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Think. Again.

Think. Again.'s Journal
Think. Again.'s Journal
April 4, 2024

EH2 secures USD 65m in DoE support in less than a month

Source: https://renewablesnow.com/news/eh2-secures-usd-65m-in-doe-support-in-less-than-a-month-853855

Electrolyser manufacturer Electric Hydrogen Co (EH2) announced today a new serving of financial backing from the US Department of Energy (DoE) that brings the total support to almost USD 65 million (EUR 59.8m).

The company said it was awarded a USD 18.3 million transferable tax credit by DoE, the Department of Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit (48C) programme. In total, the US government announced the selection of more than 100 clean energy manufacturing projects across 35 states to receive USD 4 billion in tax credits under that same initiative.

Earlier in March, EH2 also got a USD-46.3-million DoE grant under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean Electrolysis Program for the company’s rapid technology advancements in electrolyser manufacturing.

On Thursday, EH2 said it will use the new funds for electrolyser production at its gigafactory in Devens, Massachusetts. The company offers a fully-integrated PEM electrolyser plant of 100 MW that includes all system components required to turn water and electricity into green hydrogen. EH2 expects to ship the first electrolyser stacks from its gigafactory later in 2024 to customer-sited project in southeast Texas.

April 4, 2024

A Guide to Electric Car Misinformation (part 2)

Last week I posted an article from the same author on the most common lies about Electric Vehicle policy here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127173094

Here are some excerpts from part 2 on the most common lies about EVs in general.


By Emily Atkin, Apr 03, 2024
Full Article: https://heated.world/p/a-guide-to-electric-car-misinformation-a6a

-snip-

Misleading: It’s more environmentally harmful to make an EV than a gas car.

-snip-
What’s misleading about the statement is not the statement itself, but the context in which gas car proponents say it. Usually, they’re saying it to convince you that electric cars are way worse than gas cars for the environment. And that’s just frankly illogical, because the vast majority of pollution that comes from cars does not come from making the car. It comes from driving the car.



-snip-

Misleading: The U.S. electric grid can’t handle widespread EV adoption.

-snip-
In California—the national leader in electric cars with more than 1 million plug-in vehicles—EV charging currently accounts for less than 1 percent of the grid’s total load during peak hours. In 2030, when the number of EVs in California is expected to surpass 5 million, charging is projected to account for less than 5 percent of that load, said Buckley, who described it as a “small amount” of added demand.


-snip-

More EV claims, untangled

The Guardian’s “EV mythbusters” series,...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/series/ev-mythbusters

...written by financial journalist Jasper Jolly, has been incredibly helpful in furthering my own understanding of EV misinformation.

-snip-


Much more at Full Article:

https://heated.world/p/a-guide-to-electric-car-misinformation-a6a


April 3, 2024

Yet ANOTHER Biden success...

Your Medicare Costs May Go Down Dramatically in 2024, Thanks to U.S. Law Kicking in
By Good News Network , Feb 25, 2024

A big cost and concern for many seniors in the U.S. is the price of prescription drugs and other healthcare expenses—and this year, thanks to The Inflation Reduction Act, their costs may go down dramatically, especially for patients fighting cancer or heart disease.

I learned about the new benefits because my ‘Medicare birthday’ is coming up in a couple months when I turn 65. I was shocked that there were so many positive changes being made, which I never heard about on the news.

Thousands of Americans on Medicare have been paying more than $14,000 a year for blood cancer drugs, more than $10,000 a year for ovarian cancer drugs, and more than $9,000 a year for breast cancer drugs, for instance.

That all changed beginning in 2023, after the Biden administration capped out-of-pocket prescriptions at $3,500—no matter what drugs were needed. And this year, in 2024, the cap for all Medicare out-of-pocket prescriptions went down to a maximum of $2,000.

