geoharvey

Opinion:

¶ “Now Is The Time To Get Transportation Right” • In the US, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use infrastructure investments to meet our nation’s climate and equity goals. A new NRDC publication ranks the states by how well they are set up to take advantage of those transportation funds. [CleanTechnica]

EVs (LA Department of Transportation image)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Batteries Of The Future? How Cotton And Seawater Might Power Our Devices” • During a power outage in India, there’s a cash machine still happily dispensing banknotes, partly thanks to burnt cotton. This cash machine has a backup battery in it, a battery that contains carbon from carefully combusted cotton. Other batteries have other low-impact materials. [BBC]

¶ “Let’s Go Gigacasting!” • Tesla has pioneered the use of massive casting machines, which do what Elon Musk calls “gigacasting.” With that casting system available, Tesla will think of the entire underbody of its EVs as a single piece. Let’s do a deep dive into gigacasting and learn what’s pushed it to the pinnacle of EV manufacturing. [CleanTechnica]

EV manufacture (Courtesy of Tesla)

¶ “The Last Twelve Months Were The Hottest Ever Recorded, An Analysis Finds” • The last twelve months were the hottest Earth has ever recorded, says a peer-reviewed report by the nonprofit research group Climate Central. It says burning gasoline, coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels caused the unnatural warming of the past year. [Metro US]

World:

¶ “Pacific Leaders To Meet To Discuss Climate Change And Other Regional Concerns” • South Pacific leaders are heading to the stunningly beautiful island of Aitutaki for discussions about climate change and other regional concerns. Among the other concerns is the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. [ABC News]

Coconut trees (Bill Fairs, Unsplash)

¶ “Nigeria Has Ended Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Giving Solar Power A Boost” • Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of crude oil. Yet since it has no refineries of its own, gasoline and diesel fuel must be imported. Even with subsidies, Nigerians pay exorbitant prices. The government has decided to end the subsidies and switch to supporting renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Electric Buses In Kenya Create Greater Environmental Impact” • While South American and Chinese cities have been generating a great deal of attention by electrifying their public transport, East Africa is determined to not fall behind. The large part of electric buses are still in China, but the biggest impact may come from those in Kenya. [CleanTechnica]

BasiGo E9 Kubwa (Image by BasiGo)

¶ “Maersk’s APM Runs 8% Of World’s Ports, Says Electrification Is The Answer” • APM Terminals, the AP Moller-Maersk division that runs about 8% of the ports in the world, has released a white paper, The Case For Electrified Container Handling, on what to do about container-handling equipment at the docks. It may be where the world is headed. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Small Modular Nuclear Reactor That Was Hailed By Coalition As Future Cancelled Due To Rising Costs” • The only company to have a small modular nuclear power plant approved in the US, which wsa cited by the Australian opposition as evidence of a “burgeoning” global nuclear industry, has cancelled its first project due to rising costs. [The Guardian]

NuScale VOYGR-6 small modular reactor (NuScale image)

¶ “‘The Market’s Decided’ Say Climate, Energy Leaders” • The climate and energy ministers agree that the market has charted its future for energy already. And it’s renewable, says Australia’s climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen, who spoke at the Future Energy conference at the Tonsley Innovation precinct in Adelaide. [Cosmos Magazine]

US:

¶ “Why Super Fog Is Continuing To Create Dangerous Driving Conditions In Louisiana” • Relentless drought conditions fueling the persistence of marsh fires burning in parts of southeastern Louisiana are causing ongoing super fog events on regional highways during peak commute times. Some highways were closed due to dangerous conditions. [ABC News]

Fog (Jakub Kriz, Unsplash)

¶ “EIA Expects U.S. Annual Solar Electricity Generation To Surpass Hydropower In 2024” • The Energy Information Administration forecast that the US will generate 14% more electricity from solar energy than from hydroelectric facilities in 2024, in its Short-Term Energy Outlook. The forecast is driven by continued growth in solar facilities. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “PG&E Files Application To Keep The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Operating Until 2045” • PG&E submitted to the NRC an application to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant running 20 years after its scheduled closure date, meaning the plant could operate until 2045. Originally PG&E planned to shut down its two reactors in 2024 and 2025. [KCBX]

Diablo Canyon nuclear plant (PG&E image)

¶ “Southern California Fire Risk Prompts Warnings For Power Shutoffs Wednesday As Santa Ana Winds Return” • Thousands of residents are at risk of power outages Wednesday and Thursday due to powerful winds blowing through Southern California and causing an increased threat of wildfires. National Weather Service offices issued Wind Advisories. [FOX Weather]

¶ “Pioneering Nuclear Project Gets Canceled After Costs Surge” • The first nuclear power project in the US with a small modular reactor has been canceled. NuScale Power Corp was building the reactor in partnership with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, but the estimated cost of its electricity rose from $58/MWh to $89/MWh. [Oil Price]

Have a truly untroubled day.

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(, CC-BY-SA 3.0) km² CO₂ NH₃ CH₄ ₹ NOₓ ‽ ♦♦♦♦♦

World:

¶ “’Virtually Certain’ That 2023 Will Be Warmest Year After October Record” • This year’s heatwaves, floods, and fires have been deadly. Now it is “virtually certain” that 2023 will be the warmest on record, after October temperatures were 0.4°C above the previous high of October 2019. It was the fifth month in a row of record warmth. [BBC]

November (Ruvim Noga, Unsplash)

¶ “Global Wine Production Falls To 62-Year Low In 2023” • Poor weather globally is likely to cause global wine production to fall to a six-decade low this year. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine says that wine production around the world is likely to be about 7% lower in 2023 than last year. Such a yield would be the worst since 1961. [BBC]

¶ “Essen: Germany’s ‘Ugly Duckling’ City Success” • In the heart of western Germany’s long-time Ruhr region, the city of Essen spent much of the past 150 years marred by pollution, tainted by filthy mines, factories, and poisoned waterways. But a striking transformation has seen Essen go from being Germany’s ugly duckling to one of Europe’s greenest cities. [BBC]

Elisabethkrankenhaus, Essen (Wiki05, public domain)

¶ “Why Cheetahs Will Be Especially Vulnerable To Climate Change” • Cheetah populations are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures because hotter days are forcing them to hunt at night more, putting them in greater competition with nocturnal predators such as lions and African wild dogs, according to a study in the journal Biological Sciences. [ABC News]

¶ “Musk Makes The Move To Bring An Affordable Tesla To The European Market” • Finally, Tesla revealed plans to manufacture an affordable EV. It will enter the market as a €25,000 ($26,838) EV produced at Tesla’s gigafactory near Berlin. Elon Musk made the announcement as he visited the Tesla factory in Gruenheide and chatted with staff. [CleanTechnica]

Giga Berlin, which looks like every other Giga  (Tesla image)

¶ “The Nasty Drought In Syria, Iraq And Iran Would Not Have Happened Without Climate Change, Study Finds” • A three-year drought that has left millions of people in Syria, Iraq, and Iran with little water would not have happened without human-caused climate change, a study by World Weather Attribution found. The drought started in July of 2020. [El Paso Inc]

¶ “Energy Vault’s Gravity Storage To Power 1.16 GWh Of Chinese Projects” • Energy Vault Holdings said that five systems using its EVx gravity energy storage technology and totalling 1.16 GWh will be built in China. Together with two other sites, they have a combined capacity of 3.26 GWh, and representing over $1 billion (€937 million) of project value. [Renewables Now]

Energy Vault system (Business Wire image)

US:

¶ “Virginia Governor Declares State Of Emergency As Crews Fight Wildfires” • Firefighters are battling several blazes in forests of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Wide swaths of those states face moderate to severe drought conditions and warmer than normal temperatures. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency. [ABC News]

¶ “Air Force Asks Congress To Protect Nuclear Launch Sites From Wind Turbines” • The Air Force’s underground nuclear missile silos are rarely disturbed by more than the occasional wandering cow. But the service is now asking Congress to help with another unexpected danger: towering wind turbines, which are edging closer to the sites each year. [ABC News]

Wind farm (rachelalienergy, public domain)

¶ “US Steel Pioneers Battery-Powered Locomotives, First In North America” • The debut of two all-electric locomotives in the Pittsburgh area, replacing two built in 1964 and 1974, strikes a chord of history. With clean trains and green steel, grandpa must be beaming about what this means for his progeny and all living things around his old hometown. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Biden-Harris Administration Advances Fifteen Onshore Renewable Energy Projects With Potential To Power Millions Of Homes” • During remarks at the Western Governors Association Winter Meeting, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that the Interior Department is advancing fifteen onshore renewable energy projects across the West. [CleanTechnica]

Wind project (Interior Department image)

¶ “Redwood Materials Helps To Recycle Kauai’s Stationary Energy Storage Systems” • In Hawaii, the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative currently has a 4.6-MWh battery storage system that is ready to be decommissioned. So KIUC is getting the help of Redwood Materials for the decommissioning process as well as recycling the batteries. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “2025 RamCharger Raises The Electric Truck Bar” • Ram Trucks took the wraps off its 2025 RamCharger hybrid pickup truck. Packing 663 HP electrified horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque, this is a big, fast, and powerful pickup with a 14,000 lb. tow rating, a 2625 lb payload capacity, and it does 0-60 MPH in four seconds. [CleanTechnica]

2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Limited (Courtesy of Stellantis)

¶ “PG&E Deploys Its First 100% Renewable Remote Grid In Push To Mitigate Wildfires” • Pacific Gas and Electric Company put into service its first fully renewable remote grid in its growing fleet of standalone power systems. PG&E’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan describes remote grids that provide utility service using local energy resources. [Smart Energy International]

¶ “Advocates Fear NH Clean Energy Proposal Would Pit Nuclear Against Solar, Wind” • New Hampshire clean energy advocates say a proposal to define nuclear power as clean energy could undercut renewable energy. A NH House bill would allow nuclear power generators, such as Seabrook Station, to receive payments for generating clean energy. [The Keene Sentinel]

Have a widely appreciated day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Kauai Is A Clean Energy Leader. Its Secret? A Publicly Owned Grid” • Kauai’s grid infrastructure took a beating from Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and the business that owned the grid wanted to sell. Kauai residents raised financing and acquired the utility in 2002, turning it into a locally owned cooperative reduced rates that had once been Hawaii’s highest. [Canari Media]

Kauai (Spencer Watson, Unsplash)

¶ “Electricity Grid in Peril: A National Priority” • The number of weather-related power outages has grown significantly in recent years, with such weather disasters as extreme cold, hurricanes, and wildfires making many of the US power interruptions worse. The US has not adequately invested in or enacted policies to address these issues. [RealClearEnergy]

¶ “Nuclear Energy And Free Market Capitalism Are not Compatible” • Nuclear energy saw some success in the past, but seems incapable of it today. That is largely because the tenets of free market capitalism cause it to fail. This is also true for small modular reactors. Successful nuclear programs have always been subsidized by governments. [CleanTechnica]

Nuclear plant (Jametlene Reskp, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Investing In Nuclear Energy Is Bad For The Climate, NGOs Say” • At the European Nuclear Energy Forum, the nuclear industry and certain EU countries are calling for more support and subsidies for nuclear power, particularly for Small Modular Reactors. But environmental NGOs are joining voices to contest this call. [The European Environmental Bureau]

Science and Technology:

¶ “The Big Bubble Curtains Protecting Porpoises From Wind Farm Noise” • Over the past decade, a curious invention has spread across Europe’s northern seas. It’s called a big bubble curtain, it works a bit like a giant jacuzzi, and it helps protect porpoises from the massive underwater noise caused by wind farm construction. [BBC]

Big bubble curtain (Hydrotechnik Lübeck image)

¶ “Offshore Wind Developers Are Eyeing New Alliances With Aquaculture Industry” • The US offshore wind industry has had a slow start, but wind developers elsewhere are beginning to attract aquaculture stakeholders with opportunities for multi-use and co-located operations. If that works, it could help deflect some of the resistence. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Real-World Traffic Demo Reveals Energy Savings” • In a real-world demonstration, researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory determined that a connected and automated vehicle, or CAV, traveling on a multilane highway with integrated traffic light timing control can maximize energy efficiency and achieve up to 27% savings. [CleanTechnica]

Test of an automated vehicle (ORNL, US DOE)

World:

¶ “Local Production Of Plug-In Hybrids Up Times Five In South Africa” • The latest Automotive Industry Export Council data shows that South African auto makers made note of increased sales of EVs worldwide. As a result, production of EVs has jumped from 733 in the first three quarters of 2021 to 3,534 in the same period in 2023. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Tesla To Build €25,000 Car At German Gigafactory” • An anonymous source who claims to have knowledge of the matter says Tesla plans to produce a car with a starting price of €25,000 ($26,838) at its factory in Grünheide, Germany, according to a Reuters report. The source did not say when production of the new car would begin. [CleanTechnica]

Gigafactory (Tesla image)

¶ “K-Electric Plans Ambitious 640-MW Renewable Energy Initiative” • K-Electric, the primary electricity provider for Karachi, is advancing a strategic renewable energy plan that could reshape the city’s power landscape. The company has taken significant steps towards adding 640 MW of renewable capacity to Pakistan’s grid. [The Express Tribune]

¶ “SUSI Invests In Italian Storage Market” • SUSI Partners has expanded the scope of its Italian solar development platform to include battery storage projects. ReFeel New Energy has passed its initial targets and has over 750 MW of battery capacity under development, of which 200 MW is awaiting final authorisation to move into construction. [reNews]

Energy storage (SUSI Partners)

US:

¶ “The Private Sector Accounts For 89% Of Announced US Battery Investments” • Announcements of investments by the private sector in US battery technologies have been increasing over the last few years, with 208 as of September 2023. The locations of announcements relating to battery materials and manufacturing are all across the US. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “West Virginia’s Largest Solar Power Facility At Fort Martin To Go Online By End Of Year” • The Mon Power solar power facility in Fort Martin is nearly complete and is expected to generate electricity by the end of the year. With 50,000 solar panels that will produce 18.9 MW, it is the largest of five planned facilities by the utility First Energy. [WV News]

West Virginia Solar array (Courtesy of First Energy)

¶ “State Of New York Makes Massive Investment In Renewable-Energy Projects” • New York has made a massive investment in renewable energy. The state is committing $300 million to create the nation’s first offshore wind blade and nacelle manufacturing facilities. This investment will create 8,300 jobs for New York’s renewable energy workforce. [Public News Service]

¶ “USDA Awards REAP Grants To Biogas, Bioenergy Projects” • The USDA awarded $145 million in loans and grants to 700 projects under the agency’s Rural Energy for America Program. Several biogas and bioenergy projects are among those selected for REAP awards. Two California biogas companies were each awarded $1 million. [Biomass Magazine]

Have a preposterously pleasant day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Tesla Share Price Is Under Pressure. Will The Cybertruck Help?” • If the Cybertruck is a hit with the public, the price of Tesla shares could soar and everyone will say what a genius Musk is. If it does not, the share price could sink and people will say Musk is an idiot. Could it be that both statements are true? “We’ll see,” said the Zen master. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Cybertruck (Tesla image)

¶ “Atoms For Peace Was Never The Plan” • Atoms for Peace had a nice ring to it. But it was a fantasy at best, at worst, a lie. Atoms for Peace was never the intention. Atoms for war, as it turned out, was brewing in the background even before Dwight Eisenhower became president of the US. Whose idea was it? Dr Charles A Thomas, of Monsanto, for one. [Counterpunch]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Study Reveals Effects Of Fast Charging On Electric Car Battery Health” • Recurrent Auto published a report on DC fast charging and battery degradation. “We compared cars that fast charge at least 90% of the time to cars that fast charge less than 10% of the time. … The results show no statistically significant difference in range degradation. [CleanTechnica]

Charging an EV (Ernie Journeys, Unsplash)

¶ “SunDrive Innovation Aims To Reduce Solar Costs” • SunDrive Solar is set to take a giant step towards a new type of cheaper solar panels at commercial scale. The Australian company’s technology replaces one of the most expensive components of a solar cell with an alternative about 100 times cheaper and much more efficient. [Australian Renewable Energy Agency]

World:

¶ “‘Shame On You, Tesla!’ Sweden’s Labor Unions Fight Back” • Dock workers in Sweden are threatening to block deliveries of new Teslas entering the country. They are standing by metal workers at Tesla’s Swedish repair shops who went on strike on October 27. Their dispute rises from Tesla’s refusal to sign a collective agreement with their union. [CleanTechnica]

Stockholm (Maxime Gilbert, Unsplash)

¶ “Trina Solar Expands Investment In Vietnam, Accelerating The Country’s Solar Power Growth” • The Chinese solar panel maker Trina Solar announced plans to boost its investment in Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen province by an additional $420 million. The boost will raise Trina’s total investment in the country to nearly $900 million. [EnergyPortal.eu]

¶ “EU Wind Package Must Protect Workers” • IG Metall Coast, Germany’s largest trade union is calling for a joint assessment of the EU Commission’s Pact for Wind Energy and the industrial policy concept of Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck. It said regional value creation and collectively agreed working conditions must be given more consideration. [reNews]

Wind turbine workers (Dennis Schroeder, NREL, public domain)

¶ “2024: The Commencement Of Taiwan’s Floating Wind Farm Era” • Taiwan is making significant strides in the development of floating offshore wind power, as the capacity for wind power in shallow coastal areas gradually reaches its limit. It is anticipated that 2024 will mark a pivotal year for development of floating wind farms in Taiwan. [Digitimes]

¶ “REC Issues Dual Tenders Totaling 11 GW For Renewable Power Evacuation Projects In Rajasthan” • REC Power Development and Consultancy has issued two tenders for the establishment of an Inter-State Transmission System aimed at evacuating a total of 11,000 lakh (1.1 billion) units of power from Renewable Energy Zones in Rajasthan. [SolarQuarter]

Transmission tower (Shruti Singh, Unsplash)

¶ “Solar Mini-Grids Offer Clean-Power Hope To Rural Africa” • Mini-grids, small power systems usually supplying rural villages, are not new. But the drop in cost of solar PVs has driven growth in clean energy mini-grids, with rural Africa poised to benefit the most. The village of Sabon Gida has more reliable power than Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital. [Forbes India]

¶ “China, Japan And South Korea Reaffirm Pledges For Climate Action” • The environment ministers of China, Japan, and South Korea reaffirmed their commitments to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution. The countries said they remain committed to multilateralism and are willing to encourage close collaboration. [China Daily]

Biodiversity (Rui Silvestre, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “NREL Study Finds Rapid Adoption Of ZEVs Will Move To US To 80% Or More Drop In GHG Emissions By 2050” • The rapid adoption of zero-emission EVs will move the US close to an 80% drop in transportation greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from the 2019 level according to researchers from the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. [Green Car Congress]

¶ “Dominion Sees Cheaper Wind Power At Massive Offshore Project” • Dominion Energy Inc expects to deliver power at a cheaper price than originally expected from the largest approved offshore wind project in the US, a rare win for a wider wind sector recently beleaguered by bad news. The shares soared the most in almost a year. [Supply Chain Brain]

Block Island Offshore Wind Farm (Ionna22, CC-BU-SA 4.0)

¶ “West Virginia PSC OKs Major Solar Energy Project In Mason County” • The Public Service Commission of West Virginia gave a green light to New Haven PV I to site a 100-MW solar facility on 1,555 acres in Mason County. The array will consist of 226,356 solar panels. The company will invest $97 million, creating 319 construction jobs. [WV News]

¶ “University Of Arkansas Outlines Plan For Renewable Energy” • The University of Arkansas’s 2022 Sustainability report had a solar energy plan that would save the school over three million dollars every year. Now, Eric Boles, director of Sustainability says expanding the school’s use of solar power is a cost-efficient way to reduce its carbon footprint. [KNWA]

Have an unambiguously exciting day.

