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US wind energy capacity is now more than 100 gigawatts, according to new report
The U.S. is now home to more than 100 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity, a new report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said Thursday. According to the AWEA’s “U.S. Wind Industry Third Quarter 2019 Market Report”, 1,927 megawatts – a little under 2 GW – of wind power capacity was commissioned in the third quarter of 2019, the highest third quarter on record for installations. These installations pushed overall capacity above the landmark figure of 100 GW, the AWEA’s report said. On a state level, Texas leads the way with more than 27 GW of cumulative capacity, according to the AWEA’s report. Capacity refers to the maximum amount that installations can produce, not what they are currently generating. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Mayflower Wind wins second round of offshore bidding
Mayflower Wind has won the second round of the Massachusetts offshore wind sweepstakes. The wind-farm developer, a joint venture owned by Shell and EDP Renewables, was selected by the state’s three big electric utilities to provide about 800 megawatts of electricity from a wind farm that would be built in waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. That would be enough power for about 470,000 homes. [ read more … ]
Massachusetts to hit 1.6 GW offshore wind requirement with 804 MW from Mayflower Wind project
Massachusetts officials on Wednesday selected Mayflower Wind to provide the state with 804 MW of offshore wind capacity. The project will be located 20 miles south of Nantucket and is expected to begin operations in 2025. Once contracts are signed, Massachusetts will have procured the 1,600 MW of offshore capacity required by a 2016 state law. The state is considering adding more: in June the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) recommended an additional 1,600 MW procurement. [ read more … ]
Car Rule
5 things to know about the split between automakers
The U.S. auto industry is deeply divided over President Trump’s rollback of clean car rules. Three major car companies — General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV — this week sided with Trump in the legal fight over California’s vehicle emissions standards. Here are five things to know about the industry split [ read more … ]
White House Pressed Car Makers to Join Its Fight Over California Emissions Rules
Monday’s surprise move by General Motors, Toyota and other auto giants to back President Trump in his fight with California over pollution rules came after days of White House pressure to support one of the administration’s biggest efforts to weaken climate regulations. Previously, many automakers had indicated to California that they would not take a stand, according to Mary D. Nichols, chairwoman of California’s clean air regulator, the Air Resources Board. Late last week, their stance quickly changed. [ read more … ]
EVs
10-minute EV charging? There’s a battery for that
A new battery design could make it possible for electric vehicle drivers to eventually charge their cars and get back on the road in as little as 10 minutes, according to study from Pennsylvania State University engineers. Published this week in Joule, the research supported by the Department of Energy said the new model gives drivers up to 300 miles on a 10-minute charge, a fraction of the time it now takes EV owners to repower. [ read more … ]
Climate
The Energy 202: Rex Tillerson takes the stand in New York’s climate change lawsuit
An ex-chief executive of ExxonMobil, the largest oil and gas company in the country, took the stand Wednesday to defend his former firm against accusations of misleading investors about the threat climate change posed to its bottom line. Rex Tillerson, who led Exxon for a decade before serving for a tumultuous year as President Trump’s first secretary of state, rejected the charges from the state of New York and testified that his former company took climate change seriously during his tenure.
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Al Gore opens new front in war on climate change
Al Gore’s 400-acre farm is located in Carthage, a small Tennessee town where the former vice president and senator traditionally kicked off his political campaigns. During his second act as a famous environmentalist, the farm became the site of a training program for aspiring climate activists, and more recently, an experiment in what Gore said is the world’s most realistic chance at averting climate catastrophe. [ read more … ]
Opinion
How utilities wield bad science to stunt clean energy
The climate crisis is already affecting the lives of millions of Americans. What we do now — both in terms of how quickly we move away from polluting energy sources and how thoughtfully we develop clean ones — will determine how livable a world we leave for future generations. For the past decade, renewable energy technologies have been growing by leaps and bounds across the United States. But in response to that success, big utilities are pulling out all the stops to block a transformational shift to planet-friendly power. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.