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Top Story
‘A Reason to Act Faster’: World Leaders Meet on Climate Amid Other Crises
“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,” the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, told the gathering of more than 100 princes, presidents, and prime ministers Monday at the summit, the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations climate convention, known as COP27. Scattered amid the sprawling conference center were several pavilions dedicated to the promotion of oil and gas. Saudi Arabia had paid for an exceptionally large space to describe itself as an energy hub. OPEC had a space showing off what it called its international development fund. Mauritania boasted of its natural gas reserves. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Renewable Power’s Big Mistake Was a Promise to Always Get Cheaper
Renewable-energy producers have long touted the promise of cheap electricity, an assurance that’s helped them eat into the dominance of fossil fuels. But the pledge has gone too far, according to the world’s biggest wind-turbine maker. Manufacturers such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S are seeing losses pile up as orders collapse at a time when they should be capitalizing on the turmoil in natural-gas markets. To blame — at least in part — is the industry’s insistence that clean electricity can only get cheaper, according to Henrik Andersen, chief executive officer of the Danish wind giant. [ read more … ]
Carbon Capture
World’s first zero-emission gas plant announced in Texas
Net Power LLC announced plans Monday to build the world’s first utility-scale gas power plant with carbon capture, which it said would generate electricity with close to zero emissions. Construction on the roughly 300-megawatt project will start during the third quarter of 2024 near Odessa, Texas, according to the company. The North Carolina-based Net Power expects the facility to be online in 2026, putting it in a race to become one of only three full-sized power plants ever equipped to capture carbon dioxide emissions. [ read more … ]
Politics
Midterm nail-biter clouds Biden’s clean energy plans
Tuesday’s midterm elections marked the start of a new chapter for President Joe Biden and his clean energy agenda. But just what that chapter looks like is up in the air. Numerous House races had not been called by early Wednesday morning, leaving control of the chamber uncertain. The Senate’s makeup also remained unclear, with key races in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin set to determine majority control. [ read more … ]
Democrats Supercharged EV Investment While They Had the Chance
It looks increasingly likely that Democrats’ days controlling both chambers of Congress are numbered. While President Joe Biden and his party have been in charge, they’ve managed to fundamentally alter the auto industry playing field in ways Republicans are unlikely to drastically change. Much of the focus on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that Biden signed into law in mid-August has been on how it adjusts tax credits for electric-vehicle purchases, whether these new provisions are too stringent for manufacturers to meet, and if they unfairly discriminate against manufacturers based in ally countries including South Korea and Japan. [ read more … ]
What’s next for climate politics? 7 results offer clues.
At the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, top Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington has vowed to probe the Energy Department’s loans and spending, calling it “Solyndra on steroids.” She also said she would investigate how Biden “shut down American energy.” The same is expected from the House Natural Resources Committee, where top Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas has previewed wide-ranging inquiries into the Interior Department, NOAA, the Forest Service and the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality. Citing this year’s Supreme Court decision curtailing executive authority, West Virginia v. EPA, Westerman has warned Cabinet officials that Republicans would closely scrutinize Biden’s climate regulations. [ read more … ]
Pollution
Oil and gas greenhouse emissions ‘three times higher’ than producers claim
Greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas facilities around the world are about three times higher than their producers claim, new data has shown. Climate Trace, a project to measure at source the true levels of carbon dioxide and other global heating gases, published a new report on Wednesday showing that half of the 50 largest sources of greenhouse gases in the world were oil and gas fields and production facilities. Many are underreporting their emissions, and there are few means of calling them to account. [ read more … ]
EVs
U.S. allies plead with Biden to relax new EV rules
Asian and European automakers who make up a huge slice of America’s automotive economy see flaws in how the U.S. designed its subsidies for electric vehicles and say alliances could devolve into trade wars if they aren’t fixed. South Korea, Japan, the European Union and their automakers are expressing worry that provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act designed to build America’s EV-production base might have gone too far. The provisions create an unrealistic road map that could wind up dampening Americans’ desire to buy EVs, they say. [ read more … ]
Battery development to slow for 3 years, despite massive boost from Inflation Reduction Act, analyst says
The law signed by President Joe Biden in August targets federal funding of $369 billion, primarily as tax credits for clean energy projects and is expected to draw private capital and boost domestic manufacturing. How much money will ultimately be available to spur and subsidize battery storage project development is not known because tax credits will be claimed by businesses and individuals in the coming years. Federal spending is “likely double the headline figure” in the IRA, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse. And with subsidized financing and a multiplier impact from federal grants and loans, public and private financing of U.S. clean energy could reach about $1.7 trillion over 10 years, according to the analysis. [ read more … ]
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