Steel Makers Discover Solar Power, And It Ain’t All Sweetness And Light
Oh the irony, it burns! Solar power is supposed to open the door on a new era in which humans and their ecosystems exist in harmony, but for now the record is still stuck on fossil energy. Oil, gas, and coal producers continue to dig up carbon from underground and disburse it about the surface, and solar power is becoming an enabler, providing power to operate — and equip — drilling sites and mines.
More Solar Power For Fossil Fuels
The use of solar power in the fossil energy industry should come as no surprise. After all, extractive energy sites need energy to operate, and the expense of building new transmission lines or ferrying fuel to remote locations can be formidable.
Solar power became the solution after the first practical solar cell was introduced in 1954. Oil producers were the solar industry’s leading customer by 1980, with an emphasis on use at offshore drilling sites.
Those early solar devices were limited in scale, but that changed as solar technology improved. Drillers began installing the first large-scale solar arrays for oil and gas operations in the US as early as 2003.
Alongside a sharp drop in the cost of solar cells, the scale of solar activity at drilling sites and mines has picked up significantly in recent years.
Fossil energy stakeholders have begun leaning on solar power and other renewables to fend off critics with new pledges to reduce carbon emissions. However, when fossil energy stakeholders pledge to decarbonize, they mostly mean reducing carbon emissions from operations under their direct control. Once their product reaches the marketplace, it’s a different story.
In effect, renewable energy is giving fossil energy stakeholders license to keep pumping out more product, exploring more sites for extraction, and building new pipelines, leaving energy consumers to hold the carbon emissions bag.
More Solar Power For Sustainable Steel
That brings us to the latest news about solar power and steelmaking. Steel is one of those tough-to-decarbonize industries, and steel is also the material that makes pipelines and other fossil energy infrastructure. Fossil energy stakeholders could give themselves many brownie points for transitioning their infrastructure to steel made with renewable energy.
For example, last year CleanTechnica was among those to welcome plans for a new solar array at the longstanding Rocky Mountain steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado. The mill is currently owned by the North American branch of Russia’s leading steel and coal producer EVRAZ, and the project has been developed by Lightsource bp, a joint venture between bp and the solar firm Lightsource.
Aside from enabling the mill to offset about 90% of its electricity with solar power, the project also helps to hasten the closure of the nearby Comanche coal power plant.
Why Rain On The Solar Parade?
At the time, the steel mill’s ability to churn out a new generation of extended-length rails for railroads was so exciting that we totally forgot to take a look at its other branches of its business. Our friends over at Colorado Public Radio report that the mill is also known for producing well casings, mainly for oilfields in Texas and North Dakota, in addition to producing steel pipe for, you guessed it, pipelines.
The cat’s out of the media bag now. Earlier this week bp announced that the new solar array, dubbed Bighorn Solar, is now up and running,
According to bp, the new solar array will have the carbon-reducing effect of “removing 92,100 fuel-burning cars from the road,” which is fine if carbon emissions from the mill were the only emissions in question. The bigger problem is that millions of carbon-emitting cars still rule the global roadways, and millions of car buyers are switching over to bigger vehicles that burn more gas.
That’s a problem for bp and EVRAZ, both of which have taken the opportunity to burnish their green cred by touting “the world’s first steel mill to be powered largely by solar energy,” while continuing along with their fossil energy operations.
“It is the largest on-site solar facility in the US dedicated to a single customer, with more than 750,000 solar panels providing nearly all the plant’s annual electricity demand,” bp enthused in a press release earlier this week. “This will enable the mill to produce some of the world’s greenest steel and steel products.”
Dave Lawler, chairman and president of bp America, piled on with this comment:
“Bighorn Solar shows us what the future of American energy can look like. Renewable energy can create a more sustainable, competitive business. Projects like this can make companies more resilient and protect jobs through the energy transition. And it’s another example of how bp is working to help the US and the world reach net zero by 2050.”
Do tell! Just last summer, bp CEO Bernard Looney seemed to be anticipating that the oil and gas industry would continue to be a leading customer for steel products, if not from the Rocky Mountain mill then from others. In a widely circulated interview with Bloomberg News, Looney foresaw a strong, continuing recovery in demand globally.
It’s Time To Get Serious About Decarbonizing
Looney is not alone. OPEC is also anticipating that oil demand will beat pre-pandemic levels by next year, and demand for coal is practically through the roof.
