The Utah Office of Energy Development (OED), TerraPower and Flagship Companies announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore the potential siting of a Natrium® reactor and energy storage plant in Utah.
The ability of a state to veto a transmission line is what gives us the fragmented grid we have today, a grid that becomes increasingly ill-suited to the job of moving electricity as needed, especially as we try to shift to zero carbon wind and solar.
This problem is clear to solar and wind developers but not so much to activists and advocates of renewables. Without a grid that can transport energy from the most efficient renewables—wind in the midwest, solar in the southwest—a wind and solar-focused decarbonization plan means higher prices and continued use of fossil fuel generation. Here’s a cautionary tale from an HVDC developer.
Op-Ed: Pursuing bipartisan climate action has two main advantages. One is that it decreases the risk of backsliding. Climate change is a long-term problem that requires long-term solutions, not IRA-style whiplash. A policy that only one party can support is likely to provide a sugar rush rather than the strong bones and muscles needed for longevity.
The Interior Department has all but halted new approvals for solar and wind projects on federal lands. It was entirely unclear how that would affect transmission out west. Well, we have the latest update: NV Energy has been beseeching the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to let solar projects previously planned for Greenlink bail from the interconnection queue without penalty. And the solar industry is now backing them up.
Despite federal government opposition, new analyses show that green energy installations continue to grow, with projections indicating renewables will become the leading U.S. power source by the 2030s, though emissions are now expected to fall only 16% by 2035 compared to the previously predicted 24%.
from Heatmap. If you’re putting new power onto the grid right now, the cheapest option is likely solar. Thanks to years of declining equipment costs, generous federal subsidies, and voluntary renewables buyers like big technology…
From Heatmap. The Esmeralda 7 solar project, a collection of proposed solar farms and batteries that would encompass tens of thousands of acres of federal public lands in western Nevada, appears to be moving towards…
TLDR: Key Points
A comprehensive analysis by First Street, published today in its 12th National Report, Property Prices in Peril, provides critical insights into the observed and projected effects of climate change on the U.S. real estate market. Utilizing new peer-reviewed methodologies1 and macroeconomic modeling, the report estimates a potential $1.47 trillion reduction in unadjusted real estate value over the next 30 years due to climate-related risks.
Drawing on interdisciplinary research that examines climate risk awareness, housing market dynamics, climate migration patterns, and demographic and socioeconomic shifts, the study offers a forward-looking analysis of the Housing Price Index (HPI), property valuation trends, and localized Gross Domestic Product (GDP) impacts extending to 2055.
This is a NY Times Magazine article with a colorful view of Nevada’s debates about lithium mining, heavily from a frame of view around Patrick Donnelly, the pugnacious head of the Center for Biological Diversity in Nevada. Sample:
The proposed mine, the company replied, would be in Pahrump, Nev., a town where Donnelly did his grocery shopping. The precise location was next to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a beloved and biodiverse wetland near Donnelly’s home.
“Just saw your map,” Donnelly’s message began. “I would abandon that project right now, because you stand zero, and I mean zero, chance of getting it permitted.” He ended, “No chance that mine moves forward.” [The threats then get more specific; click to read more.]
Editor’s Note: climate change changes economic incentives, which change all sorts of things. Here, a major land owner in Florida exits raising oranges and will use the land for real estate development and other uses because “we must now reluctantly adapt to changing environmental and economic realities. Our citrus production has declined 73% over the last ten years, despite significant investments in land, trees and citrus disease treatments. The impact of Hurricanes Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on our trees, already weakened from years of citrus greening disease, has led Alico to conclude that growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida,” said John Kiernan, Alico’s President and CEO.”
