Putting solar panels over canals is a win-win-win, generating vast amounts of electricity, saving megatons of water, and keeping vast amounts of carbon in the ground. The image above was contributed by our Meteor Blades, who gets quoted further under Good News. We also have Native American projects as part of this movement, which is catching on around the world because, of course, $$Real Money$$™ and the real planet.
Water in canals, lakes, and reservoirs cools solar panels, increasing their efficiency at absorbing and converting sunlight. What’s not to like? Unless you are among those Broligarchical Denialists desperately clinging to a few trillion dollars in soon-to-be-stranded assets, and refusing to have anything to do with the many, many trillions there for the taking.
Would be good to add this, saving water.
“While adaptable species are coping, those with specialist needs are in steep decline. The homogenisation of the wider countryside is accelerating this trend. Protected sites […] are too small and too fragmented to form an effective ecological network.”
#ClimateChange #BioDiversity
California begins covering its canals with solar panels — 4,000 miles saving up to 63 billion gallons of water
bit.ly/3XYI0cO
#solar #water #California #RenewableEnergy #savings #LeadershipMatters
@wedonthavetime.bsky.social @irena-official.bsky.social @renewableenergy.bsky.social
To reduce the conflict over utility-sized solar installations on farmland: solar panels on canals (as is being planned in Arizona and California), plus solar canopies on car parking lots. France mandates parking lot canopies, and Washington state gives tax breaks for them. grist.org/energy/michi…
This was my next question. How much electricity can we get from “floatovoltaics”. The answer is in multigigawatts.
California’s first solar-covered canal is now fully online
This story was originally published by Canary Media. A novel solar power project just went online in California’s Central Valley, with panels that span across canals in the vast agricultural region. The 1.6-megawatt installation,…
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More precisely,
Covering all of California’s water canals with solar panels could generate 13 gigawatts of renewable power and save 63 billion gallons of water per year: buff.ly/3Gx1wUq
We have so many solutions. Implement them. #ActOnClimate
#climate #energy #renewables
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Here is another item for you, MB.
Arizona tribe first to span canals with solar panels – WBUR | MORE w/ EcoSearch
The Gila River Indian Community has broken ground on a project to put solar panels over nearly 3,000 feet of the Casa Blanca canal south of Phoenix. It’s one phase of a pilot project designed to eventually help the tribe reach its goal of using 100% renewable power.
The idea is modeled after a similar project in India, says David DeJong, director of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project.
A University of Kansas law professor is providing expertise on water law, land use and the intersection of federal and state laws in the development of solar panels over California canals — generating renewable energy, saving water and conserving the state’s land.
news.ku.edu/news/article…
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Photovoltaics meets rail infrastructure: solar panels installed along train tracks generate clean energy without requiring new land.
Germany and Switzerland are piloting this at scale. Smart engineering.
#RenewableEnergy #SolarPower #Infrastructure #RailwayTech #Innovation #CleanTech
Fri-YAY Good News!
Researchers in China have developed a bamboo-based bioplastic which breaks down in soil in 50 days! It rivals (or surpasses!) standard plastic for mechanical strength & thermal stability. Thanks for bamboo’s fast growth it’s also genuinely scalable to replace fossil fuel plastic!
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Yale Climate Connections: This car-free neighborhood was designed to revolutionize American cities
Many people in the U.S. want to live in walkable areas, but only a small fraction of the nation’s developed land fits this description. Around 90% of all housing in the nation’s largest metro areas is located in car-centric suburbs. The low supply of real estate in walkable neighborhoods drives prices upward, making it unaffordable for most people.
Ryan Johnson has spent years thinking about solutions for these problems. Inspired by travels to European cities, he cofounded Culdesac, a real estate developer dedicated to building walkable places, in 2018. In 2023, the company opened the first phase of Culdesac Tempe, a 17-acre development that offers a variety of transportation options – but no resident parking.
COP31 will be in Turkey.
The EU will push to discuss fossil fuels phaseout at COP31, Poland’s negotiator in this year’s climate talks, Katarzyna Wrona, told us at our #POLITICOSustainableSummit 👇
📹 Watch live: http://www.politico.eu/article/sust…
The Shenzhen-based auto giant said it sold 2.26mn fully electric vehicles over the year, according to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 1. Bne IntelliNews #BYD #Tesla #EVsales #ElectricVehicles #ChinaAutomakers
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1 lakh = 100,000, so this is 2.3 million EVs in India in 2025.