In terms of promoting a nice, green public image, that is a problem for EVRAZ and bp. On its part, EVRAZ appears to be ready to resolve part of the problem. As of last January the company was reportedly mulling over the idea of spinning off its coal business to concentrate on steel making.
The sharp uptick in coal demand may have prompted EVRAZ to set those plans aside for now, but the idea could still be percolating. Vanadium is EVRAZ’s other main business branch, and that should help cushion the separation from coal, considering the growing market for vanadium in energy storage as well as steel making.
Last year, EVRAZ also launched a new vanadium R&D center in Switzerland, focusing on expanding its use in the steel industry. That still leaves the door open for fossil energy customers, but EVRAZ seems to have its eye on the growing demand for green steel by the auto industry, which is pivoting into battery electric cars as well as fuel cell electric trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.
No such cushion is at hand for bp. The company is pretty much stuck tinkering around the edges of decarbonization while continuing to pump out oil and gas.
Still, cleantech investments by bp and several other fossil energy firms are not insignificant, and those that invest the big bucks on cleantech gain an important public relations edge over the others.
That could be the motivation behind two interesting solar power moves that bp made right in ExxonMobil’s backyard, the US. The biggest media play went to the company’s gigantic new 9-gigawatts solar acquisition in Texas, announced last June.
Less attention went to a 132-megawatt project in Arkansas, which bp also announced last summer. That sounds like peanuts compared to the Texas buy, and it is, but in the context of solar power growth in Arkansas it’s a huge step forward.
As of halfway through 2021, solar developers in Arkansas were drifting in the range of 12 megawatts or less. Activity finally began to scale up in 2019 after a sea change in the state’s solar policies. The Arkansas branch of Entergy was leading the way, and now bp has spotted an opportunity to stake its claim in a market ripe for rapid growth.
All else being equal, the surging cost of oil and gas for home heating should help juice solar activity in Arkansas and elsewhere, so stay tuned for more on that.
As for the Rocky Mountain steel mill, one day in the sparkling green future it will churn out less well casings and more parts for solar arrays, wind turbines and electric vehicles, but today is not that day.
Follow me on Twitter @TinaMCasey.
Photo: Solar power for Rocky Mountain steel mill courtesy of bp via prnewswire.
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Environment
Tesla US sales drop to under 40,000 units following tax credit expiration, lowest in years
Tesla’s US sales have taken a significant hit in November, dropping to just 39,800 units according to new data. This comes as the market adjusts to the expiration of the federal tax credit, despite Tesla’s attempt to mitigate the blow with more discounts.
Since the federal EV tax credit expired at the end of September, the US electric vehicle market has been in a bit of a turmoil. We expected a hangover period after the rush to buy in Q3, but the numbers for November are stark.
According to new estimates from Cox Automotive (via Reuters), Tesla sold approximately 39,800 vehicles in the US in November.
That represents a roughly 23% drop compared to the 51,513 vehicles delivered in November 2024. It is also reportedly Tesla’s lowest monthly sales volume in the US since January 2022.
It’s important to note that Tesla doesn’t release monthly sales numbers and therefore, those are estimates based on data collected by Cox.
The drop comes despite Tesla’s best efforts to stimulate demand. Following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit, the automaker launched new “Standard” range versions of the Model 3 and Model Y in October, priced roughly $5,000 lower than the previous base models to offset the loss of the incentive.
Those vehicles are expected to start more meaningfully contributing to sales next year.
However, Cox Automotive suggests this strategy could have a minimal impact. Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox’s director of industry insights, noted:
“The drop certainly shows there is not enough demand for the Standard variants that were supposed to boost sales after the tax credit expiry. What’s also happening is Standard sales are cannibalizing into sales of Premium versions, especially the Model 3.”
While a 23% drop looks bad on paper, it is worth noting that Tesla is actually weathering the storm better than the rest of the EV market.
Overall US EV sales reportedly plummeted by over 41% in November. Because Tesla’s decline was less severe than its competitors, the company actually saw its market share increase to 56.7%, up from 43.1% a year ago.
Most other automakers relied heavily on the tax credit to move their electric inventory, and without it, they are seeing demand evaporate much faster than Tesla.