-snip-

Full Article: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/medicare-costs-have-gone-down-dramatically-thanks-to-inflation-reduction-act
April 2, 2024

Virginia is Getting a 764 MW Bump in Solar Power Capacity

Michelle Lewis, Apr 1 2024 - 11:34 am PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/04/01/virginia-is-getting-a-764-mw-bump-in-solar-power-capacity/

Virginia has approved over a dozen new solar projects that will significantly boost Dominion Energy’s clean energy capacity.

On Friday, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), the state’s regulatory agency, approved 17 solar farms capable of generating 764 megawatts (MW) of clean power for Dominion Energy Virginia, the state’s largest utility.

-snip-

The construction will support more than 1,600 jobs and generate more than $570 million in economic benefits across Virginia. The solar farms are expected to come online by 2026.

Once the new projects are complete, Dominion will have more than 4.6 gigawatts (GW) of approved solar farms in Virginia – enough to power more than 1.1 million homes at peak output. The utility currently delivers electricity to more than 2.5 million homes and businesses in the state.

-snip-

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Virginia is ranked 11th among states for the installed solar installed and is expected to move up to ninth place in five years. The state currently gets 6.56% of its electricity from solar, and as of December 2023, coal is still its leading source of net electricity generation, followed by natural gas.
April 1, 2024

EPA Finalizes Strongest-Ever Truck Rule to Save Billions in Health & Fuel Costs

Jameson Dow, Mar 29 2024 - 6:00 am PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/29/epa-finalizes-strongest-ever-truck-rule-to-save-billions-in-health-fuel-costs/

EPA’s Heavy Duty “Phase 3” truck rule has been finalized, and surprisingly enough it comes in stronger (albeit slightly) than the rule that was originally proposed last year.

-snip-

The main numbers for the finalized rule are that it will save $13 billion per year in annualized net benefits for society, avoid a billion tons worth of greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce air pollution for the 72 million Americans who live within 200 meters of a heavy duty truck route (a group that is disproportionately from disadvantaged communities). The rules cover model years 2027-2032.

-snip-

Like the light-duty rules, the heavy-duty rules are “technology neutral,” in that they don’t mandate manufacturers use specific technologies, but rather meet certain pollution guidelines that will require significant improvements in engine technologies used. This means hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles are all on the table.

-snip-

To take care of upfront costs, the Inflation Reduction Act includes commercial credits for both ZEV truck purchases and charger installations (and domestic production provisions and incentives, too). The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law incentivizes chargers further. Ports get specific support from the Clean Ports Program, as do school buses, and the EPA is ensuring that California will remain a testbed for even better environmental rules. The administration also recently released a master infrastructure plan to electrifying all the US’ freight routes by 2040.

-snip-

Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/29/epa-finalizes-strongest-ever-truck-rule-to-save-billions-in-health-fuel-costs/

April 1, 2024

New England to become the second coal-free region in the US

Michelle Lewis, Mar 29 2024 - 1:33 pm PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/29/new-england-second-coal-free-region-us/

Both of New Hampshire’s coal plants are shutting, making New England the second coal-free region in the US.



Schiller Station (pictured), which is on the coast, will host a solar and battery storage system. It will be integral in supporting reliability daily during peak hours and acting as storage for the wind power now being built off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and in the Gulf of Maine.

That will make New Hampshire the 16th coal-free state. New England is the nation’s second entirely coal-free region, following the Pacific Northwest.

-snip-

With the retirement of all eight coal plants in the region, 2.9 GW of coal will have been taken offline, a reduction of 15.6 million tons of carbon emissions from New England. That’s equivalent to taking more than 3.1 million cars off the road for a year. There’s almost 33 GW of wind, solar, and storage planned for New England.

-snip-


Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/29/new-england-second-coal-free-region-us/


March 28, 2024

A Huge New 1.2 GW Offshore Wind Farm is Headed to New England

Michelle Lewis, Mar 27 2024 - 10:52 am PT
Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/27/offshore-wind-farm-new-england-vineyard-wind-2/

Vineyard Offshore, which developed Vineyard Wind 1, has submitted a proposal for a 1.2 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm to three New England states.

The proposal is for Vineyard Wind 2, and it was put forward in response to a solicitation from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island for up to 6.8 GW of offshore wind capacity.

