The Cardinal-Hickory transmission line exemplifies the litigation doom loop. After completing the strictest, most comprehensive form of environmental review between 2016 and 2020, the line was approved jointly by four federal agencies. But a judge enjoined the approval. Now, after a new plan was devised that would increase land for conservation, the project has again been enjoined.
Our labor market is tighter than a rotten clam shell, companies in the clean energy sector are already struggling to hire workers, and we’re looking at a job market that, according to the Political Economy Research Institute, could grow to 9 million by the end of the decade.
In short, we won’t be able to unlock the full might of the IRA’s investment capital without the complementary labor capital to build it.
The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a rule meant to speed up federal permits for major transmission lines, part of a broader push to expand America’s electric grids. Building new lines can take a decade or more because of permitting delays and local opposition.
The Energy Department is trying to use the limited tools at its disposal to pour roughly $20 billion into grid upgrades and to streamline approvals for new lines. But experts say a rapid, large-scale grid expansion may ultimately depend on Congress.
Editor’s Note: This is a poster child for what’s broken about federal permitting. This project was planned in the 2000s and approved after lengthy environmental and other review in 2015. The suit was filed federally in January and dismissed in late April, subject to appeal … and a companion case in Arizona state courts. If not dismissed there, further delays will add expense. (A $10 billion dollar project delayed for a year in a 5% interest rate world costs $500 million annually.)
With highly fractured, permeable ground, the Great Basin’s geology makes it one of the most geothermally rich areas in the world. Hot fluid rises easily toward the surface, ideal for driving power plants, and present-day…
Don’t feel bad if nobody wishes you a happy Earth Day today, it’s probably because everyone’s got a juicy cheeseburger jammed into their maw. In 2022, Boston Consulting Group issued a bombshell report that plant-based…
To improve permitting of geothermal energy exploration on public lands, the Bureau of Land Management today adopted two existing categorical exclusions from the United States Forest Service and the Department of the Navy. The categorical exclusions will enable the agency to expedite the review and approval of geothermal exploration proposals.
from NY Times, published as The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Here’s a Fast Solution. One of the biggest obstacles to expanding clean energy in the United States is a lack of power lines….
President Biden has done more to address climate change than any of his predecessors. So far, voters don’t seem to care.
The Biden campaign and a collection of progressive groups are trying to change that. They believe the president’s record on climate change can boost his popularity with young voters.
A lawsuit that has paused the completion of a power line in the Upper Midwest is part of a long-running conflict that has exposed differences within the environmental and clean energy advocacy communities.
Developers of the $649 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line have built about 100 of the project’s 102 miles, but they stopped work following a March 22 injunction by a U.S. district court judge in Wisconsin.
The International Code Council, which sets model construction standards for new homes, was expected to include building electrification measures in its 2024 energy code on March 20. But following appeals lodged by industry groups, the ICC board moved the measures to the code’s appendices, effectively making them optional, as first reported by the Huffington Post.
If new homes aren’t wired for increasing power needs from electric appliances and car chargers, it will bump the effort and cost of making such upgrades onto homeowners — a deterrent to going electric.
Note: Here is a VC-backed company which is using solar power to pull CO2 and H20 out of the air and combine it into CH4 … better known as methane or natural gas! Importantly, this tech looks like it might get cheap enough to scale up. The video tour by the CEO explains the chemistry and economics.
Today, Terraform is announcing that it has commissioned a demonstrator plant and produced synthetic natural gas for the first time.
Roughly the size of two shipping containers, the Terraformer consists of three …
