 22,847 solar panels at its East London manufacturing plant. The first phase of the installation has 3,692 PV solar panels. It was completed in 2022. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Virgin Atlantic To Fly From Heathrow To JFK Using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel” • Virgin Atlantic will fly a Boeing 787 Dreamliner 3,500 miles from Heathrow to JFK using 60 tons of 100% sustainable aviation fuel – a first. Before it could do this, it needed to get permission from a slew of government agencies in the UK and the US. [CleanTechnica]

Virgin Atlantic flight (Courtesy of Virgin Atlantic)

¶ “Renewable Energy Used For Heating Homes In North China” • Amid a cold wave sweeping North China, Li Chengqin, a resident of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, sips her tea while she watches TV in her cozy living room. This year she no longer has to frequently feed her stove with coal. Her new stove is powered by wind energy. [China Daily]

¶ “How Morocco Became Europe’s Clean Energy Supplier” • Morocco is quickly positioning itself as a potential supplier of renewable energy to energy-hungry Europe. Although Morocco is not as well endowed with oil and gas as its neighbors, it has managed to develop a vibrant solar energy sector by taking advantage of year-round sunshine. [Oil Price]

Solar panels in Morocco (sofoton.es, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “Construction Starts On Glasgow Airport Solar Farm” • In a partnership with energy transition adviser and developer Ikigai Group, Glasgow Airport has completed the development phase and the subsequent financial close for a 20-MW solar plant with Zestec Renewable Energy. About £18.5 million is being invested to create the solar farm.[reNews]

US:

¶ “When Sea Levels Rise, So Does Your Rent” • With sea levels rising around the globe, Miami is facing an urgent need to adapt. As property investors look inland, away from the exclusive, low-lying beach area, they saw Little Haiti, a poorer neighbourhood, which is about 18 feet (5.5 meters) above sea level. Now rising rents are forcing its residents out. [BBC]

Little Haiti (Averette, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “You CAN Drive 55: NTSB Proposes Speed Limit Software” • The most recent National Transportation Safety Board call for speed-limiting software in new cars comes as a response to an investigation into a multi-vehicle crash in Las Vegas in 2022. That accident was blamed on excessive speed that resulted in nine fatalities. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “YouTube’s Loaded With EV Disinformation” • YouTube seems to be full of anti-EV material. One popular channel has several very similar videos about different manufacturers supposedly giving up entirely on EVs. There was a number of straight out lies and blatant misinformation in the video. And it is not the only channel like this. [CleanTechnica]

Propaganda (Screenshot from a fake news channel)

¶ “Local Electric Cooperative And Tennessee Solar Company Collaborate On Solar Farm In McNeal” • More than 60,000 solar panels now cover 160 acres of land near McNeal, Arizona. It’s the result of a joint partnership between a local electric cooperative and a Tennessee-based solar company to bring more solar power to a couple thousand homes. [AZPM News]

¶ “City Of Boston Announces Community Choice Electricity Rates” • The City of Boston encouraged all customers to choose BCCE as their electricity supplier. New rates will be in effect from December 2023 to December 2025 using Direct Energy as the contracted supplier. The renewable energy cost less than Basic Service Rate from Eversource. [Boston.gov]

Have a wildly successful day.

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Opinion:

¶ “How Did Humans Get To The Brink Of Crashing Climate?” • People who claimed the power to control nature and the energy resources around them saw the environment as a tool to be used for progress, historians say. Over hundreds of years, that impulse has remade the planet’s climate and brought its inhabitants to the brink of catastrophe. [ABC News]

Niagara Falls (Denley Photography, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “How China Put The Big Three And The US Behind The 8 Ball With EVs” • The sad fact is that the Chinese EV market managed to gain a years-long head start on the US. The design work ends up following the money, so it’s going to take years for American-designed platforms to become dominant again (assuming they ever do). [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Public Transport For Everyone: How To Unlock Climate And Development Benefits From Sustainable Mobility” • Public transport provides a myriad of benefits that can help countries reach climate and development goals. There’s no better solution to moving large numbers of people efficiently, cheaply, and sustainably than electric buses. [CleanTechnica]

Fotografia reklamowa Lukasz Bera (Image courtesy of Solaris)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Contrail Mitigation: A Collaborative Approach in the Face of Uncertainty” • Contrails are the white, linear trails behind some aircraft.To measure and address the climate challenge posed by aviation contrails, RMI is working with aviation industry leaders, the tech sector, and the academic community in the Contrail Impact Task Force. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “COP28: UAE Planned To Use Climate Talks To Make Oil Deals” • The United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals, the BBC has learned. The UN body responsible for the COP28 summit told the BBC hosts were expected to act without bias or self-interest. [BBC]

Dubai (ZQ Lee, Unsplash)

¶ “Delhi Pollution: Indian Supreme Court’s 40-Year Quest To Clean Foul Air” • In early November, India’s the Supreme Court called for “immediate action” after air quality in the capital deteriorated to alarming levels. The court heard a number of arguments on measures implemented by the Delhi government to tackle the situation. [BBC]

¶ “BYD Philippines Releases Atto 3 EV And Prepares To Open 19 More Dealers, 100 Charging Stations” • AC Motors is reinforcing its commitment to Philippine EV adoption with the introduction of the latest addition to the BYD lineup, the Atto 3 hatchback. The company plans to establish 100 charging stations across selected Ayala Land properties. [CleanTechnica]

BYD Atto 3 (BYE image)

¶ “Iberdrola Sets Out £12 Billion UK Investment Plan Focusing On Electricity Networks And Renewables” • ScottishPower parent company Iberdrola has set out a £12 billion investment plan for 2024-2028 at the UK Global Investment Summit in London, hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, focusing on electricity networks and renewables. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ “155-MW Romanian PV powers up” • Commercial operations have begun at the 155-MW Ratesti Solar Project in Romania. The PV site, owned by Israeli companies Econergy and Nofar Energy, is the largest of its kind in the country and south-east Europe and represents an investment of €102m. Several additional sites should come along in 2024. [reNews]

Solar project (Econergy image)

¶ “‘Biggest Energy Policy Change’: 32-GW CFDS Could Put Australia On Track For 2030 Climate Targets” • The Australian government’s start of competitive Contracts for Difference tenders for dispatchable renewable energy capacity, with back-up by battery energy storage systems, is an unprecedented step for national energy policy. [Energy-Storage.News]

¶ “Nuclear Energy In PH? Group Says There’s Not Even A Filipino Expert On Safety, Radiation” • In a convergence of strong scientific and environmental dissent on nuclear power, progressive groups, scientists, and climate activists expressed opposition to the newly signed nuclear deal between the US and the Philippines. [Inquirer.net]

Unfinished Bataan nuclear plant (Jiru27, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

US:

¶ “EV Batteries Are Perfect For Storing Solar Power” • Time shifting is one of the keys to the solar power revolution. In the past, those batteries have been made using new battery cells. But B2U, a California start-up, is putting its efforts into used EV battery packs as a simpler and more cost effective way to store electricity for later use. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Nantucket’s Rich Are Losing The Battle To Keep Wind Power Out Of Their Backyards” • A raft of lawsuits from residents and fishing industry groups complain about everything from marine life hazards to obstructed views. But Avangrid completed the first of 62 giant wind turbines last month, promising power for over 400,000 homes and businesses. [The Messenger]

Wind turbines (Waldemar, Unsplash)

¶ “New Life For Old Coal: Minelands And Power Plants Are Renewable Development Hot Spots” • AES Indiana’s Petersburg Generating Station has been burning coal since the 1960s. That era, though, will end soon, as the last unit will shut down in 2025. Two units will be switched to natural gas, but the company is also building an 800-MWh battery. [Ohio Capital Journal]

¶ “Governor And Array Technologies Announce New Mexico Expansion” • Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and CEO Kevin Hostetler of Array Technologies announced that plans have been finalized for a major expansion that will solidify the company’s New Mexico future with a new $50 million manufacturing site in Bernalillo County. [Los Alamos Daily Post]

Have an abundantly encouraging day.

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Opinion:

¶ “States Should Reform Fast E-Bike Regulations To Reduce Emissions” • For cheap transportation, let’s talk about electric dirtbikes like the Sur Ron Light Bee. Speeds are limited to around 45-50 MPH, but for city driving, that’s enough speed. Even faster ones are available both from Sur Ron and other brands, and with more range. [CleanTechnica]

Sur Ron electric bike (Sur Ron image)

¶ “Electric Cars Can Catch Fire. We Must Run And Tell The King!” • There are dozens of urban legends about electric cars. Many say they are just overgrown golf carts or that they can’t be driven in the rain. But the most prevalent myth about electric cars is that they are a fire hazard and likely to burst into flames at any time. It really is a myth. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ “How AI Could Power The Climate Breakthrough The World Needs” • Better assessing future risks for farming is just one example of the ways artificial intelligence technologies can be used to address the climate crisis. AI probably won’t replace the need for humans in the climate change fight. But it could make their work faster and more effective. [CNN]

Jets fly by a Supercell (NOAA image, Unsplash)

¶ “Installing Solar Panels More Eco-Friendly Than Planting Trees: Study” • A study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology has revealed that if land use is taken into account, installing more solar panels or investing more in solar energy is more climate-efficient than planting trees on the same piece of land. [WION]

World:

¶ “Stellantis and CATL Join Forces for European LFP Batteries” • Stellantis and CATL announced an agreement to supply LFP battery cells and modules for EVs in Europe. The agreement has two important goals: building a bold technology roadmap to support Stellantis’ future EVs, and identifying ways to further strengthen the battery value chain. [CleanTechnica]

Jeep® Wrangler Magneto 2.0 Concept (Stellantis image)

¶ “COP28 Is Humanity’s Last Clear Chance To Avoid A Climate Catastrophe” • Simon Stiell of Grenada is the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He said world leaders must “stop dawdling and start doing” on carbon emission cuts, as rapidly rising temperatures have put everyone on the front line of disaster. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Can UK’s ‘Jet Zero’ Hopes Take Off With A Plane Fuelled By Used-Cooking Oil?” • A Virgin Atlantic flight will set off on Tuesday from London Heathrow for New York, a Boeing 787 carrying scientists, aviation leaders, politicians, and media, and powered largely by used-cooking oil, or as it is now called, sustainable aviation fuel. [The Guardian]

Model of a Boeing 787 (Justin Lim, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Cambodia’s Big Bet On The Dirtiest Fossil Fuel Faces Major Delays” • In 2020, Cambodia doubled down on fossil fuels with plans to develop three coal power plants to meet rising electricity demand that could not be filled by renewables. One of the plants is finished and operational, but construction work at the other two has stopped. [The Japan Times]

¶ “Phase-Out Of Fossil Fuels And Finance For Global South Must For Meeting Renewables Target: 350.Org” • As the world gears up for COP28, environmental activist group 350.org has called for a comprehensive package that includes a phase-out of fossil fuels and a finance package for the Global South to increase global renewable capacity. [Media India Group]

Break free (Eelco Böhtlingk, Unsplash)

¶ “China’s Installed Renewable Energy Capacity Surges In Jan-Oct” • China’s installed capacity of clean energy surged in the first ten months of the year. By the end of October, the installed capacity of solar power in China was up 47% year on year to 540 GW, while that of wind power stood at about 400 GW, for a yearly increase of 15.6% [Xinhua]

¶ “Top Diplomats From Japan And China Meet In South Korea Ahead Of Three-Way Regional Talks” • Top diplomats from Japan and China met for bilateral talks Saturday to try to resolve disputes including China’s ban on Japanese seafood, which has hit Japanese exporters. They will next join their host, Park Jin, for three-way talks. [ABC News]

Sea urchin for sale (Tuan Nguyen, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “Downtown Albany, NY Gets Some DCFC Love” • Downtown Albany’s Quackenbush public parking garage now has a DC fast charging hub. This is expanding the New York Power Authority’s EVolve NY high-speed network into the heart of the capital city. New York Governor Kathy Hochul had announced the project earlier this month. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Wallbox and Bidirectional Energy To Get Grant For More V2X In California” • Wallbox recently announced a partnership with Bidirectional Energy, a software platform for bidirectional EV energy management. They got funding from the competitive CEC REDWDS grant. They will use the funding to introduce the Quasar 2 bidirectional charger. [CleanTechnica]

Wallbox and Kia (Image by Wallbox and Kia)

¶ “First Offshore Wind Farm To Power CT Homes Wins Final Approval; Will Be South Of Block Island” • Revolution Wind, an offshore wind project to power Connecticut and Rhode island and one of the relatively few in the northeast to emerge intact from a flurry of economic setbacks, has received final BOEM approval to begin construction. [The Daily Item]

¶ “Kentucky Groups Go After Federal Dollars To Pay For More Residential Solar Panels” • Kentucky’s state government and some of the state’s largest cities are applying for hundreds of millions of dollars to support the growth of solar for low-income and disadvantaged communities. Most of Kentucky still runs on power made from coal. [WKMS]

Have an especially fulfilling day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Geoengineering May Be The Least Worst Climate Solution” • Almost everyone agrees geoengineering is a lousy idea, one that is fraught with incalculable danger. Yet human greed, ignorance, and stupidity make it unlikely people will choose the best course, which is to drastically reduce our reliance on oil, methane, and coal for heat and electricity. [CleanTechnica]

Solar intervention (Chelsea Thompson, NREL, public domain)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.)

