Holcim US is going to install a 25-megawatt (MW) solar farm at its Michigan cement factory that will generate more than 30% of the plant’s power.
Holcim has pledged to power all of its US operations with 100% clean energy by 2030, and its latest move sees solar developer NorthStar Clean Energy installing an onsite solar farm on 100 acres at Holcim’s Alpena, Michigan, factory. The new solar array will produce over 30% of its current energy demand, and it will boost the factory’s clean energy to meet 75% of its electric power needs.
Manufacturing cement is energy-intensive and produces a lot of CO2 emissions. Each pound of concrete made releases 0.93 pounds of CO2. In fact, the cement industry is responsible for about 8% of global emissions – that’s far more than aviation, which sits at more than 2%.
There’s momentum in the concrete industry to address that problem. For example, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), of which Holcim is a member, focuses on sustainable development, and it launched a net-zero concrete road map in 2021. Holcim US is part of global building materials maker Holcim Group, which is headquartered in Switzerland and calls itself a “global leader in sustainable construction.”
Construction of Holcim’s Michigan solar farm will begin this year, and commercial operations are expected to begin in December 2024. It’s expected to reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions by approximately 25,000 tons annually.
This isn’t the company’s first clean energy installation at its US cement factories. It has three onsite wind turbines at its Paulding, Ohio, plant; and a solar farm at its Hagerstown, Maryland, plant is supplying more than 28% of the plant’s energy. It also announced in March that it’s bringing large-scale solar and battery storage to its Portland cement plant in Florence, Colorado.
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss a big Tesla Robotaxi setback, the new Mercedes-Benz CLA EV, Bollinger is over, and more.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Climate XChange, a nonpartisan nonprofit working to help states pass effective, equitable climate policies. Sales end on Dec. 8th for its 10th annual EV raffle, where participants have multiple opportunities to win their dream model. Visit CarbonRaffle.org/Electrek to learn more.
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Segway’s feature-packed E3 Pro electric scooter with Apple Find My hits new $500 Black Friday low (Save $200)
Segway’s Black Friday Sale is in full gear and currently seeing hundreds in savings and plenty of returning and new low prices on its e-scooters and e-bikes. One such standout is Segway’s latest E3 Pro Electric Scooter down at $499.99 shipped, and which seems to have disappeared from Amazon’s marketplace. Carrying a $700 MSRP since launching back at the top of October, we’ve only seen this model given $100 price cuts in its launch deal and the brand’s Halloween and early Black Friday sales. Now, with things having ramped up with increased savings now that Black Friday is in full swing, you can score a larger-than-ever $200 markdown to a new all-time low price, giving you an advanced upgrade to your commute that I have been loving so far since getting one a short time ago.
I’ve been riding around Brooklyn for a short time now with my own Segway E3 Pro Electric Scooter and have been loving my experience so far, as it’s a MAJOR step up from the very basic E22 model I’ve had for short travels since 2020. While power has been significantly ramped up from its E2 Pro predecessor, this new generation still retains a fairly lightweight 40-pound design, which I am able (as a not-so-strong person) to carry easily with one hand/arm up and down my second-story stoop.
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Segway’s E3 Pro comes bearing a 400W motor (with 800W peaking) alongside a 368Wh battery, the combination of which delivers up to 34 miles of commuting support for your travels at up to 20 MPH speeds. The regenerative brake paired with the brand’s SegRange Optimization tech really lends towards the extended travel times here, with safety taken into mind with the SegRide stability enhancement tech, the latest traction control system, turn signaling, RGB ambient lighting for nighttime journeys, and a bright headlight. What’s more, security is bolstered by the Apple Find My inclusion for those worried about tracking it down should theft (or forgetfulness) occur.