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Opinion:

¶ “EV Charging And The Grid: The Truth Is Out There” • There is a widely held belief that supplying enough electricity to charge all the EVs expected to be around in a few years will take huge investments for the grid upgrades needed to meet the demand for EV charging. Now, thanks to the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, we have facts. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla and bison (Taun Stewart, Unsplash)

¶ “How Alberta Was A Green Energy Leader But Squandered It” • Alberta was a leader in oil. Then its black gold rush was rivalled by a green one, as investors clamour to cash in on the province’s bright Prairie skies and Chinook winds. But Alberta’s provincial government hit the brakes on renewable power in the midst of a multi-billion dollar boom. [Global News]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Climate Change Laying Healthy African Land To Waste” • The UN Convention to Combat Desertification concluded that over 100 football pitches worth of healthy land is lost every minute in Africa. But the problem is global. The UNCCD says that between 2015 and 2019, the world lost at least 100 million hectares of healthy land each year. [The East African]

Desertification (Gabriele Niek, Unsplash)

¶ “Tesla Vehicles Warn Drowsy And Inattentive Drivers” • Teslas keep getting smarter over time with the help of free over-the-air software updates. A new and interesting feature has just started rolling out to Tesla cars in Europe. It warns drivers if they are inattentive or drowsy. The vehicle monitors movements of a driver’s eyes and the steering wheel. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “EVs Take 26.5% Share In France – Dacia Springs Up” • October saw plugin EVs take a 26.5% share of the French auto market, up from 22.4% last year. The volume of full EV sales grew over 50% year on year. The overall auto volume was up some 22%, year on year, though still below pre-2020 norms. The Dacia Spring was the best selling full EV. [CleanTechnica]

Dacia Spring (Alexander Migl, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “25% BEV Share In China! – China EV Sales Report” • Plugins scored more than 776,000 sales in China last month, up 22% year over year, to set the market’s second monthly record in a row. And expect the last quarter of the month to continue this record streak. The September sales pulled the year-to-date tally to over 5.4 million units. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Bangladesh’s First Offshore Wind Power Project Approved” • Denmark’s green investment proposal valued at $1.3 billion for developing Bangladesh’s first 500 MW utility-scale offshore wind energy project has received the government’s nod in principle for a detailed feasibility study. The proposed project site is in the Cox’s Bazar district. [The Business Standard]

Wind turbines (Supplied photo)

¶ “Europe’s Battery Charge To Power A Green Economy” • The European battery market could be worth as much as €250 billion a year as of 2025. Europe aims to increase its share of global battery-cell production to as high as 25% this decade from 3% in 2018, reducing Asia’s 85% dominance. The EU is also promoting battery reuse and recycling. [Cyprus Mail]

¶ “ISIF Commits €94 Million To The UK Green Energy Giant Octopus Energy’s Fund” • The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund announced a €94 million commitment to OEG’s Sky Fund for investment in renewable energy projects. OEG plans to establish an office in Dublin, creating a full-time presence as it invests in Irish green energy projects. [Independent.ie]

Wind farm in Ireland (Kenneth Gallery Smyth, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Australia’s 2024-25 Budget To Focus On Supporting Green Energy Industries, Chalmers Flags” • Australia’s next federal budget will back green energy winners to help the renewable energy transition, according to treasurer Jim Chalmers. He said the energy transformation is “absolutely central” to the Albanese government’s goals. [The Guardian]

¶ “CDB Wants Faster Transition To Renewable Energy” • Dr Gene Leon, President of the Caribbean Development Bank has challenged regional leaders to quicken their pace in transitioning to full reliance on renewable energy sources. He said achieving the 2030 goal of becoming carbon neutral is critical to building economic and climate resilience. [Barbados Today]

Wind turbine (Luke Thornton, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “New Kind of Nuclear Threat In Putin’s War On Ukraine Explained” • The government of Ukraine said that a Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s western Khmelnytsky region on October 25 had targeted a nuclear power plant, reigniting fears of the consequences of having a war raging in a country that is home to 15 atomic power stations. [Newsweek]

US:

¶ “Fact Check: Trump Falsely Claims California Had ‘Blackouts All Over The Place This Summer’” • Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed in a speech in Texas that California had widespread blackouts this summer because there was insufficient electricity to meet demand. The state’s last blackout due to load imbalance was in 2020, a state official said. [CNN]

Not blacked out (Tyler Casey, Unsplash)

¶ “Tesla Energy Unveils VPP Plan For Puerto Rico And $0 Down Solar For Tesla Drivers” • Electricity has become a fundamental component of modern life, but generating it on relatively small patches of land in the middle of vast oceans is challenging. So Tesla Energy has introduced a virtual power plant program for residents of Puerto Rico. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Senator Casey Urges Amendments To Support US Steel in Renewable Energy Projects” • Senator Bob Casey is supporting American manufacturing by urging the Biden Administration to amend guidelines under the Inflation Reduction Act. He wrote the Treasury and the IRS to correct guidelines allowing use of foreign steel in PV projects. [Franklin County Free Press]

Have a totally okay day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Hansen Vs Mann: Is Global Warming Linear Or Exponential?” • In research published in the journal Oxford Open Climate Change, James Hansen and his colleagues argue that IPCC models and predictions on climate change are too conservative. He suggests geoengineering. Michael Mann has a differing viewpoint, calling geoengineering a “slippery slope.” [CleanTechnica]

Clouds (Zoltan Tasi, Unsplash)

¶ “Canada’s Carbon Price Working, So Of Course It’s Being Attacked” • Canada’s carbon price is back in headlines. For fiscal and political reasons, the Liberal government exempted homes heating with oil from the tax for three years. Naturally, the Conservatives have used this to raise populist grievances that mostly don’t hold any water. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Who Are The Major Players In Electric Grid Reliability?” • The largest blackout North American history happened when an overloaded electrical line sagged to short out on a tree limb. The cost could have been as high as $10 billion. New regulations have helped avoid a repeat of that outage, but now the grid is being strained by climate change. [CleanTechnica]

Grid regions (North American Electric Reliability Corporation)

World:

¶ “Climate Scientists Are Working With Indigenous Tribes” • For many of us, climate science brings to mind satellite observations, temperature records or the analysis of ice cores. But there is plenty more data besides that. Indigenous communities that have long lived close to the land often hold their own records and recollections. [BBC]

¶ “Tesla Model Y Rules In Europe – Europe EV Sales Report” • Approximately 288,000 plugin vehicles were registered this September in Europe, up 15% year over year. Unfortunately, the overall market grew 11%, as it is finally recovering from a couple of bad years. The Tesla Modle Y dominated the EV market with 34,378 cars sold. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model Y (Pontus Jerand Wernhammar, Unsplash)

¶ “Community-Battery Applications Swamp Renewable Energy Authority” • The Australian Renewable Energy Agency says it has received 140 eligible applications for its Community Batteries Funding Program, with a total grant request of $1.3 billion. This is over 10 times the $120 million available under the program’s first round of funding. [The New Daily]

¶ “Transitioning Towards Renewable Energy Will Stabilize Energy Prices, Tabuya Says” • In Fiji, the Minister for Women, Children, and Social Protection, Lynda Tabuya says strategic policies can mitigate the effects of dependency on fossil fuels by promoting energy efficiency and transitioning towards renewable energy sources. [Fijivillage]

Fiji (Josaia Cakacaka, Unsplash)

¶ “Renewable Energy Investors In Greece To Add Batteries Or Face Curtailment” • Though curtailments are still low in Greece, there is concern that soon they may soon cause more serious problems for clean energy producers, as the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy system rises to 78%. Batteries can solve this issue. [Balkan Green Energy News]

¶ “Wind Farms Push Spain’s Renewables Share To 50.7% In Oct” • Renewabl sources accounted for 50.7% of Spain’s total electricity production in October, up from 42.1% a month earlier. The large increase is thanks to a sharp rise in wind power output, according to preliminary figures released by the Spanish grid operator, Red Electrica de Espana. [Renewables Now]

Wind farm in Spain (José Ibáñez, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

US:

¶ “Sales Of Electric Cars Top 20% In California, Led By Tesla Model Y” • The California New Car Dealers Association reported on November 1, 2023, that sales of battery electric cars accounted for 21.5% of new car sales in the Golden State during the first 9 months of the year. It was 22.3% in the third quarter, up from 16.4% in 2022 and 9.1% in 2021. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Solar And Wind Power Curtailments Are Rising In California” • The California Independent System Operator, which operates the grid in most of the state, is increasingly curtailing solar PVs and wind-powered electricity generation as it balances supply and demand during the rapid growth of those renewable energy sources in California. [CleanTechnica]

California solar array (BLM California, public domain)

¶ “Clean Power Alliance To Serve Southern California With Record Amounts Of Wind Power From Largest Renewable Energy Infrastructure Project In US History” • A 15-year PPA with Pattern Energy will expand CPA’s diverse clean energy portfolio with 575 MW of wind energy from the 3.5-GW SunZia wind farm in central New Mexico. [Yahoo Finance]

¶ “Cover Crops Help Fight Climate Change, But Farmers Fear Losing Money” • Cover crops top the list of tasks U.S. farmers are told will build healthy soil, help the environment and fight climate change. Yet after years of incentives and encouragement, Midwest farmers planted cover crops on only about 7 percent of their land in 2021. [CGTN]

Corn crop (CFP image)

¶ “Michigan Legislature Clears 100% Clean Energy Law” • The Michigan State House passed a package of bills that could make Michigan a clean energy leader. If Governor Whitmer signs them, they will set a 100% clean electricity standard for 2040. Among other things, they include an energy storage standard of 2.5 GW by 2030. [Environment America]

¶ “Person Of Interest Charged After Car Drives Through Security Fences At South Carolina Nuclear Plant” • A person of interest has been charged a day after a man drove a vehicle through security fences at Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina, according to authorities. The man was charged with attempted murder and other crimes. [ABC News]

Have a thoroughly delightful day.

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Opinion:

¶ “It Is The Best Of Times, It Is The Worst Of Times For Offshore Wind In America” • The Biden Administration just approved a plan to install up to 176 wind turbines off the coast of Virginia. But in New York, the developers of four proposed offshore wind farms recently asked the state for more money before moving forward. [CleanTechnica]

Block Island Wind Farm (Gary Norton, US DOE)

Science:

¶ “Why Grazing Bison Could Be Good For The Planet” • The American bison were hunted almost to extinction by European settlers. Their loss was devastating to the prairies. Now they are making a comeback, and they could help reverse the damage. In Kansas, thirty years of bison grazing in tallgrass prairie has been shown to increase native plant species richness. [BBC]

World:

¶ “Olive Oil Prices Skyrocketing In Europe” • Olive oil has increased by about 75% since January 2021, and in Spain, the world’s biggest olive oil producer, prices jumped a massive 115% since August 2021. Spanish farmers and experts primarily blame the nearly two-year drought, with higher temperatures affecting flowering of the trees. [ABC News]

Olive tree (Carlos Zurita, Unsplash)

¶ “How An American Meat Broker Fuels Amazon Deforestation” • China has become the world’s biggest beef importer, and Brazil is China’s biggest supplier, according to UN data. More beef moves from Brazil to China than between any other countries. But the Brazilian cattle industry is a major driver of destruction of the Amazon rainforest. [ABC News]

¶ “Wuling Bingo And BYD Seagull Excel In China, Selling Over 150,000 Units Each” • Two small EVs, the Wuling Bingo and the BYD Seagull, are selling like hotcakes right now in China. These small, affordable 5-door EVs show that it really is possible now to develop a small affordable EV and scale production in decent numbers in a short time. [CleanTechnica]

BYD Seagull (BYD image)

¶ “Coal Free By 2070? India’s Push Toward Renewables Won’t Stop Coal Reliance For The Next Two Decades” • India’s leaders have been optimistic about its path to net zero, making bold claims that 50% of its electric power will come from renewables by 2030, and 100% by 2070. But the use of coal goes on and is likely to continue doing so. [NBC Bay Area]

¶ “Vestas Expands Its Wind Technology Energy Offering In Germany” • Developer Uhl Windkraft was first to order Vestas’ new V172-7.2 MW wind turbine, the latest addition to Vestas’ EnVentus Platform. Six turbines will be supplied to the Hoßkirch wind project, which is in cooperation with the Comital House of Koenigsegg-Aulendorf. [Energy Digital Magazine]

Vestas wind turbines (Vestas image)

US:

¶ “Fifteen Injured In Fire And Building Collapse Following Gas Line Rupture In New York State” • Fifteen people were injured, including five of the first responders, after a gas line rupture in Wappingers Falls, New York, a village near Poughkeepsie. The rupture lead to a massive fire and collapse of a multi-family building, according to officials. [ABC News]

¶ “Electrifying Trucks: Tackling Inflation And Saving Americans Money” • Truck electrification combats inflation partly because electric trucks are two to five times as efficient as diesel trucks, but also, electricity is dramatically less expensive. Depending on use and other specifics, running on electricity rather than diesel oil can reduce fuel costs by 40% to 60%. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Semi (Courtesy of Frito-Lay)

¶ “DOE Announces Up To $440 Million To Install Rooftop Solar And Batteries In Puerto Rico’s Most Vulnerable Communities” • The DOE announced a slate of solar companies and nonprofits selected to install rooftop solar and battery storage systems for vulnerable households in Puerto Rico, through the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Harvesting Sunshine: Solar Is America’s Newest Cash Crop” • Agrivoltaics, the combination of agriculture and solar energy, is one of the fastest-growing applications of solar. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that there are 2.8 GW of agrivoltaic sites in the US, and more projects are coming online every week. [CleanTechnica]

Regenerative farming (Courtesy of Silicon Ranch via Cision)

¶ “Public Power Is On The Ballot In Maine. Will Voters Take A Leap Of Faith?” • Two utilities, Central Maine Power and Versant, distribute 97% of Maine’s electricity. Question 3 on Maine’s ballot asks voters to decide whether they want to oust CMP and Versant and replace them with a nonprofit, publicly owned utility called Pine Tree Power. [Grist]

¶ “Longroad Energy Starts Construction On 377-MW Arizona Solar Projec” • Longroad Energy, a renewable energy developer based in Massachusetts, announced the financial close and start of construction of Sun Streams 4. The project, in Maricopa County, Arizona, has 377 MW of solar panels and a 300-MW, 1,200-MWh battery system. [pv magazine USA]

Longroad solar project (Longroad image)

¶ “Vermont Lawmakers Want To Require Utilities To Source 100% Renewable Electricity By 2030” • Vermont lawmakers will take up their next big piece of climate legislation next year in the form of a bill that would require electric utilities to get more of their power from renewable sources. Vermont Democrats are set to override a veto. [Vermont Public]

¶ “No Easy Solutions For Removing San Onofre’s Spent Nuclear Fuel” • The San Onofre nuclear power plant hasn’t generated any electricity in more than ten years. But even as the iconic plant is being dismantled, it is still generating controversy over what to do with some of the radioactive material on the site. Some highly radioactive waste has nowhere to go. [KTLA]

Have a fundamentally soaring day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Why It Matters That The Earth Is On The Brink Of 1.5°C Of Warming ” • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change uses 1.5°C as a limit to aim for. The exact figure of 1.5°C of warming is less important than keeping global warming as far below that figure as possible. But researchers say the likelihood of doing so is waning. [ABC News]

Terraced fields (Huy Nguyen, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Researchers Argue That Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Is Not Enough To Combat Climate Change” • A paper in Oxford Open Climate Change says that strategies humanity must pursue to reduce climate change will have to include more than reducing greenhouse gases. This comes from an analysis of climate data led by researcher James Hansen. [Phys.org]

World:

¶ “EVs Take 60.6% Share In Sweden – Kia EV9 Debuts” • October saw plugin EVs take 60.6% share in Sweden, up fractionally from 59.4% year on year. EV volumes were up by some 14%, barely ahead of overall market growth. Overall auto volume was 25,016 units, up by 12% year on year. The Volkswagen ID.4 was the EV that sold best in October. [CleanTechnica]

Kia EV9 in Korea (Hyundai Motor Group, Unsplash)

¶ “US Electric Train Maker Sends Hot Pink Diesel-Killing Love Letter To Australia” • A new electric train is heading from the US to Australia with a futuristic twist. The locomotive will deploy regenerative breaking – energy captured from its brakes while on the move. The payoff is lower fuel costs, a smaller carbon footprint, and reduced down time. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “China’s Coal Boom Includes 775 GW Of Shelved, Canceled, Or Closed Plants” • China has permitted more coal plants in recent years than the rest of the world combined, reports say. But the narratives don’t mention the operating coal plants that were shut down and plants that were not built have a combined capacity of 775 GW. [CleanTechnica]

Coal mine (Herry Lawford, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

¶ “China’s Lithium Mining Boom In Tibet Sparks Debate In Renewable Energy Race” • A research report by Turquoise Roof, a network of Tibetan researchers, has revealed that the booming EV industry in China is fuelling a lithium rush in Tibet. It risks damaging the troubled region’s fragile ecology and deepening rights violations. [Phayul]

¶ “Singapore Seen As Hub For Renewable Energy” • Singapore can be a hub for renewable energy as the city-state can leverage its status as one of the world’s biggest commodity trading centers and bunkering ports, analysts said. Its Energy Market Authority has given tentative approval for plans to import 1.2 GW of wind power from Vietnam. [China Daily]

Singapore (Peter Nguyen, Unsplash)

¶ “Global Grid-Forming Inverter Market Expected To Reach $1,042 Million By 2028” • The global grid-forming inverter market is estimated to grow from $1,042 million by 2028 from an estimated of $680 million in 2023. Grid-forming inverters are vital for managing the rapid growth of renewable energy and ensuring grid stability. [Yahoo Finance]

¶ “Portugal Powered Solely By Renewables Last Weekend” • Portugal relied solely on renewable energy last weekend, largely wind and hydroelectric power, to meet electricity demand. It generated 172.5 GWh of renewable electricity and useed 131.1 GWh between Friday night and Monday morning, exporting excess power to Spain. [PV Magazine]

Trolley car in Portugal (Aayush Gupta, Unsplash)

¶ “Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Starts Third Release Of Treated Radioactive Wastewater Into The Sea” • The tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began its third release of treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the sea Thursday after Japanese officials said the two earlier releases ended smoothly. [TheHour]

US:

¶ “VinFast May Bring The Ultra Cheap VF 3 To America” • Last June, VinFast introduced the VF 3, a boxy two-door electric vehicle designed to appeal to customers in its home market of Vietnam. Now, there are suggestions that VinFast might produce cars in a North Carolina factory, and the VF 3 could be priced in the sub-$20,000 range. [CleanTechnica]

VinFast VF 3 (Courtesy of VinFast)

¶ “Well-Equipped Single Motor Chevy Equinox Will Start At $34,995 – Someday” • When Chevrolet announced the Equinox EV in January of 2022, it said the battery-electric version of its popular midsize SUV would start at around $30,000 and have a range of up to 300 miles. At a somewhat increased price and range, it is still coming. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “TotalEnergies Starts Up 380-MW Solar Power Plant with Battery Storage in Texas” • TotalEnergies has started commercial operations of Myrtle Solar, a solar farm south of Houston. Myrtle has a capacity of 380 MW and 225 MWh of co-located batteries. Myrtle produces enough green electricity each year to provide for about 70,000 homes. [PR Newswire]

Transmission towers (Pierre Jarry, Unsplash)

¶ “EPICS Global Research Centre For 100% Renewable Power Grids Launched In US” • The Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society center was launched at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. It has partners from the UK, Australia, and the US researching potencial of 100% renewable power grids across the world. [Smart Energy International]

¶ “Despite Net-Zero Commitments, California Is Curtailing Renewable Power” • California, a state that’s all-in for net-zero energy policies, announced it’s curtailing solar and wind power due to increased congestion. Congestion occurs when power transmission lines lack the capacity to deliver the electricity generated. [Independent Women’s Forum]

Have an amusingly straightforward day.