¶ “Why Good Inventions Get Lost” • Many inventions have no way to benefit the inventor, humanity, or the environment. There may be important answers to climate change out there that cannot be developed because they will not pay their developers. That is a horrible reason to allow a planet to be ruined. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Debunking Solar PV Fears” • As numbers of PV installations modules have risen, some people have raised concerns about the materials they’re made from, promoting disinformation about the safety of recycling modules. A team at NREL in Colorado clarified this waste from solar panels and published an essay in the journal Nature Physics. [Living on Earth]

Solar panels (Chelsea, Unsplash, cropped)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Better Battery Performance And Less Degradation At The Same Time” • To safely store energy and make it rechargeable, you need to wire the individual battery cells together, build a way to cool them, and control the flow of energy in and out of the cells to prevent them from getting damaged and potentially even catching fire. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “Haughey’s Bog: Why Are Peatlands Important?” • Haughey’s Bog in County Tyrone is the latest peatland in Northern Ireland to begin the journey to restoration. Peatlands cover 12% of the land area of Northern Ireland, but 86% of peatlands there are in a degraded state. Instead of storing carbon dioxide, they emit it. Restoration is vitally important. [BBC]

Peatland (K B, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “‘Moment Of Truth’ For Oil Industry: Deepen The Climate Crisis Or Help Fix It” • Oil and gas producers must confront a “pivotal” choice: continue to accelerate the climate crisis or become part of the solution, a new IEA report says. The world needs to take drastic action to limit rising global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. [CNN]

¶ “Nissan Will Invest Over $1 Billion To Make EV Versions Of Its Best-Selling Cars” • Nissan will invest £1.12 billion ($1.4 billion) to update its factory in northeast England to make electric versions of its two best-selling cars, the Qashqai and Juke crossovers. It is a boost for the British government as it tries to revive the country’s ailing economy. [ABC News]

Nissan Qashqai (Jameel Ismail, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Stellantis Opens “Circular Economy Hub” in Turin, Italy” • Stellantis opened the “SUSTAINera Circular Economy Hub” in Turin, Italy. This is a big step in the company’s plan to work toward a circular economy. It enables a “holistic 360-degree approach” via the company’s “4R” strategy: Reman, Repair, Reuse, and Recycle. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “BYD Produces Its Six Millionth Plugin Vehicle!” • BYD is now neck and neck with Tesla in terms of quarterly pure battery EV sales, and it has long been the world leader in plugin vehicle sales. As further evidence of its position at the top of the market, the company just passed the milestone of 6 million cumulative plugin vehicles produced. [CleanTechnica]

Six millionth plugin vehicle (BYD image)

¶ “Australia Plans To Add 32 GW Of Renewable Energy By 2030” • The Australian Government looks to add 32 GW of renewable, dispatchable energy capacity to its national electricity grid by 2030. A national framework to increase renewables investment will be used to underwrite 9 GW of dispatchable projects and 23 GW in variable capacity. [Power Technology]

US:

¶ “Range Energy Electrifies The Semi Trailer” • Range Energy has just completed a testing of its electric semi trailers by Mesilla Valley Transportation, a company that provides breakthrough testing, design, and development services for the trucking industry. The Range Energy semi trailer fits an innovative e-axle, battery pack, and smart pin. [CleanTechnica]

Range Energy semi trailer (Range Energy image)

¶ “Reliability v Sustainability: Inside The Debate Over The EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rules” • The American electric grid is going through major changes, prodded by state and federal policies, market forces pushing cheaper and cleaner power sources, and aging power infrastructure. That’s run up against transmission constraints and other delays. [Maryland Matters]

¶ “Michigan First State In Midwest To Set Power Storage Benchmark” • Michigan will become the first state in the Midwest to establish an energy storage standard. Ten states already set power storage goals but only two set more ambitious benchmarks than Michigan’s new target of at least 2,500 MW of energy storage by 2030. [MLive.com]

Solar panels (Provided By Boyne Mountain Resort)

¶ “Alaska’s Pricey, Fossil Fuel-Based Electric Power Could Thwart Investment, Mining Executive Says” • Steep electricity prices and heavy dependence on fossil fuels to generate power discourage development of new mining projects in Alaska. That’s the blunt message a mining executive had for Alaska’s natural resource development industries. [Anchorage Daily News]

¶ “Investors File Lawsuit Against NuScale After Cancellation Of SMR Project” • A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of people who purchased NuScale securities between Mar 15, 2023, and Nov 8, 2023, after NuScale’s Carbon Free Power Project was cancelled. It alleges that NuScale made false or misleading statements during that time. [Power Engineering]

Have an unaffectedly creative day.

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Please note: Users of some Chrome versions might find that CleanTechnica’s posts need to be reloaded 2 or more times.

Opinion:

¶ “‘An Agenda To Control You’: How Climate Solutions Got Sucked Into A Fevered Culture War” • As climate solutions and policies move from the abstract to the personal – our cars, our food, and how we keep our homes warm – it has created fertile ground for anger and fear, and has fanned the flames of a culture war long in the making. [CNN]

Caution (Kevin Grieve, Unsplash)

¶ “I Thought Climate Change Was A Hoax. Now I’ve Changed My Mind” • Sarah Ott spent years believing climate change was a hoax, influenced by friends at church in the US south and a popular right-wing radio host. Here she shares her journey from being a climate sceptic to advocating for clean energy, teaching the science of climate change. [BBC]

¶ “What Happened To The Great Lakes Offshore Wind Boom?” • Offshore wind projects cropped up all over the Great Lakes region in the early 2010s, attracted by the strong and consistent winds that blow over the lakes. But by the end of the decade, all but one were gone. Icebreaker Wind has no full-time staff and is being pursued by volunteers. [Inside Climate News]

Icebreaker wind project (Leedco image)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Could Airports Make Hydrogen Work As A Fuel?” • The UK aviation industry has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The US aviation industry plans to reach net zero by 2050. The EU has a similar goal. Reaching such targets will require switching away from traditional jet fuel. But can hydrogen be the fuel we need? [BBC]

World:

¶ “World’s Biggest Iceberg On The Move After 30 Years” • The world’s biggest iceberg is on the move after more than 30 years being stuck to the ocean floor. The iceberg, called A23a, split from the Antarctic coastline in 1986. But it swiftly grounded in the Weddell Sea, becoming, essentially, an ice island. At almost 4,000 sq km (1,500 sq miles) in area. [BBC]

Iceberg (Christian Pfeifer, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “IZIVIA Putting 2,000 Fast Charging Stations At McDonald’s” • France is electrifying its transport quickly; 20% of new vehicle sales are full electrics and 30% being plugin vehicles. IZIVIA, a full subsidiary of EDF focused on e-mobility solutions, is aiming to install more than 2,000 fast chargers for EVs at McDonald’s restaurants in France. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Southern Europe’s Getting A Big Charging Boost” • There are some serious efforts going on to keep installing charging stations in southern Europe. One claims it’s going to end up giving the region the biggest charging network ever. Wallbox and Atlante are developing new public charging points in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. [CleanTechnica]

Atlante charging stations (Provided by Wallbox and Atlante)

¶ “Enel Sets $39 Billion Three-Year Grid Capex, To Be Selective On Renewable Energy” • Global electricity giant Enel SPA has set €35.8 billion ($39.05 billion) in capital expenditure for the next three years with “selective investment” in renewable energy. Enel expects renewable power to grow but sees a need to expand grid storage to support the growth. [Rigzone]

¶ “Mindanao Targets 50% Renewable Energy Mix By 2030 To Address Energy Challenges” • Grappling with the energy and environmental challenges spurred by rapid industrialization and population growth, the Philippine island of Mindanao has set an ambitious target of achieving a 50% renewable energy share in the overall energy mix by 2030. [Solar Quarter]

Mindanao countryside (Zeke Tucker, Unsplash)

¶ “Russia’s ‘Cold Shutdown’ At Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Fuels Safety Fears” • The fact that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine is in an area of Ukraine that is a war zone has caused global concern. One of the plant’s six reactors is being moved from hot to cold shutdown to find out why boron was detected in a cooling circuit. [Newsweek]

US:

¶ “Sea Turtle Nests Break Records On US Beaches, But Global Warming Threatens Survival” • Just as they have for millions of years, sea turtles by the thousands crawled from the ocean to US beaches to lay their eggs. This year, record nesting was found in Florida and elsewhere despite growing concern about threats from climate change. [ABC News]

Sea turtle (Giorgia Doglioni, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Annual Results” • With the two-year anniversary of the signing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Interior Department released an analysis that estimates the investments it produced, saying it supported on average 17,669 jobs and contributed an average of $2 billion to the economy each year in the US. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Arizona Solar Canal Project Aims To Save Water While Making Power” • With most of Arizona in a state of moderate to extreme drought, the Gila River Indian Community and the US Army Corps of Engineers have signed a deal to begin a solar-over-canal project. It is designed to reduce evaporation and boost efficiency of the solar panels. [New Atlas]

Rendering of Project Nexus in California (Solar Aquagrid LLC)

¶ “New York Announces Another Big Charging Infrastructure Program” • New York Gov Kathy Hochul announced changes to the state’s EV “make-ready” program to expedite the switch to zero-emissions EVs. The state predicts that the programs will eventually result in a total stimulated investment of $4 billion in EV charging infrastructure. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Pollution From Coal Power Plants Contributes To Far More Deaths Than Scientists Realized” • Air pollution particles from coal-fired power plants are far more harmful to human health than many experts realized. It’s more than twice as likely to contribute to premature deaths as air pollution particles from other sources, a study shows. [The Conversation]

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Please note: CleanTechnica’s posts may need to be reloaded several times, due to a glitch at the site.

