1.5 billion fewer plastic bags used in Colorado thanks to fee, Boulder recycling center
estimates | Denver7
Denver7 reported in January that after a year of the statewide fee on single-use plastic bags, the Eco Cycle recycling centre in Boulder estimated between 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion fewer plastic bags were used in Colorado in 2023.
A Minnesota Utility Is Swapping Coal for Solar. It’s Like Taking 780,000 Cars Off the
Road | Inside Climate News
In January, Inside Climate News reported that one of the largest coal plants in the country will soon be replaced by the nation’s biggest solar farm. It’s part of a growing trend that climate and environmental justice advocates say is necessary to mitigate the accelerating climate crisis while safeguarding the rural coal communities that have the most to lose from the clean energy transition.
On New Year’s Eve, Xcel Energy shut down one of three power generating units at Sherburne County Generating Station, Minnesota’s largest power plant and among the biggest coal-fired power plants in the Midwest. The utility, which has pledged to generate 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, plans to shutter the facility’s remaining two units in 2026 and 2030.
This disused mine in Finland is being turned into a gravity battery to store renewable
energy | Euro News
One of Europe’s deepest mines is being transformed into an underground energy store. It will use gravity to retain excess power for when it is needed.
The remote Finnish community of Pyhäjärvi is 450 kilometres north of Helsinki. It’s more than 1,400 metre-deep zinc and copper Pyhäsalmi mine was decommissioned, but is now being given a new lease of life by Scotland-based company Gravitricity.
When there is excess power — from wind turbines on a windy day, for example — weights would be winched up the Pyhäsalmi mine’s 530-metre auxiliary shaft. To generate energy, these weights can be released. This turns the winches into generators, creating either a short burst of electricity or a slower trickle, depending on what is needed.
California bill would ban all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores | AP News
AP News in February reported on a new bill announced in California which would ban all plastic shopping bags in 2026.
California already bans thin plastic shopping bags at grocery stores and other shops, but shoppers at checkout can purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly makes them reusable and recyclable.
Democratic state Sen. Catherine Blakespear said people are not reusing or recycling those bags. She points to a state study that found the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds (3.63 kg) per year in 2004 to 11 pounds (4.99 kg) per year in 2021.