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Opinion:

¶ “How The US Can Become A Global Leader In Offshore Wind” • To become a global leader in offshore wind energy, the US must seize the opportunity to address three major areas: investing in employment and training, bolstering transmission infrastructure, and developing a comprehensive set of American standards and guidelines. [CleanTechnica]

Block Island wind farm (US DOE, public domain)

Science and Technology:

¶ “24M Introduces Electrode-To-Pack Battery Without Individual Cells Or Modules” • Prior to 24M ETOP™, cell makers, EV OEMs, and energy storage integrators built battery packs and modules from individual cells. However, current lithium-ion battery cells have a large fraction of inactive, non-charge carrying materials in them, adding weight. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “A Sustainable Alternative To Air Conditioning” • One major contributor to global warming is air conditioning. But scientists from McGill University, UCLA, and Princeton found in a study an inexpensive, sustainable alternative to mechanical cooling with refrigerants in hot and arid climates, and a way to mitigate dangerous heat waves during blackouts. [CleanTechnica]

Thermostat (Dan LeFebvre, Unsplash)

¶ “Designing cleaner vehicles” • As a second-year master’s degree student in mechanical engineering, Adi Mehrotra channels much of his energy into designing clean energy vehicles. He has taken the helm of the MIT Electric Vehicle Team, a student research team that probes the future of transportation by designing a hydrogen-powered motorcycle. [MIT News]

World:

¶ “The Isle Of Eigg: The Community-Owned Island That Powers Itself” • Eigg is one of a collection of islands in the Scottish Inner Hebrides called the Small Isles. It lies 15 miles from the mainland and is reliant on a ferry that runs a few times a week, weather dependent, for supplies and transport. Waste isn’t an option here and sustainability is a necessity. [BBC]

Wind turbines on Eigg (W L Tarbert, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

¶ “BMW Going With New Batteries For Its Ambitious EV Plans” • A core technology for transforming to an emissions-free world is batteries, and researchers around the world are looking to find what is best. BMW has just confirmed it will use LFP battery cells soon, and it is also working on solid-state battery and sodium-ion battery cells. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Electric Bus Traction In Stockholm And Sicily Is Increasing Exponentially With Bus Expert Solaris Supplying The Stocks” • Solaris, a Polish e-mobility leader in public transport, continues to make waves in the world of sustainable transportation with its latest orders from Sweden’s Nobina Stockholm and Italy’s AMTS Catania earlier this October. [CleanTechnica]

Solaris Urbino 15 LE electric bus in Sweden (Solaris image)

¶ “Indonesia’s Ambitious Plan To Cut Carbon Emissions And Boost Renewable Energy” • Indonesia is facing the challenges of rapid growth of industry and energy demands. It unveiled an ambitious plan to curtail its carbon emissions in the on-grid power sector and significantly increase the share of renewable energy generation to 44% by 2030. [DD News]

¶ “Amazon Expands Renewable Energy Footprint In India With 198-MW Wind Farm” • Amazon has unveiled a new 198-MW wind farm Osmanabad, Maharashtra, India. This addition marks Amazon’s fiftieth renewable project in India, pushing the firm’s renewable energy capacity past 1.1 GW. It is the seventh Amazon project in the past year. [Inc42]

Windpower in India (Debasish1974, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

¶ “G7 Pushes For Removal Of Japanese Food Import Bans” • The Group of Seven urged recent restrictions imposed on Japanese food products from around Fukushima to be removed. The restrictions follow the Fukushima nuclear Disaster. The G7 nations include Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the US. [Food Safety News]

US:

¶ “Biden-Harris Administration Approves Largest Offshore Wind Project In The Nation” • Located approximately 23.5 nautical miles off Virginia Beach, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is the largest yet, and would provide about 2,600 MW of clean, reliable offshore wind energy, capable of powering over 900,000 homes. [CleanTechnica]

Wind resources at 100 meters above the ground (NREL image)

¶ “Toyota more than doubles investment and job creation at North Carolina battery plant” • Toyota will invest an additional $8 billion in the hybrid and electric vehicle battery factory it’s constructing in North Carolina, more than doubling its prior investments and expected number of new jobs, the company announced Tuesday. [ABC News]

¶ “Bechtel Wins EPC Work On Texas Solar Project” • Bechtel has been selected by Sabanci Renewables to design and construct a 232-MW (DC) solar plant in Victoria County, Texas. Bechtel will do development, including engineering, procurement, building, commissioning, and project management. Construction is set to be completed in mid-2025. [reNews]

Solar farm (Sabanci Renewables image)

¶ “Ørsted Scraps Two Offshore Wind Power Projects In New Jersey, Citing Supply Chain Issues” • Danish energy developer Ørsted said it is scrapping two large offshore wind power projects off the coast of New Jersey, adding uncertainty to a nascent industry federal and state governments are counting on to help transition away from fossil fuels. [CBS News]

¶ “Why The Military May Need Microgrids For Overseas Bases To Win A Near-Peer Fight” • A paper by an Air Force engineer warns of a major vulnerability on US military bases overseas. Most bases are wired into the electrical grids of host nations, but their backup generators may not have fuel for over a week. They need microgrids. [Air & Space Forces Magazine]

Have a curiously rewarding day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Nuclear Plant Problems Have Happened Around The Planet, And Aging Facilities Across USA Still Pose A Major Threat” • The Fukushima nuclear disaster is just one of a set of similar disasters at nuclear plants, notably at Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Three Mile Island. And the wrecked reactors at Fukushima still threaten the environment. [The South Dakota Standard]

Cooling towers (Lukáš Lehotský, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “A Tiny Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Turbine Can Power 10,000 Homes” • The US DOE expects that supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) turbines can shave energy consumption at power plants by 10%, but they are also much smaller than steam turbines. The DOE says that a 20-meter steam turbine would be replaced by a 1-meter sCO₂ turbine. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “Volvo Energy | Sustainable Trucking With Extended Life Batteries” • At the end of its vehicle lifecycle, a used battery can be repurposed or used for onsite energy storage where total capacity is less critical than it might be in an EV. Volvo Energy hopes to contribute to sustainability, supporting charging, microgrids, and green energy. [CleanTechnica]

Volvo Energy battery facility (Volvo Energy image)

¶ “World Bank Warns Oil Prices Could Reach $150 A Barrel” • Oil prices could rise to more than $150 a barrel if the conflict in the Middle East escalates, according to the World Bank, with big rises in energy and food prices. For now oil prices remain steady at around $90 a barrel and are predicted to fall, but the Bank warns that this outlook could quickly reverse. [BBC]

¶ “Scania Brings New Energy By Offering Next-Level Electric Trucks” • Scania unveiled its cutting-edge line of regional electric trucks with zero emissions in June 2022, and the manufacturing process is set to commence in Södertälje, Sweden. The trucks boast a power of 400 or 450 kW, perfectly suited for a wide range of truck applications. [CleanTechnica]

Scania 40R battery electric truck (Photo by Scania)

¶ “Stellantis Enters EV Battery Recycling Agreement” • Stellantis, the company formerly-known as Fiat-Chrysler before a key merger, is the manufacturer of iconic vehicles like the Jeep brand and Dodge’s muscle cars. The company recently announced a plan and a partnership to make sure more EVs get batteries recycled at end-of-life. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “OWP Butendiek Signs Hydrogen PPA” • German offshore wind farm OWP Butendiek has signed a power purchase agreement with the support of advisory company Pexapark to fuel green hydrogen production. The 288-MW project will provide electricity to a green hydrogen facility operated by a global leader in the energy industry. [reNews]

Offshore windpower (wpd image)

¶ “Hexicon And Mainstream Renewable Power File 2.5-GW Floating Wind Farm Application In Sweden” • Freja Offshore, a joint venture of Mainstream Renewable Power and Hexicon, has submitted a planning application in Sweden for the Dyning floating offshore wind project. It is planned to have a capacity of up to 2.5 GW. [offshoreWIND.biz]

¶ “US Military Bulk Buying Japan’s Seafood To Counter China Import Ban” • The US military is bulk buying Japanese seafood to help offset China’s import ban of the products after Japan began releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in August. The new initiative aims to help soften the impact of China’s ban. [Axios]

Sushi (Vinicius Benedit, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “BOEM Designates Four Wind Energy Areas In Gulf Of Mexico, Power To 3 Million Homes” • As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore windpower capacity by 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it has finalized four new Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Here’s How Foundations Are Bringing Solar To Lower-Income Communities” • The rooftop solar industry is booming, but far too few lower-income Americans have benefited. Now a growing number of charitable foundations are stepping up to redress that injustice, using different ways to bring the benefits of solar to the communities that need it most. [Canary Media]

Rooftop solar power (RE-volv image)

¶ “Solar Gardens Encouraged To Grow In New Orleans” • New Orleans city officials amended a set of regulations to clear the way for an order of Catholic nuns and other organizations to build solar projects to help low-income residents. The City Council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Committee voted unanimously for the reforms. [Louisiana Illuminator]

¶ “Cars Are Canceling Out San Diego’s Progress On Renewable Energy” • San Diego has made enormous strides toward getting more of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar in recent years. But, according to the city’s latest inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, that progress is being canceled out by pollution from cars and trucks. [KPBS]

San Diego (Gabe Pierce, Unsplash)

¶ “As Coal Mines Close, Displaced Miners Find Work In Boom Of Renewable Energy” • Energy communities include those that have met a threshold of fossil fuel-related jobs or had a coal mine closed since 1999. In many such places, former miners are able to find jobs in factories that take advantage of tax breaks for energy communities. [Capital & Main]

¶ “Aspen Power Completes Fourteen Utility-Scale Solar Projects In Georgia” • Aspen Power completed construction on fourteen solar projects that the company acquired from Inman Solar. The projects total 49.4 MW (DC) of generation capacity, with Aspen Power acting as the long-term owner and operator of the solar facilities. [Solar Builder]

Have a soothingly constructive day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Want A New EV Dirt Cheap? Get Ready To Act Fast In Two Months!” • It looks like a perfect storm of EV affordability is going to arrive in about two months (January 2024). If the vehicle described here, the Chevy Bolt, at the prices they’ll be available, for works well for your needs, it’s a deal that you’ll have a narrow window to jump on. [CleanTechnica]

Chevy Bolt (GM image)

¶ “Nuclear Or Net Zero. It Can’t Be Both” • It seems clear that Australia’s Coalition will go to the next election with a muddled strategy for energy and climate change. Net zero and nuclear won’t mix. Pursuing the first will effectively rule out the second. Westinghouse’s projected cost of $1 billion for its 300-MW small modular reactor shows this. [Quadrant Online]

World:

¶ “Explosion Off Nigeria Points To Threat Posed By Aging Oil Ships Around The World” • The Trinity Spirit was a floating production storage and offloading vessel, storing oil at sea. It had long since been a floating hazard when it had an explosion and fire in February of 2022. It is common for FPSO ships to fall into neglect and become dangerous. [ABC News]

FPSO ship off Nigeria (Ciacho5, public domain)

¶ “G-7 Nations Back Strong Supply Chains For Energy And Food Despite Global Tensions” • At a meeting in Osaka, trade and economy officials from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies strengthened their pledge to work together to ensure smooth supply chains for essentials like energy and food despite global uncertainties. [ABC News]

¶ “BYD Makes A Splash At Japan Mobility Show With Seal Debut – First Chinese Carmaker There” • BYD is the first Chinese automaker ever to participate in the Japan Mobility Show. The world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles made a big splash at the global automotive show formerly known as the Tokyo Motor Show. [CleanTechnica]

BYD Seal (BYD image)

¶ “Irreversible Solar Tipping Point Has Passed, Researchers Claim” • A study in the journal Nature Communications comes to a rather extraordinary conclusion. The authors found, much to their surprise, the solar power tipping point is no longer in the future. In fact, it has already occurred. They found that the move to solar power is now irreversible. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Market Player Snaps Up 370-MWh Victorian Battery Project” • Sostoneo, set up only last month by Italian insurance and asset management provider Generali Group, acquired 100% of the A$400 million ($254 million) Koorgangie Energy Storage System project being developed near Kerang in Victoria by Edify Energy. [pv magazine Australia]

185-MW Koorangie Energy Storage System (Edify Energy image)

¶ “Coal To Fall As India To Get 50% Of Power From Renewables By 2030” • The Narendra Modi government has set an ambitious target of meeting 50% of the country’s energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030. Of the Indian power capacity, 41.4% is renewable, but that generated only 10.55% of all the electricity generated in the 2022-23 financial year. [NewsClick]

¶ “HD Hyundai Electric Inks 3-GW Korean MOU” • HD Hyundai Electric signed a memorandum of understanding with Pacifico Energy Korea, CS Wind, Korea Ocean Engineering & Consultants Co and Daebul Shipbuilding at HD Hyundai Global R&D Center to jointly develop an offshore windpower project of over 3 GW in Jeollanam-do province, South Korea. [reNews]

Offshore windpower (Jesse De Meulenaere, Unsplash)

¶ “China’s Installed Capacity Of Renewable Energy Surges” • China’s installations of renewable energy hit 172 million kW (172 GW) in the first nine months of the year, a 93% increase from to the same period last year, according to the National Energy Administration. This surge reflects the country’s commitment to promoting green development. [Xinhua]

US:

¶ “Water Woes, Hot Summers, And Labor Costs Are Haunting Pumpkin Farmers In The West” • Pumpkins can survive hot, dry weather to some extent, but the heat of this summer, which broke records and went well over 100°F (38°C), was just too much, said Mark Carroll, the Texas A&M extension agent for Floyd County, Texas. [ABC News]

Pumpkin patch (Marius Ciocirlan, Unsplash)

¶ “Poultry Companies Ask Judge To Dismiss Ruling That They Polluted An Oklahoma Watershed” • A number of poultry producers, including the world’s largest, asked a federal judge to dismiss his ruling that they polluted an Oklahoma watershed. They said pollution happened years ago and Oklahoma officials have noted its steady decline. [ABC News]

¶ “Ford’s EV And Battery Manufacturing Ambitions Get A Boost With Rockwell Automation Technologies” • Ford is making good progress on its battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky. Ground was broken for the plant last December. Called the Ford Blue Oval SK Battery Park, the $5.8 billion project will create 5,000 new jobs in the town. [CleanTechnica]

New Ford factory (Ford image)

¶ “California Is Sending NEVI Money Out To Contractors” • California announced that it’s time to cut some checks for 270 EV chargers at 26 stations in the state. Over the next five years the state is going to cut checks for as much as $380 million. All of this funding comes from the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Activists Gather Near Bow’s Coal Plant, Calling For Its Owners To Transition To Clean Energy” • On Sunday, climate change activists gathered near New England’s last running coal power plant in Bow, New Hampshire, to call for its owners to stop burning fossil fuels and transform the plant into a renewable energy facility. [NHPR]

Have a surprisingly civil day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “Vanadium Flow Batteries Stake A Claim For Round The Clock Storage For Renewables” • Flow batteries may be more expensive up front but last for decades and dispatch sunshine for up to 18 hours. By contrast, rows of lithium-ion batteries springing up in the countryside are handy backup to meet peak energy demand for a few hours at a time. [Renew Economy]

Solar farm with battery backup (Yadlamalka image)

¶ “Alysm Energy Develops Non-Flammable Battery Storage Technology” • Leading developer of non-lithium rechargeable battery technology Alysm Energy has announced that it has successfully developed the industry’s first high-performance, non-flammable battery storage technology suitable for warmer climates. [Energy Digital Magazine]

World:

¶ “They Went Hunting For Fossil Fuels. What They Found Could Help Save The World” • When two scientists went looking for fossil fuels beneath the ground in France, they did not expect to discover something which could help tackle the climate crisis. It was hydrogen. Now that they know to look for it, they might find more. But how much can they find? [CNN]

Drilling operations in Kansas (Natural Hydrogen Energy)

¶ “Kazakhstan Has Confirmed Nationalization Of Arcelormittal Subsidiary After Mine Fire Kills At Least 32” • Kazakhstan has confirmed the nationalization of ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which operates the country’s largest steel plants and several coal and ore mines, after a coal mine fire that killed at least 32 workers. Another 14 are still unaccounted for. [ABC News]

¶ “First Autonomous, Electric Aircraft On Earth To Get Approval For Commercial Flights” • An EHang eVTOL aircraft, the EH216-S, has just been approved for commercial flights by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. This is the first such approval anywhere in the world. And the EH216-S is not only electric – it’s also autonomous. [CleanTechnica]

EHang 216 (EHang image)

¶ “ACWA Power Signs Agreements Worth $746 Million At FII7 In Riyadh” • ACWA Power, a leader in energy transition and green hydrogen production and the largest private water desalination company in the world, has signed several agreements worth $746 million on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. [Daily News Egypt]

¶ “Siemens Energy Seeks Government Aid Amidst Market Turbulence” • German firm Siemens Energy AG, a major player in the renewable energy sector, is finding itself grappling with a financial crisis that has prompted a call for substantial support from the government, raising questions about the stability and direction of the industry. [Microgrid News]

Siemens Gamesa headquarters (Zarateman, CC0)

¶ “Rooftop PV Take A Bite Out Of The Australian Grid’s Lunch As Minimum Demand Records Tumble Again” • According to data provider GPE NEMLog, rooftop solar PVs hit a new peak of 48.6% of total generation at 1:50 PM, breaking the record of 48.4% it had set at the start of the month. This took a big bite out of the business of Australia’s main grid. [Renew Economy]

¶ “Climate Change Wreaks Havoc In Cameroon” • Cameroon is especially exposed to climate change. The National Observatory on Climate Change indicates that Cameroon’s location makes it “very exposed” to climate-related dangers, inclluding droughts, floods in its cities, effects of El Niño, monsoons, and rising water levels along the coast. [EL PAÍS English]

Road in Cameroon (Angelo Casto, Unsplash)

¶ “Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Damaging Nuclear Waste Storage As The Battle For Avdiivika Grinds On” • Russia accused Ukraine of damaging a nuclear waste storage facility in a drone strike on the Kursk nuclear power plant while fighting raged on for the control of the key eastern city of Avdiivika, where Russians may have suffered heavy losses. [ABC News]

US:

¶ “Cruise, GM’s Robotaxi Service, Suspends All Of Its Driverless Operations Nationwide” • Cruise, the autonomous vehicle unit owned by General Motors, is suspending driverless operations nationwide after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked its license. Cruise began carrying passengers throughout San Francisco just recently. [ABC News]

Waymo (gibblesmash asdf, Unsplash)

¶ “Many Conservative US Politicians Push For Anti-Clean Energy Legislation” • Conservative politicians across the US are sharpening their attacks on EVs as well as making anti-clean energy a clarrion call for philosophic unity. The GOP wants to repeal EV incentives, forgetting that many Republicans are reaping the economic benefits of EVs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Phoenix Uber Riders Can Now Order A Waymo Robotaxi” • Uber and Waymo formed a partnership in the Phoenix metro area. A few days ago, Uber customers were able to get matched with a fully autonomous, all-electric Waymo ride for the first time in the 225+ square miles of Metro Phoenix where Waymo has been operating. [CleanTechnica]

Matching what is nearby (Uber image)

¶ “Republicans Pass Bill Slashing USA Energy Efficiency Funds” • The first major legislation the House GOP passed under Speaker Mike Johnson would cut billions of dollars in consumer rebates for energy efficiency. The $58 billion measure, which funds the Energy Department and other agencies, rescinds more than $5.5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act. [Rigzone]

¶ “Even With Vogtle, Georgia Power Says It Needs More Sources of Electricity” • Despite the nuclear units going online, Georgia Power says increased demand for electricity is coming fast. It is asking regulators to let it secure more power generation ahead of schedule. The utility said it wants to build or contract for at least 3,365 GW, mostly of natural gas. [WRDW.com]

Have an inexpressibly decent day.