Opinion:

¶ “Solar Has Been Quietly Running Up The Score During The Delayed Vogtle 3 And 4 Construction” • During the construction of the Vogtle nuclear units 3 and 4, more than 4,500 MW of solar was built in the state of Georgia. That’s double the peak capacity that those nukes will bring online, and at 1/5 the cost. Let’s look into this. [Southern Alliance for Clean Energy]

Georgia solar project (Riley Harwood, US DOE, public domain)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Clean Energy 101: Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling (Really Cool Roofs)” • At Third Derivative and RMI, they’re particularly excited about a class of advanced materials that provide a passive daytime radiative cooling effect, greatly reducing indoor heat. In fact, their heat and emissions reduction benefits may even save people’s lives. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Heat Pump Water Heaters Save Money And Lower Emissions” • Our world is facing a climate emergency because of the billions of tons of greenhouse gases we dump into the environment each year. A heat pump hot water heater can be three times as efficient as a normal electric water heater. Same amount of hot water at one third the cost. [CleanTechnica]

Heat pump water heater (NIST, public domain)

World:

¶ “To Save Climate, Oil And Gas Sector Must Greatly Reduce Planet-Warming Operations, Report Says” • The oil and gas sector is one of the major emitters of planet-warming gases. It will need a rapid and substantial overhaul for the world to avoid even worse extreme weather events fueled by human-caused climate change, a report says. [ABC News]

¶ “Peru Has Lost More Than Half Of Its Glacier Surface” • Peru lost more than half of its glacier surface over the last six decades, and 175 glaciers became extinct due to climate change between 2016 and 2020, said scientists from the state agency that studies glaciers. Peru’s glaciers cover only 44% of the land they did when the first inventory was done in 1962. [ABC News]

Pastoruri Glacier (Willian Justen de Vasconcellos, Unsplash)

¶ “DHL Express South Africa Gets Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo Test Fleet In South Africa” • Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles partnered with DHL for the pilot test of an ID. Buzz Cargo fleet in South Africa. Four ID. Buzz Cargo units will be used as last-mile courier service in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban for a period of six months. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Vatican Getting Nearly Forty EVs From Volkswagen” • The Pope and the Vatican have been supporters of climate action and vehicle electrification for several years. The Vatican aims to have a completely carbon neutral fleet by 2030. Now the Vatican’s fleet is electrifying more than ever with an order for forty Volkswagen ID vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

Pope Francis and Volkswagen EVs (Volkswagen AG)

¶ “Zuellig Pharma And ACEN RES Forge Green Partnership For 100% Renewable Energy In The Philippines” • Zuellig Pharma is partnering with ACEN Renewable Energy Solutions to provide 100% renewable energy for two major distribution facilities in the Philippines – the Santa Rosa Distribution Center and Canlubang Distribution Center. [SolarQuarter]

¶ “Lightsource BP Launches Collective PPA Model” • Lightsource BP unveiled a collective purchasing framework so smaller and mid-sized businesses can access clean electricity by aggregating their demand. The company is inviting businesses to join a European multi-buyer corporate power purchase agreement for a portfolio of solar assets in Spain. [reNews]

Solar array with pollinator support (Lightsource BP image)

¶ “Giant Batteries Are Winning The Race Against Gas-Fired Power” • The longterm economics of gasfired generating plants are changing quickly. Giant batteries that ensure stable power supply by offsetting intermittent renewable supplies are getting cheap enough to make developers abandon scores of projects for gasfired generation worldwide. [Energy Central]

US:

¶ “Inflation Reduction Act Drives $92 Billion Investment In EV Production, 84,000 Jobs In USA” • The Inflation Reduction Act has been an enormous stimulus for the EV sector in the US. It is underrated and under-acknowledged for how it has brought manufacturing and mining jobs to the US, not to mention the many jobs it has retained. [CleanTechnica]

BlueOval City factory construction (Courtesy of Ford)

¶ “US Gas Prices Down As Gasoline Demand Down” • The US Energy Information Administration reports that gas prices in the US are down 10% compared to the same time last year. Or, taking inflation into account, they are actually down 13%! This is despite an expected 2% increase in miles expected to be traveled during Thanksgiving weekend. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Swift Current Energy’s Mineral Basin Solar Project Secures 20-Year NYSERDA Power Contract” • Swift Current Energy recently announced that its Mineral Basin Solar project has been granted a 20-year power contract by NYSERDA, marking a big step forward in New York State’s substantial investment in renewable energy. [SolarQuarter]

Wind turbines (Marcel Strauß, Unsplash)

¶ “Despite Setbacks, States Are Still Counting On Offshore Wind” • East Coast states’ plans to install massive new offshore wind farms have been battered by bad economic news and canceled contracts for projects officials were counting on to reach their clean energy goals. But state leaders don’t intend to dial back offshore wind ambitions. [Louisiana Illuminator]

¶ “Burlington Approves New Carbon Fee And Creates New Fund For Clean Energy Projects” • The Burlington City Council voted to charge developers a fee for installing new fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings and some existing buildings, despite opposition from some environmentalists who say the measure isn’t green enough. [VTDigger]

Have an appealingly convivial day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Twenty-Five Billion Reasons For Ministers To Support Urgent Consumer Energy Reform” • If we are to maximise solar value and continue to lower household power bills, we need Australia’s policy makers to act on smarter technology and regulation. The rules must benefit households and businesses, and not just big industry. [Renew Economy]

Australian Rooftop solar (Western Power image)

Science and Technology:

¶ “New Carbon Material Sets Energy-Storage Record” • Guided by machine learning, chemists working at the US DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed a material for carbonaceous supercapacitors that stores four times more energy than the best commercial material. The new material could be used to make more useful supercapacitors. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Northvolt And BYD Announce Sodium-Ion Battery Plans” • Northvolt made a surprise announcemen that it had developed a best-in-class sodium ion battery that would allow for expansion of cost effective and sustainable energy storage systems across the world. Separately, BYD says it will build a sodium-ion battery plant in China. [CleanTechnica]

Northvolt sodium-ion battery (Northvolt image)

World:

¶ “Dramatic Rise In Web Searches For ‘Climate Anxiety’” • The rise of wildfires, floods and droughts around the world are just some of the highly visible signs of climate change. The impact of climate change on human minds is reported less often. Online search queries related to “climate anxiety” have risen, according to data gathered by Google. [BBC]

¶ “The Villagers Building 100 Ft Ice Towers” • Ladakh had been bathed by the sun for 300 days per year, while barely four inches of rain have fallen. Floods in the region were virtually unheard of. There have been four in the last ten years. But drought always returns, leaving villages at risk. Now villagers are building ice towers to hold water through summer. [BBC]

Leh, Ladakh (Anmol Arora, Unsplash)

¶ “Why Kenya-Uganda Oil Row Is Causing Regional Jitters” • For decades, Kenya has imported oil and sold it on to its East African neighbours, but its role in supplying fuel regionally is at risk. A bitter row over fuel supplies has erupted between Kenya and Uganda, with the Ugandan leader saying his country is being “cheated” by “parasites” and middlemen. [BBC]

¶ “EU Lawmakers Back “Made in Europe” Green Tech Rules in First Bloc-Wide Industrial Plan” • Europe’s lawmakers voted in favor of “made in Europe” green manufacturing rules as part of the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act. This will boost European support for green tech to counter growing pressure from China and the US while improving resilience. [CleanTechnica]

Scania electric bus (Scania image)

¶ “TransAlta Going Greener As It Maps Out $3.5 Billion In Spending, Mainly On Renewables” • One of Alberta’s largest power generators says over two-thirds of its profits will come from renewable electricity production by 2028. It is a major shift for a company that once was one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Canada. [Global News]

US:

¶ “Search For Pipeline Leak After As Much As 1.1 Million Gallons Of Oil Sullies Gulf Of Mexico” • As much as 1.1 million gallons of oil may have been discharged into the Gulf of Mexico from a pipeline system off Louisiana’s southeast coast, according to the US Coast Guard. The exact location and cause of the leak are as yet unknown. [ABC News]

Oil on water (Dmitry Bukhantsov, Unsplash)

¶ “Ford To Resume Building EV Battery Plant Delayed By Strike” • Ford Motor Co is resuming construction on a Michigan EV battery plant that the company postponed two months ago during a strike by the United Auto Workers union. But the automaker said that due to slowing EV sales growth, it will scale back the factory’s size. [ABC News]

¶ “This Moped-Style Utility E-Bike Could Replace A Car For Many People” • The newest model of e-bike from Momentum, a sub-brand of Giant Bicycles, promises to be a contender in the growing utility and cargo bike category due to its low stepover frame, impressive payload capacity, wide range of accessories, and grip throttle. [CleanTechnica]

Momentum Cito E+ e-bike (Courtesy of Momentum)

¶ “Biden-Harris Administration Approves Sixth Offshore Wind Project” • The Biden-Harris administration announced approval of the Empire Wind offshore wind project, the sixth approval of a large offshore wind energy project under President Biden’s leadership. This supports the goal of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Zero-Emissions Ferry For San Francisco Bay” • SWITCH Maritime manufactured a zero-emissions 75-passenger ferry. The company’s CEO Pace Ralli provided many details about the new vessel for CleanTechnica. It is to have hydrogen fuel cells, the hydrogen storage tanks, the electric propulsion system, and a lithium-ion battery system. [CleanTechnica]

Zero-emissions ferry (Courtesy of SWITCH Maritime)

¶ “GE Vernova And Next Hydrogen Sign MOU To Integrate Electrolysis Technology With Power Systems To Produce Green Hydrogen” • GE Vernova and Next Hydrogen Solutions have signed an MOU to integrate Next Hydrogen’s electrolysis technology with GE Vernova’s power systems offerings to produce green hydrogen. [General Electric]

¶ “Air Force Rescinds $100 Million Award For Microreactor” • In August, Oklo was tentatively chosen as the contractor to build a microreactor at Alaska’s Eielson Air Force Base by the end of 2027. But the military revoked the intent to award Oklo the planned $100-million-plus contract in late September, according to newsletter Northern Journal. [Canary Media]

Have a pleasantly surprising day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Five Things To Watch For At COP28 In Dubai” • COP28 will take place against a backdrop of steadily rising GHG emissions, record-breaking heat, and extreme climate impacts. But even so, unbelievably, there has been a continued expansion in fossil fuel production and use, and there are yawning emissions gaps in countries’ climate efforts. [CleanTechnica]

We’re in the wrong place (David Kovalenko, Unsplash, cropped)

World:

¶ “BMW Ends Combustion Engine Production In Germany” • As one of the most iconic brands in the century-long optimization of automobile engines for sporty driving, BMW’s tagline was “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” Now, however, BMW is turning to EVs and has ended the production of combustion engines in its home country of Germany. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Brazil Records Its Hottest Ever Temperature” • Brazil has recorded its hottest ever temperature, 44.8°C (112.6°F), as parts of the country endure a stifling heatwave. The record was hit on Sunday in the town of Araçuaí, in Brazil’s south-eastern state of Minas Gerais. [BBC] (Please note: geoharvey.com had a report of a much higher temperature last week as a result of an error.)

