Denmark received no bids in its largest-ever wind power tender, a major blow to European efforts to boost renewable energy and slash fossil-fuel demand. Denmark, the birthplace of offshore wind, is seeking to triple its capacity by the end of the decade. It already boasts the world’s largest share of wind in its power grid....
Turning Mine Waste into Valuable Electronics Materials
An innovative method for recovering rare earth elements (REEs) from mine waste promises to address pressing environmental challenges while meeting the growing demand for materials critical to the electronics industry. Researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) have unveiled a process that extracts lanthanum, a high-demand REE, from contaminated mine tailings. The method utilizes industrial adsorbents to purify...
Renewable energy transition goals impossible without permitting reform
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently expanded Nevada’s electricity grid by giving NV Energy the greenlight to build the 472-mile long Greenlink West Transmission Project that stretches from Reno to Las Vegas. Greenlink West will connect dozens of solar projects to the grid, making it pivotal to Nevada’s clean-energy plan. BLM received more than 200 public comments on...
Global Environmentalists Find Seeds of Hope in English Nature Credits
For some farmers in England, it makes more sense not to farm. By parking up their tractors and turning their land over to nature, some English landowners are now able to make more money than if they sowed their fields with crops or put cattle out to graze. “The business case for small-scale farming is...
US LNG exports to Europe surge in November on higher prices
U.S. LNG exports to Europe surged in November as the world’s largest producer of the superchilled gas sent more cargoes to the continent and fewer to Asia and Latin America, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG. European natural gas prices climbed in November to their highest levels in two years on fears remaining...
Department of Energy awards Sperra $4 million for subsea energy storage project
Energy solutions company, Sperra, Los Angeles, Calif., was recently awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office to advance innovation in pumped storage hydropower technologies. In the project, Sperra will design, fabricate, and test a 33’ diameter, 500 kW / 600 kWh energy storage unit off the coast...
Meta seeks nuclear power developers for reactors to start in early 2030s
Meta (META.O), said on Tuesday it is seeking proposals from nuclear power developers to help meet its artificial intelligence and environment goals, becoming the latest big tech company to take interest in atomic power amid an expected boom in electricity demand. The company wants to add 1 to 4 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear generation capacity...
China bans export of critical minerals to US as trade tensions escalate
China on Tuesday banned exports to the United States of the critical minerals gallium, germanium and antimony that have widespread military applications, escalating trade tensions the day after Washington’s latest crackdown on China’s chip sector. The curbs strengthen enforcement of existing limits on critical minerals exports that Beijing began rolling out last year, but apply only to the U.S....
GOP governors urge reauthorization of ‘outdated’ 2018 farm bill
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, along with governors from 15 other states, signed a joint letter Monday urging Congress to pass a new farm bill and provide “immediate financial assistance” to the agricultural sector. “Our nation’s agriculture industry is in trouble and if meaningful support is not provided soon, the well-being of...
US Department of Energy commits $7.54 billion loan for EV production in Kokomo
The U.S. Department of Energy Monday conditionally committed $7.54 billion to finance two electric vehicle facilities in Kokomo as part of an effort to bolster American EV battery manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign sources. The federal financial commitment to large-scale lithium-ion battery production will “ensure the United States can meet domestic demand and remain a global...