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Opinion:

¶ “A Refreshed Bolt Is Exactly What GM Needs Right Now” • In GM’s recent Q3 earnings call, CEO Mary Barra revealed some interesting new details about the return of the Chevy Bolt. Based on what she said and some of the headwinds the EV market has been facing recently, it seems pretty clear that a new Chevy Bolt is exactly what GM needs. [CleanTechnica]

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV 2LT (Kevauto, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “In Michigan, Clean Energy And Agriculture Are Allies, Not Enemies” • The Michigan legislature is trying to make building clean energy in rural areas easier. Some opponents claiming that bills to do this amount to “war” being declared on agricultural districts. This framing is not just inaccurate. It is the opposite of the truth. [Bridge Michigan]

¶ “Is Crisis At Siemens Energy Symptom Of A Wider Wind Power Problem?” • One of the biggest wind turbine makers has reignited concerns over the headwinds facing the industry. It lost billions in market value this week. The rising costs of financing and building windfarms made headwinds for those building offshore windfarms worldwide. [The Guardian]

Wind turbines (Anna Jiménez Calaf, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “US Aims To Launch First Nuclear Thermal Rocket Into Space” • US defense and space agencies are moving quickly toward the world’s first in-orbit demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket. Two US agencies, DARPA and NASA, are colaborating on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, between the Earth and the moon. [Environment News Service]

World:

¶ “Acapulco Residents Are Fending For Themselves In Absence Of Aid” • In a city without water, electricity or gasoline, desperate people have been allowed, even encouraged, to take essential goods from wrecked stores since Hurricane Otis hit Acapulco. The goods they can take include water, food, and other the things necessary to support them. [ABC News]

Hurricane Otis (MarioProtIV, public domain)

¶ “Tesla’s Giga Berlin Expansion Set To Kick Off In Early 2024 Amid Controversy” • Tesla revealed its hope to start its Giga Berlin expansion project in the first half of 2024. This news comes against the backdrop of ongoing public debates about the project’s scope and impact. For example, where does the water for the plant come from? [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Volvo Will Build The EX30 Compact SUV In Ghent Factory” • In a response to the strong demand for Volvo Cars’ upcoming new EX30 compact crossover, the company has decided to start building the new fully electric Volvo EX30 in its Ghent, Belgium plant from 2025, expanding production capacity for the hotly anticipated new vehicle. [CleanTechnica]

Volvo Ghent factory (Volvo image)

¶ “Decoding The Chaos In The Market For Electric Cars” • EV makers are unhappy. Mercedes described today’s marketplace as “subdued,” but CFO Harold Wilhelm said “we are beyond the worst” when it comes to inflation and energy pricing. However, he did add, “I can hardly imagine the current status quo is fully sustainable for everybody.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Solar Power Is Expected to Dominate Electricity Production By 2050” • We put the latest world technological and economic data into a macroeconomic model. Our findings suggest that the solar revolution has, indeed, arrived. Solar energy is on track to make up more than half of global electricity generation by the middle of this century. [FlaglerLive]

Solar energy (Andreas Gücklhorn, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “Gas Prices Drop As Some States Fall Below $3 A Gallon” • The average US gas price fell about 35¢ per gallon from a 2023 peak in mid-September, to $3.52, AAA data shows. That is a decline of over 9%. In Georgia and Mississippi, where gas prices are lowest, the average price per gallon dipped below $3. In Californias, the average price fell 57¢ to $5.30. [ABC News]

¶ “BP Places $100 Million Order For Tesla’s Ultra-Fast EV Chargers” • BP (sorry, bp) wants to do its part to save the planet by becoming a major player in the EV charging industry. It has looked around at all the charger manufacturers, done its due diligence, and placed a $100 million dollar order for Tesla Superchargers. [CleanTechnica]

bp pulse (courtesy of bp pulse)

¶ “New York’s Rideshare Cars Are Returning To The City’s Electric Roots” • New York City is requiring all rideshare vehicles to be fully electric by 2030. Mayor Eric Adams unveiled the “Green Rides” rule, which mandates that the rideshare fleet in the city must transition to either zero-emission or wheelchair accessible vehicles by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Texas Surpasses California With Most Installed Solar Power” • Texas now has the most solar power installed on its power grid in the country, knocking California out of its longtime reign. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the grid operator for 90% of Texas, had 18,364 MW of solar capacity installed on its grid as of September 30, ERCOT data shows. [Governing]

Solar array (Jason Blackeye, Unsplash)

¶ “Regulators Authorize Solar Power Plant In Mason County” • The Public Service Commission of West Virginia has approved a solar power plant project that will have more than 220,000 solar panels and create 319 construction jobs. According to the PSC, New Haven PV I applied to build the 100-MW solar facility on August 18. [WOWK]

¶ “DOE Issues Draft Plan For Grid Interconnections” • The DOE released a draft road map for transforming grid interconnection processes, a major hurdle to the Biden administration’s goal of decarbonizing the power sector by 2035. About 2,000 GW of mostly renewable generation and energy storage are in queues waiting to connect in the US. [Smart Cities Dive]

Have a comfortably positive day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Transition To EVs Is A Win For Our Climate – Let’s Make It A Win For US Workers” • A transition to electric transportation is underway globally, and momentum is growing. But what is its outlook for jobs? Can the EV transition support good jobs that provide for families and communities? The fundamentals show there’s reason to be optimistic. [CleanTechnica]

Rivian factory (Rivian image)

Science and Technology:

¶ “’Small Swaps’ To Climate-Friendly Diet Can Significantly Reduce Carbon Footprint, Improve Health” • Realistic, simple dietary swaps can help make a difference in the US carbon footprint, a study found. Published in Nature Food, it simulated health and environmental impacts of simple substitutions in diets of over 7,700 Americans. [ABC News]

¶ “Are Halloween Pumpkins A Future Superfood?” • Pumpkins have values that go far beyond the Halloween accessory they’ve become known for. They stick around until Thanksgiving, and even past. But their true potential lies in their nutritional and medicinal benefits, which are especially valuable because they tolerate drought so well. [BBC]

Pumpkins (Mark Duffel, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Sublime Systems Can Help Clean Up Carbon Emissions From Cement” • According to Canary Media, making cement produces more carbon emissions than any nation except China and the US. And reducing carbon emissions must be done within the laws of science. Sublime Systems has a cement with lower emissions that meets industry standards. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “New UK Laws To Make Charging An Electric Vehicle Easier And Quicker” • Millions of EV drivers will benefit from easier and more reliable public charging thanks to new laws in the UK. They will ensure that prices across chargepoints are transparent and easy to compare and that many public chargepoints have contactless payment options. [CleanTechnica]

Charging (Ernest Ojeh, Unsplash)

¶ “Tanzanian Renewable Startup Leading Through Innovation” • Millennium Engineers uses creative renewable energy solutions to support local communities across Tanzania. Its most recent project is centered around the fishing industry in Lake Victoria. Among the completed projects it installed is renewable energy at primary schools in Tanzania. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “€100/Month Electric Cars In France Next Week” • France is getting serious about climate action, equity, and EU-supportive economics all at once with a new electric car leasing program. The government is working to help low-income residents go electric. Starting next week, there will be a €100/month EV leasing program for eligible cars. [CleanTechnica]

Renault Twingo (Fiver, der Hellseher, CC-BY-SA 4.0, Cropped)

¶ “Two Workers At Fukushima Plant Hospitalized After Getting Sprayed With Radioactive Waste Accidentally” • Two workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were sent to hospital after being sprayed with liquid with radioactive materials it, officials said. The workers had been cleaning the piping at the Advanced Liquid Processing System. [ABC News]

¶ “Denmark Supports Efforts To Develop Floating Offshore Wind Turbines” • Denmark is taking the lead in developing floating offshore wind turbines. The government is supporting projects and forming new partnerships as it believes floating wind will be critical for the next phase of the development of renewable energy. [The Maritime Executive]

Floating turbine (Untrakdrover, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

¶ “Solar And Battery Energy Can Significantly Reduce Energy Bills” • Research by the Australian DOE shows that households equipped with solar panels and an 8.5-kWh battery can save more than 40% on their electricity bills. The finding is expected to add momentum for a swift deployment of renewable energy in Australia. [Investing.com Australia]

¶ “Data Insight: 21 Out Of 27 EU Countries Have Now Registered Corporate Renewable PPAs” • Just six EU countries have yet to host corporate renewable power purchase agreements, after four countries – Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia and Portugal – entered the market in 2023. Four other countries entered the corporate renewable PPA market in 2022. [Energy Monitor]

Lisbon (Liam McKay, Unsplash, cropped)

US:

¶ “US Solar PV Market: Prices Go Up, Prices Go Down” • Market prices modeled for installed residential PV systems were 15% lower this year than last. Though other system costs were higher, those increased costs were more than offset by lower module, inverter, logistics, and customer acquisition costs, resulting in overall cost reductions for systems. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Installation Underway Of 15 Acres Of 3D-Printed Artificial Reefs In Coastal North Carolina” • Acres of 3D-printed artificial reefs are being planted in coastal North Carolina to bolster its biodiversity and promote growth of natural reef. The reefs are being planted in the Palmico River, a large estuary system on North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast. [ABC News]

Reef section (Natrix image)

¶ “Resorts World Property Is Now 100% Powered By Renewable Energy” • Resorts World officials announced that the resort is now powered by 100% renewable energy. With Resorts World reaching this goal, NV Energy officials said they’ve reached their Renewable Portfolio Standard goal, the state’s renewable energy requirement, to hit 50% by 2030. [KTNV]

¶ “TotalEnergies JV Bags 25-Year Wind Power Contract With NY” • The Attentive Energy One project of TotalEnergies SE, Corio Generation, and Rise Light & Power, has been selected by New York State for a 25-year contract to supply 1.4 GW of renewable electricity. The consortium aims to commission the project in 2029, TotalEnergies said. [Rigzone]

Have a generally perfect day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Schuyler Gould: Not One Ounce Of Nearly 100,000 Tons Of High-Level Radioactive Waste Has Been Safely Disposed Of” • What is this country going to do with its high-level radioactive waste? Arguably the most toxic substance on the planet, not one ounce of the nearly 100,000 tons produced in this country has been safely disposed of. [Vermont Digger]

Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in 2012 (NRC image)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Wisk Is First EVTOL Air Taxi Firm To Make Public Flights, Lilium Offers First EVTOL Aircraft For Private Purchase” • Wisk became the first eVTOL air taxi firm to make public flights at Long Beach Airport in Los Angeles County. Also, Lilium Jet, together with EMCJET, is offering the first private eVTOL in the US to customers. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Solar And Wind-Powered Boat Travels Through The Greek Islands” • The HopYacht differs from the other electric boats in that it has solar power and sail power in order to use sunlight and wind. The HopYacht is also a catamaran, not a monohull. And another difference is that it emphasizes efficiency and long range rather than speed. [CleanTechnica]

Solar and wind-powered boat (HopYacht image)

World:

¶ “Turbocharged Otis Caught Forecasters And Mexico Off-Guard. Scientists Aren’t Sure Why” • Acapulco was told to expect a tropical storm, but 24 hours later, Otis made landfall with 165 mph (266 kph) winds, the strongest ever recorded in the East Pacific. Otis’ winds went from 70 mph (113 kph) winds to 160 mph (257 kph) in just 12 hours. [ABC News]

¶ “Uber Says It Is Adding 10,000 Electric Cars To Its Fleet In Australia” • Uber Australia is making good on its commitment to be totally carbon emissions-free by 2040. It announced this week it is importing 10,000 electric cars from BYD and will make them available to its Uber and Uber Eats drivers on attractive terms. [CleanTechnica]

Uber (Uber image)

¶ “The City Of Impact Lays A Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle Plan For Green Hydrogen” • The 10th annual Ocean Energy Europe Conference is going on at The Hague. Wave and tidal energy are front and center, and that city is interested in putting offshore wind farms to work for multiple uses, including floating solar, aquaculture, and green hydrogen. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Oil Majors Double Down On Fossil Fuels While Climate Scientists Go To Prison” • Something is seriously out of whack when ExxonMobil and Chevron double down on their plans to extract every bit of fossil fuels on Earth while climate scientists go to jail for telling the truth about the link between burning fossil fuels and global warming. [CleanTechnica]

Scientists in rebellion (Courtesy of Scientist Rebellion)

¶ “Revived SEC Targets 4.5 GW Of Renewable Generation And Storage” • The State Electricity Commission was resurrected with the Victorian government unveiling a 12-year strategy to include supporting 4.5 GW of clean energy development, funding for domestic electrification, and developing long-duration energy storage projects. [pv magazine Australia]

¶ “First High-Speed Train Arrives In Southern Hemisphere – Bandung Confluence” • The first high-speed train south of the equator connects two of Indonesia’s largest cities, which are on the island of Java. One is the national capital, Jakarta, with 11.25 million residents. The other isthe fourth largest city, Bandung, with 2.67 million. [CleanTechnica]

KCIC high-speed train (KCIC press image)

US:

¶ “Berkeley Lab Launches The Power Reliability Event Simulator Tool” • To address the issue of power outages, Berkeley Lab has developed the Power Reliability Event Simulator TOol (PRESTO) an easy-to-use, publicly available model to be used to simulate the occurrence of short power interruptions in any county in the continental US. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Heat Pump Water Heater Sales In 2022 Signal A Decisive Shift In Water Heating Trends” • Energy-efficient water heating took significant strides in 2022. Sales of heat pump water heaters grew 26% last year, while sales of gas water heaters declined by 17%, underlining a clear shift in the US toward more efficient, electric-powered water heating systems. [CleanTechnica]

Heat pump water heater (NIST, public domain)

¶ “Energy Plan Bills Advance To Full Michigan Senate” • Bills to set a 100% clean energy standard for Michigan by 2040 advanced out of committee. They are part of Democrats’ broader plan to support renewable energy. Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) says the bills would move Michigan away from dependance on fossil fuels. [Michigan Radio]

¶ “EDPR Unveils Arizona Solar-Storage” • EDPR NA Distributed Generation unveiled plans for a solar-storage project in Arizona for Mohave Electric Cooperative. The 23.27-MW (dc) ground-mount solar array and a 15-MW, 60-MWh energy storage system for Mohave Electric Cooperative will help it provide renewable power and mitigate peak energy use. [reNews]

Arizona parking lot (Michael Nothum, US DOE)

¶ “New Hampshire Delegation Welcomes Nearly $500,000 To Expand Energy Efficiency In Rural Communities” • Nearly $500,000 in funding were allocated in New Hampshire through the Rural Energy for America Program Technical Assistance as part of nearly $2 billion in funding provided for REAP through the Inflation Reduction Act. [Senator Jeanne Shaheen]

¶ “Kansas Corporation Commission Sides With Big Utilities” • The Kansas Corporation Commission issued an order approving a settlement changing rules for customers of Evergy, a monopoly electric utility that provides energy to 1.7 million Missouri and Kansas customers. Vote Solar and the Sierra Club believe KCC lacks authority to make the order. [Earthjustice]

Have a powerfully expressive day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “The Importance Of Energy Management In Residential PV Systems” • Energy management systems take in many signals, put them through data models, and tweak the available resources optimally. The most advanced ones, such as one from SolarEdge, seamlessly integrate with virtual power plant systems to the advantage of homeowners. [CleanTechnica]

Home on a hillside (SolarEdge image)

¶ “Climate Scientists Warn That Earth Systems Are Heading For ‘Dangerous Instability’” • Forecasts about the negative effects of human-caused climate change are common, but new research makes even more dire claims, declaring that “life on planet Earth is under siege” and that “we are pushing our planetary systems into dangerous instability.” [ABC News]

World:

¶ “‘Unstoppable’ Energy Transition Means Demand For Oil, Gas, And Coal Set To Peak By 2030” • Global demand for fossil fuels is expected to peak later this decade, according to a report. The International Energy Agency said in its annual World Energy Outlook report that the shift will be driven by the “phenomenal rise” of clean sources of energy. [CNN]

Power plant (Untitled Photo, Unsplash)

¶ “Japan’s Automakers Unveil EVs Galore At Tokyo Show To Catch Up With Tesla” • At the Tokyo show, Mazda plays up a sportscar concept that is a plug-in EV with its rotary engine. Honda shows off its Prelude sportscar EV concept. Toyota’s angular Lexus concept, set to go on sale in 2026, is an EV that runs on lithium-ion batteries. [ABC News]

¶ “Vietnam’s Vinfast Committed To Selling EVs To US Despite Challenges” • Vietnamese automaker Vinfast plunged right into the crowded and hypercompetitive US auto market, gambling that if it can sell its EVs to finicky Americans, it can succeed anywhere. But CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said in a recent interview that the US market is “difficult.” [ABC News]

Vinfast EVs (Thai Nguyen, Unsplash)

¶ “EV Floodgates Open In Ethiopia After Gov’t Exempts All EVs From VAT, Surtax, And Excise Tax” • A year ago, the Ethiopian government introduced some incentives to catalyze the adoption of electric vehicles. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance exempted all electric vehicles from VAT, surtax, and excise tax! It’s been a year now, so let’s see how it worked. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Neoen, Alight Begin Work On Swedish PV Project” • Neoen and Alight signalled the start of construction of the 100-MW Hultsfred solar farm in Sweden. Jointly developed and owned by Neoen (majority shareholder) and Alight, the Hultsfred solar farm is to be connected to the E.ON local grid, in south-east Sweden in 2025. [reNews]

Solar farm site (Neoen image)

¶ “Amazon Adds 39 Renewable Energy Projects In Europe” • Amazon announced adding 39 new renewable energy projects in Europe so far this year, totalling over 1 GW of capacity. Amazon has enabled over 160 wind and solar projects in 13 European countries. They will provide enough energy for annual needs for over 4.7 million European homes. [Amazon EU]

¶ “Wind Energy Market Size To Hit $220.7 Billion, Globally, By 2028” • According to The Insight Partners, the windpower market is expected to grow from $156.8 billion in 2021 to $220.7 billion by 2028. It is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.0% from 2022 to 2028. The Asia Pacific region is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period. [Yahoo Finance]

Wind turbines (Frederik Schönfeldt, Unsplash)

¶ “Germany And France Finally Compromise On Nuclear” • The French are dependent on nuclear power. Existing French nuclear plants will require major capital improvements and plants under construction are really expensive. France wants to subsidize its nuclear program, but other EU countries, especially Germany, objected. Now they have compromised. [Oil Price]

US:

¶ “EcoFlow’s 110-W Foldable Solar Panels Are On Sale For 33% Off” • The cost of solar panels and power stations is coming down, the specs are going up. Now 110-W foldable solar panels from EcoFlow are available for just $199, which is a discount of a full third off the regular retail price of $299. Here are details on the EcoFlow foldable solar panel. [CleanTechnica]

Foldable solar panel (Ecoflow image)

¶ “NY Governor Hochul Announces Nation’s Largest-Ever State Investment In Renewable Energy Is Moving Forward” • New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the largest state renewable energy investment in US history. The conditional awards include three offshore wind and 22 land-based renewable energy projects totaling 6.4 gigawatts of clean energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “California Sees Unprecedented Growth In Energy Storage” • California is surging forward in the buildout of battery energy storage systems with more than 6,600 MW online, enough to power 6.6 million homes for up to four hours. The total resource is up from 770 MW four years ago and double the amount of just two years ago. [California Energy Commission]

California storage milestone (Government of California)

¶ “Idaho Power Customers Urge Utilities Commission To Reject Proposal To Change Solar Credit System” • At a Idaho Public Utilities Commission hearing, dozens of Idaho Power customers and climate advocates laid out concerns about a proposal that would reduce the value of electricity it gets from customers with solar arrays. [Idaho Capital Sun]

¶ “Xcel Seeks 1.2 GW Of New Minnesota Wind Resources To Replace Retiring Coal Plant” • Xcel Energy is seeking about 1,200 MW of new wind projects located in southwest Minnesota, the utility announced. The renewable resources will help to replace the Sherco coal-fired plant in Becker, Minnesota, which Xcel is to retire by 2030. [Utility Dive]