Storm in Minas Gerais (Nathalia Segato, Unsplash)

¶ “1.5ºC Is In The Rear View Mirror. 3ºC Is Just Around The Corner – UN Emissions Gap Report” • This year’s Emissions Gap Report says as things stand, unconditional Nationally Determined Contributions made under the Paris Agreement in 2015 would put the world on track for limiting temperature rise to 2.9°C above pre-industrial levels. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Zero Carbon Charge Starts Construction On First National Network Of 100% Solar-Powered EV Charging Stations in South Africa” • While there is already a growing charging network in South Africa, Zero Carbon Charge now wants to help grow the network further, by including more of the national and regional roads that are not yet covered. [CleanTechnica]

Zero Carbon Charge site (Zero Carbon Charge image)

¶ “North Seas Energy Ministers endorse Wind Power Package” • The ten Energy Ministers of the North Seas Energy Cooperation agreed a new NSEC Action Agenda for the build-out of offshore wind. This Agenda aims to help strengthen Europe’s wind energy supply chain. The NSEC also welcomed the EU Commission’s Wind Power Package. [WindEurope]

¶ “Coal Power Plants Thriving At 65% PLF Despite Record RE Capacity Addition, Says CRISIL” • Plant load factors of India’s coal-based power plants will improve to about 65% this fiscal despite record renewable energy capacity addition, said a report by CRISIL Ratings. Conditions for companies generating with coal increase their credit ratings. [The Financial Express]

Coal plant (Saket swagat sahoo, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

US:

¶ “California Wildfires Altering Ecosystems, Disrupting Wildlife Habitats: Study” • Over the past two decades, US forest fires have become more intense, frequent, and widespread. The fires that burned large swaths of land in California are reshaping wildlife ecosystems, a study found. It was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [ABC News]

¶ “Seppuku At GM’s Cruise Division Shows The Necessity Of Transparency, But That May Not Be Enough” • After a nasty crash involving one of its vehicles and a pedestrian, GM lost its license to run robotaxis in California, and it has put production of its next-generation vehicles on hold. But it seems a vital part of those stories was missing. [CleanTechnica]

GM Cruise EV (GM Cruise image)

¶ “Tesla Cybertrucks Roll Into Tesla Stores Before Black Friday” • With ten days remaining to the Cybertruck Delivery Event that is to take place at Tesla Giga Texas on November 30, Tesla has already started displaying Cybertrucks at its showrooms in the US. The Cybertrucks showcased at Tesla Stores are production models and will go to customers. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Revolution Wind Begins Construction Of Offshore Wind Farm In Rhode Island Sound” • Offshore wind projects along the Atlantic coast have suffered setbacks recently, particularly in New Jersey. But things are different in Rhode Island. Revolution Wind celebrated starting construction of a large offshore wind farm in Rhode Island Sound. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore wind farm (Pixy.org, CC0)

¶ “Texas, Weirdly, Is Leading America’s Clean Energy Future” • Texas, America’s oil capital for more than a century, is now the top producer of renewable energy in the US. While fossil fuel still reigns supreme in the state’s energy mix, wind and solar account for a growing share of the total. Some people are happy about that, but some are not. [Business Insider]

¶ “Amazon To Develop First Solar Farm In Oklahoma” • Amazon announced that it’s developing its first solar farm in Oklahoma, and plans to power local grids and its operations. The solar farm will be in Kiowa County in southwest Oklahoma, with a capacity of 100 MW. This will add to two Amazon wind farms in the state, for a total of 618 MW of capacity. [KGOU]

Wind turbines in Oklahoma (USDA, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Governor Hochul Announces Installation Of First Offshore Wind Turbine For South Fork Wind” • Governor Kathy Hochul announced the completed installation of the first offshore wind turbine for South Fork Wind, a milestone for New York’s offshore wind development. It will be the first large wind farm completed in US federal waters. [Governor Kathy Hochul]

¶ “The Deeper Dig: A Plan For What’s Left Of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant” • VY has been shut down since 2014, and NorthStar, the company that now owns it, is deconstructing it. NorthStar recently submitted a plan that describes in detail the final steps of decommissioning, which is projected to be finished ahead of schedule, by 2026. [VTDigger]

Have a successfully navigated day.

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Opinion:

¶ “UK Has £10 Billion Per Nuclear Reactor Decommissioning Bottomless Pit” • The costs for nuclear power are coming home to roost in the UK. Despite the very high costs of new nuclear reactors, the rising costs of clean up, and the availability of much cheaper alternatives, the UK’s current administration remains committed to the technology. [CleanTechnica]

Model of Hinkley Point C (UK government, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “$18 Trillion Capital Gap Is Threatening The Green Energy Transition” • Closing the $18 trillion gap to fund the transition to green energy through 2030 is slowed due to negative investment conditions. Challenges include inflation, supply chain pressures, and higher costs of capital. But the energy sector has responded proactively. [PR Newswire]

¶ “The Future Of Energy Is Community Energy, And 100% Renewable” • Our governments, energy market bodies, and energy corporates may not be getting the energy transition right. They are struggle to get the social approval they need for the big expensive decisions that they are making. Community energy is the answer to a fast transition. [Renew Economy]

People of a community (Natalie Pedigo, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “Extreme Weather And Falling Demand Are Pushing Wineries Into The Red” • According to the International Organisation for Vine and Wine, an industry group, global wine production is set to fall to its lowest level since 1961 this year, hit by scorching heat and extraordinary flooding. Italy is expecting a 12% drop in its output, and Spain could see 14 %. [CNN]

¶ “The World Briefly Smashed Through The 2-Degree Warming Limit For The First Time Ever” • The Earth’s temperature briefly rose above a crucial threshold that scientists have been warning for decades could have catastrophic and irreversible impacts on the planet and its ecosystems, according to data shared by a prominent climate scientist. [CNN]

Ice (Melissa Bradley, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “China’s Growing EV Influence Around Asia Highlighted At San Francisco’s APEC Summit” • The 2023 APEC Summit held in San Francisco last week marked a pivotal moment in the region’s transition to sustainable transportation. Representatives from China engaged in updating already existing bilateral agreements to promote EV cooperation. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Electric Delivery Trucks Growing In Australia” • Just as the Australian state and federal regulations are being adapted to the transition to electric semi trucks, local councils are being urged to examine their regulations to allow quiet, less polluting electric delivery trucks to operate at night. These trucks could charge during the day, using cheap solar. [CleanTechnica]

Electric truck (Volvo Group image)

¶ “UK Gov Raises Maximum Price for Offshore Wind Projects” • In a release posted on its website recently, the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that the government has “increased the maximum price for offshore wind projects in its flagship renewables scheme to further cement the UK as a world leader in clean energy.” [Rigzone]

¶ “EWEC Commissions 2-GW Solar Plant In Abu Dhabi” • Abu Dhabi officials inaugurated the 2-GW Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Project. It is said to be the largest single-site solar PV plant. It is managed by UAE-based Masdar, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, French energy giant EDF, and Jinko Power, a Chinese solar developer. [PV Magazine]

Dhafra solar project (EWEC)

¶ “Replacing Oil Shale With Renewables In The Power System Can Help Estonia Achieve Its Energy And Climate Ambitions” • A quicker phase out of oil shale use in electricity generation and streamlining permitting for renewable energy projects are crucial to realise Estonia’s goals while maintaining energy security, an IEA policy review shows. [International Energy Agency]

US:

¶ “Those With Smaller Farming Operations Often Pay The Price Of Extreme Weather” • Kentucky farmers were not used to the distances they’ve had to drive the past couple years, the result of bad weather that’s closed nearby market sites. As the damage increases, a trip that used to take ten minutes got get produce to market can take an hour or more. [ABC News]

Farm (Timothy Eberly, Unsplash)

¶ “Hyundai Teams With Amazon For New Car Sales And Web Services” • Amazon would dearly love to get into selling new cars. In a joint press release at the Los Angeles auto show, Hyundai and Amazon announced a partnership that will offer Hyundai automobiles, both conventional and electric, online through Amazon starting early next year. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “US Air Force Approves New Green Aircraft Demonstrator Project” • The US Air Force conferred X-plane status on a green aircraft demonstration project aimed at reducing fuel use by 30%. Spearheaded by Boeing and NASA, the it is the first Air Force designated X-plane to focus on sustainability since the program began in the 1940s. [CleanTechnica]

Transonic Truss-Braced Wing X-66A (Boeing image)

¶ “A Year After Devastating Winter Storm, Power Plant Problems ‘Still Likely’ In Extreme Weather” • As the anniversary of Winter Storm Elliott approaches, a pair of reports released last week reveal how much worse the situation could have become and how the continued vulnerability of the US energy grid to frigid weather continues. [Virginia Mercury]

¶ “Congress Looks To Boost Job Training For Offshore Wind Industry” • Congress is considering federal help to address the labor shortage in the fledging offshore wind industry. Senator Edward J Markey (D-Mass) introduced the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act, that would boost workforce needed for offshore windpower development. [WorkBoat]

Have a highly beneficial day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “This Corn Was Down To Its Last Two Cobs. Now It Could Help Farmers Grow Food In The Climate Crisis” • Heirloom grains, vegetables, and fruits have traits that make them less at risk of climate change, because they have been grown over hundreds of years in wildly different conditions. Here is the story of a corn that was barely saved from extinction. [CNN]

Jimmy Red (Peter Frank Edwards for High Wire Distilling Co)

World:

¶ “UK Government Plans Radical Shake-Up Of Foreign Aid For Climate Change Disasters” • The UK government is to spend millions of pounds helping countries prepare for future disasters in a radical shake-up of policy. A £150 million fund will help poor countries get faster access to money in emergencies and reduce the impacts of climate crises. [BBC]

¶ “US And China Agreement Sets The Tone For COP28” • The US and China will back a new global renewables target and work together on methane and plastic pollution, they said in a joint statement after a meeting to find common ground ahead of COP28 talks. The two countries account for 38% of the world’s greenhouse gases. [CleanTechnica]

Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in 2022 (White House, public domain)

¶ “Solar Smashes More Records, As Coal Power Sent To Another New Low” • Solar power expanded its influence over Australia’s main grid on the weekend, setting new records for output and generation share, and helping to send the output of black coal to a new low. Of 8 GW of coal capacity in New South Wales, only 1.53 GW were operating. [Renew Economy]

¶ “Housing Developments In Zimbabwe Are Starting to Get Solar Panels From The Get-go!” • Falling prices for solar installations, rising energy costs, and regular power outages in places like Zimbabwe and South Africa make the business case for solar PVs even better. Housing developments with solar offer residents some energy security. [CleanTechnica]

Housing (Courtesy of Turnbury Property Developers and TDW)

¶ “Japan Railway Operators Eye Net-Zero CO₂ Emissions Via Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trains” • Railway operators are hastening to put hydrogen fuel cell trains into commercial use. The trains will help cut CO₂ emissions for transportation, and the government intends to review related regulations and push for the spread of such trains. [The Japan News]

¶ “Wind Turbines Begin 700 km Journey Inland From Geraldton To Billion-Dollar Kathleen Valley Lithium Mine” • The first of 15 gigantic blades, which will make up five wind turbines, has left Geraldton Port on a 700 km journey inland to a $951 million lithium mine that is being opened up in Western Australia’s northern Goldfields. [ABC]

Moving a blade (Supplied, Danny Tuddenham via Facebook)

US:

¶ “Tesla Embraces Advertising with a Focus on Vehicle Safety” • Tesla has shunned traditional advertising methods, preferring to let its innovative products speak for themselves. But in a notable departure from this strategy, Tesla recently embarked on an advertising journey, beginning with a commercial on YouTube that showcases safety. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Prime Time Shuttle To Buy 550 Canoo Electric Vehicles” • Prime Time Shuttle, a major US shuttle service based out of Los Angeles, has agreed to purchase 550 EVs from the startup Canoo. Prime Time Shuttle is based in LA, but provides luxury vehicles for shuttle services in 34 states. Canoo expects to create about 1,300 jobs in Oklahoma. [CleanTechnica]

Canoo for Prime Time Shuttle

¶ “Solar Power To The People: California Program Brings Clean Energy To Oakland” • Over 100 projects in California have solar panels installed through the Multi-Family Affordable Housing program. The state allots $100 million per year, starting July 2019. By 2030, the program’s goal is 300 MW of solar projects on low-income rental buildings. [The Guardian]

¶ “New Plant Hardiness Map, Used By Gardeners Nationwide And Based On OSU Climate Data, Unveiled” • The Department of Agriculture released its new Plant Hardiness Zone Map, the national standard by which gardeners can determine which plants are most likely to survive the coldest winter temperatures at a given location. [CleanTechnica]

