Most recent 40 articles: Yale Climate Connections - Energy
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Why a new climate group is heckling powerful Democrats - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Dec 4) |
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Dec 4 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
A new group called Climate Defiance aims to make investment in fossil fuels unpopular with the public and politically toxic. And their members aren’t afraid to shout about it.
During Climate Week events in New York City in September 2023, Climate Defiance members chased down Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau, heckling him on the street and disrupting a speaking event over his role in approving the massive Willow Project, an oil-drilling venture on federal land in Alaska that would generate 9.2 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon ... Read more ...
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Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 27) |
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Nov 27 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
The year was 2015. 'Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in Paris.
After years of inaction despite constant warnings from climate scientists, hopes had been high for a breakthrough in climate agreements in 2009, leading up to the U.N. summit - known as COP15 - in Copenhagen.
But just a few weeks before that event began, a hacker broke into a server at the University of ... Read more ...
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Wind power boosts his family’s business, Kansas rancher says - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 17) |
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Nov 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In the Flint Hills of Kansas, Pete Ferrell owns the 7,000-acre ranch that his great-grandfather established 135 years ago.
He says income from oil production on the land helped save the family’s ranch during a drought in the 1950s.
Now wind energy is helping Ferrell sustain the business when times are tough.
Ferrell: “I always say that wind farming is my best cash crop because the wind blows even during a drought.”
Ferrell was first approached by a wind developer in the 1990s. He was initially skeptical.
Ferrell: “Quite frankly, ... Read more ...
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Solar worker helps other women get started in the industry - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 16) |
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Nov 16 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Riley Neugebauer is a solar panel installer in Boulder, Colorado. And she knows what it can feel like to be a woman getting started in the predominantly male career.
She says in the beginning, she faced a steeper learning curve than some of her male colleagues. For example, even though she did lots of labor on her family’s land growing up, nobody ever put power tools in her hands.
Neugebauer: “I think it’s what happens to a lot of women and girls, and so we get socialized in a different way or we don’t even think to ask about ... Read more ...
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Can we still avoid 1.5 degrees C of global warming? - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 9) |
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Nov 9 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our newsletters.
Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Strictly speaking, it’s not yet impossible to keep from heating our world more than 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond the average global air temperature of the mid-to-late 1800s, when the Industrial Revolution was gaining momentum. In practical terms, though, the odds of keeping global warming to 1.5°C are dwindling fast - though just how fast has been a matter of sharp debate. Here are a few points to help you navigate this critical and contentious topic.
The 2015 Paris ... Read more ...
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Battery storage helped Texas power through summer heat - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 8) |
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Nov 8 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
This past summer, Texas suffered through a long, brutal heat wave.
As people cranked up their air conditioners, electricity demand in the state hit record highs.
Michael Webber, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, says the state’s electricity grid was able to handle the demands placed upon it - partly because of battery storage.
Webber: “They really fill in the gap when there’s a mismatch in supply from traditional power plants and demand from air conditioning. … At one point we even had like two and a half ... Read more ...
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How to sell solar in coal country - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 7) |
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Nov 7 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When Matt McFadden came of age in southwestern Virginia in the early 2000s, he wasn’t planning on working for a clean energy outfit. He grew up playing in a high school garage band, part of his increasingly Republican county’s small punk scene. But staring out at the photovoltaic panels gleaming atop his daughter’s elementary school in July - an array his company, Secure Solar Futures, installed - he was beaming with pride. In the midst of the Inflation Reduction Act’s rollout, McFadden and coal-rich Wise County have something many politically conservative ... Read more ...
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The Inflation Reduction Act has created nearly 75,000 jobs - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 6) |
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Nov 6 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
The Federal Inflation Reduction Act - or IRA - commits hundreds of billions of dollars to the clean energy transition. A recent report finds that those investments are already helping launch new projects and put people to work.
Bob Keefe is executive director of E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs). The nonpartisan business group issued a report about the IRA’s impact on the economy and jobs.
Keefe: “In the year since the IRA was passed, we’ve seen more than 200 major clean energy announcements, … more than $86 billion in private investments, ... Read more ...
