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Category: Renewable energy/fossil fuels

Bill McKibben says cheap solar could topple Big Oil’s power

Bill McKibben says cheap solar could topple Big Oil’s power

Yale Climate Connections reports: Bill McKibben is like that old culture of yeast you revive when you want to start a new batch of sourdough. He makes movements rise. McKibben is a cofounder and senior adviser of climate activist group 350.org, the founder of Third Act – a climate and democracy group led by U.S. residents over the age of 60 – and the principal instigator behind Sun Day, a nationwide community celebration of solar energy on September 21. His…

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The real reason Trump poses a threat to the economy

The real reason Trump poses a threat to the economy

Jonathan Cohn writes: With his broad shoulders, thick arms, and even thicker New England accent, ironworker David Langlais is exactly the sort of American who is supposed to love Donald Trump’s policies. But Langlais says he is dumbfounded by some of the president’s recent decisions, especially the one that halted work on an energy project off the coast of Rhode Island. The project is called Revolution Wind. When it is completed—or, more accurately, if it is completed—it will consist of…

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U.S. mines are literally throwing away critical minerals

U.S. mines are literally throwing away critical minerals

Grist reports: The United States is home to dozens of active mines. Some extract copper, while others dig for iron. Whatever the resource, however, it usually makes up a small fraction of the rock pulled from the ground. The rest is typically ignored. Wasted. “We’re only producing a few commodities,” said Elizabeth Holley, a professor of mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. “The question is: What else is in those rocks?” The answer: a lot. In a study…

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Trump regime orders work halted on wind farm that is close to completion

Trump regime orders work halted on wind farm that is close to completion

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration on Friday ordered that all construction stop on Revolution Wind, a $4 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that is already mostly built. The 65-turbine project had obtained all necessary permits from the Biden administration, and nearly 70 percent of the turbines have been installed. The developers behind the project had said it was on track to produce enough electricity for more than 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and…

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EPA moves to terminate $7 billion in grants for solar energy

EPA moves to terminate $7 billion in grants for solar energy

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is preparing to terminate $7 billion in federal grants intended to help low- and moderate-income families install solar panels on their homes, according to two people briefed on the matter. The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting termination letters to the 60 state agencies, nonprofit groups and Native American tribes that received the grants under the “Solar for All” program, with the goal of sending the letters by the end of this week,…

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The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels

The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels

Canary Media reports: As the Trump administration doubles down on fossil fuels, the rest of the world is investing more and more in clean energy. This year, $2.2 trillion will be invested in clean energy, efficiency, and electrification globally, according to the International Energy Agency — double the $1.1 trillion that will flow toward fossil fuels. It’s a remarkable change from a decade ago. Back in 2015, fossil fuels still attracted more money than clean energy. In 2016, perhaps galvanized…

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BYD is the world’s hottest car company, while for Tesla things go from bad to worse

BYD is the world’s hottest car company, while for Tesla things go from bad to worse

CNN reports: In the world of electric vehicles, there’s a Chinese company outdoing Elon Musk’s Tesla. And it’s just getting started. BYD, the Shenzhen-based Chinese EV champion, eclipsed Tesla in annual sales last year. Last week, it unveiled a revolutionary battery charging technology that it says adds 250 miles of range in five minutes, outpacing Tesla’s Superchargers, which take 15 minutes to add 200 miles. And last month, BYD launched “God’s Eye,” an advanced driver-assistance system rivaling Tesla’s Full Self-Driving…

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A nickel rush threatens Indonesia’s last nomadic tribes and its forests, fishermen and farmers

A nickel rush threatens Indonesia’s last nomadic tribes and its forests, fishermen and farmers

Garry Lotulung writes: Deep in the backcountry here, Sumean Gebe, 42, lives with Bede Yuli, 39, and his two children in the forest around Dodaga Village, about four hours by road from the capital of North Maluku Province. Every so often, they’ll move to a different forest. “We have been like this since we were little,” he said. “Usually we will make a bivouac [a temporary shelter] with a roof of palm leaves and tarpaulin. We are comfortable living there.”…