Plant Hardiness Zone Map (USDA)

¶ “Biden Administration Announces $6 Billion For Climate Resilience, Grid Enhancements” • President Biden announced over $6 billion in investments to make US communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change by improving electric grids, reducing flood risk, supporting conservation, and pushing for environmental justice. [Smart Energy International]

¶ “$1.6 Million In Tax Revenue On The Line For Wiscasset In Dispute Over Nuclear Waste Facility” • The town of Wiscasset looks like it is set to go to court over a Maine Department of Environmental Protection decision to give tax breaks to a facility that stores spent nuclear fuel from the decommissioned Maine Yankee power plant. [The Maine Monitor]

Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, 2015 (NRC image)

¶ “National Grid Renewables Breaks Ground On Two Ohio Solar Projects” • National Grid Renewables announced the start of onsite construction at neighboring projects in southern Ohio. Once operational, the Ross County Solar Project and the Fayette Solar Project will deliver a combined 167.5 MW of clean solar power. [The Highland County Press]

¶ “US Military Quietly Revokes Planned Contract For Small Nuclear Plant At Alaska Air Force Base” • The U.S. military has rescinded the preliminary award of what could be a nine-figure contract with the company it had tentatively selected to build a small-scale nuclear power plant at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks. [Alaska Beacon]

Have an emotionally rewarding day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “Accelerating Power At Sea For A Thriving Blue Economy” • The ocean contains enough water to fill quintillions of gallon-sized containers. But it is not just the ocean’s size that stymies exploration. Ocean exploration requires technology, technology needs energy, and the ocean is a power desert. The US DOE hopes to deal with that. [CleanTechnica]

Sea (NOAA image)

¶ “A New All-Solid Battery Hits Long Duration Energy Storage Mark” • In past years, the technology tools were lacking, but that’s not an excuse anymore. Wind and solar power are widely available, and new long duration energy storage technology is emerging to help renewables replace fossil fuel power plants without a hitch. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Your Home Could Soon Power Itself – With Concrete” • MIT researchers have successfully developed a supercapacitor, which can act like a battery – though it is different, as it doesn’t degrade through use – out of widely available materials, in the hopes of providing a cheap and architectural way of saving renewable energy from going to waste. [Newsweek]

Tree at a concrete wall (Pawel Czerwinski, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “Solar Energy Could Power All The Health Facilities In Poorer Countries And Save Lives, Experts Say” • This month, at COP28, experts will argue that all healthcare facilities in poorer countries could be provided with electricity using solar energy, within five years and for less than $5 billion, putting an end to the risk of life from power outages. [The Guardian]

¶ “Is The World Warming Faster Than Expected?” • With our historically high sea temperatures, worrying lows in Antarctic sea-ice, and extreme weather events hitting every continentm, it’s now “virtually certain” that 2023 will be the hottest year on record. But the rate of warming is not beyond what scientists expected from climate models. [BBC]

Wildfire smoke (Landon Parenteau, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Cero Generation’s Italian Agrivoltaic Project Goes Live” • Cero Generation has announced that Pontinia, its 70-MW solar project in Italy, is now live. Pontinia is also among the first agrivoltaics projects in Italy, combining solar power generation with farming. About 65% of the 135 hectares (334 acres) that the project sits on will be used for agriculture. [Energy Global]

¶ “A Swedish Hydrofoil Ferry Seeks To Electrify The Waterways” • Speeding through Stockholm’s archipelago, the new P-12 vessel by electric boat maker Candela barely makes a sound as it glides over a meter (3’ 4”) above the water. Its developers hope the ferry, which was unveiled this week, will introduce a new era of public transport on the water. [ABC News]

Candela P-12 (Candela image)

¶ “UK’s Octopus Energy Launches $3.7 Billion Offshore Wind Fund With Tokyo Gas” • Britain’s Octopus Energy’s renewables investing arm launched a fund with Japan’s Tokyo Gas to invest £3 billion ($3.7 billion) in offshore wind projects by 2030. The Octopus Energy Offshore Wind fund was set up with funding from Tokyo Gas. [Offshore Magazine]

¶ “US, Philippines Sign Landmark Nuclear Deal” • The US and the Philippines signed a landmark deal that would allow the US to export nuclear technology and material to Manila, which is exploring the use of nuclear power. US Congressional approval is needed for the deal, and so is adherence with non-proliferation requirements. [MSN]

Philippine nuclear research reactor (PNRI, public domain)

US:

¶ “EVgo To Build Charging Stations Faster, Offer Free Charging To Hertz Customers” • Like all charging providers, EVgo works hard to improve what it is doing and make for a better driver experience. This continued in November with an advancement in EV charging construction speed and a deal with rental car company Hertz. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Mexico Adopts Crucial Package to Clean up Cars And Trucks” • The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board has adopted three major standards that will provide significant climate, public health, air quality, and economic benefits to New Mexico. [CleanTechnica]

New Mexico (Davron Bowman, Unsplash)

¶ “Seventy US Dealers Apply To Sell VinFast Electric Vehicles” • Vietnamese automaker VinFast has gotten serious about selling electric cars around the world, and it is entering the US auto market quite early in its evolution. According to VinFast, seventy auto dealers across the US have already put in applications to sell VinFast EVs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “First Wind Turbine Produced At GE Vernova’s New York Facility” • GE Vernova’s Onshore Wind business announced that it has completed the first onshore wind turbine produced on its new wind manufacturing assembly line in Schenectady, New York. The unit is the largest onshore turbine ever manufactured in the US. [Power Engineering International]

GE Verona’s 6 MW turbine (GE Verona)

¶ “Despite Loss Of Two Major Projects, New Jersey Is Moving Forward With Its Offshore Wind Power Goals” • Despite the loss of two major offshore wind farm projects when Danish developer Ørsted pulled out of New Jersey, the state is moving forward with its plans to support and grow the nascent industry. The state will seek bids on new projects. [WHYY]

¶ “New Yorkers Encouraged To Prepare Now For Winter” • It is time to prepare for winter. Multiple New York State agencies and authorities offer programs to help residents manage energy use, reduce electric and heating bills, and increase comfort during cold temperatures by weatherizing and making these buildings more energy efficient. [nyserda]

Have a charmingly actualized day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Mitigation And Adaptive Actions Are Working, But Climate Threats Continue To Intensify” • The Fifth National Climate Assessment shows a decline in US greenhouse gas emissions even as the population and GDP have grown. But even with ambitious climate action underway, every region of the US is having greater climate threats and impacts. [CleanTechnica]

Climate impact (Soliman Cifuentes, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “At Talks On Cutting Plastics, Plastics Credits Are On The Table. What Are They?” • Two groups that want reduced plastics production, Break Free From Plastic and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, published a report highly critical of plastics credits, calling them a flawed tool that won’t help with worldwide pollution. [ABC News]

¶ “There Is A Silent Revolution Happening In Africa” • Africa is home to over 50 countries and more than 1.3 billion people. A lot of exciting things happen on the continent, and a lot of them just fly under the radar or don’t get a lot of attention. An example is an increasing number of electric scooters and bikes in Harare, Zimbabwe. [CleanTechnica]

Electric motorcycle (Ather Energy, Unsplash)

¶ “Ghana Waives Import Duties On Electric Vehicles For 8 Years Starting 2024” • Ghana’s Minister for Finance and Economic Planning presented the 2024 Budget Speech. In that speech, some great incentives for electric vehicles were announced. Two incentives were wavers of import duties for public transportation EVs and knocked-down EVs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Hydrogen Aircraft Brings Low Emissions Flight To The Skies” • Australian Government funding is helping startup AMSL Aero to develop a new hydrogen-powered aircraft named Vertiia. The Sydney business received $5.43 million under the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Advancing Renewables Program after a prototype was developed. [energy.gov.au]

Vertiia by AMSL Aero (AMSL Aero image)

¶ “The Latest Tory Worry: China’s Grip On Solar Power” • The UK’s Hawkish Conservative MPs spooked by China’s influence in the UK have a new worry: solar power. China controls 80% of the global solar manufacturing market, including both finished solar panels and the raw materials needed to build them. But the UK wants to expand use of solar power. [POLITICO.eu]

¶ “UK Government Announces It Will Increase Maximum Price Paid For Renewable Power” • The UK Government announced it will increase the maximum price that renewable assets may be paid for power under the Contracts for Difference regime. The administrative strike price for the sixth CFD allocation round will rise by 30%. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Offshore windfarm (Pete Godfrey, Unsplash)

¶ “Kyiv Blames Partial Shutdown At Zaporizhzhya NPP On Russian ‘Gross Incompetence’” • Incompetent actions taken by the Russian occupation administration led to a partial blackout at Zaporizhzhya NPP, Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom said on November 16. The Energoatom report was confirmed by information from the IAEA inspectors. [Yahoo News]

US:

¶ “Florida Flooding Closes Schools, Knocks Out Power” • More than 80,000 customers were without power in Florida Thursday morning after torrential rain and winds topping 65 mph. Parts of South Florida, near Key Largo, recorded more than a foot of rain in the past 24 hours. Miami saw a whopping 7.53 inches of rain, setting a new daily record. [ABC News]

Flooding in Florida (Wade Austin Ellis, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Fire Prone California Homeowners Left Behind As Insurance Companies Drop Coverage” • As climate change continues to cause disasters across the country, such companies as Farmers, Allstate, USAA, and State Farm have limited any new business in California. Many top home insurers in that state have increased premiums, some by nearly 10 times. [ABC News]

¶ “The 2024 Fuel Economy Guide Can Help You Choose Your Next Fuel-Efficient Vehicle” • To help make choosing a vehicle easier, the US DOE and EPA released the 2024 Fuel Economy Guide. Using it makes comparing vehicles easy, with detailed fuel economy and annual fuel cost estimates for model year 2024 light-duty vehicles for sale in the US. [CleanTechnica]

EV charging (myenergi, Unsplash)

¶ “Report Charts the Path to an American-Made Energy Storage Future” • The Solar Energy Industries Association has released a report addressing the barriers to building a robust energy storage manufacturing sector in the US, including cost competitiveness, access to raw materials, technical expertise, and the need for a large, diverse workforce. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “$3.5 Billion to Strengthen US Battery Manufacturing” • Two years after President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the US DOE announced up to $3.5 billion from the law to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials in the US. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law supports a policy of net-zero emissions by 2050. [CleanTechnica]

Battery storage (Z22, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

¶ “Jefferson County Commissioners Sign Tax Deal With Solar Power Company” • In Ohio, the Jefferson County commissioners signaled their approval of a 43-MW solar generation facility on a reclaimed strip mine in Steubenville, signing an agreement that will guarantee payments of at least $300,000 a year for the next 35 years. [The Herald Star]

¶ “100% Renewable Energy By 2035 Is Ambitious But LA Is On Track” • If you live in the City of Los Angeles, every time you turn on your AC or flip a light switch, the power you’re using comes from the LA Department of Water and Power. They plan to provide all of it without a drop of gas or an ounce of coal by 2035, just energy from renewables. [KCRW]

Have an acceptably ideal day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “EnergyX Aims New Solid-State EV Battery At The 500,000-Mile Car Of The Future” • EVs are just like ordinary gas guzzlers in some respects, including their lifespan. A longer-lasting solid-state EV battery would help cut their lifecycle emissions, and the startup EnergyX is among those that are hammering away at the problem. [CleanTechnica]

Solid-state EV batteries (Courtesy of EnergyX)