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Goodbye, noisy leaf blowers: Illinois landscaper offers all-electric service - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Nov 1) |
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Nov 1 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Fall brings the feel of cool weather, the taste of pumpkin, the sight of colorful leaves, and the sound of leaf blowers.
Hall: “In the COVID period, a lot of people were working from home, and the last thing that they needed was their noisy landscaper blowing leaves and very noisy leaf blowers while they’re sitting there on conference calls.”
Austin Hall owns Greenwise Organic Lawn Care in Evanston, Illinois.
To offer a quieter option, his company began testing electric landscaping equipment. It took some trial and error to find the ... Read more ...
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Yes, older homes can be weatherized - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 30) |
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Oct 30 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As winter approaches, people with older homes may worry about the high cost of heating drafty rooms in the coming months.
But homeowners can reduce heating expenses and make their space more comfortable with just a few simple weatherization projects.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, caulking air leaks around windows can reduce energy costs by 10 to 20%.
Weather stripping around windows and doors and adding insulation to the attic, basement, and crawl spaces of a home can also prevent warm air from escaping.
By reducing ... Read more ...
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Some homeowners in need don’t qualify for government weatherization programs - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 20) |
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Oct 20 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Sealing air leaks and adding insulation can improve a home’s energy efficiency, which helps people save money on their utility bills.
But some of the homeowners with the greatest need do not qualify for government programs that help cover the cost of weatherization.
Leaky roofs, mold problems, and old or faulty wiring can make weatherization improvements ineffective or even dangerous. So those problems need to be addressed before a home can qualify for federal weatherization assistance.
“If you do not have pre-weatherization or critical ... Read more ...
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What’s the deal with carbon capture and storage? - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 20) |
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Oct 20 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Do you plan to take advantage of clean energy tax credits?
Tell us about it in this brief survey.
Is carbon capture and storage a needed tool to get us to the clean energy future or a costly distraction that will delay the fight against climate change? That massive debate between environmental groups, industry groups, and government officials has heated up since the passage of the Democrat’s Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, in 2022, featuring an expansion of tax credits for the technology.
Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, seeks to limit ... Read more ...
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Research: Solar panel prices are dropping without sacrificing quality - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 18) |
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Oct 18 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar panels dropped about 85%.
“When you have a product that becomes cheaper, the question is, OK, now this is cheaper, is it as durable as it used to be?” says Marios Theristis, a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories.
Since 2016, his team has been testing the performance and durability of more than 800 solar panels, including 13 different module types, from seven manufacturers.
They’re testing them in New Mexico, Colorado, and Florida, to see how they function in a range of climate conditions. They ... Read more ...
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The climate threat to California’s stored nuclear waste - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 17) |
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Oct 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
On the coast of California’s Humboldt Bay, 37 tons of nuclear waste are stored underground.
This radioactive material is locked in a vault. But some experts worry that an earthquake could damage the facility. And they say climate change brings a growing risk of flooding.
“We have the fastest relative rate of sea level rise on the West Coast,” says Jen Marlow, an assistant professor at Cal Poly Humboldt and a researcher on the 44 Feet Project, which studies the site.
The waste is stored 44 feet above sea level on a bluff by the ... Read more ...
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New report has terrific news for the climate - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 16) |
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Oct 16 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
On the climate crisis, there’s good news and bad news.
That’s according to the latest report from the International Energy Agency, or IEA, taking stock of humanity’s progress in addressing the problem. Since the 2015 Paris agreement, governments have made substantial progress in curbing their climate pollution, the report says. The deployment of clean technologies is fast accelerating, and global temperatures are on a less dangerous path than they were a decade ago
Yet that progress will need to accelerate faster to meet the targets set in the ... Read more ...
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'Bubble curtains’ help protect whales from the noise of offshore wind construction - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 12) |
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Oct 12 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
At some offshore wind farm construction sites, loud pile drivers are used to anchor turbine bases to the ocean floor.