-snip-

Vineyard Offshore asserts that its proposal includes more than 200 letters of support from local officials, suppliers, and stakeholders from all three states. An offshore wind tribal benefit agreement was also recently signed with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.



The 1.2 GW offshore wind farm would provide enough clean power to the New England grid for the equivalent of more than 650,000 households starting in 2031. It would avoid 2.1 million tons of CO2 emissions annually across the region, equivalent to taking 414,000 cars off the road.

-snip-

The proposal asserts that the development of Vineyard Wind 2 would generate approximately $2.3 billion in direct expenditure and 3,800 job-years of employment across New England, with over $1.5 billion realized in Massachusetts, along with 80% of regional jobs.

-snip-


Full Article: https://electrek.co/2024/03/27/offshore-wind-farm-new-england-vineyard-wind-2/

March 28, 2024

Metallica Summer Tour Hits the Road with Electric Power

Jo Borrás, Mar 27 2024 - 9:49 am PT
Source: https://electrek.co/2024/03/27/its-electric-metallica-summer-tour-hits-the-road-with-iveco-electric-power/

Iconic rock band Metallica is going to “ride the lightning” (sorry) in more ways that one this summer as they use battery electric and hydrogen-powered trucks from Iveco throughout their European tour.



Built by Italian manufacturer and Nikola partner Iveco, the electric drive trucks (some BEVs, some FCEVs) will ferry the band’s gear and road crews between 14 concert venues across Europe throughout the summer.

In addition to providing electrified transport between tour venues with its S-eWay electric semi trucks, Iveco will also provide electric and CNG-fueled versions of its Daily model shuttle buses (below, at right) for on-site transportation at different concerts, which will further reduce Metallica’s carbon footprint wherever the band may roam (sorry, again).


Some of the electric and alt-fuel Iveco products Metallica will use on its M72 European tour

-snip-

Iveco says the use of these “green” trucks and vans help Metallica meet its goal of reducing its carbon footprint one concert at a time, and providing for a more sustainable show experience overall. Which is in keeping with Metallica’s “All Within My Hands” foundation, which supports local food banks while the band is on tour and provides funding for the Metallica Scholars workforce education initiative that supports students at community colleges.

-snip-

March 28, 2024

A Guide to Electric Car Misinformation (part 1)

It's difficult to excerpt this excellent article into 4 paragraphs, I strongly suggest reading the entire article here: https://heated.world/p/a-guide-to-electric-car-misinformation

(My note: The article's author refers to various lies, disinformation, misinformation, and rightwing talking points coming from rightwingers as "myths" , some of which have been showing up here on DU lately.)

A guide to electric car misinformation (part 1)

Emily Atkin, Mar 27, 2024
Full Article: https://heated.world/p/a-guide-to-electric-car-misinformation

-snip-

GOP polling has shown that attacking electric vehicle policy has been “amazing” for Republicans, former Trump energy advisor Michael McKenna recently told the New York Times. And Biden’s EV policies have drawn praise from both green groups and the United Auto Workers union—two important political constituencies.

-snip-

So, with that in mind, I thought it might be a good time to go over some of the most common myths and generally misleading claims about electric vehicles that I’ve been hearing from both sides of aisle lately.

-snip-

Myth: Biden is banning gas cars; taking away gas cars; or preventing the sale of gas cars.

-snip-


Despite what this tweet from GOP Rep. Tim Wahlberg claims, Americans do, and will continue to, have the right to buy whatever car best suits their family. Source: X/Screenshot

-snip-

Myth: Electric cars are “all going to be made in China"

-snip-


The reality is, as the Wall Street Journal recently reported, “Washington has effectively built a fortress to keep out Chinese EVs”

-snip-


Much more at full article: https://heated.world/p/a-guide-to-electric-car-misinformation





March 25, 2024

HE PUBLICLY STATED HE HAS MORE THAN ENOUGH CASH...

READY TO PAY IT TODAY.

There is absolutely NO justification for this appeal ruling.

None.

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