View this email in a web browser.
Environmentalists and Dam Operators, at War for Years, Start Making Peace
The industry that operates America’s hydroelectric dams and several environmental groups announced an unusual agreement Tuesday to work together to get more clean energy from hydropower while reducing the environmental harm from dams, in a sign that the threat of climate change is spurring both sides to rethink their decades-long battle over a large but contentious source of renewable power. [ read more … ]
DOE-backed hydro group launches to cut CO2
Hydropower developers, conservationists and former energy officials announced a major collaboration yesterday to burnish hydro’s credibility as a “renewable” resource and expand its role in fighting climate change. Brokered by former senior energy officials and Stanford University experts over the past 2 ½ years, the collaboration represents a kind of truce between the hydro industry and green groups that have long opposed the electricity source. Its members include the National Hydropower Association and conservation groups like American Rivers and the World Wildlife Fund. It also has the blessing of the Energy Department and the Army Corps of Engineers. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
China Wind Giants Surge More Than 20% on Aggressive Proposal
Chinese wind power equipment makers advanced as the industry proposed an aggressive installation plan that would boost capacity 14-fold through 2060 to help the country reach its goal of being carbon-neutral by then. China’s biggest wind turbine maker, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., surged 22% in Hong Kong in the biggest increase since August 2014 to make it the best performer in the MSCI China Index. Shandong Shuangyi Technology Co. rallied 20% to a record high in Shenzhen and Titan Wind Energy Suzhou Co. rose 10%. [ read more … ]
Climate Change
Barrett says she has no ‘firm views’ on climate change
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers last night that she doesn’t hold “firm views” on global warming — a non-answer that drew the ire of environmentalists and called to mind the rhetoric of climate change denialists. Barrett’s response came near the end of a marathon confirmation hearing dominated by talk of health care and abortion rights. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) elicited a quick answer from Barrett on global warming through an inquiry about objectivity. [ read more … ]
The Energy 202: Amy Coney Barrett says she’s ‘not a scientist’ when asked about climate change
President Trump’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court demurred when asked broadly what she thought of climate change.
Amy Coney Barrett said late during her confirmation hearing Tuesday that while she has read up on the issue, she did not have “firm views” on global warming. [ read more … ]
Markets
Energy association drops ‘petroleum’ from name
A trade group for filling-station owners dropped the word “petroleum” from its name this week, citing its growing portfolio of alternative energy sources and liquid fuels. The Energy Marketers of America, formerly the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, will continue to lobby for policies that boost gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil, but also plans to advocate for research on biofuels and engine efficiency, according to a fact sheet. It’s also pushing for federal funding to reduce emissions from legacy diesel engines and funding for the National Oilheat Research Alliance, which focuses on efficiency and sustainability for the heating oil industry. [ read more … ]
OPEC Says U.S. Oil Production Recovering Faster Than Expected
The U.S. energy industry is recovering more quickly than previously expected from the fall in production from the coronavirus pandemic, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday. In its monthly report, OPEC softened its forecast for the amount by which non-OPEC oil supply will decline this year by 300,000 barrels a day. Production from outside the cartel is now seen falling by 2.4 million barrels a day, or 3.6% from last year’s levels. [ read more … ]
IEA warns of steep climb to world of net-zero emissions
Achieving a net-zero carbon emissions world by 2050 is “theoretically not impossible,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, in remarks to reporters yesterday. But getting there will require an enormous effort by governments, business and citizens — a task made more difficult by the coronavirus pandemic, Birol and other IEA officials noted in their latest World Energy Outlook (WEO). [ read more … ]
Carbon Capture
Company plans largest U.S. CO2 storage project
Developers announced plans yesterday to build and operate a regional carbon capture hub near industrial producers in southwest Louisiana that they say will be the country’s “premier carbon sequestration project.” The company, Gulf Coast Sequestration (GCS), said it has submitted initial filings to EPA to secure permits for carbon dioxide injection wells used for long-term underground storage of the gas. The project has the capacity to store up to 2.7 million tons of CO2 per year, the company said. [ read more … ]
EVs
‘Breakthrough in performance’: Battery charges in 10 minutes
An electric vehicle that charges nearly as fast as it takes to fill a conventional car with gasoline may be closer to reality, according to a new study. Researchers have developed a lithium-ion EV battery that takes less than 10 minutes to achieve a maximum charge lasting for more than 300 miles, according to the research published last week in Science. Most EVs on the market today take about one hour or more to fully recharge. [ read more … ]
Europe can win EV race if it learns from China — report
Sales of electric vehicles in Europe are growing at such a pace that the continent looks increasingly likely to outpace China in the near future. That’s one of the findings of a report released yesterday by London-based automotive research firm Jato Dynamics. However, it found that Europe and the U.S. still have a few things to learn from China, the world’s biggest EV market, including prioritizing affordability, centralizing planning, and using data to better understand consumers. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.