Texas recycler gives retired solar panels a new life

SOLAR: A Texas recycling company is among several that have emerged to extract valuable metals from solar panels that have reached the end of their lifespans. (Yale Environment 360)

ALSO:
• An Oklahoma planning commission denies NextEra Energy’s application for a solar and battery project on 5,277 acres. (Enid News & Eagle)
• A Texas county board debates whether it can pass a moratorium on solar projects to block a planned 210 MW solar farm. (KLTV)
• A solar developer tells Mississippi residents it’s about two years away from beginning operation of a planned 79 MW solar farm. (WKRG)
• A troubled solar company appears in a Tennessee court as plaintiffs try to hold its owners personally liable for its problems. (WBIR)
• A Tennessee-based solar developer procures 1.5 GW of advanced U.S.-made thin film solar modules made in Ohio. (PV Magazine)

COAL:
• A Sierra Club report finds​America’s coal sector to blame for 3,800 premature deaths a year, with the Tennessee Valley Authority as the company responsible for the most deaths and a Georgia Power coal plant ranked as 17th most dangerous. (Grist, Georgia Recorder)
• Kentucky lawmakers move forward with a bill to keep coal-fired power plants on the grid despite opposition from utilities who say it hampers their ability to retire uneconomical plants. (Kentucky Lantern)

STORAGE:
• Oklahoma lawmakers update an economic incentives package for an unnamed company, rumored to be Volkswagen, that’s deciding whether to build an electric vehicle battery package in the state. (Tulsa World)
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signs a bill to give $105 million in state funding for a company to build an iron-air battery plant in a former steel town. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Florida lawmaker suggests state officials consider limiting the use of electric vehicles during emergency evacuations until more charging stations are set up. (WFSU)

OIL & GAS: Texas’ fossil fuel industry lobbies state lawmakers to reinstate a recently expired program that uses school districts to award tax abatements to oil and gas companies and an array of other businesses. (Capital & Main)

PIPELINES: A South Carolina court hears an environmental group’s challenge of a water quality permit for Dominion Energy’s planned 14.5-mile natural gas pipeline along the Great Pee Dee River. (WBTW)

EMISSIONS:
• South Memphis residents already exposed to toxic emissions say they’ve been pushed to the brink by releases of carcinogenic ethylene oxide from a plant that sterilizes medical equipment. (The Equation)
• Dozens of Virginia residents and advocacy groups argue against a proposed regulation to allow suspension of emission requirements for data centers if the regional grid operator warns of strain on the system. (Virginia Mercury)

WIND: A wind energy advocacy group projects the Biden administration will fall short of its goal to develop 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, even with a ​lease auction set in the Gulf of Mexico this year. (Engineering News-Record)

CARBON CAPTURE: West Virginia lawmakers rapidly advance a bill to place a 60-day moratorium on all carbon capture agreements. (Charleston Gazette-Mail, subscription)

CLIMATE: Rising sea levels push Florida developers and home buyers to seek out land at higher elevations in Miami, but community groups warn about resulting ​“climate gentrification.” (Miami Herald)