EDITOR'S CHOICE

What Climate Policies Work Best? A New Study Has Answers

24 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Out of 1,500 policies in 41 countries, a small fraction had a big impact."

"...a new study out Thursday in the journal Science...the biggest cuts came from adopting a combination of policies...just 63 instances in which countries substantially slashed emissions...actually, we've made a fair amount of progress

"...Regulation is the most powerful policy for reducing emissions from transportation."

Read Full Story

How China Became The Leading Car Supplier To Mexico And What It Means For The U.S.

24 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Last year, China was the leading car supplier to Mexico, exporting $4.6 billion worth of vehicles to the country...Mexico is an attractive production platform... in part because of that free trade access that it has to the American market

"Experts say pressure from the U.S. leaves Mexico in a difficult position of maintaining its crucial relationship with America without being overly friendly to Chinese investment."

Read Full Story

German Auto Lobby Recommends Ending All Fossil Fuel Sales By 2045

24 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"...a new position paper (source in German) released by the the Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA), the trade group representing some 600 automobile-related companies

"The lobby group, in stark contrast to how American lobbyists often operate, said that the European Union's guidance on fuels do not go far enough...VDA is arguing that gas stations should still remain open and still sell fuel, but that that fuel should be entirely renewable."

Read Full Story

The Killer Combo Of Agrivoltaics & Community Solar Is Coming For Your Fossil Fuels

23 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Agrivoltaics represents a sea change in the development strategy for utility-scale rural solar projects...Now that the cost of solar panels has plunged, solar developers have some room to invest in alternative strategies...opened the door to agrivoltaics, in which developers invest in specialized racking systems and new solar technologies that are designed to enable farming activities within the solar array."

Read Full Story

Lucid CEO Calls EV Market Softness 'A Temporary Blip' And Says Hybrids Are A Dead End

21 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Rawlinson said that reducing climate change is a strong motivator for his company and that any softness the EV market is experiencing now is short term.

"...we're seeing a temporary blip. I think any talk of retrenchment into hybrids is a blind alley. I think hybrids offer the worst of all."

"A lot of EVs have been rushed to market with rather mediocre experiences, and I think that’s also affecting the overall perception of the category."

Read Full Story

What Will The End Of Fossil Fuels Be Like?

21 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"It seems that gas stations have been slowly vanishing. It set me thinking about what the end of fossil fuels will be like...At some point, the price will increase on a falling demand, even if the supply is constant.

"It will cost more per gallon to pump oil. It will cost more per gallon to transport it in lower quantity. Refining it will cost more per gallon..anyone with a vehicle that requires fossil fuel should think about the meaning anxiety in a world that might have very little sympathy for the difficulties you go through as you struggle to get fuel."

Read Full Story

"25 And Me" Is Your Guide To The Horrors Of Project 2025

21 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

The product of right-wing think tanks "the details of Project 2025 are buried in a dense 900+ page PDF document, yet they have the potential to impact every American.

"On the site, you can see the following topics featured and click on the ones you're interested in: Climate, Democracy, Drug Prices, Education, Environment, Farmers, Food assistance, Freedom of Speech, Healthcare, LGBTQ+, Medicaid, Medicare, Public Transportation, Reproductive Rights, Taxes, Unions, and Veterans."

Read Full Story

Waymo Is Now Giving 100,000 Robotaxi Rides A Week

21 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"...more than 100,000 paid robotaxi rides every week across its three main commercial markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix.

"The new 100,000 figure is double what the company has previously disclosed...[FOA]request from the California Department of Revenue revealed the company has 778 robotaxis under its deployment permit in the state

" Parent company Alphabet said in June it will spend an additional $5 billion on its self-driving subsidiary over the next few years."

Read Full Story

Oakland Is Now First In The US To Deploy A 100% Electric School Bus Fleet - And It's V2G

21 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Student transportation platform Zum has provided Oakland Unified School District with a fleet of 74 electric school buses and bidirectional chargers...Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) supplied 2.7 megawatts (MW) of load to Zum’s Oakland EV-ready facility

"The 100% electric school bus fleet is not only emissions-free but also plays a critical dual role as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), giving 2.1 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy back to the power grid at scale annually."

Read Full Story

Data Show U.S. EV Sales Growth Outpaced The Rest Of The Auto Market In June

20 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"...recent registration data from S&P Global Mobility shows that EV sales growth outpaced the rest of the automotive market in June.

"New EV registrations jumped 3.1 percent year over year in June, with 108,026 vehicles registered, while the market as a whole saw an 8.8 percent decrease to a little over 1.2 million units...Tesla led the charts as the brand with the highest number of registrations, outselling the next closest competitor, Ford, nearly tenfold."

Read Full Story

In Cuba, China's Drive For EVs Reshapes The Roads Of Havana

20 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Cubans across the country have started using Chinese-made electric cars and scooters...cost-effective mode of transport, as fuel prices remain high and public transport unreliable.

"China's Tianjin Dongxing Industrial, along with Cuban state-owned company Minerva, created Caribbean Electric Vehicles (Vedca), a joint venture that has quickly changed the face of transportation in the capital Havana."

Read Full Story

California's New Electric Train Makes For A Shockingly Better Trip - We Tried It

20 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"By switching to electric trains, Caltrain...can eliminate 250,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year, roughly as much as the pollution from 55,000 cars. But it's also just a better experience for riders.

"...a single locomotive in the front pulling the entire train behind it, each individual car is now an "electrical multiple unit," or EMU, with its own engine, connected to overhead electric wires. "It's generating power throughout the system."

Read Full Story