Energy

Here’s the unelected government official speaking about his part-time hobby, Tesla:

The Senate confirmed his nomination today. Zeldin has been tasked by Donald Trump to “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses.” That seems to include removing roadblocks to building energy-hungry AI data centers in the US.

It’s 89 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Rest assured, the clock merely “visualizes humanity’s metaphorical proximity to global catastrophe,” according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that sets the time each year and updated it today.

Necropsies tie whale deaths off the east coast to ship strikes, not offshore wind, as Trump claimed during his inauguration eve rally. The US has very few offshore wind turbines anyway.

“Emissions of greenhouse gasses trap heat,” Lee Zeldin, said during today’s Senate confirmation hearing when pressed about climate science. Whether he’ll take action is another issue.

The $319 1.8kW Solar/Car Super Fast Charger will charge the company’s giant batteries at 600W off the alternator when the engine’s on, plus an additional 1200W max from rooftop solar that’ll continue to provide a charge when parked at the job site or campground (unlike DJI’s $299 1kW car charger). It can also reverse charge the starter battery in your van, truck, or RV.

Hundreds of thousands of people are without power, and tens of thousands are under evacuation orders with blazes out of control in Southern California.

More than 625 million acres of the US oceans are now protected after Biden prohibited all future oil and gas leasing.

More than 96 percent of the island now has power, according to Luma, the local energy company. An outage on New Year’s Eve took out power for close to 90 percent of the US territory, the latest in a series of blackouts.

Power outages affected close to 90 percent of customers in the US territory today, the Associated Press reports. Local energy company Luma says it’s investigating the cause and suspects a damaged underground power line. Getting the lights back on could take 24 to 48 hours. Blackouts have been a persistent problem for Puerto Rico’s struggling electricity grid since Hurricane Maria.

“Tesla Recharged” gives customers year-end insights in the Tesla app for stats such as how often users’ homes are powered off-grid.

The Montana Supreme Court upheld a district judge’s 2023 ruling that the state violated young people’s right to a clean and healthy environment.

It’s the latest example of the Biden team approving massive loans for clean energy, battery, and electric vehicle projects as the clock winds down on the president’s time in office. The PG&E loan is the biggest to-date and will go toward investments in “hydroelectric power generation, batteries and power lines,” according to the New York Times.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) published its top 10 priorities for the incoming Trump administration and managed to omit any reference to climate change, Reuters reports. President-elect Donald Trump has called climate change a scam.

Carrboro, NC is suing for damages it expects to incur as climate change leads to more extreme weather. It alleges that Duke Energy has delayed a transition from the fossil fuels to renewable energy as part of a “campaign of deception.”

You can now expand DJI’s Power 1000 solar generator that I reviewed with up to five of these new $1,169 2kWh Power Expansion Battery 2000 units daisy-chained together over DJI’s proprietary SDC port, for a maximum capacity of 11kWh. Add solar and you can produce a steady 2400W of AC output indefinitely, or at least until you master a rosetta pattern in your latte art.

The FBI is investigating, Reuters reports. Hackers allegedly targeted US nonprofits and activists who have spoken out against ExxonMobil. Lawyers for ExxonMobil wielded hacked documents to fight lawsuits filed against the company, according to Reuters.

Home Energy Reports will be coming to the Ecobee app next month. The company says the feature should help users better understand how their HVAC system works and, hopefully, save more energy.