Caribbeans
Caribbeans's JournalRenewable energy passes 30% of world's electricity supply
Renewable energy passes 30% of world’s electricity supply
Report says humans may be on brink of cutting fossil fuel generation, even as demand for electricity rises
Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent | The Guardian | Tue 7 May 2024
Renewable energy accounted for more than 30% of the world’s electricity for the first time last year following a rapid rise in wind and solar power, according to new figures.
A report on the global power system has found that the world may be on the brink of driving down fossil fuel generation, even as overall demand for electricity continues to rise.
Clean electricity has already helped to slow the growth in fossil fuels by almost two-thirds in the past 10 years, according to the report by climate thinktank Ember. It found that renewables have grown from 19% of electricity in 2000 to more than 30% of global electricity last year.
“The renewables future has arrived,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s director of global insights. “Solar, in particular, is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible.”
Solar was the main supplier of electricity growth, according to Ember, adding more than twice as much new electricity generation as coal in 2023...more
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/renewable-energy-passes-30-of-worlds-electricity-supply
Boeing cargo plane forced to land at Istanbul without front landing gear
Source: The Guardian
A Boeing cargo plane has been forced to land at Istanbul airport without its front landing gear, in the latest setback for the embattled planemaker.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, in a flight operated by the delivery company FedEx, according to Turkey’s transport ministry.
The Boeing 767 aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday, informed the traffic control tower at Istanbul airport that its landing gear had failed to open and it landed with guidance from the tower, the ministry said.
Emergency services were standing by for the landing. The ministry did not give a reason for the landing gear’s failure and said its teams were conducting examinations at the scene as part of an investigation.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/08/boeing-cargo-plane-forced-to-land-at-istanbul-without-front-landing-gear
1990's - If it ain't Boeing, I ain't Going
2024: If it's Boeing I ain't Going
Cybertruck Owner Breaks Finger Trying to Show Vehicle Is Safe. YouTuber even tried it with a stick first, which broke
Cybertruck Owner Breaks His Finger Trying to Show Vehicle Is Safe
The YouTuber even tried it with a stick first, which broke in half.
https://gizmodo.com/cybertruck-video-breaks-finger-safe-stick-elon-musk-1851460112
"This is a recall waiting to happen, some kid is going to lose their f**king hand to this deathtrap"
Insane moment Fly Dubai plane tries to escape underwater runway after 'biblical' floods
Insane moment Fly Dubai plane tries to escape underwater runway after ‘biblical’ floods
Dubai International Airport was hit by flash floods this week as heavy rain battered the country causing flights to be canceled and others diverted.
The-Express.com | Rosie Jempson | Wed, Apr 17, 2024
Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, was hit by flash floods on Tuesday, causing chaos as planes waded through the torrents on the tarmac.
A video shows a Fly Dubai Boeing 737 plowing through the several inches of water.
The severe weather led to a slew of flight cancelations and temporary diversions of inbound flights to alternative locations on Tuesday, April 16 evening.
The heavy downpours in the UAE have caused deadly flas floods that have killed at least 20 people...more
https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/134667/fly-dubai-plane-underwater-floods
https://twitter.com/benonwine/status/1780490531664957905
Related from CNBC:
United Arab Emirates is using cloud seeding tech to make it rain
The UAE partnered with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and NASA to set up the methodology for the cloud seeding program...
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/united-arab-emirates-is-using-cloud-seeding-tech-to-make-it-rain.html
Tesla (TSLA) launches another round of layoffs
Source: Electrek
Tesla (TSLA) launched another round of layoffs this weekend, with employees in wide-ranging roles getting their pink slip amid broader layoffs over the last 3 weeks.
Three weeks ago, Tesla started a significant wave of layoffs. The automaker announced it was laying off about 10% of its workforce.
However, we reported prior to the announcement that the layoffs could be closer to 20% of the workforce once everything is said and done.
Sure enough, Tesla had another significant wave of layoffs last week.
Now, we hear of yet another round of layoffs at Tesla.
