The Montgomery County Energy Team receives tons of newsletters and articles every day, and these are a few articles that we wanted to share this month. These articles range from county, state, national and international stories, we hope you find them as interesting as we did.
Air Travel: Airplanes could cut emissions by being better wind-surfers, www.anthropocenemagazine.org
Bikes: Since 2007, the share of people in the Washington region who ride bikes has gone up, while driving and riding transit have dropped, according to a gigantic once-per-decade report, www.ggwash.org
Buses: The Board of Education in Montgomery County voted unanimously to approve a 16-year, $169 million contract to lease 326 buses, part of a plan that could result in the county replacing its entire 1,422-bus fleet over the next two decades, www.bloomberg.com
Climate Change: In his new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” Bill Gates plays a role akin to a trusted doctor giving a prognosis and course of treatment for a patient confronting a potentially devastating disease, www.geekwire.com
Electric Highway Coalition: Six major utilities announced a plan to ensure that electric vehicle drivers have access to a seamless network of charging stations connecting major highway systems from the Atlantic Coast, through the Midwest and South, and into the Gulf and Central Plains regions, www.power-grid.com
Energy Justice: The Energy Department has never before had a director focused on energy justice, but the Biden administration has made commitments to enhance work on climate change, racial inequity and the Covid-19 pandemic. Shalanda Baker's work sits at the crossroads of all three issues, www.nbcnews.com
EV Cars: Toyota Motor North America said it will bring three new electrified vehicles to the U.S. market, as the automaker seeks to win over customers by offering a variety of lower emission and zero-emission cars and SUVs, www.techcrunch.com
Geothermal: Geothermal power is the perpetual also-ran of renewable energy, chugging along in the background for decades, never quite breaking out of its little niche, forever causing energy experts to say, “Oh, yeah, geothermal ... what’s up with that?, www.vox.com
Home Energy: Would you cycle for an hour every day if it powered your home for 24 hours? Manoj Bhargava has built an exercise bike to power the millions of homes around the world that have little or no electricity, www.thinkinghumanity.com
Offshore Wind: South Korea unveiled a 48.5 trillion won ($43.2 billion) plan to build the world’s largest wind power plant by 2030 as part of efforts to foster an environmentally-friendly recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, www.reuters.com
Utility Assistance: The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a $31.4 million federal grant will help with rent debt and prevent evictions for those who have no repayment plan with landlords or other options to avoid eviction and help prevent utility shut-offs, www.bethesdamagazine.com
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