Have a usefully gleeful day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Billions Of Snow Crabs Have Died In Alaska. Will Billions Of People Be Next?” • Billions of snow crabs died, probably due to warm water. The mortality event appears to be one of the largest reported losses due to marine heatwaves. The groups of animals it hit include fish and crustaceans worldwide. Is Mother Nature trying to tell us something? [CleanTechnica]

Snow crab (NOAA Fisheries)

¶ “Does European Football Care About Climate Change?” • More teams, more games, more flights. Next season will see men’s club football expand further in Europe, with 177 more fixtures across UEFA’s three major tournaments and greater environmental impact. That could lead to 2 billion air miles by teams and fans in 2024-25, up from 1.5 billion. [Yahoo Sports]

World:

¶ “Rapid Melting In West Antarctica Is ‘Unavoidable,’ With Potentially Disastrous Consequences For Sea Level Rise, Study Finds” • Rapid melting of West Antarctica’s ice shelves may now be unavoidable as human-caused global warming accelerates, with potentially devastating implications for sea level rise around the world, new research has found. [CNN]

West Antarctica (Jeremy Harbeck, OIB, NASA)

¶ “Philippine EV Summit Shows Positive Developments, Predicts 6.6 Million EVs On The Road By 2030” • Over 6 million EVs will be on the streets of the Philippines by 2030, if the forecast of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines is correct. The projection was announced at the 11th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit 2023. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “1.8-Gigawatt Benban Solar Farm In Egypt Can Power 1 Million Households” • The success of the Benban Solar Farm in Egypt, demonstrates the impact that large scale clean energy projects can have on the energy matrix of North African countries. The largest solar park in Africa and the 4th largest solar farm globally, it has a capacity of 1.8 GW. [CleanTechnica]

Benban Solar Farm (Screenshot of ACCIONA video)

¶ “Amazon Adds 39 Renewable Energy Projects In Europe” • Amazon announced adding 39 new renewable energy projects in Europe so far this year, totalling over 1 GW of capacity. Amazon has enabled over 160 wind and solar projects in 13 European countries. They will provide enough energy for annual needs for over 4.7 million European homes. [Amazon EU]

¶ “Eviation Sells Up To Fifty Electric Commuter Aircraft To German Startup” • Alice debuted at the 2019 Paris Air Show. It is the first flight-tested all-electric commuter aircraft. According to Eviation, the nine-passenger regional aircraft has zero emissions and has significantly lower operating costs per hour compared to light jets or regional turboprops. [AVweb]

Eviation Alice

¶ “DP Energy Wins Approval For 430-MW Oz Wind Farm” • DP Energy has been awarded Development Approval for its 430-MW Callide onshore wind farm project in Australia by the State Assessment Referral Agency. The project will be in the Calliope Range in the Banana Shire Council in Queensland, 75 km west south-west of Gladstone. [reNews]

¶ “RES Unveils 600-MW UK Solar And Storage Plans” • RES has launched informal consultation on early plans for a solar and storage project of up to 600 MW in Nottinghamshire. The land is adjacent to the recently decommissioned West Burton Power Station, and RES has an agreement in place to use its 600 MW of surplus grid capacity. [reNews]

Solar farm in the UK (RES image)

US:

¶ “Bidenomics In Action: Clean Energy Jobs And Investments Taking Hold Across America” • Analyses of data from the DOE, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, and the US Energy Information Administration show job growth and record investments in the clean power sector since Pres Biden enacted his Investing in America agenda. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Solid-State EV Battery Factory Opens In Massachusetts” • Factorial announced plans for a new battery R&D facility to be located in Massachusetts, and on October 23 the company is celebrating the official opening ceremony for its new solid-state EV battery factory in Methuen. Manufacturing is growing again in the US. [CleanTechnica]

Factorial solid state battery (Factorial Energy)

¶ “$18.5 Billion In Energy Savings From The Better Climate Challenge” • The US DOE published the “2023 Better Buildings Initiative Progress Report,” summarizes the achievements of the DOE’s Better Buildings partners since the initiative’s inception in 2011. The report shows $18.5 billion saved through efficiency improvements. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Newsom Assures California Always A Partner On Climate Change As He Begins China Trip” • Governor Newsom opened a week-long trip to China with an assurance that California will be a partner on climate issues no matter how the US presidential election turns out next year. Newsom is reinforcing his state’s role as a global climate change leader. [ABC News]

Gavin Newsom in Canada (Office of the Governor of California)

¶ “TotalEnergies Starts Up 380-MW Texas Solar” • TotalEnergies has started commercial operations of a 380 MW solar farm south of Houston. Myrtle solar farm is co-located with a battery storage plant with an energy capacity of 225 MWh. The site has 705,000 ground-mounted PV panels installed over an area equivalent to 1,800 American football fields. [reNews]

¶ “Nuclear Power Plants On Agenda As Illinois Veto Session Begins Tuesday” • Illinois state lawmakers return to the capitol as the 2023 veto session begins. One of Illinois Gov JB Pritzker’s most notable vetoes of 2023 was a bill that would have lifted the moratorium on building new nuclear power plants and allowed small modular nuclear reactors. [WGEM]

Have a decidedly superb day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “What’s New On The Rungs Of Liebreich’s Hydrogen Ladder?” • Michael Liebreich is the founder of what is now Bloomberg New Energy Finance. He has been assessing where the big money is in half-trillion dollar chunks for the past 20 years or so. One of his more useful hydrogen infographics is the Hydrogen Ladder, and now he’s updated it. [CleanTechnica]

Hydrogen ladder (Michael Liebrich, CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.

¶ “New Marine Energy Harvesting Devices Are (Finally) Heaving Into View” • CleanTechnica will report from The Hague next week for the 2023 Ocean Energy Europe Conference and Exhibition. While we wait for it, let’s take a look at the goings-on over at the Dutch Marine Energy Centre, which earned the post of Platinum Sponsor at the event. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “Here Is Why I Am Excited About Toyota’s New EPU Pickup And Land Cruiser Se Electric Concepts” • Toyota, which has resisted selling battery EVs, unveiled two interesting concepts of the type at the Japan Mobility Show 2023. These are the Toyota Land Cruiser Se Concept BEV and the EPU Double Cab Mid-Sized Pickup BEV concept. [CleanTechnica]

Toyota EPU Pickup BEV concept (Courtesy of Toyota)

¶ “More Electric Buses Deployed By Energy Producer Aboitiz In Philippine Urban Centers” • Aboitiz Equity Ventures, a Philippine energy producer that also operates in numerous other sectors, is making headway promoting simple EV technologies for public service, overcoming charging issues by centralizing strategically located stations. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Average Tailpipe Emissions Today Higher Than They Were Ten Years Ago” • Research by Possible, a UK climate advocacy group, finds that average tailpipe emissions from new internal combustion increased in the last ten years. In fact, anyone who wants the non-electric car with the lowest tailpipe emissions might best buy a used 2016 model. [CleanTechnica]

Ford Explorer (Courtesy of Ford)

¶ “Commission Publishes Recommendations To Tackle Energy Poverty Across The EU” • Energy poverty affects citizens in every EU country. In 2022, high energy prices and high costs of living meant an estimated 9.3% of Europeans were unable to keep their homes adequately warm, up from 6.9% in 2021. The Commission published its recommendations. [Energy]

¶ “Rio Tinto Signs First Nations Power Deal For Solar, Wind And Battery Projects” • Mining giant Rio Tinto is seeking to roll out a series of solar, wind and battery projects to replace the gas-fired generators on which its huge iron ore mines currently depend. The company signed a green power deal with the Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation. [Renew Economy]

Pilbara (Eddie Bugajewski, Unsplash)

¶ “Indian Government Plans Strict Regulations For Domestic Solar Panel Manufacturing” • The Indian government is set to implement a policy that will require solar panels to be composed of domestically manufactured cells, wafers, and polysilicon in order to be registered under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers. [SolarQuarter]

¶ “Old Coal Mine Filled With Warm Water Has Been Heating A Town With Green Energy For Six Months” • Britain’s deep coal mines have become a surprising source of green energy. It’s been heating the town of Gateshead successfully for six months. The scheme is thought to be replicable in areas with large abandoned mine works. [Good News Network]

Gateshead facility (Britain’s Coal Authority)

¶ “Fossil Fuel Power: A Dying Trend In 50% Of Economies” • A new study by Ember, an energy think tank, has revealed that half of the world’s economies have already crossed the peak of power generation from fossil fuels. This means they have not increased their fossil fuel power output for at least five years since reaching their highest level. [Interesting Engineering]

¶ “Some EU Policies ‘Hinder’ Climate Action, WWF says” • The World Wildlife Fund decried EU climate measures in a report, Among WWF’s ‘hall of shame’ of the EU’s worst measures for the climate are the failure to tax aviation fuels and the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the so-called sustainable finance taxonomy, the EU’s green investment rulebook. [Euronews.com]

Power station with smoke (Travis Leery, Unsplash)

US:

¶ “California Governor Gavin Newsom is traveling to China to talk climate change” • California Governor Gavin Newsom will try to reinforce his state’s role as a global leader on climate change as he begins a weeklong visit to China on Monday, a trip that presents both political risk and opportunity for crucial international collaboration. [ABC News]

¶ “Prize Finalists Make Home Electrification Solutions Look EAS-E” • The EAS-E Prize is offering up to $2.4 million in cash prizes and technical assistance to accelerate development of easy, affordable, and equitable electrification. Each finalist team will receive $5,000 in cash and a $75,000 voucher to work with national laboratories. [CleanTechnica]

Hydronic Shell modular panel (Courtesy of Hydronic Shell)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.

¶ “Clean Energy Advocates Appeal New NC Rules That Cut Payments To Rooftop Solar Owners” • Worried that growth of residential solar power in North Carolina could slow down badly, several environment groups asked the state’s Court of Appeals to overturn Duke Energy’s new rates and rules for rooftop solar panels. [Wilmington Star-News]

¶ “Governor Vetoes New York Offshore Wind Transmission Act” • Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, has vetoed the Planned Offshore Wind Transmission Act. New York State has set a target of 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035. The American Clean Power Association described the veto as a “significant blow” to the state’s renewable energy goals. [reNews]

Have a nicely settled day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Solution For A World Awash In Chicken Feathers” • Researchers found something to do with the millions of tonnes of chicken feathers produced annually. A team from two technological universities has applied a tailored form of keratin to make bio-based membranes for zero emission hydrogen fuel cells. [CleanTechnica]

The birds (Egor Myznik, Unsplash)

¶ “How We Know Past Climate Without Thermometers” • To figure out the global climate before thermometers, we need an understanding of geology and chemistry to decode the planet’s temperature in earlier times. Digging into coastal sediments and glaciers reveals mud and ice that is hundreds of thousands of years old. [The Daily Progress]

World:

¶ “Coffee Is In Danger. Starbucks Is Working On Solutions” • Coffee is a finicky crop, especially arabica coffee, the most popular type. Climate change poses a huge threat to the coffee business and to farmers. The Inter-American Development Bank warned that by 2050 “rising temperatures will reduce the area suitable for growing coffee by up to 50%.” [CNN]

Coffee beans (Rodrigo Flores, Unsplash)

¶ “Could The UK’s Tides Help Wean Us Off Fossil Fuels?” • Tidal power represents a huge store of renewable energy, and the UK, an island nation with some of the world’s most powerful tides, is uniquely well-placed to exploit that resource. Tidal power can store huge amounts of tidal energy, and the UK is uniquely well-placed to exploit that resource. [BBC]

¶ “Scania Unveils Cutting-Edge Battery-Electric Bus Platform At Busworld” • The new Scania battery-electric bus platform is a pivotal part of the company’s overall e-mobility portfolio. This groundbreaking platform offers low-entry 4×2 buses equipped with batteries giving it a range of over 500 km (310 miles) under optimal conditions. [CleanTechnica]

Scania’s latest BEV bus on display (Photo from Scania)

¶ “Hong Kong Needs More Renewable Power And Government Land Grants” • Limitations on using renewable power in Hong Kong present a major barrier to constructing data centres with low carbon footprint in the city amid rising energy consumption, according to a vice-president of a technology arm of Sun Hung Kai Properties. [South China Morning Post]

¶ “More Renewable Energy Loans For Community Projects” • Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia is in the news again funding two projects to support community organizations’ moves to renewables. It is giving interest-free renewable energy loans to a children’s family center in New South Wales and a theater in South Australia. [CleanTechnica]

Capri Theatre (Photo courtesy of CORENA)

¶ “Here’s Why A Giant, 2,361-Mile Cable Will Be Installed Under The Sea From Morocco To The UK” • The world’s longest subsea power cable, stretching 2,361 miles, is planned to supply clean energy from Morocco to the UK. According to Electrek, Xlinks was designated a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project to get it quick approvals. [Yahoo News New Zealand]

US:

¶ “Fossil-Free, 100% Affordable Housing Can Mean Residents Have No Utility Bills” • The US federal government announced awards of over $100 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Inflation Reduction Act to help renovate the homes of more than 1,500 low income families to be zero energy and climate resilient. [CleanTechnica]

Brewster Woods (Preservation of Affordable Housing image)

¶ “GasLeasks.Org Is Targeting Natural Gas Health Threats” • GasLeaks.org is on a mission to educate the public about natural gas and the happy talk the industry spreads about methane being clean burning. When it burns, methane does release less carbon dioxide than coal or oil derivatives. But methane leaks have big problems for other reasons. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Climate Change Decimated Alaska’s Snow Crab Population” • A group of NOAA scientists published a paper, “The collapse of eastern Bering Sea snow crab.” It explores the disappearance of 10 billion snow crabs from the Bering Sea between 2018 and 2021. It makes a convincing case that that 10 billion snow crabs were killed off by climate change.[InsideHook]

Steamed snow crab (donchili, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

¶ “Hopkinton Council Approves Solar Contract For Hopkinton PD, First Phase Of Energy Upgrades” • The town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island will move forward with installing solar panels on the Hopkinton Police Department, a move the Town Manager Brian Rosso said would save the community almost $10,000 in the first year and more after that. [Westerly Sun]

¶ “Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $2 Billion In Funding To Increase Climate Resilience” • Officers of Homeland Security, FEMA, and the White House announced that FEMA is making $1.8 billion available for grant programs designed to help communities increase resilience to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather. [Homeland Security Today]

Lightning (NOAA, Unsplash)

¶ “Navigator Cancels Proposed Midwestern CO₂ Pipeline, Citing ‘Unpredictable’ Regulatory Processes” • A company said it would cancel its plans for a 1,300-mile (2,092-km) pipeline across five Midwestern states that would have gathered the carbon dioxide emissions from several ethanol plants and buried the gas deep underground. [MPR News]

¶ “Democratic Governors Block Bills For New Nuclear Power Plants” • In the last three months, the Democratic governors of Illinois and North Carolina vetoed bills to build new reactors in their states, warning that doing so would divert money and attention from a strategy of using renewable energy backed up, at least for now, with natural gas. [Yahoo News]

Have an agreeably effortless day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “Zeroing In On EV Batteries With More Storage And Faster Charging” • A novel lithium-based electrolyte material can be used to develop solid-state batteries that charge faster and store more energy than conventional designs. Experiments showed the solid-electrolyte is stable in normal air environments and inhibits the growth of dendrites. [CleanTechnica]

Solid-state battery graphic (ORNL image)

¶ “ORNL Scientists Close The Cycle On How To Recycle Mixed Plastics” • Mixed plastics are difficult to separate into to their constituent polymers. To address the issue, scientists at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used careful chemical design, neutron scattering, and high-performance computing to develop a recycling process. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Siemens-Led Group Completes Test of 100% Renewable Hydrogen in Gas Turbine” • A consortium that includes Siemens Energy and ENGIE said it completed what the group called the world’s first operational test of a gas turbine fueled with 100% renewable hydrogen. The hydrogen is produced by a 1-MW electrolyzer at the site. [POWER Magazine] Does this have value?

Gas turbine (US DOE image) 

World:

¶ “Is An Australian EV Road User Tax Inevitable?” • EVs made headlines again this week with the Australian High Court decision to rescind an EV road user tax based on kilometres travelled, introduced by the Victorian state government in July 2021. The issue will doubtless be challenged by the states to base taxation on use of the road. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Jamaica Tackles Kingston Harbor Plastic Pollution With New Technology” • Jamaica is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. But Jamaica suffers from the same curse of pollution, much of it from plastics, as other human enclaves. The Kingston Harbor Cleanup Project is using technology to return the harbor to its former glory. [CleanTechnica]

Jamaicans who clean up (Courtesy of Clean Kingston Harbor)

¶ “Orlen Group And Northland Power Greenlight Baltic Power Wind Project” • The Orlen Group has committed to develop the Baltic Power wind farm off Poland, in partnership with Canada’s Northland Power. The company has also started construction of a terminal that could facilitate five more wind farms for a total capacity of 5.2 GW. [Offshore Magazine]

¶ “A 13-GW Renewable Energy Project Will Benefit Jammu and Kashmir” • Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Friday said that the 13-GW renewable energy project approved by the cabinet would benefit Jammu and Kashmir, along with other parts of the country. The government is uninterrupted and reliable power supply to the people. [Greater Kashmir]

Houseboats in Kashmir (Isa Macouzet, Unsplash)

¶ “Researchers Make Astounding Reveal About The Cost Of Solar Power And Battery Storage” • A study by the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change indicates that affordable and eco-friendly energy options got so much cheaper to install in the last ten years that they might just be all we need by 2050, Interesting Engineering reports. [MSN]

¶ “Australia’s Main Grid Hits New Renewable Energy Record – On Another Weekday” • Australia’s main grid set a record for renewable energy production on Friday, for the second time in the week, with a peak of 71.3%, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator. The record was set over a 30-minute trading period ending at noon. [Renew Economy]

Solar field and farm field (Nextracker image)

US:

¶ “What Does It Take To Modernize The US Electric Grid?” • The US electric grid was largely built in the 1960s and 1970s. While the system has been improved, aging infrastructure is struggling to meet our modern electricity needs, such as renewable energy and growing electrification for buildings and transportation. Now the US is addressing the problem. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Colorado Adopts Clean Cars Standards, But Leaves Benefits On The Table” • In a win for the climate, public health, and residents’ pocketbooks, Colorado officials adopted a Clean Cars policy, ensuring that its people will have access to more electric and hybrid vehicles. By 2032, 82% of new vehicles sold in the state must be plug-in types. [CleanTechnica]

Jenny Ueberberg in her Tesla (Jenny Ueberberg, Unsplash)

¶ “Grain Belt Express Transmission Line Nears Final Approval” • The Grain Belt Express was stalled with regulatory battles and legal challenges for over a decade. Now one of the last hurdles has been cleared, as the Missouri Public Service Commission dropped its objections after the developer agreed to deliver half of the electricity to Missouri. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Grid Resilience Projects On Kauaʻi Receive $18 Million In Federal Funds” • The US DOE is putting $3.5 billion to improve electric grid resilience across the country, and a portion of that funding will go towards Hawaii’s clean energy goals. Two of the technology demonstrations projects by the Hawaii State Energy Office are to get grants. [Hawaii Public Radio]

Solar array (Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative)

¶ “Felch OKs Permit For Groveland Mine Solar Power Farm” • A plan to establish a solar farm at the former Groveland Mine has gained the final local government authorization needed to move forward. The 120-MW array in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will sit on 500 to 550 acres, much of it at an open pit mine that had closed in 1981. [The Mining Journal]

¶ “Corner Cutting Of Nuclear Proportions As Duo Admit To Falsifying Safety Tests 29 Times” • Two men this week confessed to deliberately bypassing testing protocols that are essential to keeping nuclear power plants safe. This happened not once, not twice, but 29 times. The testing was faked at a number of plants over a period of a decade. [Theregister]

Have a quite excellent day.

