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.”
Note: Niskanen Center just released a study showing HOW improved inter-regional transmission capacity (like that required by BIG WIRES) will lead to lower costs for utilities and their customers.
[Niskanen] just published a commentary showing how high-voltage transmission infrastructure enhances electric power market efficiency and thereby drives down customer costs. The piece delves into how the power grid operates, provides a brief …
Note: Capitalism works again: “The cure to high prices is high prices.” That triggers supply, which reduces prices. Here, CCL’s Jonathan Marshall shows what’s happening to lithium prices, what’s coming and why.
Editor: Here’s another example of how “market forces” can meaningfully change the rate and scale of the transition to clean energy.
China has unveiled new ESG disclosure rules for its biggest companies as it seeks to align with European requirements and bring foreign investment back to its struggling economy. “By catching up with international standards, the government hopes to attract foreign money—especially from institutional investors,” Wang said.
A new paper finds that properties within a mile of a proposed wind farm see an average decrease of 11 percent when a project is announced and constructed, compared to properties located three to five miles away. But the difference returns to zero within a few years such that properties within a mile of a project have values that are indistinguishable from those three to five miles away.
A new report from the First Street Foundation found that 39 million U.S. properties are overvalued because damage risks from climate change “have yet to be reflected in the insurance premiums.” The properties are “likely overvalued due to the underpricing or subsidization of climate risk in their insurance. … It has the potential to impact property values in a way that’s similar to what we saw in the last recession in 2008.”
NV Energy executive Carolyn Barbash said Greenlink, the utility’s $2.5 billion transmission line project, is 11 months behind schedule because of permitting issues. Barbash cited the Bureau of Land Management’s review slowing the process, but noted it will generate $690 million in economic activity and “bring about 4,000 full-time jobs.” She asked commissioners to educate the public “that energy infrastructure precedes economic growth. We may need to invest before the load is here.”
Until quite recently, high-polluting fossil fuels (especially coal) were by far the cheapest sources of energy available. Renewables didn’t come close. But in the past decade, the unsubsidized price of electricity from solar and wind declined by 89% and 69%, respectively. And the cost of lithium-ion batteries – which are needed to smooth out the intermittent supply of solar and wind energy – has declined by 90%. As a result, new solar power plants have gone from being 710% more expensive than the cheapest fossil-fueled plants in 2010 to being 29% cheaper now, and new onshore wind plants have gone from …
By that test, the IRA passes with flying colors, according to an innovative new study by the Rhodium Group. Over the course of many decades, it finds that “for every ton of CO2 reduced within the US, an additional 2.4-2.9 tons of CO2 emissions reductions are achieved outside the US, thanks to IRA-driven cost reductions in the “green premium” of [emerging climate technologies] globally.”
Robert Litterman is a legend on Wall Street. He earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1980. In his 23 years at Goldman Sachs he oversaw quants, managed risk and developed, with the great applied mathematician Fischer Black, the Black-Litterman model for portfolio allocation. Now he’s a founding partner […]
A financial official from an island that’s among the world’s most vulnerable to global warming has a plan to quickly increase the amount spent on climate solutions in developing nations. And his plan requires little additional spending…
What we can do now to address climate change is simple:
1. Electrify everything, and
2. Greenify the grid.
The tech is available, at reasonable costs, NOW. It won’t solve everything, but it’ll get us more than half way. NOW. This one-pager from CCL is a map. Check it out! Hand it out!
