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Moniz to make another push for R&D spending hike
Moniz has repeatedly noted that business leaders and outside groups have called for at least a doubling in clean R&D funding over current levels. For example, the Bipartisan Policy Center released a white paper last week noting that R&D spending directed toward DOE has fallen from about 18 percent in 1979 to 6-9 percent of total federal R&D funding now. [ read more … ]
E.P.A. Faces Bigger Tasks, Smaller Budgets and Louder Critics
Under fierce attack from the political right, and with even some Democrats questioning its competence, the Environmental Protection Agency is facing a tumultuous election year — with rising regulatory responsibilities, falling budgets and its very existence at stake. [ read more … ]
Wind energy could get cheaper with newer, bigger projects
The offshore wind industry’s efforts to distance itself from Cape Wind continued this week as the University of Delaware released a report showing offshore wind energy in New England would be far less costly under projects that are newer and bigger than Cape Wind. [ read more … ]
U.S. Offshore Wind Cost May Drop 55% as Builders Gain Experience
The cost of building wind farms off the U.S. coast may decline as much as 55 percent within 13 years, letting developers offer clean power at rates competitive with market prices, according to a study released Tuesday by the University of Delaware. If developers commit to a series of large projects, installing about 2,000 megawatts of capacity between 2020 and 2030 off the Massachusetts coast, they will gradually drive down costs as they gain experience, install transmission lines, upgrade infrastructure and utilize increasingly efficient components, the study found. [ read more … ]
Wind-and-solar messaging roars on despite rule freeze
The wind and solar industries say they aren’t changing their messaging strategies while the Clean Power Plan remains frozen pending a flurry of litigation.
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Calif. grapples with multidimensional energy debate
The rising demand for small-scale forms of distributed electricity generation like rooftop solar is proving a major challenge for California policymakers. [ read more … ]
Turbines taller than Empire State Building
In efforts to increase wind power, the blades on turbines designed by engineers, scientists and researchers keep getting bigger and bigger. But a new design in the works takes the idea to levels most people can barely imagine: Blades up to 200 meters, or 656 feet, long — more than two football fields. Today’s longest blades run 262 feet. The blades at the Ocotillo wind farm on Interstate 8 that sends electricity to San Diego are almost 174 feet long. [ read more … ]
Pentagon wants ‘bombs on target’ first, renewables second
Concerns over energy security are spurring branches of the military to get more electricity from renewable sources, inching the Pentagon toward governmentwide climate goals. But environmental concerns are not a key driver for the Defense Department, the nation’s largest consumer of energy. Instead, military officials say that safer sources of power are needed to enhance national security. That’s a bigger motivation than reducing emissions. [ read more … ]
San Diego company explores wind farm in rural Plymouth County Iowa
A San Diego-based alternative energy company is looking to enter Iowa’s wind farm industry in rural Plymouth County. EDF Renewable Energy proposes to build an estimated $200 million wind farm between Kingsley and Le Mars, said County Zoning Administrator Alan Lucken. Company officials will meet with rural landowners this week to discuss the construction of roughly 100 windmills, which could include easements. [ read more … ]
EPA has legal precedents for carbon crackdown — experts
A trio of New York University law experts argue in a forthcoming law paper that U.S. EPA has several legal precedents for the Clean Power Plan. Those precedents include programs under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act — under which EPA issued the carbon program for power plants — and other provisions in the law, according to the paper. The law professors say they plan to soon file an amicus brief that makes the same point in the ongoing litigation over the Clean Power Plan in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. [ read more … ]
Solar power gets K Street boost
Major solar power companies have expanded their presence in the influence industry. West Front Strategies LLC has signed up to lobby for both SolarCity and Sunrun Inc., according to lobbying disclosure records released by the Senate this week. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.