¶ “Ocean Thermal Energy: The Future Of Renewable Power?” • Ocean thermal energy conversion technology, which exploits the differing temperatures in different layers of ocean water to create energy, is almost 150 years old, but is only now gaining traction for practical application. It could become an essential source of energy for island nations. [Oil Price]

¶ “Hydropower Making Sustainability Gains With Fish-Safe Turbines” • Innovative, high-performance hydro turbines that enable fish to pass directly through can generate energy while preserving biodiversity, according to studies conducted by Alden Research Laboratory along with the US Electric Power Research Institute. [Power Engineering International]

Hydro turbine (Natel Energy image)

World:

¶ “42% Of New Cars In Netherlands Now Plugin Cars!” • The Dutch market saw an increase in plugin registrations to 11,776 units in October, with the plugin vehicle market thus reaching 42% of the overall auto market last month. That kept the year-to-date score to 43%, mostly thanks to the pure electrics that make up 29% of new vehicle sales. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “EVs Are The Only Bright Spot In Global Efforts To Reach Net Zero Emissions” • EV sales are moving at the right speed to reach net zero carbon emissions as outlined in the Paris Agreement. That achievement is shown in an analysis that shows that the EV sector is the only one of 42 indicators assessed that is on track to reach an agreed-upon 2030 target. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model 3 (Austin Schmid, Unsplash)

¶ “China’s Renewable Energy Boom Powers Global Job Surge, Report Says” • The global energy sector is witnessing a surge in job opportunities fueled by clean technologies, with China contributing over half of this growth, a Paris-based energy watchdog said. It also warned that skill shortages are emerging as an increasing concern. [Radio Free Asia]

¶ “Portugal Just Ran On 100% Renewables For Six Days In A Row” • Portugal started decarbonization with some legacy hydropower, but neither nuclear capacity nor plans for any. That meant it had to figure out how to cut fossil fuel use with new renewables. It committed to building renewables in pledging a 2050 deadline for net-zero carbon emissions in 2016. [Canary Media]

Portugal (Maksym Kaharlytskyi, Unsplash)

¶ “UK-Backed Fund Plans To Mobilize $1.6 Billion For Africa Power” • A UK-government backed renewable energy fund plans to mobilize $1.6 billion to help get electricity to 16 million people and businesses in Africa. The Renewable Energy Performance Platform’s REPP 2 aims to raise $230 million directly and will partner with other financiers. [Financial Post]

¶ “Ireland Holds Firm On 8 GW Of Solar By 2030 Target” • The Irish government said this week that it expects to install 8 GW of solar by 2030. The government said PV should reach existing levels of onshore wind, roughly 4.5 GW, by the mid-late decade. The government said that Ireland will hit the 8-GW target by use of existing instruments. [PV Magazine]

Ireland (Aldo De La Paz, Unsplash)

¶ “Conservative MPs Have Called On Jeremy Hunt To Boost Coastal Communities By Unleashing Britain’s Renewable Power” • With the world’s five largest farms, the UK is already a world leader in traditional offshore wind. But Conservative MPs want to see similar success in floating offshore wind, which allow turbines to be placed farther out to sea. [Daily Express]

¶ “Japanese Support Fishermen By Buying From Fukushima Area” • Since the 2011 meltdowns, the Fukushima nuclear plant stored growing amounts of radioactive waste water. In August, the plant started releasing treated and diluted waste water into the ocean. Many Japanese people are buying fish in support of fisheries in waters near the plant. [VOA Learning English]

Market in Hokkaido (Cindy Chan, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “The Belvidere Plant’s Transition To An EV Plant Has A Bright Future” • Stellantis, which produces Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and RAM vehicles, is to invest $4.7 billion in the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.. This company aims to reopen the existing plant to produce midsize trucks on two shifts and to establish an EV battery plant in Belvidere. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Top Tesla Gigacasting Supplier Gets Acquired By GM!” • The Tesla Model Y has been a whopping success globally. It is on track to being the highest selling vehicle model of any powertrain in 2023. Some of that has come down to Tooling & Equipment International’s efficient, cheap casting process. But now TEI belongs to GM. [CleanTechnica]

2024 Cadillac Celestiq (Cadillac image)

¶ “Georgia’s Path Forward: Transforming Climate Crisis Into Opportunity With Renewable Energy Growth” • Every few years, the federal government engages experts across the country to develop a national climate assessment. The latest one shows that climate change has arrived. But it also shows a path forward, with solutions in reach. [WGXA]

¶ “Alaska Gets $200 Million For Railbelt Energy Project, Cook Inlet Undersea Cable” • A $206 million federal grant will fund a project to run a 50-mile undersea cable through Cook Inlet, to better connect Railbelt utilities and improve access to renewable sources. Here is an interview about the project, flexibility, and energy security. [Alaska Public Media]

Have a happily cognizant day.

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World:

¶ “US And China Pledge To Resume Climate Working Group, Ramp Up Renewables Ahead Of Biden-Xi Summit” • The US and China announced that they agreed to resume a working group on climate cooperation and pledged a major ramp-up of renewable energy. The announcement came ahead of a leaders’ summit in San Francisco. [CNN]

Wind farm in China (liuzusai刘祖赛, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “Why Delhi Lags Behind Beijing In The Battle To Breathe” • Since 2013, Beijing has waged a determined war on air pollution using a range of command-and-control measures. Meanwhile, Delhi is among the ten most polluted cities in the world, partly because of firecrackers celebrating a Hindu festival, but mostly due to normal activity. [BBC]

¶ “Health Warnings As Brazil Is Gripped By An ‘Unbearable’ Heatwave” • Red alerts have been issued for almost 3,000 towns and cities across Brazil, which are enduring an unprecedented heatwave. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, temperatures were as high as 42.5°C (108.5°F). Officials attributed the heat to El Niño and climate change. [BBC] (The temperature is corrected from an earlier report.)

Rio de Janeiro (Raphael Nogueira, Unsplash)

¶ “Asian Economies Must Ramp Up Wind And Solar Power To Keep Global Warming Under 1.5°C” • To meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F), nine major Asian economies must increase the share of electricity they get from renewable energy from the current 6% to at least 50% by 2030, a report by Agora Energiewende says. [ABC News]

¶ “Heat-Related Deaths For Older Adults Could Increase 370% By Mid-Century If Climate Warms 2°C” • Yearly heat-related deaths worldwide for people over 65 are projected to increase 370% by the middle of the century if global temperatures rise by 2°C, a report says. Heat-related deaths of adults over 65 have increased by 85% since the 1990s. [ABC News]

Heat (Eelco Böhtlingk, Unsplash)

¶ “Mercedes Moving All 5,000 Company Cars In Germany To Electric” • Mercedes-Benz decided to transition all 5,000 of its company cars in Germany to EVs. This comes through “company circles” according to Automobilwoche, and it seems Mercedes-Benz has somewhat confirmed and somewhat corrected the publisher on the news. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Volkswagen ID.7 Is Volkswagen’s New Star EV” • Volkswagen’s ID.7 is larger, has more range, has more tech, and will cost more money than Volkswagen’s top selling EVs, the ID.4 and ID.3. Will the ID.7 sell more units than those two? Probably not. But it’s got some selling points that are so compelling I wouldn’t bet against it just yet. [CleanTechnica]

Volkswagen ID.7 (Courtesy of Volkswagen)

¶ “Indonesia State Utility Plans 31.6 GW Renewable Power Capacity In 2024-2033” • Indonesia’s state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara plans to build 31.6 GW of renewable power capacity between 2024 and 2033, chief executive Darmawan Prasodjo told parliament. The new renewable capacity would be 75% of all new capacity during the time. [Nasdaq]

¶ “Renewable Energy Set To Account For 85% In Vietnam In 2050” • Vietnam aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the primary energy supply to around 85% in 2050, Vietnam News reported, citing Tran Hong Thai, the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology. Coal-derived power will be completely phased out by 2050. [menafn]

Ya Ly Dam spillway (Tycho, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

US:

¶ “Biden ‘Just Getting Started’ On Climate Action In Response To Major New Report” • President Joe Biden said he will continue to pursue remedies to the threats caused by climate change with the release of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. He recognized that it’s still not enough and that some Republicans are getting in the way of more progress. [ABC News]

¶ “No Place In The US Is Safe From The Climate Crisis, But A New Report Shows Where It’s Most Severe” • The effects of a rapidly warming climate are being felt in every corner of the US, and they will worsen over the next ten years with continued fossil fuel use, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a stark report from federal agencies. [CNN]

Miami (Ryan Parker, Unsplash)

¶ “Battery Energy Storage Systems Are Here: Is Your Community Ready?” • Many communities are already evaluating building proposals for battery energy storage systems. To help with this, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory experts have assembled BESS resources that communities will need as they look toward their energy goals. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “First Electric VTOL Aircraft To Fly Over New York City” • A four-passenger eVTOL aircraft has flown over New York City. It’s very different from the Volocopter that recently flew over Tampa. The Joby electric aircraft can go 100 miles on a full charge, and Joby estimates that a flight from Manhattan to JFK Airport will take around seven minutes. [CleanTechnica]

Electric VTOL (Courtesy of Joby)

¶ “ExxonMobil Aims To Be Top Lithium Supplier For Electric Vehicles, Drills First Lithium Well” • ExxonMobil announced that it aims to be a top lithium producer and supplier for the EV battery industry by 2030. It is getting to work on its first lithium well at a lithium production site in southwest Arkansas, which is a lithium-rich region. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “California To Use Flexible Appliances For Renewable Energy Integration” • Flexible demand appliance standards are “coming down the road” in California for water heaters, behind-the-meter batteries, and EV chargers, the California Energy Commission’s Andrew McAllister said at a CalFlexHub symposium on flexible load technologies. [PV Magazine]

Have a euphoniously funny day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Electric Vehicle Sales Continue to Grow, Despite What Some Automakers Are Saying” • The future of cars is electric, a fact that many of the world’s automakers have publicly stated. But over the last month several automakers have said the transition from gasoline to EVs needs to slow down, partly due to low demand. That is a tactic. [CleanTechnica]

EV (Hyundai Motor Group, Pexels)

Science and Technology:

¶ “How Floating Solar Panels In Reservoirs Could Revolutionise Global Power” • Floating solar PVs on reservoirs could produce three times as much electricity as the entire EU, a study shows. Innovative schemes have seen solar panels attached to car parks, trash heaps, and farms. Now, researchers are urging governments to invest in floating solar. [Euronews]

¶ “Solar-Powered Device Produces Clean Water And Clean Fuel At The Same Time” • A floating, solar-powered device that can turn contaminated water or seawater into hydrogen fuel and purified water has been developed by University of Cambridge researchers. It could be useful in resource-limited or off-grid environments. [CleanTechnica]

Solar device (Chanon Pornrungroj, UC, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

World:

¶ “Tiny Caribbean Nation Creates World’s First Marine Protected Area For Sperm Whale” • The tiny Caribbean island of Dominica is creating the world’s first marine protected area for one of earth’s largest animals: the endangered sperm whale. Scientists say the reserve not only will protect the animals, but it will also help fight climate change. [ABC News]

¶ “Volkswagen Will Produce Electric Cars In Mexico” • Tesla may have postponed its plans to produce electric cars in Mexico, but Volkswagen is stepping in to fill that hole. Volkswagen is now saying that it will build electric cars down in Mexico. Naturally, it could end up that Tesla and Volkswagen start EV production at around the same time. [CleanTechnica]

Interior of VW EV (Courtesy of Volkswagen)

¶ “Global Wind Power Market To Record Robust Growth At 13.67% CAGR, Accounting For $278.43 Billion By 2030” • A recent report published by Kings Research shows that the global Wind Power Market size reached $112.23 billion in 2022 and projects it to register $278.43 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.67% from 2023 to 2030. [Yahoo Finance]