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Opinion:

¶ “The World Is Mobilizing Against Big Biomass This Week” • In actions around the world, protestors stress that burning forest-based wood pellets for large-scale energy production imperils climate change efforts and harms communities. Governments are urged to prevent carbon-storing forests from being turned into wood chips. [CleanTechnica]

Capitol Building (Jorge Alcala, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “A Possible Legal And Policy Blitzkrieg Against CleanTech” • An item that kept coming up in the news and getting promptly buried last month was Project 2025. At its core of Project 2025 is a book, of over 900 pages saying what the Heritage Foundation hopes it could do during the first six months of a Republican administration in 2025. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “BYD: The Top Electric Car Maker That Is Not Tesla” • Tesla has a Chinese rival in its rear-view mirror. Shares in BYD, or Build Your Dreams, jumped this week after it said it expected profits in the third quarter to more than double compared with last year. BYD is now ahead of Tesla in quarterly production, and just second to Tesla in global sales. [BBC]

BYD Atto 3 (Alexander Migl, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Portugal’s Barroso Lithium Mine Project Faces Villagers’ Ire” • An ancient farming village up in the Portuguese mountains is fighting plans for an opencast lithium mine right on its doorstep. Portugal’s lithium reserves are considered central to Europe’s increasing demand for EVs, but the villagers say that does not justify ruining their way of life. [BBC]

¶ “Partners To Deploy 200,000 Electric Motorcycles And 5,000 Battery Swap Stations In Africa By 2030” • Kofa, a Ghanaian company focusing on battery swap networks, and TAILG are jointly developing a battery swap-enabled electric motorcycle called Jidi. They hope to deploy 200,000 EVs using the Kofa battery swap network by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

TAILG factory (Courtesy of Kofa)

¶ “IAEA Team Gathers Samples Near Fukushima As Treated Radioactive Water Is Released” • An International Atomic Energy Agency team is visiting Fukushima for its first marine sampling since the nuclear plant began releasing treated radioactive water. One team member said he does not expect any rise in radiation levels in the area’s fish. [ABC News]

¶ “Jinkosolar Is To Supply 3.8 GW Of Modules To ACWA Power Solar Farms” • Chinese solar module manufacturer JinkoSolar agreed to supply 3.8 GW of its n-type panels to ACWA Power for use at two solar projects under construction in Saudi Arabia. The panels will be installed at the 2.3-GW Ar Rass 2 project and the 1.5-GW Al Kahfah solar farm. [PV Tech]

Solar farm (Jinkosolar image)

¶ “Australia Needs ‘Drastic’ Renewables Boost As Nuclear Not An Option For Decades, Says Center-Right Thinktank” • A center-right thinktank is calling for “drastically accelerated deployment” of renewable energy, batteries, and transmission infrastructure. It acknowledged there is no prospect of nuclear energy playing a role in Australia before 2040. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ “Atlantic Hurricanes Twice As Likely To Strengthen From Weak To Major Intensity In 24 Hours” • The Atlantic basin’s tropical cyclones may now be more than twice as likely to strengthen from a weak hurricane or tropical storm into a major hurricane in just 24 hours due to climate change, a paper published in Scientific Reports found. [ABC News]

Atlantic hurricanes (NASA, Unsplash)

¶ “Biden Wants To Drag The Creaky, Cranky US Electrical Grid Into The 21st Century” • In some cases, requests to connect to the grid are taking up to five years for approval, which is why the Biden administration announced $3.46 billion in funding to upgrade America’s electric grid. It is the largest single investment in the US grid in history. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “It’s A Hydrogen Fuel Cell Train Party, And California Has Been Invited” • Many slings and arrows have been lobbed at the idea of outfitting EVs with hydrogen fuel cells instead of battery packs, but the vision of fuel cells refuses to die. Now California is to add a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell trains to its stable of alternatives to fossil fuel. [CleanTechnica]

Hydrogen fuel cell train in California (Stadler, California DOT)

¶ “Crops And Solar Intersect As Iowa’s First Agrivoltaics Project Prepares To Power Up” • An Alliant Energy Solar Farm at Iowa State University is not your typical solar array. Come next year, the ground underneath and around the panels will bloom with fruits, vegetables, and pollinator plants. It is called agrivoltaics, farming and solar together. [The Gazette]

¶ “‘A Massive Enterprise’: California’s Offshore Wind Farms Are On A Fast Track” • The areas off California with the strongest winds are far from shore and too deep for traditional platforms, so developers are planning clusters of floating platforms about 20 miles off the coast, in waters more than a half-mile deep and tethered by cables. [The Salinas Californian]

Morro Bay (Morro Bay Tourism Bureau)

¶ “Charting A Clean Energy Future” • In a recent report, The Nature Conservancy found that businesses in five Midwestern states – Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin – have been rising to the challenge of reducing their carbon footprints. They are setting ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets and working to attain their goals. [The Nature Conservancy]

¶ “Our 10-Year Utilities Forecast: Renewable Energy To Triple By 2032” • Morningstar estimates that 45% of US power generation will be renewable energy by 2032. With more aggressive clean energy policies to meet key US climate targets, these numbers could increase even more. Morningstar thinks the renewable energy sector is 12% undervalued. [Morningstar]

Have a highly valued day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Seven Myths About Fuels And Electric Trucks From The Oil & Gas Industry” • In this briefing, we focus on three different types of fuels: e-diesel, hydrotreated vegetable oil, and biomethane, as these are the alternatives to zero-emission trucks most touted by the O&G industry, which has been promoting a set of myths to build up public support. [CleanTechnica]

Frankenfuels (Image via Transport & Environment)

¶ “Expectations For Tesla Have Just Gotten Too Ridiculous” • In Tesla’s third quarter 2023 conference call for investors, Elon Musk sounded a bit depressed. And investors wanted to know why the expectation was that Tesla’s sales volume for 2024 would only be up 28% from 2023. Why was it not rising at a CAGR of 50%, as it was supposed to do? [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Achieving Energy Security Without Nuclear Power” • “I was asked by a government official in the energy sector: ‘Without nuclear energy, how can Vietnam meet its energy demands?'” According to the IEA’s Net Zero Emission by 2050 Scenario, the goal of reaching net zero emissions will be done almost entirely on renewable energy. [VnExpress International]

Wind turbines (Dan Meyers, Unsplash)

World:

¶ “US Eases Venezuela Oil Sanctions After Election Deal” • The US is easing sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas, and gold sectors after the country’s government and opposition agreed to have next year’s election monitored by international observers. Other sanctions imposed over suppression of protests and erosion of democracy remain in place. [BBC]

¶ “Greta Thunberg Charged With Public Order Offense In UK After Arrest Outside Oil Event” • Climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested and charged with a public order offense at a protest against an oil and gas industry conference in London. She was charged with violating the Public Order Act, which allows police to impose limits on public assemblies. [ABC News]

Earliaer demonstration (Mika Baumeister, Unsplash)

¶ “30% Of New Cars In France Now Plugin Electric Cars!” • In France, plugin vehicle sales keep rising. Last month’s plugin vehicle registrations ended at 45,883 units, divided between 30,213 battery EVs, up 34% year over year to reach 20% share of the overall auto market, and 15,670 plugin hybrids, which were up 35% for a up 10% market share. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “CSIRO Claims Falling Particle Concentrated Solar Power Can Lead To A Net Zero Economy” • Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization says a research facility for concentrated solar power made a breakthrough with “falling ceramic particles” technology, which captures and stores solar energy as heat. [CleanTechnica]

Heliostats (Courtesy of CSIRO)

¶ “Southern Alberta Municipalities Receive Substantial Revenue From Renewable Energy Projects, Says New Analysis” • A non-profit organization that opposes the province’s moratorium on new renewable energy projects has released an analysis that shows Alberta municipalities collect millions in taxes from solar and wind projects. [Calgary Herald]

¶ “Ingka Invests In Source Galileo’s Offshore Wind Portfolio” • Ingka Investments, the investment arm of IKEA’s largest retailer, Ingka Group, will take a 20% stake in the offshore wind project portfolio of Source Galileo, who are developing 10 GW of wind to electricity and hydrogen production off the northwestern coasts of Europe. [Power Engineering International]

Offshore wind turbines (Source Galileo Image)

¶ “Nuclear-Powered Cargo Ship Is A Suspect In Baltic Pipeline Breach” • A nuclear-powered cargo ship is one of two vessels that attracted investigators’ attention after damage to a subsea gas pipeline in the Baltic. It seems it was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Sevmorput is the last nuclear-powered cargo vessel in the world. [The Maritime Executive]

US:

¶ “GOP-Led States And Industry Groups Ask Supreme Court To Block Biden’s ‘Good Neighbor’ Pollution Rule” • GOP-led states, fossil fuel groups, and utilities filed an emergency request asking the Supreme Court to block the implementation of the “good neighbor” rule, which aims to reduce air pollution that wafts across state lines. [CNN]

Air pollution (Maxim Tolchinskiy, Unsplash)

¶ “$3.5 Billion For Largest Ever Investment In America’s Electric Grid” • White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Secretary of Energy Jennifer M Granholm announced $3.46 billion in funding for 58 projects in 44 states to strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability throughout the country. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Mobile Microgrid Builder Makes Renewable Power Beautiful” • A San Francisco firm makes elegant mobile microgrids that deliver renewable power anywhere it’s needed. And they double as art. Southern Beams Builds makes Dragon Wings, 30-kW solar-battery generators in 20-foot mobile containers. They have wings of mythical beasts. [The Energy Mix]

Dragon Wings (Southern Beams Builds image)

¶ “Solar And Storage Industry Celebrate Construction Inclusion Week” • Solar industry jobs in the US are growing. The National Solar Jobs Census shows that representation of veterans, Asian, Hispanic, and Latino workers in the industry outpaces the rest of the economy, and solar companies have made a lot of progress to hire more women. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Indiana Michigan Power Will Build Four Solar Plants By 2026” • Indiana Michigan Power will expand their renewable energy initiatives with four new solar plants coming by mid-2026. Two will be in Michiana. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved I&M’s plan to expand its renewable energy capacity to power over 200,000 typical homes. [ABC57]

Have a delightfully amiable day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Clean Cars Yield $178 Billion In Benefits For Illinois” • Illinois has a big opportunity to provide significant air quality, health, and economic benefits to its residents by adopting the Advanced Clean Cars II standard. The cumulative net societal benefits may reach $168.8 billion to $178 billion by 2050, depending on how the standard is adopted. [CleanTechnica]

Chicago (Joel Mott, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Ed Markey On Nuclear Energy And Climate Voters” • “The economics of nuclear power don’t seem to be working out very well right now. The Vogtle nuclear [will] produce 2,400 MW of power, but its now estimated to cost $34 billion … [Imagine] what would happen if Georgia Power would’ve invested $34 billion in solar and storage in sunny Georgia. [Axios]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Efficient And Environmentally Friendly EV Battery Recycling With A New Recipe” • Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology found an efficient way to recycle EV batteries. It is possible to recover 100% aluminum and 98% lithium. At the same time, the loss of valuable raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and manganese is minimized. [CleanTechnica]

Chemistry (Anna-Lena Lundqvist, © CUT)

¶ “Scientists Find The Potential Key To Longer-Lasting Sodium Batteries For Electric Vehicles” • Electron microscopy and X-ray scattering revealed a cause of rapid performance decline in sodium-ion batteries: defects introduced in making the cathode material. Knowing this, researchers can design better cathodes for longer-lasting batteries. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “Why Clean Air Is A Luxury That Many Can’t Afford” • In the past, indoor air pollution killed many people. But modern forms of air pollution, caused by burning fossil fuels and industries, increasingly claim lives. It is estimated that 4.5 million people died prematurely as a result of outdoor air pollution in 2019, 1.6 million more than in 2000. [BBC]

Smog in Bangkok (Nick van den Berg, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Toyota Makes A Real EV Move With An LG Battery Deal” • After dismissing EVs and pushing hard on hydrogen and hybrids, Toyota did something we haven’t seen much lately: It put in an order for some normal, buy-them-today battery cells! LG Energy Solution will supply automotive battery modules for Toyota’s expanding line of EVs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Galileo Signs Its First CPPA” • Galileo, a European renewables development platform, has signed its first corporate PPA with an unnamed global corporation listed on the NYSE. The 10-year PPA relates to electricity generated by three of Galileo’s solar PV projects in Italy, aiming to decarbonise the client company’s production processes. [reNews]

Solar panels (Asia Chang, Unsplash)

¶ “Significant Portion Of Eolus’ 1-GW Offshore Wind Farm Will Go To Volvo Cars” • Renewable energy developer Eolus has signed a letter of intent to collaborate with Volvo Cars on the Västvind offshore wind power project, in waters off Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars is building a battery factory it is building with Northvolt. [North American Windpower]

¶ “Scotland To Invest £500 Million In Offshore Wind Supply Chain” • First Minister Humza Yousaf has announced that the Scottish Government will invest up to £500 million in the next five years in Scotland’s offshore wind supply chain. He said there is a potential for £25 billion to be invested in the Scottish supply chain over the lifetime of ScotWind. [reNews]

Humza Yousaf (Scottish Government via Flickr)

¶ “World May Have Crossed Solar Power ‘Tipping Point’” • The world may have crossed a “tipping point” to make solar power our main source of energy. A study, based on a data-based model of technology and economics, finds that solar PVs are likely to become the dominant power source before 2050, even without supporting climate policies. [ScienceDaily]

US:

¶ “21 Species Have Been Delisted From The Endangered Species Act, And Not For A Good Reason” • The US Fish and Wildlife Service has delisted 21 species from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction, the agency announced. The decision to delist the species was made after a rigorous review for each species, the US FWS explained. [ABC News]

Bridled White-Eye, extinct (Peter, CC-BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

¶ “GM Contributes Important Automotive Software Standards” • After producing software the author refers to simply as “bad,” GM has acted to improve things. In a recent press release, we learn that GM is working on expanding access to secure vehicle data for not only Ultium cars, but for other automakers aiming to do the same. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Green Hydrogen Slugfest Pits INPEX Against ExxonMobil In Texas” • The dust has settled over the final selection of winning projects in the new US Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, and now the real fight begins. All eyes are on Texas, where green hydrogen stakeholders are already jockeying for opportunities to eliminate fossil-sourced hydrogen. [CleanTechnica]

Planned green hydrogen facility (GHI via prnewswire.com)

¶ “EERC-Led Regional H₂ Project To Get Almost $1 Billion In Federal Funding” • The Heartland Hydrogen Hub was chosen by the DOE for a regional clean energy project. The award is in talks for up to $925 million. The collaborative HH₂H initiative will produce low-carbon hydrogen, decarbonize supply chains, and create clean energy jobs. [University of North Dakota]

¶ “Palisades Nuclear Papers Indicate Cost Of Repowering Higher Than Anticipated” • Documents suggest Holtec International bought the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant with no intention of decommissioning it, that they plan to install modular nuclear units there, and their projected cost for restarting Palisades is much larger than originally thought. [WSJM]

Have a fortunately grounded day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “New Wave Energy Devices To Suck Clean Kilowatts From The Seven Seas” • Building a better mousetrap could catch attention, but if that is out of reach, the next best thing is to build a better wave energy converter. Most of the activity is still taking place in the experiment-and-demonstrate phase, but the US Navy is one of those cheering hard. [CleanTechnica]

Oscilla Power wave conversion unit (Oscilla Power image)

¶ “Surprising Discovery About Coral’s Resilience Could Help Reefs Survive Climate Change” • A team at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences studied a star coral, Orbicella faveolata, to see whether coral populations that survived heat can pass their heat tolerance on to their offspring. The results showed the opposite. [USC Dornsife]

World:

¶ “Scotland’s Biggest Offshore Wind Farm At Full Power” • The biggest offshore wind farm off Scotland has begun operating at full capacity. Seagreen, off the Angus coast, can generate enough electricity to power two-thirds of Scotland’s households. The £3 billion project, comprising 114 giant turbines, has been more than a decade in the making. [BBC]

Offshore wind turbines (掬茶, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Oil Co To Help Toyota Mass Produce New Solid-State Battery” • Toyota unveiled a new solid-state battery last summer, and the company has not been letting the grass grow under its feet. Last week, the company hooked up with the Japanese oil producer Idemitsu Kosan to mass produce the battery within an ambitious 2027-2028 time frame. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “EU Ministers Back Near Phaseout Of Diesel Trucks” • EU environment ministers backed CO₂ targets for trucks proposed by the EU Commission. Manufacturers will have to reduce the average emissions of new freight trucks by 45% in 2030 and 90% in 2040. The ministers rejected proposed loopholes for e-fuels and biofuels. [CleanTechnica]

eActros (Image by Mercedes-Benz)

¶ “Cape Town’s EV Pilot Project Shows A Strong Business Case For Municipalities To Procure EVs For Their Fleets” • A recent case study by the City of Cape Town’s transport department, in collaboration with GreenCape, gives some valuable insights into some of their operations and how they can be electrified. Cape Town’s fleet has 9,386 vehicles. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New Brunswick And Nova Scotia Strike Deal With Ottawa On Phasing Out Coal And Creating A Green Energy Grid By 2030” • The governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have got approval from the federal government for their plans to increase the use of renewable energy and stop using coal to generate electricity by 2030. [CBC]

New Brunswick wind turbines (Dr Wilson, CC-BY-SA 3.0, cropped)

¶ “Hai Long Team Confirms A €3 Billion Financing Deal” • Northland Power and its partners have met all conditions and completed the NT$117 billion (€3.43 billion, $3.62 billion) financing for the 1-GW Hai Long offshore wind project off Taiwan. It is located approximately 45 to 70 km off the coast of Changhua in the Taiwan Strait. [reNews]

¶ “Siemens Energy Delivers Hybrid Storage System In Ireland” • Siemens Energy will deliver a hybrid grid stabilisation and battery storage plant of 160-MWh at Shannonbridge in Ireland. It is the first combination of synchronous condenser and battery into one, single grid connection to stabilise the grid and make better use of renewable energy. [reNews]

Irish wind farm (Sarah777, public domain)

¶ “Nukes, Climate Change Are Both Threats, Say Activists” • The activists opposed to nuclear energy are warning people not to be fooled by an industry that says it can save the world from climate change. The activists bill both greenhouse gas emissions and the combination of nuclear waste and arms proliferation as the two biggest threats of our time. [Penticton Herald]

US:

¶ “Record-Low Water Levels Recorded Along The Mississippi River During Prime Season To Ship Grain” • Mississippi River water levels reached record lows from Missouri to Arkansas, preventing shipments of grain and other goods from making their way downriver during one of the busiest times of year, National Weather Service data shaows. [ABC News]

Barges at a lock (Joe Ross, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “IBEW, IUOE, And LIUNA Sign Historic Three-Union Solar Agreement” • The presidents of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Laborers International Union of North America, and the International Union of Operating Engineers signed a tri-trade solar agreement governing utility-scale solar project construction. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Save $900 On This Electric Fat Tire Trike From Addmotor” • Right now, the Addmotor Arisetan II M-360 is on sale for $3099, down a full $900 from its regular retail price. The company is also throwing in over $200 in freebies with each purchase at this time: a backpack, handlebar bag, mirrors, and reflective stripes for the rims. [CleanTechnica]

Electric fat tire trike (Addmotor image)

¶ “Supply Costs To Rise For Energy Aggregation Program” • For residents included in the community electricity aggregation program with the town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, energy supply costs will increase soon. Nevertheless, the new costs are still lower than current Eversource rates, and town officials expect it to stay that way. [Dartmouth Week]

¶ “Wind And Solar Siting Bills Draw Criticism From Michigan Local Governments” • Michigan’s House of Representatives is considering bills giving state regulators power to approve zoning for certain wind and solar energy projects. The bills are part of a push to boost renewable energy in Michigan while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. [Michigan Radio]

Have a wonderfully carefree day.