One thing I have really been enjoying, especially when riding over more pot-hole lined streets, is Segway’s E3 Pro’s dual elastomer suspension, which does a great job of smoothing out overall rides, while providing added cushioning when sudden, jolting sections of the road (or debris/trash) are driven over. Along with all those, there are also additional features, including the previously mentioned rear electronic regen brake getting a companion front drum brake, as well as 10-inch self-sealing jelly tires, an IPX5 water-resistant build, a 265-pound total payload, and a 3-inch full-color LED screen for setting adjustments.
Score up to 47% Black Friday savings on NIU EVs, like the 2025 KQi 200F e-scooter at its $529 low (Reg. $799), more from $279
NIU’s Black Friday EV Sale is in full motion now, taking up to 47% off its lineup of e-scooters and e-bikes, like the KQi 200F Foldable Handlebar Electric Scooter for $529 shipped, which you can currently only find in a used condition at Amazon. This is one of the brand’s newer 2025 models that fetches $799 at full price, which dipped down to this rate for the first time earlier in the month before these Black Friday savings. Now, you’re getting another shot at this all-time low price with $270 savings, giving you a solid commuter that sits among the mid-range models from NIU.
The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.
Tesla’s much-awaited entry into the Indian market has resulted in very slow sales to start, but it may not all be bad.
We’ve covered the years-long effort of Tesla to enter the Indian auto market. There have been a lot of intentions and fits and starts, but due to protectionist schemes in the country it never made a lot of sense for Tesla to enter.
That changed this year in March, when India waived EV import duties, allowing foreign firms to bring their cars in for sale. While India does have some strong local brands in Mahindra and Tata, this opened the gates to Chinese, German, Korean and American brands – namely, Tesla.
So far, other American companies have declined to bring their EVs to India, but Tesla opened its first showroom in Mumbai, India’s most populous city and financial capital, in July of this year. It opened a larger “Tesla Center” showroom in Gurugram, outside Delhi, this week.
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So, Tesla is only getting started in India, but by all measures it has been an exceedingly slow start, according to the BBC.
Dealership data shows that Tesla has only sold “just over” 100 cars in India since July, an exceedingly low number by any measure – especially when considering the India is now the most populous country in the world, with a population of just under 1.5 billion.
The numbers look a little less bad when comparing against EV sales in the country. While India has sold an impressive 2 million electric vehicles this year, the vast majority of them have been electric scooters.
Electric passenger cars are a much lower share at around 160k total unit sales this year so far, making up only around 3% of the passenger car market. And the majority of those are lower-cost domestic brands Mahindra and Tata or a growing section of Chinese challengers, with very few sales from overseas luxury brands.
Tesla could be included in that “luxury brand” list, largely due to the price of its imported vehicles. While the Model Y starts at $40k in the US, that price rises to 5,989,000 Rupees in India (~$67k USD). This is simply an unaffordable price for the vast majority of Indians – indeed, only around 1% of India’s auto sales are in the “luxury” category.
Further, EV infrastructure is not very well developed in the country. Tesla has one Supercharger in India, and two listed as “coming soon” in the Gurugram area. There are thousands of other charging points across India (and of course, drivers can charge overnight at home), but the number is still relatively low compared to the country’s population.
Meanwhile, other brands’ EV sales are growing well in India. The auto market as a whole has grown by about 13% this year in the developing country, but EV car sales have grown by 57% in the same period, rapidly outpacing the auto industry as a whole.
Much of that sales growth has been driven by Chinese EVs, which make up around a third of the market. That’s around ~60k Chinese EVs sold this year in India.
Even luxury German EVs from Mercedes, BMW and Audi have sold around 4,000 units so far this year, not a large number, but certainly dwarfing Tesla’s.
So while it’s tempting to look at Tesla’s poor numbers and make excuses about the size of the EV market, ability of Indians to afford luxury vehicles, or state of India’s charging network, it’s hard to compare that low ~100 sales number at any of the competition and label it as anything other than an extremely poor showing.
But, you do have to start somewhere, and the company is only a few months in. So we’ll have to see where it goes from here – though with the sales we’ve seen so far in Mumbai, entering the Delhi market is unlikely to forestall Tesla’s current global sales decline.
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