But underwater noise and vibration can disturb whales and other marine mammals swimming nearby.
So Helen Rose Patterson of the National Wildlife Federation says it’s important to minimize that noise whenever possible.
One strategy is called a bubble curtain. A ship lays a tube on the ocean floor surrounding the construction site. Air is then pushed through holes in the tube to create a vertical wall of bubbles that traps the ... Read more ...
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IEA says ‘unprecedented’ clean energy surge has kept key warming target alive - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 5) |
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Oct 5 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
The International Energy Agency said Tuesday that the rapid acceleration of clean energy growth worldwide has kept the Paris climate accord’s critical 1.5°C warming target alive for now - but warned the continued burning of fossil fuels poses a dire threat to efforts to stave off the worst of the planetary crisis.
In a new report, the IEA noted that the adoption of clean energy technology has “surged at an unprecedented pace over the last two years,” with solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity additions growing by close to 50% and electric ... Read more ...
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K-12 schools can be major players in the clean energy transition - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Oct 2) |
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Oct 2 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Children across the country returned to school this year after enduring the hottest summer in recorded history, one punctuated by extreme heat and wildfire smoke that kept millions shuttered indoors for days, even weeks, on end. As parents and communities seek solutions to the mounting climate crisis, they should embrace the important role that K-12 schools can play in the clean energy transition.
Schools are huge energy consumers. The more than 130,000 K-12 schools in the United States sit on two million acres of land and consume about 9 percent of ... Read more ...
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Wind farms generate significant tax revenue for Iowa counties - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Sep 25) |
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Sep 25 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In many parts of Iowa, wind turbines can be seen spinning above farm fields. These wind farms generate significant tax revenue for the counties where they’re located.
Alex Delworth of the nonprofit Center for Rural Affairs is author of a recent report on the impact of wind tax revenue in three Iowa counties: Story, Ida, and Marshall.
He says the counties had various strategies for collecting and dispersing the funds, but all saw big economic benefits.
“Overall, wind tax revenue has allowed counties to increase funding to a number of ... Read more ...
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Wind opponents spread myth about dead whales - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Activists and groups that oppose offshore wind energy have hit upon a new theme to recruit environmentally minded people for their campaign. They are linking offshore wind development to a sight and a smell that no one likes: a rotting humpback whale carcass washed up on a beach or bobbing with the current as seagulls pick at its flesh.
Despite a lack of scientific evidence, they have blamed a recent spike in whale deaths on exploration devices that use sonar to seek wind turbine sites. Experts are unconvinced, but wind opponents, some with the help of ... Read more ...
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The shipping industry is a major source of climate pollution - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Sep 7) |
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Sep 7 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Cars, clothes, electronics: Huge numbers of products sold in the U.S. are made overseas and transported on ships that pollute the air and warm the climate.
“Most vessels use heavy fuel oil, which is often described as the sludge at the bottom of the barrel of oil. And it really is. It’s dirty, cheap stuff,” says Ingrid Irigoyen of the Aspen Institute energy and environment program.
She says there’s an urgent need to clean up the shipping industry. But it’s challenging.
Heavy boats traveling thousands of miles are hard to power with ... Read more ...
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'Marvels of engineering’: The wind turbines that can float - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Sep 6) |
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Sep 6 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Strong winds blow over the ocean. But these winds are still a relatively untapped source of energy - in part because of how most offshore wind turbines are built.
“The vast majority of offshore wind that’s been deployed throughout the world to date is fixed-bottom technology,” says Jocelyn Brown-Saracino of the U.S. Department of Energy.
That means a rigid connection anchors the wind turbine to the sea floor. So the design only works in shallower waters.
To capture energy from winds over the deep ocean, the industry must build ... Read more ...
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Southerners slammed by rising temperatures, energy bills - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Sep 6) |
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Sep 6 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Summer heat has been reaching triple digits more often in more places, especially in the U.S. South. It’s one of the clearest signals of our warming climate.
And a 2022 Washington Post analysis predicts more of the same: The next 30 years will bring the biggest more dangerous heat days to the South - from the Gulf Coast to Maryland.
