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U.S. greenhouse gas emissions set to drop to lowest level in three decades
Greenhouse gases generated by the U.S. economy will slide 9.2 percent this year, tumbling to the lowest level in at least three decades, a new BloombergNEF study says. Battered by the coronavirus pandemic, the stalled economy is projected to have generated 5.9 billion metric tons of emissions, about the same level as 1983, according to the private research organization. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Europe seeks $940B boost for offshore wind farms
The European Union wants a massive increase in offshore wind to help clean up the electricity industry and aid the recovery after the pandemic. To meet its mid-century goal of becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent, the region needs to boost offshore wind capacity to 300 gigawatts by 2050 from just 12 gigawatts now, according to an E.U. draft document seen by Bloomberg News. That will require as much as €789 billion ($940 billion) in investment, mostly from utilities and energy majors. [ read more … ]
Transmission
New Jersey regulators partner with PJM in offshore wind transmission planning
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) announced on Wednesday it has submitted a solicitation to develop offshore wind transmission solutions in 2021 with the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection. The new type of solicitation, dubbed as a State Agreement Approach (SAA), is intended to explore new frameworks to advance offshore wind energy, said BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso. The Board unanimously approved the SAA, which requests PJM to incorporate New Jersey’s offshore wind public policy objectives into its transmission planning process starting in the first quarter of 2021, as the state works to add 7.5 GW of the resource by 2035. [ read more … ]
N.J. takes historic grid step for offshore wind
New Jersey could become the first state in the nation to build a transmission network serving multiple offshore wind farms, after state regulators and grid officials announced a call for proposals for the project yesterday. In an order approved unanimously, commissioners at the Board of Public Utilities asked regional grid operators to help evaluate ideas for an “open-access” system built by a third party that could bundle together power generated by multiple turbine projects and feed it into the onshore grid. [ read more … ]
The Transition
Biden talked with 14 leaders. He raised climate with 12
It sounds like the setup to a joke: What do the pope, the taoiseach and Justin Trudeau all have in common? The leaders of the Vatican, Ireland and Canada each talked to President-elect Joe Biden about climate change in their first phone call. So did the British, Australian and Indian prime ministers. The presidents of France, Chile, South Africa and South Korea did, too. [ read more … ]
Biden builds White House team
Also joining Biden’s team are Julie Chávez Rodríguez, his former deputy campaign manager, who will become director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She has worked for Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris and is the granddaughter of labor activist César Chávez. Annie Tomasini will become director of Oval Office operations. She has been Biden’s traveling chief of staff. [ read more … ]
The next DOE secretary? ‘This is the guy you want’
Arun Majumdar is shaping up as the most influential energy adviser in President-elect Joe Biden’s transition circle. He is heading the Department of Energy’s transition team and is a leading candidate to be its secretary, giving him a prime perch to guide Biden’s energy policy. But who is he and what is his vision for the agency? [ read more … ]
EV leader on Biden, DOE and Elon Musk
Peter Rawlinson, the CEO and chief technology officer of Lucid Motors Inc., once worked for Elon Musk. But he’s now aiming to take on Tesla Inc.’s dominance of the luxury electric vehicle market. Rawlinson, who previously served as chief engineer at Tesla before joining Lucid in 2013, also says the incoming Biden administration could help his California-based startup by rolling out pro-EV policies. [ read more … ]
EVs
New Mexico seeks funding for 28 more electric vehicles
New Mexico would add 28 electric vehicles to its fleet for state agencies under a budget request to legislators from the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D). Adding the electric vehicles would cost about $1 million under a request from the General Services Department. Agency Secretary Ken Ortiz on Tuesday urged a panel of legislators to include the spending in draft legislation. He says the transportation sector is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after electricity production. [ read more … ]
EV startups bid for Biden support
A wave of electric vehicle startups is boosting lobbying efforts for clean car policies just as President-elect Joe Biden gears up aggressive plans to decarbonize the nation’s transportation sector. Several manufacturers that are bringing electric cars and trucks to the market are hiring lobbyists in Washington, D.C., growing a bloc of advocates that until recently represented a small niche on K Street. [ read more … ]
UK refiners push back over 2030 ban on new fossil fuel cars
The UK’s refining sector has voiced its opposition to the UK plans to bring forward a ban on sales of new gasoline and diesel cars to 2030, calling for more policy support for low carbon liquid fuels such as biofuels to help decarbonize the transport sector. Designed to help speed up the rollout of electric vehicles on the UK’s roads, the UK government said Nov. 18 it will accelerate its planned deadline for sales of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles from a previous target of 2035. [ read more … ]
Boris Johnson: Britain to halt gas car sales by 2030
Britain will ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2030, a decade earlier than its previous commitment, the prime minister said Tuesday. Boris Johnson made the pledge as part of plans for a “green industrial revolution” that he claims could create up to 250,000 jobs in energy, transport and technology. The government said sales of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans will end in 2030, though hybrid vehicles can be sold until 2035. [ read more … ]
FirstEnergy
Ohio governor deflects questions on PUC chair after search
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) yesterday deflected questions about an FBI search of the Columbus home of his appointee as the state’s top utility regulator. DeWine announced in February 2019 the appointment of Sam Randazzo, a longtime utility attorney and lobbyist, as chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. In response to a question at a news briefing to discuss the state’s effort to control the coronavirus epidemic, the governor said there were no indications that Randazzo was under investigation or the target of an investigation. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.