Electrek’s Take
It’s sad to see. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, pushed for this to happen, and he always said that he believed Tesla would fare better than other automakers without the tax credit. He was right. The sad part is that it goes completely against Tesla’s mission to accelerate the advent of electric transportation.
Tesla used US incentives as a ladder to reach volume production, and as soon as it did, it pulled the ladder behind it so others couldn’t use it.
What a shame.
And all for what? To be a bigger fish in a smaller pond? Because that’s only going to work in the US. In Europe and China, Tesla’s sales are declining, while other automakers’ EV sales are surging.
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Environment
India’s inflation rises to 0.71% in November as decline in food, fuel prices loses steam
EV and battery supply chain research specialists Benchmark Mineral Intelligence reports that 2.0 million electric vehicles were sold globally in November 2025, bringing global EV sales to 18.5 million units year-to-date. That’s a 21% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
Europe was the clear growth leader in November, while North America continued to lag following the expiration of US EV tax credits. China, meanwhile, remains the world’s largest EV market by a wide margin.
Europe leads global growth
Europe’s EV market jumped 36% year-over-year in November 2025, with BEV sales up 35% and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales rising 39%. That brings Europe’s total EV sales to 3.8 million units for the year so far, up 33% compared to January–November 2024.
France finally returned to year-to-date growth in November, edging up 1% after spending most of 2025 in the red following earlier subsidy cuts. The rebound was led by OEMs such as the Volkswagen Group and Renault, a wider selection of EV models, and France’s “leasing social” program, aimed at helping lower-income households switch to EVs.
Italy also posted a standout month, logging record EV sales of just under 25,000 units in November. The surge followed the launch of a new incentive program designed to replace older ICE vehicles. The program earmarks €597.3 million (about $700 million) in funding for the replacement of around 39,000 gas cars.
The UK expanded access to its full £3,750 ($4,400) EV subsidy by adding five more eligible models: the Nissan Leaf (built in Sunderland, with deliveries starting in early 2026), the MINI Countryman, Renault 4, Renault 5, and Alpine A290.
US market slows after federal tax credit’s premature death
In North America, EV sales in the US did tick up month-over-month in November, following a sharp October drop after federal tax credits expired on September 30, 2025. Brands including Kia (up 30%), Hyundai (up 20%), Honda (up 11%), and Subaru (232 Solterra sales versus just 13 the month before) all saw gains, but overall volumes remain below levels when the federal tax credit was still available.
Policy changes aren’t helping. In early December, Trump formally “reset” US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, lowering the required fleetwide average to about 34.5 mpg by 2031. That’s a steep drop from the roughly 50.4 mpg target under the previous rule. Automakers can now meet the standard largely through gas vehicles, reducing pressure to scale BEVs and PHEVs.
Those loosened rules are already reflected in investment decisions, such as Stellantis’ $13 billion plan to expand US production by 50%, with a heavy focus on ICE vehicles. Earlier this year, Trump’s big bill set fines for missing CAFE targets to $0, further weakening the incentive for OEMs to electrify.
That’s some foolish policymaking, considering the world reached peak gas car sales in 2017. The US under Trump will be left behind, just as it will be with its attempts to revive the coal industry.
China still dominates, exports surge
China remains the backbone of global EV sales, even as growth slows. The Chinese market grew 3% year-over-year and 4% month-over-month in November. Year-to-date, EV sales in China are up 19%, with 11.6 million units sold.
One of the biggest headlines out of China is exports. BYD reported a record 131,935 EV exports in November, blowing past its previous high of around 90,000 units set in June. BYD sales in Europe have jumped more than fourfold this year to around 200,000 vehicles, doubled in Southeast Asia, and climbed by more than 50% in South America.
Global snapshot
Global EV sales from January to November 2025 vs January to November 2024, YTD %:
- Global: 18.5 million, +21%
- China: 11.6 million, +19%
- Europe: 3.8 million, +33%
- North America: 1.7 million, -1%
- Rest of World: 1.5 million, +48%
The takeaway: EV demand continues to grow worldwide, but policy support – or the lack thereof – is increasingly shaping where this growth shows up.
“Overall, EV demand remains resilient, supported by expanding model ranges and sustained policy incentives worldwide,” said Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester.
Read more: EV sales *still* have not fallen, cooled, slowed or slumped. Media is lying to you.
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