“This is a very personal issue,” said Juanita Constible, senior climate and health advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate adaptation team who has family members in Tennessee. “Since it’s hotter ... Read more ...
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Wind energy proved critical during a winter storm in the Southeast - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 31) |
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Aug 31 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Last December, a severe winter storm plunged the Southeast into record-breaking cold.
Energy demand surged as people cranked up the heat. And at some natural gas plants, equipment froze, limiting power generation.
“And so you had a double whammy where you had more power demand than what was anticipated, and you had less power supply than what these utilities had planned for,” says Simon Mahan of the Southern Renewable Energy Association.
He says during the storm, some utilities ordered rolling blackouts - temporary outages designed to ... Read more ...
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Offshore wind could create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 25) |
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Aug 25 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Over the next decade, many offshore wind turbines are set to be installed off the coast of the U.S.
“Offshore wind is a growing industry in the United States. There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of different companies, developers coming into the space,” says Jeremy Stefek of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Stefek is an author of a recent report on the workforce needs of this growing industry.
The report finds that offshore wind could create tens of thousands of jobs. But to fill them, people need to learn about the opportunities ... Read more ...
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Fishermen help monitor the impacts of an offshore wind project - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 17) |
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Aug 17 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Offshore wind farms are being developed along the Atlantic coast. They can help the climate, but the effect on the fishing industry is uncertain.
“And that’s scary for people,” says David Bethoney of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. “So what we’re trying to do is get the people that are on the water, that are going to be affected by this change, involved in the research that can help us assess the change.”
Bethoney says wind companies are required to do fisheries monitoring surveys before, during, and after ... Read more ...
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'Heat pump coach’ helps Massachusetts residents ditch oil and gas furnaces - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 16) |
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Aug 16 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Over the past few years, electric heat pumps have been gaining popularity as a growing number of homeowners look for ways to replace their old fossil fuel boilers and furnaces.
Heat pumps can heat and cool a home, and they often create less carbon pollution than oil or gas heating.
But installing a whole new system can be confusing and overwhelming.
So Steve Breit spends his days as a volunteer heat pump coach, helping people make the switch.
“When I spend a few hours with people, they’re just so appreciative of the help,” he says. Read more ...
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A former Marine’s crusade to bring renewable energy to Puerto Rican communities - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 15) |
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Aug 15 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When Category 4 Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, Carlos Alberto Velázquez López worked for a small solar installation company. What he saw in the aftermath - including some communities going without power for 11 months - was life-changing for the former U.S. Marine. No longer content with working on solar system installations for individuals, Velázquez López shifted his focus to helping entire communities.
Today, Velázquez López is the program director for Interstate Renewable Energy Council, or IREC, in Puerto Rico, which aims to ... Read more ...
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In effort to cut costs, remote Alaskan village turns to renewable energy - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 11) |
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Aug 11 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Iguigig is a tiny riverfront village in rural southern Alaska. It’s unreachable by road and not connected to the region’s electric grid. For home heating and electricity, residents depend on diesel fuel. It has to be shipped in by plane, so it’s expensive.
“So when we think of ways that we can try and save expenses of our community members, usually energy is a frequent topic that’s visited,” says Jonathan Salmon of the Igiugig Village Council.
He says for years, the village has explored an innovative approach for reducing its reliance on ... Read more ...
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Bird-friendly offshore wind is possible, National Wildlife Federation advocate says - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 9) |
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Aug 9 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Climate change poses grave threats to many bird species around the world. Transitioning to clean energy can help protect them.
Helen Rose Patterson of the National Wildlife Federation says offshore wind is a promising way to reduce climate-warming carbon pollution. But turbines can also create risks for birds, so she says it’s important to prevent birds from flying into them.
“And so we want to see offshore wind be successful, and we have a very high bar for what responsible development looks like,” she says.
Patterson says monitoring ... Read more ...
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Solar canopy charges electric buses in Montgomery County, Maryland - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 8) |
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Aug 8 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
At the Brookville bus depot in Montgomery County, Maryland, buses park under a large solar canopy. The solar is part of a microgrid that’s charging electric buses.