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Hyundai is becoming the new Tesla

Hyundai is becoming the new Tesla

Patrick George writes: Hyundai has a lot riding on a patch of rural Georgia. In October, the South Korean auto giant opened a new electric-vehicle factory west of Savannah at the eye-watering cost of $7.6 billion. It’s the largest economic-development project in the state’s history (one that prompted the Georgia statehouse to pass a resolution recognizing “Hyundai Day”). For now, workers at the so-called Metaplant are building the company’s popular electric SUV, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and soon more EVs will be built there, too….

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How the renewable energy boom is remaking the American West

How the renewable energy boom is remaking the American West

Inside Climate News reports: Local conservationist Patrick Donnelly drove east along the Loneliest Road in America, a ribbon of pavement in north central Nevada that deserves its name. Before him, sprawling in every direction, was a green-gray sagebrush basin so large you could probably plop Las Vegas in it and still have room to spare. Save for a stiff wind and the occasional cow bleat, a heavy silence sat on the valley. Not much moved aside from skittish grouse and…

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How solar microgrids are bringing power (and quiet) to North Carolina

How solar microgrids are bringing power (and quiet) to North Carolina

Energy News Network reports: Seventeen days after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, tearing down power lines, destroying water mains, and disabling cell phone towers, the signs of relief were hard to miss. Trucks formed a caravan along Interstate 40, filled with camouflaged soldiers, large square tanks of water, and essentials from pet food to diapers. In towns, roadside signs — official versions emblazoned with nonprofit relief logos and wooden makeshift ones scrawled with paint — advertised free food and…

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Half of U.S. solar capacity came during Biden administration

Half of U.S. solar capacity came during Biden administration

Semafor reports: Solar energy in the US is cheaper and more widespread than ever. At Semafor’s World Economy Summit in Washington, DC, Friday, the White House’s top climate advisor Ali Zaidi said, “Half of the solar installed in the United States [was] installed in the Biden-Harris Administration,” which aligns with a report by the clean energy nonprofit Solar Energy Industries Association. Solar energy is also becoming cheaper, according to Boston-based clean energy company EnergySage. During the first half of 2024,…

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Trump’s obsession with oil could destroy America’s auto industry

Trump’s obsession with oil could destroy America’s auto industry

Robinson Meyer writes: There is a curious cognitive dissonance in how a lot of us think about the last decade’s climate policies and this decade’s economic problems. During the final years of the 2010s, the Trump administration proudly tore up dozens of policies meant to lower American greenhouse gas emissions and build a competitive domestic clean energy industry. It prioritized oil, coal and natural gas businesses over wind, solar and batteries, and as president, Donald Trump often seemed to revel in picking…

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‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy

‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy

The Guardian reports: Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said. Selwin Hart, the assistant secretary general of the UN, said that talk of a global “backlash” against climate action was being stoked by the fossil fuel industry, in an effort to persuade world leaders to delay emissions-cutting policies. The…

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AI supercharges data center energy use – straining the grid and slowing sustainability efforts

AI supercharges data center energy use – straining the grid and slowing sustainability efforts

A data center in Ashburn, Va., the heart of so-called Data Center Alley. AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey By Ayse Coskun, Boston University The artificial intelligence boom has had such a profound effect on big tech companies that their energy consumption, and with it their carbon emissions, have surged. The spectacular success of large language models such as ChatGPT has helped fuel this growth in energy demand. At 2.9 watt-hours per ChatGPT request, AI queries require about 10 times the electricity of…

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California is showing how a big state can power itself without fossil fuels

California is showing how a big state can power itself without fossil fuels

Bill McKibben writes: Something approaching a miracle has been taking place in California this spring. Beginning in early March, for some portion of almost every day, a combination of solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower has been producing more than a hundred per cent of the state’s demand for electricity. Some afternoons, solar panels alone have produced more power than the state uses. And, at night, large utility-scale batteries that have been installed during the past few years are often the…

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