Tesla launches Texas lithium refinery

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla begins operating a lithium refinery in Texas that the company projects eventually will produce enough material for batteries in 1 million electric vehicles per year. (Houston Chronicle)

GRID: A company resubmits a scaled-down proposal for a 300 MW power plant and data center complex in Virginia after its previous pitch for a 3,500 MW plant and 84 data center buildings met with community resistance. (Cardinal News)

CARBON CAPTURE: A company pushes to build a carbon capture storage hub in the Gulf of Mexico to store tens of millions of tons of emissions from new liquified natural gas terminals and other fossil fuel facilities, prompting pushback from the fishing industry. (Floodlight)

SOLAR:

• A Virginia locality tries to update its rules to keep up with the growing number of solar projects and complaints from residents about noise and effects on their quality of life. (WHRO)
• An investigation reveals how door-to-door solar salesmen in Texas glossed over lending fees of 30% or more for quick-approval online loans to install rooftop solar systems, sticking thousands of residents with a large, hidden markup in costs. (Houston Chronicle)
• Western North Carolina college professors and students upgrade a solar facility to provide power to homes even when the grid is down. (WJHL)

OIL & GAS:

• The fracking revolution that’s played out in Texas’ Permian Basin and other areas has shaken up the oil industry by benefiting Texas firms that have outperformed European oil majors. (Houston Chronicle)
• Exxon Mobil makes plans to deploy about $140 billion through 2030, largely to boost liquified natural gas projects in the Permian Basin. (Houston Chronicle)

COAL: A report finds utilities have amassed 138 million tons of coal in stockpiles at power plants, which will further depress the fuel’s prices as they order less and try to use what’s already available. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)

PIPELINES: Natural gas company EQT sells a minority stake in the Mountain Valley Pipeline and other projects to Blackstone Credit and Insurance for $3.5 billion as it secures long-term agreements to keep the pipeline running at full capacity. (WV News)

EMISSIONS:

• Texas regulators take public comment as they consider how to implement a federal methane monitoring and reduction rule before President-elect Trump takes office. (Texas Tribune)
• Texas regulators recorded high benzene emission levels in 2021 and 2022 from a barge-cleaning and chemical distribution facility, but failed to notify residents or even complete a report on the problem until this year. (Public Health Watch)

TRANSITION: North Carolina residents balk at Duke Energy’s plan to build new natural gas units at a coal-fired power plant, part of the utility’s larger plans to build more gas-fired generation and delay its state carbon emission reduction target. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY: A southern Virginia county sits at the epicenter of a proposed fossil fuel buildout and could potentially see a new gas-fired power plant as well as the expansion of two existing gas pipelines, writes a climate activist. (Appalachian Voices)