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Opinion and Interviews:

¶ “Volt Solar Tile – The Roof Of The Future?” • Leeson Group, based in Melbourne, has already developed 150 MW of solar farms and has projects amounting to 750 MW in the pipeline. The revenue from these projects has been used to develop the Volt solar tile, which was launched in October last year. Here is an interview with Peter Leeson. [CleanTechnica]

Peter Leeson with the Volt solar tile (Courtesy of Leeson Group)

¶ “Small Modular Nuclear Reactors: Unlikely, Unaffordable, Dirty, And Dangerous” • A year ago, Gov Glenn Youngkin announced proposals for his new Virginia Energy Plan. He declared, “A growing Virginia must have reliable, affordable, and clean energy for Virginia’s families and businesses.” SMRs are none of those things. [Cardinal News]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Climate Change Will Make These Places Too Hot To Live” • As global temperatures rise, long periods of extreme heat will make certain regions ‘unlivable’ for weeks at a time, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says. The Washington Post examines the bleak report, which considers different scenarios. [Newser]

Delhi (Laurentiu Morariu, Unsplash)

¶ “MIT Design Would Harness 40% Of The Sun’s Heat To Make Clean Hydrogen” • In a study appearing in Solar Energy Journal, MIT engineers lay out the conceptual design for a system that can efficiently produce “solar thermochemical hydrogen.” The team estimates its new design could harness up to 40% of the sun’s heat to generate hydrogen. [MIT News]

World:

¶ “47% Of New Cars In Netherlands Now Plugin Cars!” • In the Netherlands, 47% of new cars sold in September were plugins. Furthermore, 34% were full electrics! The Netherlands saw an increase in plugin registrations to 13,916 units in September, with the Dutch plugin vehicle market thus reaching 47% of the overall auto market last month. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model Y (Michal Lauko, Unsplash)

¶ “WPD Secures Connection For 740-MW Swedish Wind” • The developer WPD has secured grid connection for two wind farms in Sweden with a total capacity in excess of 700 MW. WPD was awarded grid access for the two wind farms after signing the grid connection agreement for up to 740 MW installed wind power capacity with the grid operator Ellevio. [reNews]

¶ “DolWin5 Platform Sets Sail For Europe” • The platform for the 900-MW DolWin5 offshore converter has left Seatrium’s shipyard in Singapore and is expected to arrive at the Aibel shipyard in Norway next. Mighty Servant 1 will sail around 13,000 nautical miles around the Cape of Good Hope and is expected to arrive in December. [reNews]

DolWin5 Platform (TenneT image)

¶ “Australian Startup Develops PV-Hydrogen Standalone Power System” • Boundary Power, a union of West Australian utility Horizon Power and Victorian electrical engineering company Ampcontrol, launched a standalone power system that uses solar power and a renewable hydrogen hydride battery to store and generate electricity as needed. [PV Magazine]

US:

¶ “Tesla Model Y Low-Cost Ride Service Launched In Downtown Tampa” • Downtown Area Shared Hubs launched a low-cost ride service in downtown Tampa, Florida, using six Tesla Model Ys. Riders can use an app on iPhones or Android phones to schedule short zero-emissions trips in seven neighborhoods of downtown Tampa in the bright yellow Teslas. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model Ys (Downtown Tampa Partnership image)

¶ “Floating Offshore Wind Could Bring Billions In Value To The US West Coast” • A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report shows that along a 200-mile stretch of ocean off the coast of southern Oregon and northern California, floating wind farms could triple the Pacific Northwest’s wind power capacity while offsetting billions of dollars in costs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Fuel Cell Trucks Win Big In New $7 Billion US Hydrogen Plan” • Zero emission fuel cell trucks are big winners in the new Clean Energy Hydrogen Hubs competition, a $7 billion DOE program aimed at ramping up US H₂ production. About 95% of H₂ produced in the US comes from natural gas, and the program intends to cut costs of green sources. [CleanTechnica]

Fuel cell trucks at hydrogen fuel station (Courtesy of Quantron)

¶ “US Startup Launches Scalable Wave Energy Converter, Usable With Solar” • Wavr LLC, a startup based in Hawaii, is developing a wave energy converter that is designed to be scaled up and to be integrated with other renewable energy technologies. The company plans to sell a version integrating five 40-W solar panels for $2,300. [PV Magazine]

¶ “Construction Begins On 550-MW solar, 150-MW Energy Storage In US” • The first of three Origis Energy projects that combine 550 MW of solar and 150 MW of energy storage have begun construction in Mississippi. The projects are expected to deliver electricity to customers in the Tennessee Valley Authority service territory. [PV Magazine]

Solar array (Origis Energy image)

¶ “Utilities Still Moving Way Too Slowly On Clean Energy” • Very few US utilities are taking the real-world actions they need to combat the worst harms of climate change, a Sierra Club report says. With the tens of billions of dollars in incentives for clean energy created by last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, they have even less excuse for delay. [Canary Media]

¶ “Rhode Island Issues 1.2-GW Offshore RFP” • Rhode Island Energy has issued a Request for Proposals to secure an additional 1200 MW of offshore wind to help power the US east coast state’s energy needs. Developer bids can include proposals less than or up to approximately 1200 MW. Responding bids will be received through 31 January 2024. [reNews]

Have a reliably magnificent day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “Carbon Sequestration – Diving Into The Various Options” • The “net” of “net zero” implies that we can make up for the global warming from persistent emissions removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This can be done by enhancing the natural ability of vegetation to sequester the carbon. But it can also be done artificially. [CleanTechnica]

Carbon Sequestration (LeJean Hardin and Jamie Payne, DOE)

¶ “From Minor Player To Major League: Moving Beyond 4-Hour Energy Storage” • As extreme weather conditions increase and more building heating systems are electrified, peak demand is becoming more significant in winter. Demand peaks in winter also tend to be longer. Storage with longer duration than four hours is becoming importnat. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Solar And Wind Energy Could Fulfill Energy Demand 10-Fold, Oxford Study Finds” • Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment unveiled research indicating that wind and solar power could not only meet but vastly surpass the UK’s energy demands, providing a compelling pathway towards a greener, more sustainable future. [Cherwell]

Wind turbines (Charles Cook, Flicker, CC BY 2.0, cropped)

World:

¶ “Kia Pushes The EV Revolution Forward With Three New Electric Models” • The first annual Kia EV Day took place on October 12, 2023. The company used that event to formally introduce three new battery electric models available now or coming soon. Kia likes to keep things simple. The new models are the EV3, EV4, and EV5. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Affordable Electric Cars Like BYD Seagull And Wuling Bingo Could Be Big Hit In Africa” • Zimbabwe’s national statistics agency, Zimstat, recently released its Transport Statistics Report for the Second Quarter of 2023. About 95% of light vehicles are 8-year old imports. A new BYD Dolphin costs $10,690. That could transform the market. [CleanTechnica]

BYD Dolphin (BYD image)

¶ “EU Carbon Emission Rules Set To Rattle Pakistan’s Export Sector” • Starting this month, all businesses based in the EU countries are required to report on imported products that are “carbon emission-intensive.” . The new regime also requires that all carbon emissions be “financially offset” 2026 onwards. The change will impact Pakistan’s export sector. [Dawn]

¶ “Australia’s Biggest Battery Wins Federal Environmental Approval” • Australia’s biggest battery project, a 2,400-MWh facility 25 km from Melbourne’s central business district, won environmental approval from the Federal Labor government. The 1,200-MW battery Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub was proposed by Equis Australia. [Renew Economy]

Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub battery (Equis image)

¶ “France Aims To Double Its Renewable Capacity By 2035” • France aims to more than double its renewable power capacity by 2035, bringing unprecedented amounts of solar and wind power online to become carbon neutral by 2050. The French government is targeting 140 to 175 GW of installed wind, solar, and hydropower capacity in 12 years. [The National]

¶ “Engie And Posco Pursue Huge Green Hydrogen Project In Pilbara To Feed Green Steel” • Engie and South Korean steel maker Posco agreed to work together on a major green hydrogen project in Western Australia. There was no indication of the size of the project, although the two companies are working together on a 5-GW project in Oman. [Renew Economy]

Solar farm (Alinta Energy image)

¶ “TEPCO Opens Hatch On Reactor Container At Fukushima Plant; Plans To Start Debris Removal By End Of Fiscal 2023” • TEPCO announced that it had partially opened a hatch of the reactor containment vessel in the Unit 2 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiich nuclear plant. A robotic arm will reach into the hatch to begin debris removal. [The Japan News]

US:

¶ “Electric Bikes: A Less-Polluting Option For Commutes And Errands In The ‘New Normal’” • For moving one person around a city, an electric bike can be far cheaper than a car, and with more flexibility than most public transportation. Refueling an e-bike is cheap. There’s no requirement for insurance or registration. And parking is often free. [CleanTechnica]

Electric bike (Rad Power Bikes image)

¶ “Kia Releases Pricing And Specifications For EV9” • Customers in the US will be able to place an order for a Kia EV9 on October 16. It is one of the first battery-electric three-row SUVs available in America. This highly anticipated EV from Kia has generated lots of interest, but until now, few specifics about pricing and trim levels were available. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “US Oil Production Hits All-Time High, Conflicting With Efforts To Cut Heat-Trapping Pollution” • US oil production hit an all-time high last week, contrasting with efforts to reduce carbon emissions by the Biden administration and world leaders. It also conflicts with Republican claims that Biden is making “war on American energy.” [NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth]

Pumpjack (Jayrocky, Pexels)

¶ “Lujan Grisham Announces New Climate Center” • Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a climate initiative to help reduce impacts of climate change on New Mexico. The interim chair of  the New Mexico Climate Investment Center said, “It operates as an investment fund, focusing on clean energy and equity-focused investments.” [NM Political Report]

¶ “Snubbed As A Regional ‘Hydrogen Hub,’ Nebraskans Remain Charged Up About Clean Energy Growth” • Two companies in Nebraska that would have benefited from the federal funding – Monolith and Project Meadowlark – both said being passed over for a billion-dollar “hydrogen hub” grant will not stop their plans for expansion. [KSNB]

Have an intensively spectacular day.

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(, CC-BY-SA 3.0) km² CO₂ NH₃ CH₄ ₹ NOₓ ‽ ♦♦♦♦♦

Opinion:

¶ “Trends For The Next Decade Of Sustainable Investing” • The urgency for more capital to finance innovative sustainability actions is clear, as companies race toward a transition to net-zero energy and demand grows to finance additional related issues important to global economies, such as gender equity or ocean conservation. [Morgan Stanley]

Wildlife reserve in India (UnKknown Traveller, Unsplash)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Geothermal Energy Rising – Pros And Risks” • A geothermal energy technology by a Houston-based startup company, Fervo Energy is called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. It uses the oil and gas industry’s fracking techniques to access geothermal energy in placess where hot underground water does not reach the Earth’s surface. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Exploring Thermal Energy Storage Solutions For Energy-Efficient Buildings” • Established in November 2022, Stor4Build is a multilaboratory consortium working to hasten development, optimization, and equitable deployment of low-cost thermal energy storage technologies to enable buildings to run efficiently on renewable resources. [CleanTechnica]

Stor4Build laboratory (Werner Slocum, NREL)

World:

¶ “India’s Solar PV Capacity Soars To 71 GW, With Rooftop Solar Leading The Charge At 11 GW” • India has advanced its capacity rapidly, demonstrating a remarkable commitment to clean and renewable power sources. The Ministry of New And Renewable Energy said India’s solar PV capacity has grown to nearly 71,781 MW, with rooftop solar leading. [SolarQuarter]

¶ “HDF Proposes 1,500 MW Of Solar PV Combined With 3,500 MWh Of Green Hydrogen Storage” • South Africa has a fleet of over 20 GW of coal plants set to be decommissioned over the next couple of decades. HDF Energy, a developer of large-scale green hydrogen infrastructure and high-power fuel cells, has a proposal for how to replace them. [CleanTechnica]

Rendering of HDF Renewstable Mpumalanga (Courtesy of HDF)

¶ “Deal Inked For 1.5-GW Offshore Wind Projects” • Offshore wind developer Triconti Windkraft Group has entered into a partnership with Liechtenstein-based investor Sea Wind Holding AG for the development of two wind facilities in three provinces in Luzon and the Visayas to boost renewable power supply in the Philippines. [Inquirer Business]

¶ “EU Can Meet Its 2030 Solar Power Target With Agrivoltaics Alone” • Combining agriculture and photovoltaics as agrivoltaics on just 1% of agricultural area used in the EU could bring 944 GW of peak capacity online by 2030. This is according to data from the Overview of the Potential and Challenges for Agri-Photovoltaics in the European Union. [Balkan Green Energy News]

Solar panels on a rice paddy (Σ64, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “IAEA: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant To Move Second Reactor Into Hot Shutdown” • IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said authorities at the Russian-occupied plant informed the agency they were beginning to move reactor 5 from cold to hot shutdown in order to provide warm water and heating for Enerhodar ahead of the winter season. [Yahoo News]

US:

¶ “The Toll Of Heat Deaths In The Phoenix Area Soars After The Hottest Summer On Record” • After the Phoenix area’s hottest summer on record. the toll of heat-associated deaths in Maricopa County has reached over 360. The number is still being tallied, and it alarms public health officials who say the final count will surely set a new record. [ABC News]

Phoenix (Nader Abushhab, Unsplash)

¶ “Environmentalists Warn Of Intent To Sue Over Snail Species Living Near Nevada Lithium Mine” • In an ongoing legal battle with the Biden administration over a Nevada lithium mine, eco-activists are poised to return to court. They accuse US wildlife officials of dragging their feet on a year-old petition seeking endangered species status for a tiny snail. [ABC News]

¶ “Winthrop Center In Boston Named World’s Largest Passive House” • Millennium Partners, working with MIT, produced the world’s largest building ever to meet the Passive House Network standard. The 53-story Winthrop Center also meets the LEED Platinum standard set by the US Green Building Council and has been WELL Gold certified. [CleanTechnica]

Winthrop Center (Millennium Partners image)

¶ “EIA Expects Most US Households Will Spend Less On Energy This Winter” • US households that use natural gas and those that are located in the West, together over half of all US households, are expected to spend less on heating this winter, compared with last winter. US homes using heating oil will likely spend slightly more this winter than last. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Colorado Clean Energy Employment Rises To 64,000, More Than Double Fossil Fuel Jobs” • Colorado’s fast-growing clean energy sector today employs more than twice as many workers statewide as the fossil fuel industry, according to the Clean Jobs Colorado report. The report is released annually by clean energy business group E2. [Colorado Newsline]

Colorado (Thomas Morse, Unsplash)

¶ “Multistate Wind-Power Line Project Green-Lit By Missouri Regulators” • A major energy project got approval from the Missouri Public Service Commission, advancing a years-long effort to build a wind energy line across the Midwest. The Grain Belt Express would stretch nearly 800 miles from Kansas to Illinois. It will cost more than $7 billion. [KY3]

¶ “Former Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Has One Building Left To Demolish” • Work continues on dismantling the former Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, but only the reactor building is still standing, Scott State, CEO of NorthStar Services, said tearing this building down is one of the job’s more complex operations. [Vermont Public]

Have a stunningly elegant day.

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Opinion:

¶ “A Carbon Correction Factor For Trucks? Don’t Be Fooled By The Oil Industry’s Latest Con” • After the European Commission proposed new CO₂ targets for trucks and buses, the fuels lobby’s proposed a carbon correction factor in the standards that would not incentivise alternative fuels. It is an accounting trick to keep selling fossil fuels. [CleanTechnica]

Mercedes-Benz truck (Mercedes-Benz image)

World:

¶ “Climate Change, Human Activity Causing Global Water Cycles To Become ‘Increasingly Erratic’” • Climate change and human activity are making the world’s hydrological cycle “increasingly erratic,” a report from the World Meteorological Organization shows. The change is due to droughts, extreme rainfall, and the increased melting of snow, ice and glaciers. [ABC News]

¶ “Stockholm To Ban Gasoline And Diesel Cars From Downtown Commercial Area In 2025” • A ban on gasoline and diesel-fueled cars from a commercial district of Stockholm’s downtown in 2025 will be the first for a European capital, a city official said. The ban will take effect in a 20-block area of shops, pedestrian walkways, and a few homes. [ABC News]

Stockholm (Alexandre Van Thuan, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “Volvo Cars, Ford, Renault Group, IKEA, Others To Climate Commissioner: Electrify Corporate Fleets By 2030” • EU Climate Commissioner Šefčovič said the European Commission will launch a public consultation for an action to speed electrification of corporate fleets by 2030.” Over 40 organisations called on him to deliver on his promise. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “China Powers Up Bangladesh’s Wind Power Project” • The first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh, the Cox’s Bazar wind power project, is connected to the grid and started power generation, said its operator, the China’s State Power Investment Corp. The project will provide Bangladesh with about 145 million kWh of electricity per year. [China Daily]

Near Cox’s Bazar (Masum-al-Hasan Rocky, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

¶ “Germany Accelerates Onshore Windpower Expansion” • Germany is accelerating the expansion of onshore wind power. Newly installed capacity in the first nine months of 2023 already surpassed last year’s total by more than 50%, with the total coming to 2,436 MW, according to estimates published by the Onshore Wind Energy Agency. [Xinhua]

¶ “Brazil Set To Widen Lead As Cleanest Major Power Sector: Maguire” • Brazil generated nearly 93% of its electricity from clean sources during the first nine months of 2023, up from 91% in the same period of 2022. Brazil passed France as the largest clean-power share (including nuclear) among the world’s major economies. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]

Wind turbines in Brazil (Amanda Bampi Tegler, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “Bloc Quebécois Stands With The Algonquin Nation Against A Proposed Nuclear Waste Site” • The Bloc Québécois supports Algonquin First Nations opposition to a proposed nuclear waste site near the Ottawa River, a culturally important river and harvesting site for First Nations. The waste site is to be developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. [National Observer]

US:

¶ “Idaho Officials Briefly Order Evacuation Of Small Town After Gas Line Explodes” • Authorities briefly ordered evacuations for most of the town of Middleton, Idaho, after a gas pipeline exploded. The explosion happened when a worker using an excavator ruptured a 22-inch (56-cm) natural gas pipeline near the town of about 10,600 people. [ABC News]

Museum in Middleton (Tamanoeconomico, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

¶ “SEIA And Nature Conservancy Announce Historic Agreement To Unlock Solar Power Development” • The SEIA said that an historic agreement to cool opposition to solar development had been reached between major solar developers, conservation groups, environmental and environmental justice groups, tribal entities, and agricultural organizations. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Rural Solar Opponents About To Face Tsunami Of PV” • An organized movement against rural solar development has been rising across the US, partly fueled by fossil energy stakeholders. Now solar developers are pushing back, in a powerful alliance with conservationists, tribal groups, agriculture stakeholders, utilities, and others. [CleanTechnica]

Please click on the image to enlarge it. (US DOE image)

¶ “Tesla Model 3 And Model Y Now Cost Less Than Gasoline-Powered Equivalents” • For years, we have been hearing an old refrain about how EVs like Teslas cost so much more than cars powered by gasoline engines that only the wealthy can afford them. Many had the attitude, “Call me when EVs are affordable.” Well, now the call has arrived. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Iowa’s Top Scientists Focus Solar Power In 2023 Climate Report” • Some 221 science faculty from 36 universities and colleges from across Iowa stepped away from grading papers to present the 13th annual Iowa Climate Statement this week, and it’s focused on the sun. Solar energy is where it’s at, or should be, according to the statement. [WOWT]

Solar farm (Gunnar Ridderström, Unsplash)

¶ “Administration Announces Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs To Drive Clean Manufacturing And Jobs” • President Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm are announcing seven clean hydrogen hubs that were chosen to receive $7 billion in funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to propel the domestic market for clean hydrogen. [The White House]

¶ “Three Counties Could Power Over 250,000 Homes With Clean Energy With One Change” • Analysis by the Environment California Research and Policy Center has shown that three counties, Ventura, Los Angeles, and San Diego, could power over 270,000 homes simply by installing solar energy farms along their highways. [Yahoo Finance]

