Free parking and charging stations for electric cars in Oslo. Norway offers generous incentives that make the vehicles cheaper to buy, and other benefits once they are on the road.
Credit Thomas Haugersveen/The New York Times
Sales of electric and hybrid cars in Norway outpaced those running on fossil fuels last year, cementing the country’s position as a global leader in the push to restrict vehicle emissions.
Norway, a major oil exporter, would seem an unlikely champion of newer, cleaner-running vehicles. But the country offers generous incentives that make electric cars cheaper to buy, and provides additional benefits once the vehicles are on the road.
Countries around the world have ramped up their promotion of hybrid and electric cars. As China tries to improve air quality and dominate new vehicle technology, the government there wants one in five cars sold to run on alternative fuels by 2025. France and Britain plan to end the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2040.
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“I think they’re buying it.”
Credit: Kevin Dietsch-PoolFederal regulators on Monday rejected a rule proposed by Energy Secretary Rick Perry that would have subsidized coal and nuclear.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered regional transmission organizations to further investigate issues that could threaten the U.S. grid’s resilience.
Federal regulators on Monday rejected a rule proposed by Energy Secretary Rick Perry that would have subsidized coal and nuclear power plants in some parts of the United States. (emphasis added)
However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission kept the issue alive by ordering the organizations that operate regional grids and power markets to submit reports to the commission on grid resilience issues in their areas.
In a statement, FERC said, “We appreciate the Secretary reinforcing the resilience of the bulk power system as an important issue that warrants further attention.”
The proposal, known as the Proposed Rule on Grid […]
Renewables like wind and solar power have continued to expand at an enormous rate and have gotten significantly cheaper.
Credit: The White House
Cheap renewables are mounting a serious challenge to nuclear power, which in 2017 has had a difficult year.
Key projects have been abandoned, costs are rising, and politicians in countries which previously championed the industry are withdrawing their support.
Renewables, on the other hand, especially wind and solar power, have continued to expand at an enormous rate. Most importantly, they have got significantly cheaper.
And newer technologies like large-scale battery storage and production of hydrogen are becoming economic, because they harness cheap power from excess renewable capacity.
This latest trend – the production of hydrogen from excess wind and solar power– raises the possibility of replacing natural gas, at least in part, for domestic heating and cooking and for power stations.
Many existing gas pipelines and domestic networks are equally capable of taking natural gas, biogas and hydrogen, or a mixture of all three.
The speed with which the transition is taking place has exceeded all official […]
He left Air Force Two behind and, unannounced, “shrouded in secrecy,” flew on an unmarked C-17transport plane into Bagram Air Base, the largest American garrison in Afghanistan. All news of his visit was embargoed until an hour before he was to depart the country.
More than 16 years after an American invasion “liberated” Afghanistan, he was there to offer some good news to a U.S. troop contingent once again on the rise. Before a 40-foot American flag, addressing 500 American troops, Vice President Mike Pence praised them as “the world’s greatest force for good,” boasted that American air strikes had recently been “dramatically increased,” swore that their country was “here to stay,” and insisted that “victory is closer than ever before.” As an observer noted, however, the response of his audience was “subdued.” (“Several troops stood with their arms crossed or their hands folded behind their backs and listened, but did not applaud.”)
Think of this as but the latest episode in an upside down geopolitical fairy tale, a grim, […]
The news that two major Catholic health care systems, Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health, are considering a merger that would create a nearly 200-hospital behemoth spanning 27 states raises questions about the expanded imposition of Catholic ethical norms on the health care system in the coming year.
In addition to the Ascension-Providence merger, two other large Catholic systems, Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health have finalized merger plans for a new system that would comprise 139 hospitals over 28 states.
If the Ascension-Providence merger is finalized it would create the largest health system in the United States, which means that the largest single provider of health care in the country would be under the direction of the Catholic Church and bound by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services. The ERDs are promulgated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and ban, among other services, abortion, contraceptive sterilizations, contraceptives, many assisted reproduction technologies, and assisted suicide.
While the hospitals currently under the control of these systems are already bound by the ERDs, the competitive advantage gained by these mergers will allow the Catholic […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
