The electric vehicle market is poised for both rapid growth and fundamental reshaping as a tsunami of new models start reaching drivers.
The big picture: Global EV sales — battery-electric and plug-in hybrid combined — more than doubled last year to around 6.6 million vehicles. They accounted for 8.6% of the global light-duty vehicle market, compared to about 2.5% in 2019, per a new International Energy Agency commentary.
Energy Vault,one of a few startups looking to commercialize gravity-based storage tech using solid materials, has reached a deal to develop projects in China.
Driving the news: The company on Tuesday announced a $50 million licensing agreement with Atlas Renewable, which is majority-owned by the Chinese company China Tianying.
A trend toward rapidly intensifying, powerful hurricanes in recent years is spurring experts to examine more closely how to prepare communities to better withstand such violent weather.
Driving the news: The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded about $13 million over four years to Florida International University's (FIU) Extreme Events Institute to support the design of what is essentially a "Category 6" storm simulator.
State of play: The majority-Democratic Privileges and Elections Committee voted to remove Wheeler's name from a resolution to approve Youngkin's cabinet picks. But Republicans could still approve Wheeler's nomination with the support of at least one Democrat in the full Senate.
Thousands of people evacuated their homes as a fire at the Winston Weaver Company fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that began Monday night, continues to burn uncontrollably.
Why it matters: Dangerous chemicals at the plant could cause a large explosion if the fire continues to burn, AP notes.
Exxon reported $8.9 billion fourth-quarter profits and unveiled a major restructuring in developments that show its pandemic recovery and efforts to find footing in a changing landscape.
Driving the news: The multinational giant's quarterly and annual 2021 profits announced today — both the highest since 2014 — came on the strength of higher oil and gas prices and the energy demand recovery.
BlackRock, Daimler's U.S. division and power giant NextEra Energy are planning a joint venture to develop and deploy charging infrastructure for electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
Why it matters: Wider charging availability will be needed for electric and hydrogen-fueled trucking to become a real thing commercially, even as Daimler and other companies bring models to market.
The environmental group Climate Power is launching ads this week on D.C. cable and digital channels to push for Congress to invest in clean energy technologies, as a way to create jobs.
Why it matters: The TV ads are part of a $3 million campaign from a coalition of environmental groups, including EDF Action, the League of Conservation Voters and NRDC Action Fund, among others, in the run-up to the State of the Union address on March 1.
The World Health Organization warned in a report Monday that the coronavirus pandemic has led to "large increases" in health care waste in the form of personal protection and other equipment, including masks, gloves and vaccination syringes.
Why it matters: The WHOsaid the glut of waste is further burdening disposal systems that were already strained before the pandemic, contributing to pollution and increasing the likelihood of injury to health care workers through needles, burns and pathogenic microorganisms.
By taking into account how increasing surface temperatures will alter both humidity and a measure of the energy contained in the atmosphere, a new study finds the world is at a growing risk of extreme weather events.
Driving the news: The study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on an integrated temperature and humidity metric.
Zipline, a leading drone operator, will begin delivering prescription medicines to patients' homes in a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, this year, helping usher in the long-anticipated era of routine drone drops.
Why it matters: Battery-operated drones could satisfy our demand for "instant delivery" in less than 15 minutes, while easing traffic congestion, improving safety and helping the environment.
Scientists recorded a single lightning flash lasting 17.1 seconds in June of 2020 over Uruguay and northern Argentina, becoming the longest lasting lightning flash ever recorded, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced.
Why it matters: The strike was one of two new new lightning-related world records established by the WMO on Monday, the other being a lightning strike that covered around 477 miles in the southern U.S. on April 29, 2020.