Have an astonishingly quiet day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Only One Industry Can’t Survive Without Fossil Fuels” • Responding to questions from a commodity and energy trader, the author examines various industries that are though of as hard to decarbonize. He evaluates fertilizers, steel, and industrial heat. His conclusion is that there is only one industry that cannont be decarbonized, and that is fossil fuels. [CleanTechnica]

Steel making (yasin hemmati, Unsplash)

¶ “Ten Reasons Why Nuclear Power Has No Future” • Knowing the environmental dangers and financial and social liabilities nuclear power will impose on us and our descendants should galvanize us to demand that government regulations act in the public’s best interest. Nuclear power is dirty and dangerous now, and for many generations to come. [NB Media Co-op]

Science and Technology:

¶ “Carbon Capture Pipeline Rendered Obsolete By Carbon-Sucking Concrete” • The vision of entwining the US in a network of carbon pipelines seems to be fading, as new forms of carbon capture are emerging. The latest development is the 33 billion tons-per-year global concrete industry, which is heading for negative carbon emissions. [CleanTechnica]

Cement-free concrete (C-Crete via PR Newswire.com)

World:

¶ “Finnish Police Investigate Undersea Gas Pipeline Leak As Possible Sabotage” • Finnish police said they have launched a criminal investigation into possible sabotage of a subsea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia that was shut down due to a leak. They have ruled out an operational mishap and said the damage was from “external activity.” [ABC News]

¶ “Mercedes-Benz And Volvo Introduce Latest Long Haul Truck Models” • Mercedes-Benz introduced its eActos 600 electric long haul truck at a public event near Hamburg. Its range is 1,000 km per day. Also, Volvo Trucks unveiled a new SuperTruck 2 model, which it says achieved a 134% efficiency increase. It is not electric but will influence future electric models. [CleanTechnica]

Volvo Trucks product (Volvo Trucks via YouTube)

¶ “China’s Oil & Gas Giant Sinopec Says Peak Oil Demand Has Already Happened In China” • State-owned Sinopec, the world’s largest oil refining, gas, and petrochemical conglomerate, just announced that 2023 marks peak gasoline demand in China. Sinopec is close to being the entire Chinese oil and gas industry, so it would know. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “EU Renewables Generation Hits New High In Q3” • Power generation from renewable sources hit a new high in the third quarter of 2023, according to a report from energy data analyst EnAppSys. Renewable power generation in the quarter increased by 12% compared to Q3 2022, the highest growth rate for any third quarter so far. [reNews]

Sunflowers and wind turbines (Johanna Montoy, Unsplash)

¶ “Cubico Starts Up 200 MW Of Colombian Solar” • Cubico Sustainable Investments has put nine new solar projects into operation in Colombia this year through its joint venture with Celsia. The developments total 200 MW, bringing the joint venture’s operational solar platform in Colombia to 300 MW, making it one of the largest in the country. [reNews]

US:

¶ “Shining New Light On The Onsite Solar Market” • Our recent summer had wild weather, unprecedented Pacific hurricanes, and historic heat waves. The number of companies making climate commitments continues to rise. Of the Fortune 500 companies, 42% have set or achieved a major climate milestone for 2030, up 11% from last year. [CleanTechnica]

Onsite solar project in California (Courtesy of Target)

¶ “Stellantis To Build Second EV Battery Factory In Kokomo, Indiana” • Jeep maker Stellantis says it will build a second EV battery factory in Kokomo, Indiana, that will create 1,400 new jobs. The $3.2 billion plant, a joint venture with Samsung, is to start production in 2027. Construction on the companies’ first JV factory in Kokomo is under way. [ABC News]

¶ “The State Of Electric School Bus Adoption In The US” • In the US, electric school bus adoption continues to expand. As of June 2023, there are 2,277 electric school buses that are operating, delivered, or on order. There are 5,982 committed electric school buses in total, an increase of over 3,200 buses since the June 2022 release of WRI’s dataset. [CleanTechnica]

Electric School Bus (Proterra image)

¶ “Why Rivian Is Funding A 100-MW Solar Project Built On A Kentucky Coal Mine” • Rivian signed its largest contract yet to buy renewable energy as a means of working toward its net-zero emissions commitment. The 100-MW deal is notable for its location in rural Kentucky atop the former site of one of the largest coal mines in Appalachia. [GreenBiz]

¶ “TVA, Origis Announce Three Solar-Plus-Storage Projects For Mississippi” • Origis Energy, a renewable energy developer, said it started work on the first of three planned solar-plus-storage projects in Mississippi. The company said the three installations will have a total solar capacity of 550 MW and an energy storage capacity of 150 MW. [POWER Magazine]

Have an intensely satisfactory day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Bill McKibben, Pope Francis, And The Warmest September” • The data from September, 2023 shows average temperatures for the month were 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels and 0.5°C hotter than any September ever recorded. But there is good news: “The planet is now adding a gigawatt a day of solar power. A nuclear plant’s worth every day of solar power.” [CleanTechnica]

Bill McKibben has only praise for Pope Francis (Vatican image)

World:

¶ “The Climate Crisis Is Coming For Your Hoppy Beer” • Hops in major beer-producing European countries like Germany, Czech Republic and Slovenia are ripening earlier and producing less since 1994, scientists found. And, perhaps most alarmingly for the IPA lovers of the world, they are starting to lose their critical bitter component. [CNN]

¶ “Tesla, Daimler, And New Flyer Keep The Ball Rolling On Heavy Duty EVs” • We should take a look into large, heavy duty EVs in the supply chain, delivering such things as the food we eat. In today’s heavy duty EV roundup, we’ll briefly talk about two electric truck stories and one bus story that show us progress is being made to help our lives cleaner. [CleanTechnica]

Daimler Trucks truck (Daimler Trucks image)

¶ “Indigenous Communities Protect The Amazon” • About 1.5 million Indigenous people live in the Amazon forests South America. Deforestation and fires have eaten into this iconic forest in recent decades, putting it in danger of becoming a net carbon emitter. Indigenous communities, however, are helping protect some of its most intact parts. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Private Sector’s $4.4 Billion Investment In Renewable Energy To Boost Egypt’s Capacity” • The private sector is working on Egyptian renewable energy projects valued at $4.4 billion, said the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker. These projects aim to increase Egypt’s renewable power capacity to 10,000 MW by 2025. [SolarQuarter]

Egypt (Flying Carpet, Unsplash)

¶ “Singapore Is Set To Start Importing Green Energy From Indonesia Within Five Years” • Singapore could start importing 2 GW of renewable energy annually from Indonesia within five years, in what is the Republic’s biggest effort so far to import low-carbon electricity. The imports would account for about 15% of Singapore’s annual needs. [Spectra]

¶ “GE Vernova’s Hydro Power Business Commissions Four 175-MW Units For Nigeria’s Second Largest Hydropower Plant” • GE Vernova’s Hydro Power commissioned four 175-MW Francis hydropower turbines and generators at the Zungeru project in Nigeria. The 700-MW Zungeru project is the second largest hydropower plant in Nigeria. [General Electric]

Construction at Gure dam (Okeile, CC-BY-SA 4.0, cropped)

¶ “Zelenskiy Pledged Not To Attack Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, Says IAEA Chief” • In an interview with the Guardian, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promised him that Ukraine will not attack Europe’s biggest nuclear plant in any counteroffensive against Russia. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ “NREL Analysis Identifies Drivers Of Offshore Wind Growth” • As much as 20% of regional power needs along the Atlantic coast could be served by offshore wind farms by 2050, according to researchers with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory who modeled deployment of th emerging offshore wind sector in new depth and detail. [CleanTechnica]

Block Island Wind Farm (Suzanne Tegen, NREL)

¶ “What’s In The EPA’s New Pollution Standards For Cars And Trucks?” • Transportation is the highest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, accounting for 39% of total emissions. Rapid electrification of the transport sector and the extensive adoption of zero-emission EVs can dramatically cut GHG emissions and help achieve US climate goals. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “People Are Okay With Wind And Solar Installations In Their Neighborhoods, Studies Say” • A major poll gave us a fascinating revelation: The majority of people in the US say they wouldn’t mind fields of solar panels or wind turbines being built in their communities. More surprisingly, these respondents are part of a large pool of bipartisan voters. [CleanTechnica]

Wind turbines in Washington (Murray Foubister, CC-BY-SA 2.0)

¶ “Grid Operator MISO’s Outdated Ban On Essential Services From Renewables Threatens Future Grid Reliability” • MISO operates the grid across fifteen states and Manitoba. It explicitly prohibits wind, solar, and battery hybrid systems from providing the services that help maintain a reliable power grid. FERC said it should be ready to change that. [Earthjustice]

¶ “Green Mountain Power Proposes Energy Storage For All Vermonters” • Vermont utility Green Mountain Power submitted a petition to the Vermont Public Utility Commission asking it to approve a Zero Outages Initiative costing $280 million. It aims to harden the grid and decentraleg energy by providing batteries to customers. [Utility Dive]

House in Vermont (Craig Tidball, Unsplash, cropped)

¶ “With Tensions Rising, Michigan Democrats Unveil Clean Energy Reforms” • As Michigan Senate Democrats negotiate a plan to wean Michigan off fossil fuels, their House counterparts unveiled the latest piece of the party’s sweeping energy reform package, shifting approval for large wind and solar arrays to the state Public Service Commission. [Bridge Michigan]

¶ “‘Clean’ Nuclear Power? NC Legislature Says Yes With A Veto Override” • Nuclear power, once the environmentalists’ scourge of for its radioactive waste, is now “clean” in North Carolina. At least that’s the view of state law after both chambers of the state’s General Assembly overrode Gov Roy Cooper’s veto of energy legislation passed in September. [Winston-Salem Journal]

Have an indisputably nice day.

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Science and Technology:

¶ “Biochar Can Improve Soil Health While Capturing Carbon” • Millions of tons of organic waste from agriculture and forestry operations are left to rot or get burned each year, emitting CO₂, increasing global heating. If those same waste products were converted into biochar, they could sequester some of that carbon in a form that can enrich soil. [CleanTechnica]

Biochar (Courtesy of US Biochar Initiative)

World:

¶ “EVs Take 21% Share In Germany In Predicted Hangover” • In Germany, September saw plugin EVs take 21% share, down as predicted from 32.3% YOY, as a hangover from new incentive cuts. After August’s large pull-forward, this was fully expected. Overall auto volume was 224,502 units, unchanged YOY. The Tesla Model Y was the bestselling EV. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Frauscher X Porsche eFantom Electric Sport Boat” • While the latest electric Porsche ventures have kept up on many fronts and found a happy home with true Porsche fans, here is something for those of us who prefer water over land, the eFantom. Thanks to Porsche and the Frauscher Shipyard, Fantom Air has its first production model on display. [CleanTechnica]

Frauscher x Porsche 850 Air Fantom, 2023 (Porsche AG image)

¶ “Commission Completion Of Key ‘Fit For 55’ Legislation, Putting EU On Track To Exceed 2030 Targets” • The European Commission welcomes adoption of two final pillars of its “Fit for 55” legislative package for the EU’s 2030 climate targets. This package of legislation shows that Europe is delivering on its promises to lead on climate action. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Sunny Albania Turns To Solar Power To Fuel Development” • Along southwestern Albania’s coastline, the sun shines brightly, warming the 234,828 new solar panels at the Karavasta power station that will be connected to the country’s energy grid in the coming weeks. Albania gets 99% of its electricity from hydro, but it needs more to avoid shortages. [Tech Xplore]

Korçë, Albania (Renaldo Kodra, Unsplash)

Australia:

¶ “Australian Hydrogen Gets A Headstart” • Announced in the 2023-24 Budget, Hydrogen Headstart is seeking projects that will produce renewable hydrogen or derivatives at scale. Successful projects will be given a production credit for ten years to cover the gap between renewable hydrogen production cost and the market price. [Australian Renewable Energy Agency]

¶ “Hope For Power Bill Relief As Eastern Australia’s Wholesale Electricity Price Tumbles” • Eastern Australia’s wholesale electricity prices fell sharply in the September quarter, a trend that if maintained could deliver power bill relief for households and businesses alike. Spot prices were down 70% after price caps took effect, especially on coal and gas. [The Guardian]

Renewable energy in Australia (Kshithij Chandrashekar, Unsplash)

¶ “Coalition Are ‘Climate Charlatans’ Making False Claims About Australia’s Nuclear Power Potential, Energy Minister Says” • The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, accused the Coalition of using “the rightwing playbook of 2023 – populism, polarisation, and post-truth politics” in making false claims about the potential for nuclear power in Australia. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ “The Midwest US Could Be A Hotspot For Deadly ‘Moist Heat Stress’ As Global Temperatures Climb” • Large parts of the world, including China and the Midwest US, are on track to become too hot for humans to handle as accelerating global temperatures expose billions to heat and humidity so extreme their bodies will no longer be able to cope, a study shows. [CNN]

Wisconsin countryside (Dave, Unsplash)

¶ “Tesla Cuts Model Y And Model 3 Prices As It Tries To Meet Ambitious Sales Target” • To achieve its ambitious target of 1.8 million unit sales this year, Tesla has to sell a whopping 476,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter. In an effort to bolster sales, the company has decided to implement price cuts across some of its most popular models. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Peak Hourly US Electricity Demand In July Was The Second Highest” • On July 27, 2023, peak hourly electricity demand in the continental US reached 741,815 MWh. This was the second highest since the Energy Information Administration began collecting this data in 2016, and just under high of 742,704 MWh recorded on July 20, 2022. [CleanTechnica]

Texas (NASA Earth Observatory, NASA)

¶ “Wyoming Gives Up Federal Cash” • The Inflation Reduction Act offers states a total of around $350 millionto plug what are known as “stripper wells,” which produce less than 15 barrels of oil a day but still produce significant amounts of methane. They produce about 10% of Wyoming’s oil and gas, so the state is taking a pass on the offer. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Boise Airport, Lander Street Water Renewal Facility Moving To Clean Energy” • Two major facilities in Boise will change over to 100% clean energy. The city is partnering with Idaho Power to access clean energy through its Clean Energy Your Way program. The Lander Street Water Renewal Facility and the Boise Airport will run on green energy. [KTVB]

Boise Airport control tower (Larry D Moore, CC BY-SA 3.0)

¶ “Valley Children’s Gets $55 Million Grant For Renewable Energy Microgrid Project” • The US DOE and the California Energy Commission awarded $55 million to Valley Children’s Hospital, in Madera County, California, to provide uninterrupted care and sustainability. It will go towards the hospital’s renewable energy microgrid. [ABC30]

¶ “Regulators Reject Request To Shutter Nuclear Reactor” • Federal regulators rejected a request from two environmental groups to shut down one of two reactors at California’s last nuclear power plant. Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace said in a petition filed with the NRC that some safety tests had been excessively delayed [The Journal Record]

Have a shockingly relaxing day.

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Opinion:

¶ “Why And How Solar Production Will Accelerate Over The Next Few Years” • Costs solar and battery storage are going down in cost at an astounding 18% and 19% annual rate, respectively. This is significantly faster than two historically famous events, the ramp of the Ford Model T and production of US aircraft during World War II. [CleanTechnica]

Solar, growing faster than Model T (Harry Shipler, public domain)

Science and Technology:

¶ “Firsthand Fieldwork: Getting Mangroves Into Coastal Models For Better Climate Prediction” • To better understand important dynamics at play in flood-prone coastal areas, ORNL scientists working on simulations of Earth’s carbon and nutrient cycles paid a visit to experimentalists gathering data in a Texas wetland to learn about mangroves. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ “Oil Prices Rise Following Hamas Attack On Israel” • Oil prices jumped by 4% on Monday on concerns that conflict in Israel and Gaza could disrupt output. The Israel and Palestinian territories are not oil producers, but the Middle Eastern region accounts for almost a third of global supply. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, rose to over $86 a barrel. [BBC]

Palestinian Rocket (Fars News, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

¶ “Baltic Sea Gas Pipeline Between Finland And Estonia Is Shut Down Over A Suspected Leak” • Finland and Estonia said the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between the two countries across the Baltic Sea was temporarily taken out of service due to a suspected leak. Operators, said they noted an unusual drop in pressure. [ABC News]

¶ “Drought In Brazil’s Amazon Is Sharpening Fears For The Future” • Extreme drought is sweeping across Brazil’s Amazon. The historically low water levels affect hundreds of thousands of people and wildlife. Experts predict the drought could last until early 2024, and the problems stand to intensify. One man noted, “Without water, there is no life.” [ABC News]

Amazon drought of 2010 (NASA and JPL-Caltech)

¶ “Banks Group Sells 2.9-GW UK BESS Project” • The Banks Group sold its 2,900-MW South Yorkshire battery energy storage system project to West Burton Energy. The project is part of the reclamation and restoration of part of the former Thorpe Marsh power station. West Burton Energy already operates a power station and BESS in Nottinghamshire. [reNews]

¶ “RWE Successfully Implements New Technologies For More Sustainability In Wind Power” • RWE has constructed a 5.7-MW onshore wind turbine. It tested two innovative technologies to reduce environmental impact during the plant’s construction phase on the one hand and greenhouse gas emissions during its subsequent operation on the other. [RWE]

RWE test turbine (RWE image)

¶ “Soon-To-Be World’s Largest Joint-Venture Offshore Wind Farm Now Powering Millions Of Homes” • What will reportedly soon be the world’s largest offshore wind farm marked its first major milestone in September with the completed installation of a pair of 13-MW turbines, according to Electrek. The completed wind farm will have 277 turbines. [Yahoo News]

US:

¶ “A Nevada Lithium Mine Leads To ‘Green Colonialism’ Accusations” • In the high Nevadan desert lies an enormous deposit of lithium, a metal that is essential in the production of electric car batteries. Environmentalists and native people cannot agree on whether a new rush for this “white gold” should be supported or fiercely opposed. [BBC]

Thacker pass (Courtesy of Lithium Americas)

¶ “Governor Newsom Stands Up To Big Oil” • In a strong move to hold oil companies responsible for the economic and public health dangers of oil wells left idle and unplugged, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the “Orphan Well Prevention Act,” into law. It is to require a bond covering the full cost of site cleanup when an oil well is sold. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “Vermont’s Flood-Damaged Capital Is Slowly Rebuilding” • Nearly three months after severe flooding in Vermont’s capital city, Montpelier businesses launched an event with food trucks, music, and street performers to celebrate how much they’ve rebuilt. They remind the public not to forget them as they struggle to make a complete comeback. [ABC News]

July flood of Montpelier (NASA Applied Sciences)

¶ “How Efforts To Restrict Democracy In Ohio Also Make It Harder To Fight Climate Change” • Ohio’s recent adoption of gerrymandered voting district maps is the latest in a series of anti-democratic measures that thwart action to address climate change, critics say. Data show a majority of Ohioans worry about climate change. [Ohio Capital Journal]

¶ “US Construction Costs Dropped For Solar, Wind, And Natural Gas-Fired Generators In 2021” • In 2021, average construction costs for US natural gas-fired generators fell by 18% from what it was 2020, though the costs of combined-cycle base-load plants increased 8%. Costs fell by 5% for wind turbines, and by 6% for solar PV systems. [CleanTechnica]

Construction costs (US Energy Information Agency image)
Please click on the image to enlarge it.

¶ “California’s Solar Power Will Plummet During Saturday’s Near-Total Solar Eclipse. But Your Lights Will Stay On.” • On Saturday morning a solar eclipse lasting about three hours will obscure most of the sun across the full expanse of the state and beyond. The eclipse will eliminate much of our solar power, but the grid is unlikely to fail. [Palo Alto Online]

¶ “Holtec Sets August 2025 Target Date For Restarting Michigan Nuclear Plant” • The Florida-based energy company Holtec International has formally begun the process of seeking federal reauthorisation to restart the single-unit Palisades nuclear power station in Michigan. It is planning a date for repowering set in August, 2025. [NucNet]

Have a truly inspired day.

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