Read more: https://electrek.co/2024/05/06/tesla-tsla-launches-another-round-layoffs/
A really good example of poor layoff management; it will be even clearer if there are rehirings in a week or two. Service department layoffs, when Tesla's long had insufficient service personnel? Either the financial position is really dire or this is not s good idea. Really, with $27 billion in cash the company could have afforded to take more time for proper consideration of reorganization and target layoffs precisely, rather than making an example of an executive who (rightly!) pushed back on being told to cut key personnel by firing her and her 500 person department wholesale. Musk should be at the top of the layoff list, if you're looking to get rid of people who aren't very good at their job, and who aren't devoting their full effort to the company. But Musk has spent years on care and feeding and training of the board of directors, so that will never happen.
Whistleblower Josh Dean of Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems has died
Source: Seattle Times
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, died Tuesday morning after a struggle with a sudden, fast-spreading infection.
Known as Josh, Dean lived in Wichita, Kan., where Spirit is based. He was 45, had been in good health and was noted for having a healthy lifestyle.
He died after two weeks in critical condition, his aunt Carol Parsons said.
Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said: “Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.”
Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/whistleblower-josh-dean-of-boeing-supplier-spirit-aerosystems-has-died/
Barnett was found dead in an apparent suicide in March.
Tesla Cybertruck's Battery Can Power A House. Owner Quoted $30,000 To Make That Happen
Tesla Cybertruck’s Battery Can Power A House. Owner Quoted $30,000 To Make That Happen
Costs vary wildly and owners have to go through Tesla-approved installers, which may make it harder for some to get the work done.
Iulian Dnistran | InsideEvs.com | Apr 26, 2024
The Cybertruck is Tesla's first consumer EV that supports bidirectional charging. The EV maker calls the feature Powershare and it basically means that the truck’s roughly 123-kilowatt-hour battery pack can be used to power tools and appliances, charge other EVs and even provide backup power to an entire house if the grid goes down.
To act as a mobile generator, though, Tesla requires Cybertruck owners to install a so-called Powershare Gateway–a hardware panel that takes power from the pickup’s battery and routes it to the house’s electrical installation. It can also route power from the grid to the car’s battery to keep it topped up. Those who ordered the top-spec Cyberbeast Foundation Series get a $4,000 installation credit included in the vehicle’s purchase, but as one owner recently found out, that amount might be extremely low...
As he explained in detail in the X post embedded below, Tegtmeyer wanted to take advantage of his truck’s power-exporting capabilities and contacted Tesla about it. The company sent a certified installer to his house to survey the electrical system which included an existing 36.6 kW roof-mounted solar system and an upgraded 250-amp main panel.
After everything was said and done, the Tesla-approved installer–Treehouse in this case–came up with an eye-watering estimate of $33,837.5. According to the company’s estimate, the biggest piece was represented by a utility upgrade to 320A amounting to $24,150. With two Tesla Powerwalls–that’s a stationary battery that also acts as a generator–the estimate went up to $64,275...more
https://insideevs.com/news/717559/tesla-cybertruck-powershare-install-estimate/
Sure electric lines are everywhere. But bandwidth is going to be a huge and expensive problem in some cases.
Caught on Camera: Monroe County NY DA Sandra Doorley defies police orders in traffic stop
Caught on Camera: Monroe County NY DA Sandra Doorley defies police orders in traffic stop
Marcia Greenwood | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | April 27, 2024
In a story published Friday morning in the Democrat and Chronicle, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley acknowledged to D&C reporter Gary Craig that there was friction in her interaction with a Webster police officer during a Monday traffic stop for speeding.
On Friday afternoon, based on a Freedom of Information Law request, the Webster Police Department released video from the body-worn camera of the officer, Cameron Crisafulli, and of other officers who responded to the scene.
It shows a highly tense exchange with Doorley refusing to follow Officer Crisafulli’s commands and cursing at him while wandering in and out of the garage of her home and at one point entering her home on Fallen Leaf Terrace in Webster, where the stop ended.
