• Chrysler parent Stellantis is laying off as many as 2,450 factory workers from its Warren Truck assembly plant outside of Detroit as the automaker ends production of the Ram 1500 Classic truck.
• The Biden administration is proposing to restrict the federal lands that are open for future coal mining in North Dakota — though it says the effort is not expected to impact how much coal is produced there for many years.
• The Biden administration appeals a judge’s injunction against its pause on permitting new liquified natural gas export facilities.
• Westinghouse Electric Company has produced new fuel pellets that contain higher enrichment levels than what is currently used in commercial reactors. The specialized “ADOPT” fuel pellets were developed through the U.S. Department of Energy Accident Tolerant Fuel Program to help boost performance and safety of nuclear plants. The new fuel will be tested at the Vogtle Unit 2 reactor in Waynesboro, Georgia, next year.
• The federal government is making its first loan to a crystalline silicon solar plant, loaning $1.45 billion to support a South Korean company’s bid to build up key parts of the solar supply chain inside the U.S.
• General Motors has been embroiled in a class-action lawsuit for years, regarding Duramax diesel engines and their supposedly faulty fuel pumps. Finally, according to CarComplaints. com, an online automotive complaint site, GM has settled with the plaintiffs, but the vast majority of the payout will go to lawyers.
• A Nebraska Ford dealership was fined for being an accessory after the fact to a Clean Air Act violation. Moody Motor Company in Niobrara has to pay a $125 special assessment fee and a $39,741.95 fine to the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska.
• U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who is running to represent Arizona in the Senate, said Wednesday that the Biden administration needs to do more on extreme heat. Gallego issued a statement saying that the Biden administration is “all talk, no action when it comes to extreme heat in Arizona — calling on Arizonans to do more yet refusing to take an active role.”
• Some of the top US oil refiners are throttling back operations at their facilities this quarter, adding to concerns that a global glut of crude is forming. Marathon Petroleum Corp. — owner of the largest US refinery — plans to operate its 13 plants at an average of 90% of capacity this quarter, the lowest for the period since 2020. Similarly, PBF Energy Inc. announced it’s preparing to process the least crude in three years, Phillips 66 will run its refineries near a two-year low and Valero Energy Corp. expects to trim oil processing, reported Bloomberg.
• Toyota recently announced a recall of 22 vehicle models for equipment issues and says customers will be notified in September.
• Black Hills Energy plans to build a roughly $250 million power plant in South Dakota that would be powered by natural gas and diesel.
• Hawaiian Electric estimates liability losses related to last year’s deadly Maui wildfires total about $1.7 billion so far.
• Alaska regulators fine an oil and gas company $203,000 for allegedly violating water pollution discharge limits in the Cook Inlet.
• West Virginia’s attorney general requests an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court to block the U.S. EPA’s proposed new rules to reduce emissions from coal-fired and new gas-fired power plants. World
• The world is falling well short of a promise made at global climate talks last year to triple the amount of wind power, according to a report by an energy think tank released Thursday. Last December, countries at the U.N. COP28 climate conference committed to tripling all renewable electricity by 2030. Wind power specifically must triple to achieve that, according to the International Energy Agency and others.
• Vietnam supports Cambodia’s plan to build a canal from the Mekong River Basin to the Cambodian coast and would like to be involved in finding solutions for the canal’s possible negative effects, its foreign ministry said.
• China has announced that it is expanding the world’s first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, Interesting Engineering reported. The Shidaowan nuclear power plant in eastern China’s Shandong province — a joint development from China Huaneng Group, Tsinghua University and China National Nuclear Corporation — features the world’s first high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor and started commercial operation in December, per the news report.
Scottish officials are reconsidering the ban on woodburning stoves in new builds after rural communities raised concerns about their job prospects and comfort during cold months. In May, the BBC reported that the government would look into amending the law requiring new homes to use energy-efficient systems like heat pumps for warming the indoors.
• China is rushing to build battery- storage systems to allow electricity grids to cope with rapid increases in intermittent power generation from wind and solar farms.
• A small, low-priced electric car has American automakers and politicians shaking in their boots. Launched in 2023 by Chinese automaker BYD, the Seagull sells for around $12,000 in China, with a shorter-range version costing under $10,000, as detailed by the Associated Press.
• South Korean officials met on Monday to discuss electric vehicle safety and whether to require car firms to disclose battery brands amid growing consumer concern after an EV blaze in an underground garage extensively damaged an apartment block.