¶ “Volvo Makes Longest Ever All-Electric Truck Journey In Australia” • Just as Australian states and territories are reviewing trucking regulations, Volvo is announcing that it has finished the longest all-electric heavy-duty truck trip in Australian history. A Volvo FH Electric traveled from Queensland to the Australian Capital Territory for the milestone. [CleanTechnica]

Longest journey (Volvo image)

¶ “RWE Renewable-Electricity Generation Helps Drive Earnings Growth” • For RWE, adjusted earnings before depreciation and amortization reached €6.150 billion compared with €3.39 billion in the first nine months of last year. EBITDA from the wind, solar, and hydro businesses rose, while the coal and nuclear were lower than last year’s figures. [Morningstar]

¶ “Support For COP28 Pledge For Tripling Renewable Energy Is Historic, REN21 Chief Says” • Think tank REN21 has seen a move in response to the COP28 president’s call to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, according to its executive director. The increase is expected to be 90% solar and windpower. [The National]

Windpower (Anna Jiménez Calaf, Unsplash)

¶ “UK Wind Power Still A Better Deal Than Gas” • Analysis by independent think tank New Green Alliance has revealed even if the UK government sets prices for offshore wind power at double the level paid in the last successful Contracts for Difference auction, it will still be cheaper than gas power, and prices will be less volatile. [reNews]

US:

¶ “Drenching Rain On Its Way To Quench Louisiana’s Worst Drought On Record” • The Gulf Coast’s most significant rainfall in months will bring much-needed relief this week to portions of the Gulf Coast, helping to alleviate Louisiana’s worst drought on record, which fueled unprecedented wildfires and helped trigger a saltwater intrusion into the Mississippi River. [CNN]

Yazoo River Diversion Canal (Justin Wilkens, Unsplash)

¶ “Nearly Half Of US Vehicle Classes Has One Or More Vehicles With 100 MPGe Fuel Economy Or Greater” • Six of the thirteen EPA size classes had at least one vehicle with EPA-rated fuel economy greater than 100 miles per gallon equivalent for model year 2023. Midsize and large EVs had the highest fuel economy, tying at 140 MPGe. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “AEP To Spend $9.4 Billion On Regulated Renewables” • The American Electric Power Company plans to invest $9.4 billion in regulated renewables over the next five years as part of its plan to add 21.5 GW of diverse generation in the period 2024-2033. This is according to AEP chair, president, and CEO Julie Sloat, as she discussed AEP’s five-year plan. [Renewables Now]

Traverse Wind Energy Center (American Electric Power image)

¶ “$10 Billion Renewable Energy Project Paused Over Concerns For Native American Historic Sites” • Work on a $10 billion transmission project has come to a halt in southwestern Arizona, with Native American tribes saying the federal government has ignored concerns about effects that the SunZia transmission line will have on religious and cultural sites. [PBS]

¶ “Smaller Utah Towns Were Banking On The Promise Of Nuclear Replacing Coal. Now What?” • An energy project that was slated to help many Utah communities transition from fossil fuels to nuclear power has been canceled. That means they’ve got to find other ways to fill that gap in their long-term plans for transitioning to carbon-free electricity. [KUER]

Have a simply majestic day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Air Pollution Standard Backed By MEPs Is ‘Worse Than Useless’” • The EU Parliament backed a “Euro 7” standard that fails to significantly increase air pollution protections beyond its Euro 6 predecessor. Green group Transport & Environment even suggested that EU lawmakers rename the draft vehicle emissions law as “Euro 6 F.” [CleanTechnica]

Road traffic (Mikechie Esparagoza, Pexels, cropped)

¶ “Flattening The Solar Duck: Why Households Should Also Face Negative Export Tariffs” • Australia’s rooftop solar success story has regulators and grid operators grasping for blunt instruments to re-assert control. But is this really something to panic about, or should negative prices be taken as a signal to solar households to adopt battery storage? [Renew Economy]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Success Story: New Tool Connects Multiple Microgrids to Increase Community Resilience” • An Oak Ridge National Laboratory team developed software to manage the exchange of power among multiple microgrids in a network. The team is in the final hardware testing before demonstrating their microgrid orchestrator in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. [CleanTechnica]

Adjuntas microgrid storage units (Maximiliano Ferrari, ORNL)

¶ “Battling Desertification: Bringing Soil Back To Life In Semiarid Spain” • As the Sahara advances northward into Spain, farmers are deeply aware of the swift changes coming to their orchards, crops, and pastures. They see an average loss of fertile soil exceeding 21 metric tons per hectare per year – and the need for well-managed soil. [The Good Men Project]

World:

¶ “Tourists Are Rethinking Their Relationship With Earth” • Ecobnb, based in Italy, lists over 3,000 properties worldwide, from a vegan and organic farmhouse in Tuscany, to an eco mountain lodge in Costa Rica. Travellers can filter their search to find specific interests such as plant-based food, and EV charging stations powered by renewable energy. [BBC]

Accommodation listed on Ecobnb’s website (Ecobnb image)

¶ “Toxic Haze In India Capital After Diwali Festival” • Residents of India’s capital, Delhi, woke up to smoky skies as air quality dropped after the festival of Diwali. People in the city burst crackers late into Sunday night despite a ban on fireworks due to high pollution levels. There are a number of air pollution sources in Delhi, and schools are closed. [BBC]

¶ “Kenyans Get Tree-Planting Holiday To Plant 100 Million Seedlings” • Kenyans have been given a special holiday to plant 100 million trees as part of the government’s goal to plant 15 billion trees in 10 years. The holiday allows “each and every Kenyan to own the initiative,” according to Environment Minister Soipan Tuya. [BBC]

Kilimanjaro and insufficient trees (Sergey Pesterev, Unsplash)

¶ “Nations Gather In Nairobi To Hammer Out Treaty On Plastic Pollution” • Efforts to create a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution are advancing in Nairobi as most of the world’s nations, plus petrochemical companies, environmentalists, and others affected by the pollution gather to discuss draft language for the first time. [ABC News]

¶ “Spinning Mega-Machines Will Safeguard The Baltic Power Grid As It Desynchronizes From Russia” • Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia recently accelerated a plan to cut the electrical chains that keep them tied to Russia. A technical lynchpin to their planned escape from the Moscow-controlled power zone is a set of synchronous condensers. [IEEE Spectrum]

Spinning machines (Siemens Energy)

¶ “Uttar Pradesh Is To Invite Bids For 7 GW Of Solar Power Projects” • Daily newspaper Business Standard reported that the Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to tender 7 GW of solar capacity. It reported the state will invite bids for the PV capacity, with 4 GW to be tendered soon and an additional 3 GW to be auctioned subsequently. [pv magazine India]

¶ “Vattenfall delivers first power from Vesterhav” • Vattenfall has delivered first power from its 170-MW Vesterhav Syd wind farm sited off the coast of Denmark close to its 180-MW Vesterhav Nord project. The project’s 20 turbines were erected from July to September this year. Changes in plans and tough weather have delayed the power output. [reNews]

Offshore wind turbine (Vattenfall image)

¶ “Saudi Arabia Invites Developers For 3.7 GW Of Solar Projects” • Saudi Arabia is seeking to award four solar projects with 3.7 GW of combined capacity of as part of its National Renewable Energy Program. The Saudi Power Procurement Company opened the qualification process for firms interested in the development of the four solar schemes. [Renewables Now]

US:

¶ “Ramcharger Takes A Belt And Suspenders Approach To Electric Pickup Trucks” • Many prospective pickup truck buyers are skittish about buying a battery electric model. So Ram has come up with a brilliant solution: the Ramcharger 1500. It is built on exactly the same chassis as the REVolution 1500, but it has a shorter range of 145 miles. [CleanTechnica]

Ramcharger (Ram image)

¶ “Biden Moves To Reduce US Reliance On Russian Nuclear Supply Chain” • The US has enough uranium to last 100 years but lacks the fuel enrichment capacity to be self-reliant. So the US is dangerously reliant on Russian nuclear supply chains. The White House reportedly asked Congress for $2.16 billion to boost US enrichment capacity. [Oil Price]

¶ “Renewable Energy Fuels Major Economic Payoffs In Rural Indiana” • Wind and solar projects are powering a big surge for Indiana’s economy. David Loomis, president of Strategic Economic Research, said communities located near renewable-energy fields reap additional rewards. “Economic development, benefits, property taxes, jobs.” [Public News Service]

Have a perceptably insightful day.

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Opinion:

¶ “The Future Of EVs Can’t Rely On One Man’s Mental Health” • In a number of recent articles, like one at Futurism, Elon Musk has been described as broken. To justify that position, the author points to incidents that Twitter employees told him about. The author claims that as public opinion of Musk fell, Musk’s mental state fell with it. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Cybertruck (Tesla image)

Science and Technology:

¶ “First Electric VTOL Flight In Florida” • Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft continue to coast forward, and one of the latest landmark achievements from the industry is the first eVTOL flight in Florida. That same flight is also the first time an eVTOL aircraft has taken flight at a major international airport in the US. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “World Temperatures Will Blow Past Paris Goals This Decade, Asserts New Study” • A paper by scientists of a dozen institutions says the world’s average temperature will surpass 1.5°C above preindustrial times much sooner than most forecasts. It says extreme action is needed, or they will reach 2°C above those levels before 2050. [Phys.org]

Lead author James Hansen (Bruce Gilbert, Earth Institute)

World:

¶ “Plans For £4 Billion Offshore Wind Farm Could Meet Manx Energy Demands” • Power generated from a £4 billion offshore wind farm could meet the Isle of Man’s peak energy demands, the company behind the plans said. Renewable energy firm Ørsted is seeking views on the proposals for the project in area off the island’s east coast. [BBC]

¶ “Presidential Aspirants Agree On Renewables, Diverge On Nuclear Energy” • Among Taiwan’s four presidential candidates, there is broad agreement on the importance of renewable energy in Taiwan’s energy mix in the future. But there is considerable disagreement on whether Taiwan should continue to use nuclear power and in what form. [Focus Taiwan]

Wind farm off Taiwan (Courtesy of Taiwan Power Co)

¶ “Wind Power Projects In Thatta Come Online” • All twelve of the wind power projects in the Thatta district of Sindh, with a total capacity of 610 MW, were connected to Pakistan’s national grid, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. The plants are part of the 3,000-km-long China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. [The Express Tribune]

¶ “Renewables Hit Record High In Australia” • Renewable energy hit a record high of 72.9% of total generation of the National Electricity Market on Sunday, as a wave of wind and solar across Australia’s main grid sent coal output and operational demand to new lows. The new peak beat the previous peak of 72.5%, which was set on October 24. [Renew Economy]

Bald Hills wind farm (John Englart, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “How A False Claim About Wind Turbines Killing Whales Is Spinning Out Of Control In Coastal Australia” • Quentin Hanich, editor-in-chief of Marine Policy, spent this week debunking a fake article on social media that claimed to be from his publication. It said offshore wind projects in regions of New South Wales would kill 400 whales a year. [The Guardian]

¶ “West Coast Council Backs Locally Generated Hydroelectricity” • The West Coast Regional Council is calling for the Government to back local hydropower as the country moves away from coal and gas. The council has submitted this on the Government’s discussion documents, “Advancing New Zealand’s Energy Transition,” on its local power needs. [RNZ]

Southern Alps (Peter Burdon, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Brazil Installs 1.6 GW Of Wnd Energy” • In Brazil, the National Electric Energy Agency announced that in April, the country surpassed the 3-GW mark of growth in the electricity generation matrix in 2023. Of the total, approximately 1.6 GW are related to wind farms (49.15% of the total) and 1.2 GW of photovoltaic solar (37.19% of the total). [REVE]

US:

¶ “How Researchers, Farmers, And Brewers Want To Safeguard Beer Against Climate Change” • In the face of human-caused climate change impacting water access and weather patterns in the Willamette Valley, hops growers need all the new strategies the farm can get to sustain what they produce and provide to local and larger breweries alike. [ABC News]

Hops growing (Markus Spiske, Unsplash)

¶ “There’s another wildfire burning in Hawaii” • A wildfire is burning in a remote Hawaii rainforest, underscoring a new reality for the normally lush island state. The ingredients are the same as they were in Maui’s historic town of Lahaina: severe drought fueled by climate change is creating fire in Hawaii where it has almost never been before. [ABC News]

¶ “Vineyard Wind 1 Installs First 853-Foot-Tall GE Haliade-X Wind Turbines” • We hear a lot about offshore wind installations that were halted as the economic calculus changed, rendering some of the projects unprofitable. Here we have some news about the forward progress with Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts. [CleanTechnica]

GE Haliade-X turbine (Courtesy of Avangrid)

¶ “With Smart Policy, Truck Electrification Is Within Reach” • Only 10% of vehicles on US roads are medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks, but they produce nearly 25% of our transportation emissions. An analysis of fifteen states adopting the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation shows 60% of medium-duty and 43% of heavy-duty trucks can be electrified now. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “In A First, MIT Trains Students To Resolve Conflicts Over Clean Energy Projects” • As the US injects hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act, criticism is growing louder about where, how, and whether new development should be allowed. MIT is training students on conflict resolution. [St Louis Post-Dispatch]

Have a noticeably grand day.

