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The production of renewable energy in Scotland came to the fore in technical, economic and political terms in the 21st century. In 2020, Scotland had 12 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity which produced about a quarter of UK renewable generation. In decreasing order of capacity, Scotland's renewable generation comes from onshore wind (turbines pictured), water, offshore wind, solar photovoltaics and biomass. Fears regarding fuel poverty and climate change increased its prevalence on the political agenda. Renewables met a quarter of total energy consumption in 2020; the Scottish government target is having renewables meet half of total energy consumption by 2030. Although there is significant support from the public, private and community-led sectors, concerns about the effect of the technologies on the natural environment have been expressed. There is also a political debate about the relationship between the siting, and the ownership and control of these widely distributed resources. (Full article...)

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West Mata erupting underwater

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... that for a rare performance in 2023 of the St Matthew Passion by the 18th-century composer Homilius, the conductor Clemens Bosselmann had to track down handwritten sheet music?
... that a former armory in New York City later housed ESPN offices?
... that St Julian's Church was the only church in Norwich destroyed during World War II to be rebuilt?
... that after Ray Hall threw an apple at Jo Jo White, White became Hall's sports agent?
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... that Maria Stromberger was sent to Auschwitz at her own request?
... that a man dropped his hat while riding Flight Deck and went to retrieve it, but ended up dying after being struck by the foot of a rider?

In the news

First launch of SpaceX Starship

SpaceX Starship, the most powerful rocket ever, is first launched (pictured) from Texas and explodes almost four minutes into the flight.
At least 90 people are killed and 322 others are injured in a crowd crush in Sanaa, Yemen.
Dominion Voting Systems agrees to a $787 million settlement in their lawsuit against Fox News over defamation claims from the 2020 United States presidential election.
In Finland, Unit 3 of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear reactor, begins regular operation after eighteen years of delayed construction.

On this day

April 22

Pedro Álvares Cabral

1500 – A fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral (pictured) anchored off present-day Brazil; he later claimed the land for the Portuguese Empire.
1885 – The first meeting of the Colonial Defence Committee, a standing committee of the British Colonial Office, was held to discuss the defence of Barbados.
1918 – The short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was established on territory formerly part of the Russian Empire.
1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacked positions occupied mainly by Australian and Canadian forces, starting the Battle of Kapyong.
2016 – The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, opened for signature and was signed by 175 parties.

Philip of Poitou (d. 1208)
Robert Ludwig Kahn (b. 1923)
Regine Velasquez (b. 1970)

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Today's featured picture

7th-century scroll of the Lantingji Xu, a work written at the Orchid Pavilion Gathering

The Orchid Pavilion Gathering, also known as the Lanting Gathering, was a cultural and poetic event held in China in 353, during the Jin dynasty of the Six Dynasties era. During the Spring Purification Festival, forty-two literati met at the Orchid Pavilion (Lanting) on Mount Kuaiji, near present-day Shaoxing in Zhejiang. This 7th-century scroll, now at the Palace Museum in Beijing, is considered to be the best of the surviving copies of the Lantingji Xu, written by Wang Xizhi as a preface to the collection of poems produced at the Orchid Pavilion Gathering. Copies of the work were made throughout Chinese history. The text reads, in part: "Reading past compositions, I can recognize the same melancholy from the ancients. I can only lament before their words without being able to verbalize my feelings. [...] The future generations will look upon us, just like we look upon our past. How sad! Hence, we record the people presented here today and their works; Even though time and circumstances will be different, the feelings expressed will remain unchanged."

Calligraphy credit: Feng Chengsu, after Wang Xizhi

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