Heatmap: We Fact Checked Everything Trump Has Said About Electric Vehicles Since 2021 From misplaced range anxiety to trepidation over electric tanks [and I added facepalm emojis 🤦 to the biggest howlers]
Heatmap,JEVA LANGE • JANUARY 16, 2024
Trump: “I will also rescue the ethanol industry 🤦by canceling crooked Joe Biden’s insane ethanol-killing🤦 electric vehicle mandate on day one.” [Dec. 20, 2023]
Fact check: It’s not wrong to say that Biden has tried to reduce the role of liquid fuel in vehicles. Trump has gunned for Iowa voters by claiming Biden’s goal (albeit not a binding mandate) of ramping up EV sales will kill the local ethanol industry. But Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack — Iowa’s former governor — has stressed that just because the administration is pushing for more EVs, “Does that mean we won’t have a need for E15 or E85” — gasoline blends that contain up to 15% and 85% ethanol content, respectively — “in the future? No.”
For example, new rules defining what qualifies as a “sustainable aviation fuel” — and thus for generous tax credits under the IRA — include ethanol and other plant-based fuels, despite opposition from environmental groups. “The Biden administration plans to invest $4.3 billion to support production of 35 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel annually by 2050,” presenting a significant opportunity for Iowa’s farmers, The Des Moines Register writes. As Vilsack added, “You have to think beyond cars and trucks.”
Trump: “They want to have electric trucks, so a truck — a big, beautiful truck like Peterbilt or one of them, with the big ones, 18 wheelers, they can go about 2,000 miles, they say, 2,000 on a big tank of diesel.🤦 An electric truck, comparable — which it can’t be comparable because you need so much room for the battery. Most of the area that you’re going to carry your goods, going to be battery.🤦 But assuming we take away that problem, which is not easy to take away, you’d have to stop approximately seven times to go 2,000 miles, right?🤦 You go about 300 miles, and they don’t want to change that.”🤦 [Dec. 20, 2023] ...
Then there is the oil guy set to lead COP29 in Azerbaijan.
And greenwashing. But the EU is doing something about that. See Positive News below.
3 ways to help EV charging bloom in ‘charging deserts’
Analysis: Surge in heat pumps and solar drives record for UK homes in 2023
Registered solar photovoltaic (PV) installations rose nearly 30% to a post-subsidy record of 189,826 in 2023, according to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). Similarly, heat-pump installations were up 20%, reaching a record 36,799.
This growth drove a UK record for the total number of domestic renewable electricity and low-carbon heat technologies installations registered by MCS, which reached 229,618. This brings the total MCS-certified installations of solar PV overall to 1,441,753 since 2009, equivalent to more than 5% of all UK households.
Latest documents unearthed by Dutch climate activist seen as “valuable sources” for litigators.
Bangladesh has become almost 50% dependent on imported fuel.
Bangladesh is suffering from a chronic energy crisis. Despite over 29,000 MW power generation capacity, Bangladesh suffers from managing a power market of 15,000-16,000 MW. Bangladesh cannot ensure a sustainable supply of energy and power to end users. Most of the state-owned enterprises BPDB, BPC, and Petrobangla have almost reached the stage of bankruptcy.
The government must provide additional fiscal incentives for solar especially rooftop solar. In two years, it is possible to add up to 2,000 MW rooftop solar which can ease peak load during the day and if import duties of batteries are rationally adjusted can even contribute after sunset.
Renewable Energy Progress Tracker
Renewable electricity capacity additions are forecast to reach 507 GW in 2023, almost 50% higher than in 2022, with continuous policy support in more than 130 countries spurring a significant change in the global growth trend. This worldwide acceleration in 2023 was driven mainly by year-on-year expansion in China’s booming market for solar PV (+116%) and wind (+66%). Renewable power capacity additions will continue to increase in the next five years, with solar PV and wind accounting for a record 96% of it because their generation costs are lower than for both fossil and non-fossil alternatives in most countries and policies continue to support them.
The 360 Gigawatts Reason to Boost Finance for Energy Storage Now
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) – the world’s largest multilateral fund supporting energy storage in developing countries – is working on bridging this gap. CIF is the biggest funder globally of mini-grids, a proven game-changer for isolated communities. A single rural electrification project in Mali has given almost a half a million people access to cleaner, cheaper and more reliable electricity, by replacing costly and polluting diesel generators with a hybrid (battery storage and diesel) mini-grid system. CIF is also fueling the next frontier in energy storage: $70m in CIF funding is set to help kick-start a $9 billion energy revolution in Brazil, which includes substantial investments in energy storage, such as pumped hydro and green hydrogen development.
And in the Maldives, CIF is supporting the government’s efforts to hit one of the most ambitious climate targets in the world: net zero by 2030. Getting there will take a concerted effort. While sunshine is plentiful, the population of the Maldives is spread across more than 200 islands and is 95% reliant on generators driven by expensive and highly-polluting diesel.
The EU approved a landmark greenwashing law
This week, the bloc approved a law to tackle greenwashing, due to come into force within two years. The directive will prohibit manufacturers from using eco buzzwords unless the product is truly greener than conventional ones.
Research suggests that 76% of the products in the EU carry a green claim, but more than half of these are vague, misleading or unfounded.
US solar sites linked to higher levels of insects
Scientists conducting a five-year research project in southern Minnesota have observed a tripling of insect numbers near two solar facilities built on rehabilitated agricultural land. They say the findings show how habitat-friendly solar could help protect insect populations and improve pollination in nearby agricultural fields.
Yes, there is evidence to support this claim.
Norwegian Road Traffic Council Data: In May 2022, an analysis by the Norwegian Automobile Federation's magazine, Motor, suggested that breakdown rates for EVs actually decrease in winter compared to summer. This trend contrasts with gas-powered cars, which often experience a rise in breakdowns during colder months.
From Daily Kos
Weekly Spotlight on Climate & Eco-diaries (1/21/24) by Meteor Blades
Greenland melting 20% faster than thought, adding to worries over impacts to ocean circulation by Meteor Blades
There is something amiss with snowfall in the Himalayas from Nepal to Hindu Kush by Pakalolo
Overnight News Digest: Study: Americans’ climate concerns deciding factor in Biden’s 2020 victory by Magnifico
Overnight News Digest, Saturday Science by Rise above the swamp. From Rachel Ramirez at CNN. What is ‘new denial?’ An alarming wave of climate misinformation is spreading on YouTube, watchdog says
Earth Matters: Haley no climate friend; largest renewables project in U.S. history now being built by Meteor Blades
When completed in 2026, the SunZia Transmission Project will be what the developer calls the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere with 3.5 gigawatts of electricity-generating capacity, 50 percent more than Hoover Dam, and enough to supply the needs of 3 million households in the energy-hungry Southwest. Ground was broken in September. This got zero major media coverage, although the Albuquerque Journal took note as did Climate Wire last week.
