Environment

Originally published on ILSR.org Can a utility company be carbon neutral by 2050 if it builds a gas plant now? Maybe if it shuts off the gas plant well before its 40 years of useful life are complete, leaving electric customers to pay off millions in debt. For this episode of the Local Energy Rules podcast, host

The transition to sustainable energy requires understanding and efforts from all kinds of citizens — including children. After all, it is children who will participate as the “adults of tomorrow” when they assume the role of caretakers of the Earth. To teach your children well is to include lessons about how to take responsibility for

Signage is displayed on a fence at the Colonial Pipeline Co. Pelham junction and tank farm in Pelham, Alabama, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images Fuel prices jumped in trading on Sunday night, as much of one of the largest pipelines in the U.S. remains closed following a

Originally published on RMI.org.By Alexander Dane & Alisa Petersen US city budgets are tighter than ever due to COVID-19. The American Rescue Plan Act, recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden, will provide some relief in the near term, while the proposed American Jobs Plan offers a tantalizing vision of federal infrastructure investments that could

Storage tanks stand at the Colonial Pipeline Co. Pelham junction and tank farm in Pelham, Alabama, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday said the federal government is working to avoid supply disruptions after Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the country’s largest

Following our US Power Capacity Report for the first two months of 2020, which showed that 99.7% of new US power capacity came from solar and wind, we’ve got a US Electricity Generation Report that is much less uplifting. Aside from the fact that 11% is a lot lower than 99.7% (of course), the bad

The Indian government has announced a new incentive scheme to boost manufacturing in the solar power sector. Through this scheme, the government plans to disburse more than $600 million in incentives over the next five years. India’s Ministry for New and Renewable Energy recently announced the guidelines for a production-linked incentives scheme for the solar

New US power capacity in the first two months of 2021 came almost exclusively from wind and solar power plants, data from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows. Looking at large-scale power capacity added to the grids across the country (which does not include rooftop solar power), 99.7% came from wind and solar

The underbody of an ID.3. electric vehicle being worked on at a Volkswagen facility in Dresden, Germany, on January 29, 2021. Matthias Rietschel | picture alliance | Getty Images The shift to electric vehicles could affect thousands of workers in Germany over the coming years, the Munich-based Ifo Institute said Thursday. The Ifo’s study, which

Mark Twidell, Director of Energy at Tesla, was recently in Adelaide, Australia, where he spoke at a Southstart entrepreneur’s conference, reported Financial Review. Originally, Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, was scheduled to speak at this event, but she was ill, so Twidell stepped in. Here’s to wishing Tesla’s chair a speedy recovery. Twidell spoke about the

Miles below the Earth’s surface, there’s a source of renewable energy that could sustain all of humanity for the foreseeable future. Just 0.1% of Earth’s total heat content could meet our energy needs for 2 million years, according to ARPA-E, the government agency that funds R&D efforts for advanced energy technologies. It’s called geothermal energy, and

 By Nicolas Rossel The Opportunity Large-scale solar development is on the rise and investors new to this asset class are eager to dive in; but razor thin margins combined with increasingly complex Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and volatile financial markets mean investors need savvy industry partners to succeed. The U.S. is predicted to install nearly

This image shows a team of workers installing solar panels on a home in California. adamkaz | E+ | Getty Images More than 231,000 workers were employed by America’s solar industry last year, according to a new report published Thursday, representing a 6.7% decline compared to the year before. Released by the Solar Energy Industries

In 2020, energy production in the United States fell to just below 96 quadrillion British thermal units (quads), down more than 5% from 2019’s record high, according to our Monthly Energy Review. In absolute terms, the drop from 101.3 quads in 2019 to 95.8 quads in 2020 marked the largest annual decrease in U.S. energy production on

Flames from a flaring pit near a well in the Bakken Oil Field. The primary component of natural gas is methane, which is odorless when it comes directly out of the gas well. In addition to methane, natural gas typically contains other hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes. Orjan F. Ellingvag | Corbis

Fresh off its triumphant foray into statusy e-mobility with the all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV, the Ford Motor Co. is now setting the bar on rooftop solar power with an array of 2,159 panels covering the top floor of its Deck 400 parking garage. We say it’s the best ever because now you can’t park any