January 11 NEC Energy News
¶ “RFP Alert: 11.5 GW Of Renewables Mandated By CPUC” • The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is set to retire in 2025, as California switches to renewable generation. Three community choice aggregators jointly issued a request for proposals as part of a state mandate for 11,500 MW of carbon-emissions-free energy and long-duration energy storage. [pv magazine USA]
¶ “Report: Taxpayers ‘Losing’ On Subsidies For Nuclear Industry” • Nuclear power is making the transition toward smaller reactors. But a report from Taxpayers for Common Sense claims federal subsidies to help that move are a losing bet. The group says the DOE has spent more than $1.2 billion on small modular reactors, and is set to spend more. [Kiowa County Press]
¶ “Lancashire Nuclear Power Plant To Stop Generating Electricity Two Years Early” • The Heysham 2 nuclear power station in Lancashire is set to stop generating electricity two years earlier than expected. In 2016, its life was extended by seven years to 2030 as no new power station projects were in the pipeline, but the plan has changed. [Lancs Live]
¶ “‘Off The Charts’: Weather Disasters Have Cost The US $750 Billion Over Past Five Years” • A historic freeze that hit Texas, a deadly hurricane that wreaked havoc from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, and a record-shattering heat wave and drought in the West are just three of twenty weather disasters that hit the US in 2021, each costing over $1 billion. [CNN]
¶ “Last Seven Years Have Been The Warmest On Record As The Planet Approaches Critical Threshold” • The last seven years are the seven warmest on record for the planet, data shows. Earth’s average temperature is around 1.1°C above average pre-industrial levels, Copernicus reports, 73% of the way to the 1.5° threshold to avoid the worst impacts. [CNN]
¶ “Vattenfall Is Unleashing A New Drop-In Heat Pump On Unsuspecting Gas Markets” • The humble electric heat pump is emerging as a climate action hero. Vattenfall has just teamed up with the firm Feenstra to introduce a new heat pump that can replace natural gas boilers on a drop-in basis, without the need for expensive retrofits. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Amazon Will Buy Thousands Of Ram ProMaster Electric Delivery Vans Every Year” • The battery-powered Ram ProMaster will be the brand’s first ever all-electric model when it debuts in the second half of 2023 as a rival for the Ford E-Transit and the Rivian EDV. It has a ready market with Amazon, whose need for last-mile delivery vans is huge. [CleanTechnica]
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.