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Opinion:

¶ “The AI Boom Is Boosting Carbon Emissions – Should Companies Acknowledge Their Climate Share?” • AI uses a lot of electricity because it needs thousands of specialized computer chips. It’s getting clear that the AI boom in the next few years will increase electricity consumption exponentially, increasing the world’s carbon emissions. [CleanTechnica]

Computer chip design (Adi Goldstein, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Self-Repairing Solar Panels Are Heading For Space” • Demand for larger, more powerful solar arrays is heating up for use in space. NASA has been scouting for companies that can deliver the most bang for the buck, and the Arizona startup Solestial is in the running with new ultra thin solar panels that can repair themselves in space. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “US And China Reach ‘Some Agreements’ On Climate – John Kerry” • The US has reached some agreements with China ahead of the COP28 Summit in Dubai at the end of this month, US climate envoy John Kerry has said. “We felt that our days of talks were very successful. We did come up with some agreements”, he said, adding that details will come soon. [BBC]

July meeting (Office of US Climate Envoy, public domain)

¶ “Northumberland Solar Farm Given Planning Permission” • A solar farm in Northumberland that could provide power for up to 13,000 homes was granted planning permission. The land is being used to grow animal feed and was used for opencast coal extraction in the 1950s and 60s. When the solar farm is finished, sheep will graze on the land. [BBC]

¶ “Volvo Leads The Way: Electric Trucks For Australia” • Volvo Group includes Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, Volvo Penta, and Volvo Bus. Volvo has a battery EV alternative for every diesel truck they offer, from a medium-duty truck with a 5-ton payload right up to the flagship Prime Mover. It is the biggest automotive manufacturer in Australia. [CleanTechnica]

Electric garbage truck (Photo courtesy of Volvo)

¶ “ZOLA: Fighting For Energy Equality Backed By GE, EDF, And Tesla” • ZOLA Electric is on a mission to provide clean power, all the time, anywhere. The company was founded over a decade ago to install smart, connected devices in the form of lithium ion batteries and solar, to power basic energy needs for rural African communities. [Energy Digital Magazine]

¶ “South Africa’s Eskom Unveils The Largest Battery Storage Project in Africa” • South Africa’s national power utility company, Eskom, has just unveiled the largest Battery Energy Storage System in South Africa. With a capacity of 100 MWh, this is not only the first one of its kind in South Africa, but also a first on the African continent. [CleanTechnica]

Eskom storage facility (Eskom image)

¶ “Yukon Wants To Electrify To Reduce Emissions But Faces A Shortage Of Green Power” • Yukon Energy officials say they will be hard-pressed to produce enough renewable power to meet the territory’s emissions targets. To hit emissions targets, Yukon Energy needs much more reneable energy, especially for home heating and transportation. [CBC]

¶ “China Will Guarantee Financial Support For Coal-Fired Power Plants” • A government agency in China says coal-fired power plant operators will receive guaranteed payments based on the installed capacity of their units, part of a program to ensure a stable power supply across the country. China is still building coal-fired power plants. [POWER Magazine]

Coal plant in China (Shubert Ciencia, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

US:

¶ “Low US Gasoline Demand Is Making Gasoline Less Profitable” • Low gasoline demand in combination with the seasonal switch to winter-grade gasoline has made gasoline less profitable to produce, reducing the difference between gasoline blendstock and crude oil prices to multiyear lows of around 17¢/gallon in October 2023. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Volvo Group Acquires Proterra” • Volvo Group announced, “Proterra Inc and Proterra Operating Company Inc are in a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the US. Volvo Group has been selected as the winning bidder in an auction for the business and assets of the Proterra Powered business unit at a purchase price of $210 million.” [CleanTechnica]

Proterra bus (Darius Pinkston, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

¶ “US Grid Rules Preclude Reliability, Security Benefits Of Cloud Computing, Experts Warn” • Cloud technologies could provide significant cost, security and reliability benefits to the US electric grid but critical infrastructure rules do not allow them to be used for certain larger assets, multiple speakers said at FERC’s annual reliability conference. [Utility Dive]

¶ “Kentucky Regulators Approve Plan For 900% Increase In Renewable Energy” • The Kentucky PSC approved a plan by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities to retire several fossil fuel plants and replace them with  877 MW of solar and a 125-MW, 500-MWh of battery system. This will be a 900% increase in renewables. [pv magazine USA]

Solar array in Kentucky (Vesper Energy image)

¶ “Siemens Gamesa Scraps Plans To Build Blades For Offshore Wind Turbines In Virginia” • Siemens Gamesa has canceled plans to build blades for offshore wind turbines in Virginia. It is the latest sign of trouble for the young US offshore wind industry as inflation, raised interest rates, and supply chain issues have cut into profitability. [WVTF]

¶ “Disputes Over Safety, Cost Swirl A Year After California Okayed Plan To Keep Last Nuke Plant Running” • A year after California endorsed a proposal to keep running its last nuclear plant, disputes still swirl about its safety, whether over $1 billion in public financing could be be wise, and even if the electricity is needed in the age of renewables. [Spectrum News]

Have a consummately fine day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Fossil Fuels Will Kill Us All, Every One” • Emissions from fossil fuels make us sick and increase global temperatures to the point where glaciers melt, sea levels rise, and we have more powerful storms. But we act like the person who falls from a 20-story building and tells someone on the 10th floor who asks how it’s going, “So far so good.” [CleanTechnica]

Oil (Maarten van Dijl, Greenpeace via Oil Change International)

¶ “Oil Companies Shook My House, Hundreds Of Miles From The Oil Fields” • While fracking sometimes causes earthquakes, wastewater disposal from all types of oil production is almost always to blame. Wastewater disposal wells pump large volumes of undrinkable saltwater into the ground in deeper layers. We owe ourselves better than this. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “How Africa’s First Heat Officer Is Protecting Women In Sierra Leone” • Eugenia Kargbo is the first person in Africa to hold the position of chief heat officer. Her job is to make Freetown, Sierra Leone, a more liveable, greener city and to help its residents cope with rising heat. In 2022, her team installed market shade covers to protect 2,300 street vendors. [BBC]

Freetown (Bunting Kargbo, Unsplash)

¶ “Powering Progress: Batteries For Discoms” • India’s power system is shifting to a new phase as universal electricity access is achieved. Now economic growth drives electricity demand. Building out sufficient energy storage will be essential for India’s grid to successfully integrate renewable resources and to meet future load demands. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “China Announces Plan To Reduce Methane Emissions” • In a piece of good news for our overburdened planet, China agreed to take a hard look at its methane emissions and find ways to reduce them. It said that it will boost monitoring, reporting, and data transparency to reduce releases of the super-potent greenhouse gas, according to Bloomberg. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines in China (Hahaheditor12667, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “European Wind Power Action Plan” • The recently agreed EU energy target is at least 42.5% of demand covered by renewable sources by 2030, with the ambition to reach even 45% from renewable sources. Reaching that target will require a massive increase in installed wind capacity, from 204 GW in 2022 to over 500 GW in 2030. [Energy Industry Review]

¶ “THDCIL Inks Pacts To Develop 3,270 MW Renewable Energy Projects In Karnataka” • THDC India Ltd plans to set up 3,270 MW of clean energy projects, including pumped storage and floating solar, in Karnataka, its chairman and managing director said. The company signed two memoranda of understanding related to the plans. [Business Standard]

Karnataka countryside (Tejj, Unsplash)

¶ “100-MW Solar Power Plant Gets Nod In Bangladesh” • The government of Bangladesh has approved a proposal to set up a 100-MW solar plant in Mymensingh District. A consortium of Chinese Xizi Clean Energy Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd and local firms Cassiopea Fashion Ltd and Cassiopea Apparels Ltd will build the plant. [Asia News Network]

US:

¶ “White House Announces New Efforts To Prevent Wildfires, Limit Smoke Hazards” • The White House is announcing an interagency focus to protect communities from wildfire smoke and prevent large fires that put communities at risk. An MOU was signed by the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, along with the EPA and CDC. [ABC News]

Wildfire smoke (Malachi Brooks, Unsplash)

¶ “Hawaii Unveils $150 Million Recovery Fund For Maui Wildfire Victims’ Families, Injured Survivors” • Governor Josh Green of Hawaii announced a recovery fund of over $150 million for the victims of the Maui wildfires. The families of those who were killed and those who “suffered severe personal injuries” could receive more than $1 million each. [ABC News]

¶ “Jeep’s Electrification Game Plan: Wrangler, Wagoneer, And More Going Electric!” • Exciting times are coming for Jeep enthusiasts, as Jeep is set to take a giant leap into electrification. Jeep outlined some plans for the next five years, promising to electrify some of its most beloved models, including Wrangler, Wagoneer, and Grand Wagoneer. [CleanTechnica]

Jeep EV (Jeep image)

¶ “Santa Maria to operate eight city facilities with solar power” • In California, the Santa Maria City Council approved agreements to operate eight city facilities with solar power that are expected to save over $12.6 million in the 20-year life of the project. The city will have no out-of-pocket costs and will begin saving money in the first year of operation. [Santa Maria Times]

¶ “San Antonio City Council Approves $31 Million For Largest Municipal Solar Project In Texas” • The City Council of San Antonio, Texas, approved the largest municipal solar project of its kind. The $31 million project will result in the installation of roof top, parking, and park canopy solar photovoltaic systems at 42 city facilities. [Texas Public Radio]

Municipal solar array (Big Sun Solar image)

¶ “Michigan Senate Votes To Override Local Decisions On Wind, Solar Energy” • Michigan lawmakers approved another major change to the state’s energy policy, passing a two-bill package that would let state regulators override local decisions about where to allow large-scale wind and solar arrays. The bills are headed to the governor. [Bridge Michigan]

¶ “Illinois House Passes Bill To Lift Moratorium On Nuclear Plants” • A bill ending Illinois’ ban on building nuclear power plants is headed to Governor Pritzker’s desk. The state House of Representatives passed the legislation on Thursday, and the state Senate passed it on Wednesday. Pritzker vetoed a similar bill earlier, but lawmakers think he’ll sign this one. [WGEM]

Have a significantly graceful day.

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