After Doorley swears at Crisafulli, he says, “I don’t know why you’re acting like this toward me,” pointing out that she should have stopped on Phillips Road, where the officer, with his emergency lights activated, tried to pull her over after clocking her going 55 mph in a 35 mph zone around 5:30 p.m...more
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2024/04/27/sandra-doorley-video-shows-da-refusing-to-follow-officers-commands-rochester-ny/73473451007/
"Rules" are for THEE but Not for MEE"
Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving linked to hundreds of crashes, dozens of deaths
Source: The Verge
In March 2023, a North Carolina student was stepping off a school bus when he was struck by a Tesla Model Y traveling at “highway speeds,” according to a federal investigation that published today. The Tesla driver was using Autopilot, the automaker’s advanced driver-assist feature that Elon Musk insists will eventually lead to fully autonomous cars.
The 17-year-old student who was struck was transported to a hospital by helicopter with life-threatening injuries. But what the investigation found after examining hundreds of similar crashes was a pattern of driver inattention, combined with the shortcomings of Tesla’s technology, resulting in hundreds of injuries and dozens of deaths.
Drivers using Autopilot or the system’s more advanced sibling, Full Self-Driving, “were not sufficiently engaged in the driving task,” and Tesla’s technology “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task,” NHTSA concluded.
In total, NHTSA investigated 956 crashes, starting in January 2018 and extending all the way until August 2023. Of those crashes, some of which involved other vehicles striking the Tesla vehicle, 29 people died. There were also 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path.” These crashes, which were often the most severe, resulted in 14 deaths and 49
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/26/24141361/tesla-autopilot-fsd-nhtsa-investigation-report-crash-death
Great that they have noticed this in 2024. It only took 9 years. What are they going to do about it now, 9 years later? How many more will die? Who has consented to be Tesla's guinea pig?
Is NHTSA compromised??
The Fantasy of Reviving Nuclear Energy - NYT
The Fantasy of Reviving Nuclear Energy
Stephanie Cooke | New York Times | April 18, 2024
World leaders are not unaware of the nuclear industry’s long history of failing to deliver on its promises, or of its weakening vital signs. Yet many continue to act as if a “nuclear renaissance” could be around the corner even though nuclear energy’s share of global electricity generation has fallen by almost half from its high of roughly 17 percent in 1996.
In search of that revival, representatives from more than 30 countries gathered in Brussels in March at a nuclear summit hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Belgian government. Thirty-four nations, including the United States and China, agreed “to work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy,” including extending the lifetime of existing reactors, building new nuclear power plants and deploying advanced reactors.
Yet even as they did so, there was an acknowledgment of the difficulty of their undertaking. “Nuclear technology can play an important role in the clean energy transition,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told summit attendees. But she added that “the reality today, in most markets, is a reality of a slow but steady decline in market share” for nuclear power.
The numbers underscore that downturn. Solar and wind power together began outperforming nuclear power globally in 2021, and that trend continues as nuclear staggers along. Solar alone added more than 400 gigawatts of capacity worldwide last year, two-thirds more than the previous year. That’s more than the roughly 375 gigawatts of combined capacity of the world’s 415 nuclear reactors, which remained relatively unchanged last year. At the same time, investment in energy storage technology is rapidly accelerating. In 2023, BloombergNEF reported that investors for the first time put more money into stationary energy storage than they did into nuclear...
...The Energy Department estimates the total cost of such an effort in the United States at roughly $700 billion. But David Schlissel, a director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, has calculated that the two new reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia — the only new reactors built in the United States in a generation — on average, cost $21.2 million per megawatt in today’s dollars — which translates to $21.2 billion per gigawatt. Using that figure as a yardstick, the cost of building 200 gigawatts of new capacity would be far higher: at least $4 trillion, or $6 trillion if you count the additional cost of replacing existing reactors as they age out...more
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/18/opinion/nuclear-power-fantasy-climate.html
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