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Boom in wind, solar blunts global rise in energy emissions
For months, there was a fear among energy observers that 2022 would turn into a carbon bomb for the planet. Then, renewables galloped to the rescue. Global carbon dioxide emissions associated with energy use are on track to increase 1 percent this year, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. That’s significantly less than what many observers projected earlier this year — when a global surge in natural gas prices prompted worries that many countries would turn to coal as an alternative.
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Inflation Recovery Act
These watchdogs are patrolling for climate law problems
The Biden administration is hustling to roll out a new law that includes unprecedented amounts of climate and energy spending. The law spells out new initiatives at agencies including EPA; the Energy, Interior, Treasury departments; and others. To keep tabs on all that new spending, Congress also included funds for oversight. Watchdogs inside agencies and on Capitol Hill are preparing for some busy years ahead looking for waste, fraud and abuse as a result of Democrats’ massive climate law, which passed along party lines. [ read more … ]
FERC
FERC meeting: Glick warning, ‘self-dealing’ and pipeline win
Consumers are going to “suffer” this winter as energy costs continue to climb, the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Thursday. Driving the spike in energy costs are high fuel prices worldwide and relatively low growth in natural gas production in the U.S., among other factors, according to FERC staff. One major natural gas price benchmark — the Henry Hub — is currently 30 percent higher than what it was last winter. In the coming months, FERC must be vigilant in ensuring that energy companies don’t take advantage of the situation by manipulating energy and power markets, Chair Richard Glick said.
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Biden Administration
Biden trumpets green construction, manufacturing pledges
General Motors, Starbucks and other major corporations are pledging to use more green materials for construction and manufacturing, a major piece of the administration’s climate action plan, the White House said Thursday. The concrete industry alone makes up 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and, advocates say, has lagged behind other carbon-intensive sectors in going green. The White House has been urging local governments and private firms to invest in cleaner concrete and steel. [ read more … ]
DOE: Lax oversight pushed taxpayer-funded battery tech to China
A government laboratory failed to adequately monitor a cutting-edge battery storage project, ultimately paving the way for technology developed by federal scientists in the United States to be deployed in China, according to an investigation by the Department of Energy. The DOE investigation examined how vanadium redox flow battery technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found its way to China. It followed an NPR investigation this summer and criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, who expressed concerns taxpayer-funded technology is being deployed by Chinese firms. [ read more … ]
SAF
The Propeller Is Making a Comeback in The Pursuit of Greener Air Travel
The propeller — a relic from the dawn of powered flight more than a century ago — is making a comeback as an emblem of aviation’s greener future. Rotors are proliferating on futuristic air taxis and plane prototypes powered by hydrogen and electricity. The old-school feature is also central to a radical new engine that could one day replace the turbofans on today’s jetliners as climate change pushes the industry to innovate its way out of fossil-fuel dependence. [ read more … ]
EVs
This Chinese Province Has More EV Chargers Than All of the US
Range anxiety is a thing of the past for electric vehicle owners in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The coastal region, which borders Hong Kong, has built hundreds of thousands of public charging points — the EV equivalent of gas pumps — over the past few years. With 345,126 public chargers and 19,116 charging stations as of the end of September, Guangdong has the largest EV charging network in China, one that has more than doubled from a year ago, according to the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance. That’s around three times as many public chargers in the whole of the US, according to BloombergNEF data [ read more … ]
Huge EV-station battery opens in Calif. desert
Electrify America, a charging-network operator, has attached a giant battery to its electric vehicle charging station in a tiny desert town between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In doing so, it became only the second U.S. network after Tesla Inc.’s to pair EV chargers with a battery large enough to fully operate a big station without constant aid from the electric grid. The lithium-ion batteries sit in a few white cabinets next to the station in Baker, Calif., a town of 600 people perhaps best known for the World’s Tallest Thermometer, a 12-story structure that tops out at 134 degrees, memorializing the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth in nearby Death Valley. [ read more … ]
Why 6 flooded EVs burst into flames after Hurricane Ian
The flooded cars’ lithium-ion batteries were loaded with energy when highly conductive salt water poured over them. They burned for “hours and hours” and required “thousands upon thousands” of gallons of water to extinguish — a far more intensive process than what a typical gas car fire would require, said Heather Mazurkiewicz, a fire department spokesperson. At least one EV reignited after flames were put out, destroying two houses that had survived the storm, officials said. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.