EDITOR'S CHOICE

How A Small East Texas School District Replaced Its Gas-Guzzling Buses With An All-Electric Fleet

10 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"...the modest school district here has become the first in the state to entirely replace its diesel school bus fleet with no-emission electric buses...A single electric bus costs $400,000, about three to four times more than a diesel bus.

"The Texas Electric School Bus Project...advocates for electric school buses, estimates that somewhere between 13 and 20 electric school buses are on the road in Texas and approximately 170 additional buses on order."

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Electric Vehicle Roadblock: Dealerships Struggle To Keep Pace With the EV Revolution

10 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"...in the 1940s and 1950s, dealerships lobbied for protectionist laws that prevented manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. Today, there are over 16,000 franchised auto dealerships that dominate the market.

"66% of these dealerships do not have an EV available for sale. 45% of those dealerships said that they were reluctant to offer EVs to consumers...it boils down to misinformation and adequate training..."

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Is Capitalism Dead? Respected Economics Professor Thinks It Is, And He Knows Who Killed It

10 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"Traditional capitalists, he proposes, have become ''vassal capitalists.'' They are subordinate and dependent on a new breed of ''lords'' - the Big Tech companies

"A new form of algorithmic capital has evolved- what Varoufakis calls ''cloud capital'' -- and it has displaced ''capitalism''s two pillars: markets and profits...Access to the "digital fief" comes at the cost of exorbitant rents."

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Small US Town Votes Its Entire Government Out Of Office To Protest Chinese EV Battery Factory

10 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"This came after the politicians backed the Chinese-linked company Gotion's plans to build an electric vehicle battery factory...The German car manufacturer Volkswagen owns 30% of Gotion...Although the plant would bring more than 2,000 jobs to the community, residents were worried about Gotion's alleged ties to the Chinese government.

"Gotion told Politico the CCP has no role in the company's North American branch."

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Advanced Nuclear Power Project Scrapped, In Blow To Biden Administrations' Clean Energy Agenda

10 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"Oregon-based NuScale Power...has the only small modular nuclear reactor design certified for use in the United States... it was unlikely the project will have enough subscriptions from local power providers to continue...Most prospective subscribers were unwilling to take on the risks associated with developing a first-of-a-kind nuclear project..Costs have increased more than 50% in the last two years to $89 per megawatt hour."

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Which Is It, Already - Is US EV Demand Slowing Or Growing?

09 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"Some media say EV demand is slowing, and other media claim there's record demand"...perhaps it's not that EV sales aren't growing, much less growing quickly - they are...both demand and supply are up. Going back to GM, its EV production climbed 40% from Q2 to Q3, while EV sales grew 28%

"...it's a mistake to imply that people don't want to buy EVs because data shows demand is resilient and sales are growing consistently."

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GM Invented Rare-Earth Magnets But Hopes To Purge Them From EVs

09 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

GM recently announced a partnership with Niron Magnetics, a Minnesota-based company that claims to have developed automotive-grade permanent-magnet motors without the rare-earth materials used in current designs...Niron's tech is based on iron nitride...limited supply of rare-earth materials has also led to concerns over high costs and price volatility.

"GM and Niron work to bring the latter's tech to future EVs, although no timeline...given.

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U.S. Solar Electricity Generation to Exceed Hydroelectricity in 2024, EIA Predicts

09 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"...electricity from solar energy will exceed the amount of energy coming from hydropower sources by about 14%..EIA attributes this prediction to continuing growth around the U.S. in both utility-scale and small-scale solar facilities.

"installed solar capacity has had a growth rate of 44% per year on average from 2009 to 2022, while installed hydropower electric capacity’s growth rate averaged less than 1% per year in the same time frame."

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Why Fossil Fuel Companies Can't Leave Resources Stranded

09 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"Hundreds of fossil fuel extraction projects now planned or already in production constitute so-called carbon bombs...Fossil fuel companies' production levels render such temperature goals all but impossible to achieve. A University College London study found that limiting heating to 2 C would require stranding a third of oil reserves, almost half of gas reserves, and more than 80 percent of coal reserves...aggressive energy policies to limit warming to 2 C would mean that $1.4 trillion in existing projects would lose their value."

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Inside the Global Fight to Lead the Electric Car Market by 2050

09 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"The electric car era is transforming economies around the world - and creating new flashpoints, as communities vie for jobs, investment and innovation

"BloombergNEF forecasts the cumulative value of all forms of EV sales will hit $8.8 trillion by 2030 and $57 trillion by 2050...It''s all up for grabs. And nobody wants to be left behind."

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What The Mazda Rotary EV's Reveal Means For The Miata's Future

08 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

"...new two-rotor rotary EV system in the Iconic SP Concept, Mazda has taken its classic rotary technology and given it some future flavor. The engine is electric, but its batteries take power from a rotary engine which, apparently, can run on different types of fuel...a highly scalable rotary engine that can burn various fuels such as hydrogen, generates electricity with carbon-neutral fuel."

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EV Drivers Aren't Helping The Environment - Because They Don't Drive Enough, Study Reveals

08 Nov 2023 | Synopsis

Researchers from George Washington University...report that the current generation of EV owners drive notably less than owners of gas vehicles, which means lower emissions savings from EVs...study notes gaps among both cars and SUVs; electric cars traveled 7,165 miles while gas-powered cars traveled 11,642 miles..For maximum impact, we need the highest-mileage drivers behind the wheel of EVs rather than low-mileage drivers"

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