J1. Green Tech Industry & Utilities

Headline news:

• “Last-Minute New York Budget Guts Climate Law” • New York lawmakers and the public got a first look at the Transportation and Economic Development section of NY’s $268.5 billion state budget, just hours before voting. It is the product of a secretive, one-sided negotiation process that weakens the state’s climate and community protection law. [CleanTechnica]

New York City (Mike Chavarri, Unsplash)

• “Bloom Energy Shows Why Fuel Cells, Not Nuclear, Are AI’s Future Power Source” • Bloom Energy announced a 2.5-GW fuel-cell deal with Oracle for its AI data center Project Jupiter, delivering electricity in months to years compared to nuclear’s 7-15 year timeline while reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by 92% compared to fossil fuel generation. [AOL.com]
• “Rising Temperatures Are Putting Koala Populations At Risk, Scientists Say” • Rising temperatures are exacerbating threats to Australia’s iconic koalas, an already vulnerable species, scientists warn. Koalas are increasingly facing heat stress and even death when temperatures exceed a certain threshold, according to a paper published in Biology Letters. [ABC News]
• “Colombia EV Sales Report: Sales Grow 316% In April, EVs Now Over 20% Market Share!” • Beating all expectations, Colombia’s EV market is once again growing at explosive rates, with sales in April 2026 more than 300% above those in April 2025. The full battery EV market share alone almost reached 20%, compared with 7.4% 12 months ago! [CleanTechnica]
• “US Picks Potential Partners For Using Plutonium Surplus From The Cold War As Fuel” • The US government has chosen five companies, including Oklo, to enter advanced talks over potentially using its Cold War-era plutonium, originally made for weapons, as a nuclear reactor fuel. The plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years. [Al Jazeera]

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Major delivery of wind turbines, blades and other components ahead of 450 km road journey to project site, as another wind farm extension reaches half way stage.

The post Huge delivery of wind turbine components arrives in port, ahead of 450 km road journey appeared first on Renew Economy.

A "thought experiment" by a China tech giant finds wind-battery hybrids can achieve the same generation and grid services as coal plants, but with benefits.

The post How a wind and battery hybrid could replace a coal plant – and outperform it at almost every level appeared first on Renew Economy.

German energy giant RWE says it received official sign-off to operate Australia's first eight-hour battery energy storage system at full capacity.

The post Australia’s first eight-hour battery system moves to full capacity after receiving landmark grid approvals appeared first on Renew Economy.

As demand for affordable, reliable, clean transportation continues to grow, cities are looking to complement existing transportation offerings with more flexible alternatives. An emerging mobility solution, electric vehicle (EV) carshare, provides flexible, short-term access to clean vehicles. Like any carshare model, an EV carshare program bundles the car’s sale price, insurance, maintenance, and other expenses into subscription or rental pricing. With fuel, insurance, and all costs associated with car ownership rising — owning and maintaining a personal car typically costs about $12,182 per year on average — EV carshare offers an affordable, lower-emissions alternative.

A growing number of cities are deploying this solution to address local mobility, transportation affordability, and air quality challenges. However, there are many considerations that must be included in program design. Equitable mobility objectives must be balanced with financial sustainability. Site locations must be carefully chosen to support key program goals. It is critical that cities identify which community goals to prioritize and how to meet those objectives.

Throughout the past year, RMI worked with three US cities with very different built environments and populations to help identify successful business models to launch (or expand) and maintain EV carshare. In the lead-up, the RMI team surveyed over two dozen existing carshare programs from across the country and directly interviewed eight. Through the interviews and working directly with the cities, the team identified lessons on site selection, insurance, operational challenges, and solutions. This guide is intended to help cities and other local partners learn best practices for EV carshare programs and evaluate the business models that may work well in their unique operating and built environments.

The post Driving Electric: Designing EV Carshare to Expand Access to Affordable, Reliable, Clean Transportation appeared first on RMI.

Montpelier, VT — Governor Phil Scott signed landmark legislation into law today, making Vermont the first state in the nation to ban the toxic herbicide paraquat, which is linked to Parkinson’s disease. Health and environmental advocates celebrated the victory.

Large-scale epidemiological studies have shown that individuals exposed to paraquat have a roughly 250% higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The risk is not limited to those who apply the pesticide directly. Because of the potential for drift, paraquat exposure is also a concern for people who live, work, or attend school nearby.  

“There are some agricultural pesticides that are just too poisonous to be used safely. Paraquat is now at the top of that list and therefore banning it in Vermont is absolutely the right thing to do,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.  

Unlike many herbicides that pose chronic risks over decades, paraquat is also acutely toxic. A single accidental sip can be fatal, and there is no known antidote. In Vermont, where small family farms and residential areas often intermingle, the risk of accidental ingestion or severe skin exposure remains a constant liability. 

The danger presented by paraquat is so great that more than 70 countries around the world have already banned its use. Syngenta, which has been the primary manufacturer of paraquat, is headquartered in Switzerland and produces much of its supply in the United Kingdom – yet both Switzerland and the UK have banned the use of paraquat on their own soil to protect their citizens. 

Only about 15% of people with Parkinson’s disease have a family history of the condition, meaning most cases are influenced by environmental factors — including exposure to paraquat. In testimony at the State House this year, Dr. James Boyd, a neurologist with UVM Medical Center, underscored that chronic exposure to paraquat can significantly increase a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Alternatives to paraquat are widely available to farmers in Vermont. Paraquat is not available to non-commercial users.

