Don’t blame clean energy for rising electric bills

Don’t blame clean energy for rising electric bills

ByAdmin

Rising electricity costs are putting American households under increasing financial stress. But clean energy isn’t to blame — even if Republican lawmakers and pro-fossil fuel advocates say otherwise.  :See example.

The real drivers of climbing electricity rates are spikes in fossil gas prices, rising costs to maintain and rebuild aging and stressed grid infrastructure, and a utility business model that incentivizes big capital investments that customers have to pay off over decades.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from think tank Energy Innovation, which takes on one of the favorite talking points of those striving to reverse renewable energy mandates and climate change policies across the country.

Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom

Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom

ByAdmin

Storage capacity in the U.S. has grown enough in recent years to be able to power many millions of homes, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. California and Texas dominate the industry, but projects are in the works in Nevada, Arizona and elsewhere to help meet growing power demand from artificial-intelligence data centers and manufacturing plants.

Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management recently agreed to a $315.5 million debt investment in Eos Energy Enterprises, a startup producing zinc batteries that could store energy for longer periods. A developer called rPlus Energies just raised over $1 billion for a big solar and storage project in Utah. 

Saguaro Cactus: The slow death of a desert giant

Saguaro Cactus: The slow death of a desert giant

ByAdmin

Climate change is pushing the Sonoran Desert to the brink, with saguaro cacti as a bellwether of the impending disaster.

… In fact, since the Desert Botanical Garden’s founding in 1939, there is no record of a loss equal to this one. Among the over 1,000 saguaros on the grounds, perhaps a single arm is lost in a given year, and even then it’s generally from storm damage. This summer, a total of 13 arms dropped, and not one fell during a storm. Within days, some of these mutilated giant cacti had collapsed entirely.

The detached giant arms lying on the ground made for riveting video on news programs. But saguaros are only the most recognized species suffering, and the problem goes far beyond …

Close-up Photo of Crying Baby

New study: Emotions may matter more than facts in support for renewable energy

ByAdmin

Should Canada “axe the tax?” Is it time to end the tax breaks to Canadian fossil fuel companies and invest in renewable energy? Are electric vehicles a good investment? Should governments put the brakes on solar panels and wind turbines?

These are big questions that matter for the economy, the environment and our futures. In answering these questions, people will likely consider the costs and benefits of each approach.

Yet, people are not robots. People have thoughts, feelings and emotions. And they especially have strong feelings about climate change and energy sources.

In ‘Warming Up,’ the sports world’s newest opponent is climate change

In ‘Warming Up,’ the sports world’s newest opponent is climate change

ByAdmin

It’s easy to think of sports as an escape from reality, removed from the glaring problems of our world. Researcher Madeleine Orr shatters that illusion in Warming Up: How Climate Change Is Changing Sport. In her debut book, Orr shepherds readers through an at-times overwhelming deluge of all the ways climate change is disrupting sports around the world, providing a compelling case for action from athletes, sports leagues and fans alike.

Orr, a sport ecologist at the University of Toronto, draws on her academic expertise to outline how climate change is upending sports, be it wildfires almost destroying a …

Renewable Development Faces Regulatory Tangle

Renewable Development Faces Regulatory Tangle

ByAdmin

(from RTO Insider)
Reports Detail Growing List of State and Local Restrictions

Two new reports have been published on the profusion of local and state regulations affecting renewable energy development — one attempting to summarize them, the other quantifying the growing number of restrictions they impose. 

“Laws in Order: An Inventory of State Renewable Energy Siting Policies” summarizes the renewable energy siting and permitting policies in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. One of its findings is that the approach …

Why aren’t 100s of approved projects online?
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Why aren’t 100s of approved projects online?

ByAdmin

… “Construction is expected to begin this summer and be completed by the end of 2024,” reported the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune in April 2023.

But construction never began. And this March, the project’s developer asked regulators to give it an extension on its deadline to start building the solar farm. The company cited “delays in the interconnection study process,” setbacks in reaching an agreement to connect to the regional power grid and a three-year waiting period to receive critical pieces of equipment due to supply chain issues.

nuclear cooling tower with steam emitting from top

Congress Passes the ADVANCE Act

ByAdmin

After more than a year of negotiations, Congress approved the ADVANCE Act (Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy) yesterday, and sent it to President Biden for signature. 

The bill will give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission more flexibility to hire the staff it needs for a vastly increased pace of license applications. It will reduce fees for some applicants, require more timely processing of applications, facilitate licensing at retiring coal plants, and require work by the NRC to facilitate the export of advanced reactor technology.

Is Aviation a “Hard To Abate” Sector?

Is Aviation a “Hard To Abate” Sector?

ByWayne Willlis

You’ve heard the strategy:
  1. Electrify everything.
  2. Greenfiy the grid.
  3. Deal with “hard to abate” sectors.

And  you know the “hard to abate” sectors — cement, shipping, aluminum, cows, and AVIATION.   But maybe aviation should not be on the list, at least not if Beta Aviation, which is selling a FAA-approved electric plane this year, has a say.

Personally, I was blown away by the story, as told by their founder, Kyle Clark, in this Volts podcast, which I fully commend to your ears.  (Or, read/skim the transcript tab.)   It is a marvelous tale about how creative engineering, smart business models, early-adopter customers and American entrepreneurship combined to create a viable substitute for flight powered by jet fuel.

Cleantech: Break CH4 into Graphite & Green Hydrogen

Cleantech: Break CH4 into Graphite & Green Hydrogen

ByAdmin

Oakland-based startup Molten Industries is converting something that’s cheap and abundant in the US — natural gas — into graphite and hydrogen, the latter of which can be used as a source of clean energy.

Graphite is a key component of lithium-ion batteries and developing a US supply chain will break China’s hold on the graphite markte. The effort is funded in part by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Minnesota joins Wisconsin to allow power lines alongside highways

Minnesota joins Wisconsin to allow power lines alongside highways

ByAdmin

Here are two key facts about transmission lines: The U.S. needs a lot more of them to transition away from fossil fuels; they’re also incredibly difficult to build.

The challenge is negotiating permits for the power lines — which cross hundreds of miles — from the numerous jurisdictions and hundreds of private landowners along the planned route. This is a very slow process — too slow at its current pace for the U.S. to build enough power lines to meet its climate goals.

For the past half decade, bipartisan groups have been pushing federal and state lawmakers and transportation agencies to clear the way for a potential shortcut: siting power lines alongside highways….

A Man Wearing a Earpod

“Establish Political Will” for a liveable world – Done?

ByAdmin

Key findings from a new report “Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2024” based on the latest national survey from Yale, conducted April 25 – May 4, 2024:

  • A majority of U.S. voters prefer to vote for a candidate who supports action on global warming.

  • Majorities of voters support building clean energy infrastructure in their local area.

  • A large majority of registered voters supports requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their climate impacts.