India’s EV Sales Surge to 22.7 Lakh Units in 2025, Uttar Pradesh Leads Nationally
Read more http://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy…
#electricvehicles #EVsales
🇺🇸 Florida is moving ahead with a new 4.4-mile expressway project in Central Florida. It will include a special section of road embedded with #WirelessCharging technology so #EVs with the right equipment could recharge their batteries while driving over it. 🚗⚡🔌
With a Giant 14.5 MWh Mobile Battery, #Australia Sets a World Record and Changes the Game of #EnergyStorage
3dvf.com/en/with-a-gi…
U.S. quietly rewriting industrial policy: $80B Westinghouse nuclear bet, Intel stake, golden share in U.S. Steel. Markets yield to mercantilism with Stars and Stripes seal.
zurl.co/5drVH
#IndustrialPolicy #Energy #Semiconductors #NationalSecurity #technews #GoodRevenue
#BO-O-O-O-OGUS!!!
#NoNewNukes, and no pretending to fix up old ones either.
Renewables + storage are far more reliable & cost far less, with far fewer dangers.
Microsoft tech-oligarch is trying to reactivate an almost 50 years dormant reactor on an already outdated and obsolete nuclear infrastructure to power his huge new data-centre…
What can possibly go wrong…?
😒
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Look! An asset bubble deflating before any product is sold! SMR plays are effective at separating foolish investors from their money, though.
Lex: Mini nuclear reactors are already losing their glow—It’s worth remembering too that even the projections of energy demand that small modular reactors are designed to address may shift. More efficient chips… http://www.ft.com/content/567a… Louise Lucas @financialtimes.com
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What would Scotland want with SMRs (which don’t exist) when it has so much wind power potential?
SMRs
‘Anas Sarwar challenges SNP to support nuclear power to ‘end reliance on dictators like Putin.’
But, it emerges that SMRs require a richer blend of uranium fuel and Putin’s Russia has a complete monopoly on the commercial production of that.
talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/12/29/t…
The EU plans to adopt its 20th sanctions package against Russia on the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, according to Welt. The new measures will target energy, banking, and Russia’s war economy. Brussels is also considering banning Russian uranium imports, a move that would hit Rosatom hard.
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China EV exports jump 87% Y/Y in November; shipments to Mexico skyrocket
Green hydrogen is excellent for making carbon-free ammonia. It has other industrial applications. But as a fuel, no thank you, please.
if there’s one good thing to come from 2025, it’s the very clear lesson to the public – backed up by tons of evidence – that hydrogen cars are DEAD ☠️
indeed, hydrogen trucks, hydrogen trains, hydrogen boats, hydrogen cars, hydrogen whatever… they’ve been tried & they’ve all failed
#EVs #EVsky
The arguments against Electric Cars get more and more ridiculous as time goes on. Here is my list of the top five most ridiculous ones. Let me know if you’ve come across any that are more ridiculous! #Electricvehicles #BEV #EV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaYM…
The usual strategy used by the climate crisis deniers.
#climate #climatechange
“.. the Corporate Mapping Project compiled a public database of the 1656 organizations and 44,433 people who make up what we shall now refer to as the Climate Change Counter Movement within Canada.”
#Canada
#ClimateDenial
#ClimateDelay
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti…
It’s not
– Africa can’t afford to have #renewables and #EVs
It’s
– Africa can’t afford to NOT have renewables and EVs
bsky.app/profile/prof…
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Foo to that author.
Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa
Chinese panels are now so affordable that businesses and families are snapping them up, slashing their bills and challenging utilities.
Environmentalists push feds to add solar panels over U.S. canals https://bit.ly/3Doe9QH #Tucson #Arizona
The groups noted such action could pull the U.S. into compliance with the Energy Act of 2020, which pledged to seek to permit leases for at least 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal projects on federal land by 2025.
“The Bureau of Reclamation has full authority to execute this plan,” the groups wrote, noting Congress has provided the Department of the Interior with the authority to grant leases to authorize uses of Bureau of Reclamation lands.
Many canals operated by the Bureau of Reclamation are located in areas with poor air quality near communities composed primarily of persons of color living below the poverty line, the groups wrote.
I know @SecretaryWright got stung by my video debunking his #climatedenial lies, because a week after I posted it, his company sent me their glossy coffee table book of nonsense. I spoke to the scientist that Wright deliberately misquoted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOum…
Blocking wind power and forcing a coal power plant to stay open. Criminal.
abcnews.go.com/Business/wir…
