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How a Quebec Lithium Mine May Help Make Electric Cars Affordable
About 350 miles northwest of Montreal, amid a vast pine forest, is a deep mining pit with walls of mottled rock. The pit has changed hands repeatedly and been mired in bankruptcy, but now it could help determine the future of electric vehicles. The mine contains lithium, an indispensable ingredient in electric car batteries that is in short supply. If it opens on schedule early next year, it will be the second North American source of that metal, offering hope that badly needed raw materials can be extracted and refined close to Canadian, U.S. and Mexican auto factories, in line with Biden administration policies that aim to break China’s dominance of the battery supply chain. [ read more … ]
Solar Energy
Why solar ‘tripping’ is a grid threat for renewables
May 9th of last year was supposed to be a typical day for solar power in west Texas. But around 11:21 a.m., something went wrong. Large amounts of solar capacity unexpectedly went offline, apparently triggered by a fault on the grid linked to a natural gas plant in Odessa, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The loss of solar output represented more than 13 percent of the total solar capacity at the time in the ERCOT grid region, which spans most of the state. While all of the solar units came back online within six minutes, the incident highlighted a persistent challenge for the power sector that experts warn needs to be addressed as clean energy resources continue to displace fossil fuels. [ read more … ]
Climate
Western reservoirs could run dry in 3 years, top official warns
A top Centennial State official warned Colorado River Basin states that the system’s federal reservoirs could effectively empty in a few short years barring aggressive reductions to water demands.
Colorado River Water Conservation District General Manager Andy Mueller painted a bleak future for the basin’s seven states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — on Friday, during his organization’s annual conference in Grand Junction, Colo., on the river’s future. [ read more … ]
FERC
Republican AGs blast FERC transmission planning proposal, citing ‘major questions doctrine’
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proposal to reform regional transmission planning and cost allocation is “fatally flawed,” partly because it lacks clear Congressional authorization needed to survive the Supreme Court’s major questions doctrine, a group of 17 Republican attorneys general said Monday. FERC’s proposal effectively seeks to reshape the U.S. generating mix in favor of renewable energy resources and spread the related transmission costs to states uninterested in renewable generation, the AGs said in comments filed at FERC. [ read more … ]
Inflation Reduction Act
Climate bill’s passage could spark Hill staff exodus
Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act could mean a wave of Democratic climate change and energy staffers moving from Capitol Hill to advocacy groups and lobbying firms. The law, which includes $369 billion for climate and related matters, is by some standards the biggest piece of climate legislation to pass Congress. [ read more … ]
GOP fumes over climate law. Is there a will for repeal?
When Democrats passed their health care overhaul in 2010, it helped launch a yearslong struggle from Republicans to kill it off. Will the recently enacted climate, health care and tax law be a similar target? For the short-term, the answer is no. For the long-term, the answer is maybe. Republican lawmakers may not like the Inflation Reduction Act, with its $369 billion in climate spending, but they admitted in recent interviews that any effort to repeal it would be an uphill battle.
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‘There’s so much to do’: Greens want more rules, faster
Advocates are pushing President Joe Biden to ramp up executive action on the environment, arguing the pace of rulemaking has so far been sluggish. Groups want the president to strengthen a number of oil and gas and vehicle emissions rules, quickly hire attorneys and other staff, and set up tax credits stemming from the Inflation Reduction Act. “There is so much to do,” said Margie Alt, executive director for the Climate Action Campaign, which is made up of a dozen environmental and public health groups. “This is our moment to get the climate crisis under control.”
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Carbon Capture
Global emissions targets spell growth for CO2 tech sector
Companies that produce technologies to remove or reduce carbon emissions are “poised for strong continued growth,” reaching an expected value of $1.4 trillion by 2027, according to new market research. The research report, recently released by the financial data firm PitchBook, predicts that the sector will be worth $905 billion by the end of this year. That makes the global climate tech sector relatively small — collectively worth less than electric vehicle maker Tesla. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.