Carbon Capture Pipe Dream

Carbon Capture Pipe Dream

We just experienced the hottest summer on record. axios.com

If we are going to remotely keep global temperatures in check, we’re going to need to reduce carbon emissions, sap carbon out of industry and suck carbon out of the air. But carbon capture technology will need to get better and cheaper — faster for that to happen. bloomberg.com, cnbc.com

ICYMI: The world’s largest direct air carbon capture plant (DAC) went online earlier this year in Hellisheiði, Iceland. As impressive as it is, it only captures 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. theverge.com, washingtonpost.com

Canada is home to the world’s largest carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) hub, Wolf Midstream’s Alberta Carbon Truck Line (ACTL). It’s a 240 km pipeline that captures carbon dioxide from industry across its length and can capture over 1.5 million tonnes of carbon a year. canadianenergycentre.ca, wikipedia.org, statista.com

Mckinsey estimates that 700 CCUS hubs like the Alberta Carbon Truck Line can be constructed globally. mckinsey.com

Canada and the US have introduced significant government incentives to kickstart new carbon capture projects. forbes.com

Thanks to incentives offered by the Biden administration, the US might be able to capture about 424 million tonnes of carbon by 2035 if those projects don’t get cancelled after an administration change next year. bnef.com, bloomberg.com

For the US to achieve their carbon sequestration goals, 96,000 miles of new pipelines, enough to encircle the Earth four times, will need to be built. bloomberg.com

These massive and expensive infrastructure projects and all others planned globally will barely make a dent in the 37 gigatonnes of carbon emitted each year. iea.org

Findings from a new study from Imperial College London researchers suggest that projections for carbon capture are infeasible at the current growth rate. At best, with scaled investment and rapid deployment over decades, global carbon capture capacity will tap out around 16 gigatonnes by 2050, less than half of what might be required. imperial.ac.uk

If those researchers are correct, global carbon capture ambitions are a literal pipedream.

Volkswagen Freaks The Fuck Out Over Sales Losses, Blames China?

Volkswagen is considering closing two factories in Germany. This is the first time in the company’s history that domestic closures have been considered. theguardian.com, cnbc.com, bloomberg.com, reuters.com

VW’s financial chief, Arno Antlitz, told employees, “We are short of around 500,000 sales a year.” That’s the equivalent of production from two factories. He gave the company “one or two years” to resolve the situation. theguardian.com

Earlier this year, Antlitz warned that VW had about two or three years to prepare for cut-throat competition from abroad, mainly China. I guess he was wrong. reuters.com

VW employees are rather pissed. euronews.com

This week, VW also announced that some models will include a voice assistant powered by ChatGPT. theverge.com

Maybe VW executives should have asked Chat GPT where they could offload half a million extra vehicles.

China’s Automotive Expansion

China complains to the WTO about planned Canadian tariffs on EVs and steel. canada.autonews.com, cbc.ca, bnnbloomberg.ca, theglobeandmail.com, reuters.com

CATL plans to build 10,000 battery swap stations over the next decade. cnevpost.com

Xpeng says it has over 1,000 pre-orders for its modular flying car. cnevpost.com

Nio signs a deal with Suzhou Energy Group to co-promote charging and battery swap infrastructure. cnevpost.com

BYD is not delaying "any decision" regarding its planned Mexico plant. reuters.com

Geely will give you ice cream if you take a test drive. electrek.co

Must Know Musk News

Tesla Owners Club of Austin gathers 50 Tesla owners for their “Cybertruck Rodeo” event, turning local roads into a weird futuristic scene. supercarblondie.com

Tesla plans to launch Full Self Driving in China and Europe in early 2025. theverge.com

Drone footage of Gigafactory Texas reveals hundreds of new Cybertrucks waiting for delivery. supercarblondie.com, unilad.com

Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision to block social media platform X nationally. ctvnews.ca

xAI fires up their massive 100,000 Nvidia GPU supercomputer. pcmag.com

The US Navy is testing out Starlink to provide high-speed internet service to sailors. wired.com

Elon should just stop tweeting (posting) on Twitter (X) for all of our sakes. businessinsider.com

Rise Of The Machines

New York office tower 1133 Avenue of the Americas is the first and only skyscraper in the world to use the Skyline automated window cleaning robot. newatlas.com

Three words: mushroom robot brain. sciencealert.com

Energy

China deployed the world’s largest single-capacity offshore wind turbine. This single turbine is expected to power almost 100,000 homes. interestingengineering.com

EcoFlow launches new battery solutions for homes and RVs. theverge.com

Three words: solar pollinator habitat. nytimes.com

But Wait, There’s More

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 will be one of the first non-Tesla vehicles to get a native Tesla-based North American Charging Standard port. theverge.com

Volvo pushes its deadline to sell exclusively EVs and plans to manufacture a mix of hybrids and BEVs. theverge.com, canada.autonews.com

Volvo launches next-gen electric semi-truck. theverge.com

VW’s Scout Motors plans to reveal its first vehicle in October. electrek.co

Toyota and BMW partner up on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle development. theverge.com

Toyota cuts EV production ambitions. reuters.com

GM shuts down Ecuador plant for good. reuters.com

F-150 Lightning sales grow YoY. electrek.co

Stellantis shuffles executive ranks in the US. reuters.com

Inspired by Tesla, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is clear about not wanting to cover the same ground as Elon’s pet EV company. businessinsider.com

ICYMI

Jay Leno chats with Bill Ford and gets to take the 1964 Ford Mustang Indy Pace Car for a rip. youtube.com

Segway goes off-road. theverge.com

If you have brain cancer, it isn’t likely because of your phone. theglobeandmail.com

Billy McFarland plans to put together another Fyre Festival (cause that went so well the first time.) wsj.com

Kick Out The Jams

Linkin Park is back with a new album. The band held an intimate livestream where Emily Armstrong (formerly the frontwoman for Dead Sara and recent feature artist on the new AWOLNATION track Jump Sit Stand March) took the stage, replacing the late Chester Bennington, who died in 2017. The title track is The Emptiness Machine. Shortly after the event, Emily faced criticism over her previous ties to the Church of Scientology and her past support of convicted rapist and actor Danny Masterson. Emily denies knowing Danny. variety.com

Megan Thee Stallion and RM are counting zeros every day. youtube.com

Paris Hilton wants to bring back clubbing with Megan Thee Stallion’s help. Welcome to the bad bitch academy. youtube.com

Bryan Adams covers KISS’s ‘War Machine.’ youtube.com

Sting wrote your name across his heart. youtube.com

Kim Wilde is leaving a trail of destruction. youtube.com

The new K-pop girl group MEOVV makes you meow. youtube.com

Jet is in a hurry, hurry. youtube.com

Mothica wants to dance the pain away. youtube.com