Polling done earlier this spring found that 77 percent of Vermonters favored eliminating the use of paraquat in the state when they learned basic facts about the herbicide.

It is not clear how much paraquat is used in Vermont today since current law allows farmers to use it on their own property without reporting that use to state officials. In testimony before House and Senate committees, however, it became clear that paraquat is widely used on Vermont orchards, strawberry fields, and other agricultural crops.

The new legislation will end many uses of paraquat in Vermont by the end of this year, while allowing for its regulated use on orchards and berries through 2030.

“This is a landmark win for public health in Vermont,” said Burns. “It should have been done long ago, but I’m proud that Vermont is the first to say, ‘No more” to paraquat.” 

About Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, incurable neurological disorder and the fastest-growing brain disease in the world. Early symptoms can include difficulty walking, depression, and cognitive decline, and the disease worsens over time.

Green Energy Times ran an article on Paraquat in the April, 2026 edition. It is “Is It Time to Ban Paraquat?“

Incat founder Robert Clifford explains how a family-owned Tasmanian company built a ship many thought impossible and why battery-electric ferries will reshape shipping.

The post SwitchedOn podcast: Inside the world’s largest battery electric ferry appeared first on Renew Economy.

A company looking at hydrogen and graphite technologies among two low emission proposals for the purchase of Whyalla Steelworks.

The post Gas-based hydrogen hopeful among shortlisted “low-emission” proposals for troubled Whyalla steelworks appeared first on Renew Economy.

We are installing inertia for poorly justified reasons, and we are imposing economic penalties that add unnecessary hurdles for solar and wind projects.

The post We need to reframe the grid discussion from system strength to system behaviour appeared first on Renew Economy.

The experience of decommissioning Australia's second-oldest wind farm proves that selling parts for re-use can be a great deal cheaper than sending them to landfill.

The post “$1 million cheaper:” How avoiding landfill slashed the cost of decommissioning this wind farm appeared first on Renew Economy.

Tech bros pushing SMRs are going to be "very angry" when they discover nuclear is expensive and complicated, says leading analyst.

The post Nuclear needs to build up to 8,000 SMRs just to catch up with wind and solar. By 2035, they might have 5 appeared first on Renew Economy.

Energy upgrades could deliver more than $100 billion in electricity bill savings to renters by 2050. To access those savings requires pulling a key policy lever.

The post What will it take to halve renter energy bills? We have the answer – we just need to make it happen appeared first on Renew Economy.

Bowen says data centre demand could be key in getting struggling wind projects over line, but new report fears "energy vampires" will boost fossil fuels without firm rules.

The post Bowen says data centres could get struggling wind projects over the line, as new report warns of “energy vampires” appeared first on Renew Economy.

The clean energy trade group projects 613 GWh of deployment by 2030 thanks to robust data center demand. But federal policy gridlock threatens the industry’s trajectory, it said.

More than half of the projects are driven by forecasted load growth, marking an evolution in transmission planning from an emphasis on accessing low-cost renewables to “now also reliably meeting growing customer demand,” CAISO said.

The approved portfolio includes about 3.8 GW of new capacity, anchored by 2,088 MW of gas generation, along with 1,100 MW of wind, 189 MW of solar and 472 MW/1.9 GWh of battery storage.

By betting on efficiency, storage, long-term energy planning and grid flexibility, the Illinois’ Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act offers a blueprint for the state’s energy future, Vote Solar’s John Delurey writes.

Residential sales fell 0.1% year over year while residential prices soared 10.2% in the same period, to 18.8 cents/kWh, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

Completed competitive transmission projects are also about 30% less expensive than comparable incumbent utility projects, according to a report from the think tank. 

Headline News:

• “Renewable Energy Just Broke A 100-Year-Old Streak” • When Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street electrical station fired up in Lower Manhattan in 1882, it ran on coal. Since then, Coal has survived the oil era, the nuclear era, and natural gas. Now it has been surpassed by renewable energy, according to Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026. [MSN]

Interior of Pearl Street Station (Energy.gov, public domain)

• “Strait Of Hormuz Turmoil ‘Serious’ Risk For Europe, Top UAE Adviser Warns” • Dr Anwar Gargash said at a conference in Prague that the Strait of Hormuz is a European energy problem, not a distant regional one, as the region faces the worst instability in decades. It is a direct challenge to European energy supply and trade. [Euronews]
• “Pope Calls For Robust Regulation Of AI In Manifesto” • In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV has called for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and for its developers to work for common good rather than profit. He issued the sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind as the technology impacts everything from work to war. [ABC News]
• “Evacuation Zone Shrinks After ‘Worst-Case Scenario’ Of Southern California Chemical Tank Explosion Averted, Officials Say” • About 16,000 people remain under evacuation orders for a possible tank explosion, Garden Grove Police Chief said at a press briefing. That’s down from 50,000. The tank’s temperature has been reduced. [ABC News]
• “Uber: Getting Hard to Justify High AI Costs” • Tech companies and large corporations are all gung-ho about using AI, so there’s a lot of early adoption underway. But how useful is the rush to adopt, and is it providing a positive return on investment? Uber is apparently starting to ask these questions, as AI does not seem to deliver as expected. [CleanTechnica]

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