Author: Admin

EMIT LESS Act garners bi-partisan applause

EMIT LESS Act garners bi-partisan applause

ByAdmin

Enteric methane, which is naturally emitted during the digestive process of most livestock species, has been deemed the single largest source of agricultural methane emissions. Garnering support from a diverse coalition, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., seeks to reduce enteric methane by integrating emissions-reduction practices into U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs and providing financial incentives to farmers that voluntarily adopt them.

DOE Awards $6 Billion for Green Steel, Cement, Aluminum and other industrial processes
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DOE Awards $6 Billion for Green Steel, Cement, Aluminum and other industrial processes

ByAdmin

The industrial sector is responsible for over 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The 33 projects funded here might demonstrate viable fast pathways to decarbonize these notoriously hard-to-decarbonize sector: cement, alumninum, steel, pastics and a broad range of industrial processes that require heat and sometimes chemistries that create CO2 directly.

The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet

The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet

ByAdmin

Note: The author argues that the declining price of solar and wind GENERATION will not drive the transition without government subsidies.  After proving that (convincingly, IMHO), he responds to the question “isn’t this an argument for a carbon tax?” with “it absolutely is an argument for larger carbon taxes on fossil fuels.”

Cortez Masto co-sponsors bipartisan geothermal development bill
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Cortez Masto co-sponsors bipartisan geothermal development bill

ByAdmin

Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and other members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee introduced the Geothermal Energy Optimization (GEO) Act to accelerate the adoption of geothermal energy nationwide. Nevada is the second-largest producer of geothermal energy in the nation.

The GEO Act would put geothermal projects on an equal footing with oil and gas projects on public land and direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to develop a streamlined process for geothermal permits. The bill also …

Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

ByAdmin

The world adds a new data center every three days according to Bill Vass, VP of Engineering at Amazon Web Services. The explosion of artificial-intelligence—and the data centers that power it—is fueling an insatiable appetite for electricity, creating risks to the grid and the transition to cleaner energy sources, according to utility executives. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told the conference that electricity is the key input for deciding whether a data center will be profitable and that the amount of power AI will consume is staggering.

Data centers, bitcoin and EVs send utilities scrambling for more power

Data centers, bitcoin and EVs send utilities scrambling for more power

ByAdmin

After more than 30 years of falling or flat demand for electricity, electric utilities are forecasting the nation will need the equivalent of about 34 new nuclear plants, or 38 gigawatts, over the next five years to supply power for data centers, EVs, crypto mining, cannabis farming, more electrification and new industry according to filings made to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and compiled by Grid Strategies.

Biden Administration Announces Rules Phasing Out Gas Cars

Biden Administration Announces Rules Phasing Out Gas Cars

ByAdmin

The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032.

Nearly three years in the making, the new tailpipe pollution limits from the Environmental Protection Agency would transform the American automobile market. A record 1.2 million electric vehicles rolled off dealers’ lots last year, but they made up just 7.6 percent of …

WRI Webinar Examines How to Expand Grid-enhancing Technologies
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WRI Webinar Examines How to Expand Grid-enhancing Technologies

ByAdmin

Note: This is an advanced topic — adding tech solutions to the existing grid so as to increase the ability of the existing transmission infrastructure to carry larger loads. The growth of demand for electricity is higher than anticipated, and the slow permitting process is retarding deployment of transmission lines that clean energy can connect with. These “GETs” are quick-to-deploy, relatively inexpensive stopgap measures until new transmission capacities are installed.

Drop in Wash. Carbon Price Spells Uncertainty for Budget, Gas Costs

Drop in Wash. Carbon Price Spells Uncertainty for Budget, Gas Costs

ByAdmin

Washington’s first quarterly carbon allowance auction of 2024 has thrown two new wrinkles into the economics of the state’s fledgling — and controversial — cap-and-invest program.  

First: The auction cleared at $25.76 per allowance. That’s sharply lower than clearing prices in 2023’s four quarterly auctions, which took a lot of blame for Washington’s high gasoline prices last summer.  

Second: The March 6 auction, results …

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro | Shutterstock

Shapiro Proposes Cap-and-trade, More Renewables for Pa.

ByAdmin

The governor is proposing the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act (PACER) to set up a cap-and-invest program. 

Seventy percent of PACER’s benefits would be returned to end-use customers as rebates on their electric bill — a higher percentage than any cap-and-trade program in the country. PACER also would support projects that cut air pollution, further reduce customer energy bills and invest in new job-creating clean energy projects, including carbon capture and storage, geothermal, and clean hydrogen. 

LPO Announces $2.26B Loan to Nevada Lithium Plant

LPO Announces $2.26B Loan to Nevada Lithium Plant

ByAdmin

A lithium processing plant that could help put 800,000 electric vehicles on the road per year has received a conditional commitment for a $2.26 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. The plant would be in Humboldt County, on the Nevada-Oregon border, at Thacker Pass, where Lithium Americas Corp. and its Lithium Nevada Corp. subsidiary are developing a mine containing the largest proven lithium reserves in North America.