Michelle Lewis

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Clean energy made up nearly 100% of all new Q1 electric capacity, but problems are looming.
• The largest utility in Kansas will make its first solar investments and says it will reach net zero by 2045.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• North Carolina’s governor issued an executive order that sets the state’s first-ever offshore wind targets.
• New Zealand introduces an $8,600 subsidy for electric vehicles.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

A Dutch court ruled that Shell’s emissions targets aren’t “concrete.” This is what the oil giant must do in order to achieve a viable plan to reduce emissions and meet clean energy targets.

The Rome-headquartered Enel Group’s Brazilian renewable energy subsidiary, Enel Green Power Brasil Participações Ltda, has started commercial operations of the 716 MW Lagoa dos Ventos I and II wind farm in Brazil. It’s South America’s largest wind farm currently in operation and Enel Green Power’s largest wind farm worldwide. 

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Vertical Aerospace has pre-orders for around 1,000 of its electric VA-X4 vertical takeoff aircraft.
• Most Americans support expanding solar and wind energy, but there’s a significant partisan split.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• NanoGraf claims it has enabled the highest-energy density 18650 cylindrical lithium-ion cell in the world.
• The US clean energy transition could create up to 600,000 jobs for American workers by 2030.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

First Solar, the largest US-owned solar panel manufacturer, today announced that it’s opening a third manufacturing plant in Ohio in the first half of 2023.

The Biden administration is keen to boost battery manufacturing on home soil as soon as possible. But in case you didn’t notice, the Democrats and Republicans are at loggerheads in Congress on Biden’s huge infrastructure plan. So here are four steps the Department of Energy is going to take right now to boost EV and clean energy storage battery production in the US.

The US Department of the Interior said yesterday that it will explore offshore wind energy potential on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It’s part of the Biden administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, which was announced at the end of March.

The Yara Birkeland, the world’s first net-zero, battery-powered autonomous container ship, was delivered to Norwegian fertilizer company Yara Norge AS in November 2020. It’s currently in the Norwegian port of Horten, where it’s undergoing further preparations for autonomous operation and a late 2021 launch.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions breaks ground on its largest solar project to date, in Texas.
• Fast charging is needed in all types of communities to speed up the EV transition, finds a new study.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon CRS-22 cargo ship launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on June 3 and arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) two days later. It was carrying, among many other things, two new solar arrays that will power the ISS.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Hitachi ABB Power Grids launches transformer products for offshore floating wind farms.
• Turbine installation is complete at Denmark’s largest wind farm, the offshore Kriegers Flak.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia have figured out how to extract lithium, an essential part of electric vehicle batteries, from seawater in a more cost-effective way.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• US president Joe Biden’s electric vehicles plan includes boosting battery recycling in the US.
• Germany is upping its wind and solar 2030 targets, according to a draft law seen by Reuters.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Seven out of 10 Americans plan on taking road trips this summer. Electric vehicle drivers can, of course, use navigation systems, apps, and websites to find places to charge up, but utility company National Grid, which serves New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, today launched EV Road Trip plans featuring fun destinations with charging stations in the three Northeastern states.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• ExxonMobil and Chevron suffer shareholder rebellions over a lack of strategy for emissions reduction.
• Here’s the latest US Electric Power Monthly report, and what renewables are projected to do.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Climate czar John Kerry said emissions cuts will come from future tech, but a new study says we’ve already got what we need.
• The Department of Energy’s Collegiate Wind Competition has kicked off – check it out.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Duke Energy has filed a $56 million proposal of Phase II programs to continue the advancement of transportation electrification in North Carolina.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• The US Department of the Interior suspends oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Danish wind giant Ørsted bumps up its clean energy target to reach 50 GW of installed capacity by 2030.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Richmond, Virginia-headquartered Dominion Energy is building the Charybdis, the first Jones Act-qualified offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the US. (Interesting name choice for the vessel – a dangerous mythological sea monster.)

And Danish wind giant Ørsted and Boston-headquartered electric company Eversource today announced that they will charter the Charybdis for the construction of Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, two of their planned offshore wind farms in the Northeast.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• The Largo, Florida, police department in the Tampa Bay area buys Zero all-electric motorcycles.
• 7-Eleven will install at least 500 fast-charging ports at 250 stores in the US and Canada by the end of 2022.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Kirk Edelman, chief commercial officer at New York City-headquartered solar development, construction, and asset management company Safari Energy, told Electrek about the three technologies that the solar industry needs to adopt in order to revolutionize processes and infrastructure.