‘We don’t have water’: South American dam faces energy crunch as river ebbs

By Daniela Desantis, Reuters


© Reuters/CESAR OLMEDOSouth American dam faces energy crunch as river ebbs

By Daniela Desantis, Reuters

HERNANDARIAS, Paraguay (Reuters) – The giant Itaipu hydroelectric power plant, wedged between Paraguay and Brazil on the Parana River, is facing an energy crunch amid record low river and rainfall levels that experts say could last into next year.

The Itaipu dam, which supplies around 10% of the energy consumed in Brazil and 86% of that used in landlocked Paraguay, has recorded its lowest output since the hydroelectric plant began operating at full capacity in 2005.

Downstream, the Argentine-Paraguayan Yacyreta plant produced half the normal level of energy in September, an example of how severe droughts are complicating the shift away from fossil fuels by drying up rivers and reservoirs.

“We have available power, what we don’t have is water to sustain that power for a long time,” Itaipu’s Operations Superintendent Hugo Zarate told Reuters, adding that the plant was “meeting the demand but for short periods of time.”

Zarate estimated that production at Itaipu would be between 65,000 and 67,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) this year.

“That’s about 35% of the maximum value of 2016 and 15% less than in 2020,” he said in his office at the plant, located between the cities of Hernandarias in Paraguay and Foz do Iguacu in Brazil.

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On a Pacific Island, Russia Tests Its Climate-Change Battle Plan


By Anton Troianovski, New York Times

SAKHALIN ISLAND, Russia — Sixteen wind turbines are slated to go up amid the winding coast and wooded hills of this Russian island in the Pacific, creating a wind park bigger than any that currently exists in the vast reaches of the country’s Far East.

The clean energy generated by the new wind park will go toward mining more coal.

Russia is scrambling to retain the wealth and power that come from selling fossil fuels to the world, even as the Kremlin increasingly acknowledges climate change to be a human-made crisis that the country needs to do more to address.

Last week, President Vladimir V. Putin said Russia would stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2060. It was a remarkable reversal since Mr. Putin has long dismissed climate science and many in his country see international efforts to combat global warming as part of a Western plot to weaken Russia. His announcement comes two weeks before world leaders are set to converge in Glasgow for a pivotal U.N. climate summit.

But it’s unclear if Russia is sincere in its new pledge. Russian energy experts and government officials acknowledge the moves are largely driven by economics, with the European Union’s plans for tariffs on heavily polluting countries threatening exports from Russia, the fourth biggest among nations in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Some elements of Russia’s plans have prompted skepticism, including a heavy reliance on forests as a tool to absorb carbon dioxide.

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Opponents of Covid-19 masks for school teachers rally outside New Jersey State House

By KYLE NARDINE Tap Into Madison

TRENTON, NJ — Hundreds of New Jerseyans gathered outside the State House Annex Building in Downtown Trenton on Monday to rally against Governor Phil Murphy’s executive order which mandates that school employees must receive a COVID-19 vaccination. 

Organizers intentionally planned the rally to be held on the same day that the Governor’s Order took effect requiring school employees to be vaccinated or face twice weekly COVID testing. 

The rally was presented by Freedom Loving Teachers of New Jersey, Crispy Crunchy Markets, NJ PHI PAC, Innovative Parenting, UnMask NJ Students, New Jersey Stands Up, and New Jersey Freedom Keepers.

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Toyota to Build $1.2 Billion Battery Plant in U.S.

The new plant, in an as-yet unannounced U.S. location, will create an expected 1,750 new jobs

Toyota Logo High Resolution Stock Photography and Images - Alamy

By Ryan Secard Industry Week

Hybrid vehicle pioneer Toyota Motors announced Monday it would spend $3.4 billion on vehicle batteries in the United States through 2030, with at least $1.2 billion towards a new battery factory in the United States. Toyota Motor North America anticipates the factory will create about 1,750 new U.S. jobs.

According to the October 18 release, the factory will be run by a new company formed in combination with Toyota Tsusho, a parts supplier and Toyota subsidiary. In addition to running the factory, Toyota will task the new company with developing Toyota’s local supply chain for lithium batteries for cars and trucks.

The first batteries produced at the new U.S. factory will be used in Toyota battery hybrid vehicles, the company said.

The new factory will help reduce emissions and “help usher in more affordable electrified vehicles” for the U.S. market, said Toyota Motor North America CEO Ted Ogawa. Ogawa also noted the factory would “create even more American jobs tied to the future of mobility.”

In Monday’s statement, Toyota said it has sold 18.7 million hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, and battery electric vehicles worldwide, including 4.5 million in the U.S. Such vehicles currently make up slightly less than a quarter of Toyota’s sales, but the company said it expects that share to rise to 70% by 2030.

The company also said it expects to expand its lineup of “electrified” vehicles from 55 models to 70 models by 2025. Notably for Toyota, 15 of the models will be fully battery-electric vehicles.

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NJ Transit Board approves contract for new North Portal Bridge

The project replaces the 110-year-old bridge to improve service and reliability on the Northeast Corridor for NJ Transit and Amtrak customers as part of the Gateway Program.

The New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) Board of directors has approved a contract with Skanska/Traylor Bros Joint Venture for the construction of the new Portal North Bridge. This is the largest award in NJ Transit’s history.

The project, a critical part of the Gateway Program, will eliminate the critical issues caused by operation and maintenance of the existing swing bridge that have long plagued the most heavily transited portion of the Northeast Corridor.

“Few infrastructure projects are as critical to the nation as replacing the aging Portal Bridge, said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

“With today’s step, NJ Transit is rapidly moving towards beginning the first phase of the largest infrastructure project in the United States. This award will not only bring a bridge that will resolve the long-standing bottlenecks plaguing New Jersey commuters, but will also create well-paying skilled labor jobs in the process.

NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett added, “This construction award, which is the single largest in our agency’s history, is the culmination of more than three years of hard work and determination by NJ TRANSIT and our project partners at Amtrak.

The $1,559,993,000 construction contract for the project spans 2.44 miles of the Northeast Corridor line and includes construction of retaining walls, deep foundations, concrete piers, structural steel bridge spans, rail systems, demolition of the existing bridge and related incidental works. Once construction begins, the construction contract is anticipated to take approximately five and a half years

The project is being funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, NJ Transit and Amtrak. In January 2021, Gov. Murphy announced the signing of a Full Funding Grant Agreement, which secured $766.5 million in Federal Transit Administration funding to support the project’s construction.

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