Michelle Lewis is a writer at Electrek. She has previously worked for Fast Company, The Guardian, News Deeply, Time, and others. She lives in Massachusetts.
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China launched two out of 16 of the Baihetan hydropower station’s generating units on Monday. It’s the world’s second-largest hydropower station behind China’s Three Gorges Dam. The two 1 gigawatt units began full power generation today.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
The deadline to phase out coal from Britain’s energy system has been brought forward by a whole year, to October 2024.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Japanese carmaker Nissan is expected to confirm this week that it will build the UK’s first battery gigafactory, according to Sky News. The factory will open in Sunderland in 2024, in the northeast of England, and it’s expected to produce enough batteries for 200,000 electric cars annually.
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GE Renewables has launched a first-of-its-kind underwater robot that can inspect hydropower turbines faster, more easily, and safely than humans can.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
US Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) announced late today that more than $5.4 million in federal grant funding will be awarded to the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority to purchase electric buses.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) just signed into law SB 1128/HB 919, “Preemption Over Restriction of Utility Services,” which was pushed through the legislature. It prevents local governments from deciding which energy path they want to take. In other words, Florida towns and cities are now unable to switch to 100% clean energy because they can’t ban fossil fuels.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Miami-Dade County in Florida today announced it has bought 42 Proterra ZX5+ electric transit buses, featuring a total of 19 megawatt hours of battery storage capacity. The county also announced that it will install 75 Proterra chargers across three bus depots. Its first electric buses are slated to be delivered in 2022.
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The solar roof industry is such a new – yet burgeoning – industry that it’s not really included in local, state, or federal policy. Updating incentives, policies, and regulations could help expand the adoption of solar roofs. With the Biden administration’s strong focus on carbon reduction, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) seems to be safe through 2024. But as it’s written today, integrated solar roofing does not fully qualify.
The ITC was meant to encourage greater adoption of solar and reduce the cost and access to consumers. Electrek spoke with Keally DeWitt, vice president, marketing & public policy at GAF Energy, about why updating the ITC to include new technologies will spur innovation and speed the US transition to 100% clean energy.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Maine has become the first US state to pass statewide legislation to divest from fossil fuels. LD 99, “An Act To Require the State To Divest Itself of Assets Invested in the Fossil Fuel Industry,” was signed late Wednesday by Governor Janet Mills (D-ME). A divestment plan is now required by 2026.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Florida Power & Light (FPL) yesterday demolished its last coal-fired plant, the Indiantown Cogeneration Plant in Martin County, east of the Everglades. And right before the plant imploded, FPL CEO Eric Silagy announced that the utility will build a solar center near the site.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Roughly 10 billion tons of freight move through supply chains in the US each year, almost all of which pass through distribution yards – the area of the supply chain between the warehouse and the open road. Andrew Smith, Outrider founder and CEO, has dedicated his career to the commercialization of environmental technologies. He spoke with Electrek about how the automation of electric yard trucks is not only dramatically increasing the sustainability of this often-overlooked area of the supply chain, but also the agility and reliability of its movement of goods.
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Texas has been hit by a heatwave, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has asked residents to reduce electricity use until Friday because demand is up, but power supply is down. ERCOT stated yesterday, “Generator owners have reported approximately 11,000 MW [megawatts] of generation is on forced outage for repairs; of that, approximately 8,000 MW is thermal, and the rest is intermittent resources.” “Thermal” power in Texas largely refers to natural gas-fired power plants, which make up around 50% of annual energy production in Texas.
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