** Stellantis plans to cut a shift at its Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio, meaning indefinite layoffs of about 1,100 union-represented workers. The automaker, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands, announced the job cuts Wednesday, which will be effective Jan. 5.
** Georgia-based Freyr Battery will pay $340 million for a Wilmer, Texas 5-gigawatt solar panel assembly plant owned by China renewable giant Trina Solar Co. Trina agreed to sell the operations while Chinese companies benefiting from the Biden administration’s clean energy tax incentives come under scrutiny.
** Delaware Governor John Carney recently signed a package of bills intended to protect the environment and support clean energy development into law, per a press release on the state website, reported TCD. The bills are intended to, among other things, allow the state to purchase wind energy, convert its state fleet to electric vehicles, and require municipalities of over 2,000 people to establish plans for what to do in future climate disasters.
** According to a Cornell University study, LNG’s carbon impact is 33% worse than coal’s impact when processing and transport are considered, the Cornell Chronicle reported.
** A federal judge extends an exploratory drilling pause at a proposed lithium mine in western Arizona until the Hualapai Tribe’s lawsuit seeking to block the facility is resolved.
World
** Hurricane Rafael made landfall in western Cuba as a Category 3 storm Wednesday, carrying sustained winds of up to 115 mph that brought down the island’s electrical grid before the system headed to the Gulf of Mexico — and possibly toward the U.S.
** Mercedes-Benz has improved wastewater and air pollution management at its only car factory in India after officials detected environment law lapses in recent inspections, government documents show.
** With 430-foot blades and an 885-foot rotor, a new wind turbine in China is set to power 160,000 households annually. Chinese company Sany Renewable Energy, which installed the 15 MW unit at a plant in Tongyu, Jilin province, says it’s the world’s largest onshore wind turbine to date.
** England may soon see its largest onshore wind farm built in Greater Manchester, with Cubico, a global renewable energy developer, announcing plans to construct 21 wind turbines on a site north of Manchester. This ambitious $245 million (£200 million) project, Scout Moor II, could generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes, with a target completion date before the end of the decade.
** TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has cautioned that Europe is facing a new energy reality and “must find a way to restore its energy competitiveness.” The head of the French oil giant based his assessment of the continent’s energy squeeze on the loss of Russian gas from its war with Ukraine and steep production drops from the North Sea.
** Audi on Thursday unveiled a new electric vehicle brand in China whose cars will sport just the name AUDI and not its signature four-ring logo, a move aimed at attracting younger customers in the world’s largest auto market.