“The depot serves about a third of our transit operation,” says Chris Conklin, director of the county’s department of transportation. “It hosts about 150 buses that provide service in the more densely settled portion of the county.”
Only 14 of those buses are now electric, but the county has ordered 100 more and plans to transition the rest of the fleet served by the Brookville depot ... Read more ...
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Just how fast will clean energy grow in the U.S.? - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 7) |
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Aug 7 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Do you plan to take advantage of clean energy tax credits?
Tell us about it in this brief survey.
To slash U.S. emissions of climate-warming carbon pollution, many experts have settled on a plan that can be largely described in two steps: Clean up the power grid and electrify everything.
If electric vehicles, heat pumps, induction stoves, and some industrial processes can be powered by clean electricity and replace fossil-fueled alternatives, that transition will do most of the work toward decarbonizing the economy and helping the U.S. meet ... Read more ...
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Community solar programs can make green energy more accessible - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 4) |
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Aug 4 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Going solar can lower people’s monthly utility bills. But not everyone can install solar panels on their homes. Many people are renters, and lots of people who do own their homes cannot afford the upfront cost of an installation.
“How do they also gain benefits from this clean energy transition? So that’s where community solar comes in,” says Utopia Hill, the CEO of Reactivate.
Reactivate is a renewable energy company that develops community solar projects.
Subscribers to community solar essentially purchase a share of a solar farm ... Read more ...
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Developers in California build all-electric homes - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 3) |
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Aug 3 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Some developers are building new houses that run only on electricity.
No gas lines, period.
“That means electric water heating, space heating, cooking appliances, clothes drying, et cetera,” says Dan Bertoldi of Central Coast Community Energy, a clean energy provider in California.
He says going all-electric is important for the climate.
Newer heat pumps and other all-electric technologies are generally more efficient than those that burn gas. And they can be powered by solar or wind energy as more renewables are added to the ... Read more ...
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Coast Guard veteran is on a mission for solar - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Aug 1) |
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Aug 1 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
As a young man, Tim Harris of North Carolina served in U.S. Coast Guard. He enjoyed working outdoors and traveling from place to place.
“I like to be mobile. I like to be able to be deployed,” he says. “I have been conditioned to be mobile and to move and to be a part of the outdoors.”
So after his military service ended, Harris started a civilian career that allowed him to travel across the country.
He’s a safety professional certified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and much of his work is on solar farm construction ... Read more ...
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A Puerto Rican town avoided blackouts at key buildings during Hurricane Fiona - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Jul 20) |
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Jul 20 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Last year, Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico, knocking out power across the island.
But in the mountain town of Castañer, the lights stayed on at a community center and several businesses.
“Everybody loses power … but the folks over in Castañer never lost power,” says Carlos Alberto Velázquez López of the Puerto Rican Solar Business Accelerator, a program led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. “Also, other residents of that local region were able to come into the business sector and draw on their energy and electricity for basic necessities.” Read more ...
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Third-party solar financing remains in legal limbo in some states - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Jul 11) |
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Jul 11 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When people buy a new car, they often need help paying for it, so they borrow money from a third-party lender who’s repaid over time.
In many states, it’s possible to finance a rooftop solar installation in the same way.
“Most people don’t have $15,000 or $30,000 laying around that they can use to go solar, and so third-party financing provides a way for them to be able to get involved in the clean energy movement, to purchase solar panels on the roof, without making the outright purchase,” says Tim Lindl, a partner at the law firm Keyes and Fox. Read more ...
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Oregon nonprofit offers incentives for energy efficiency and fire-resistant home improvements - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Jul 6) |
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Jul 6 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
In 2020, massive wildfires spread across Oregon, burning through more than 1 million acres. The wildfires destroyed homes and sent an orange, smoky haze across the state.
“The wildfires that happened in 2020 were so devastating … we couldn’t ignore that this was a major problem,” says Scott Leonard of Energy Trust of Oregon.
The nonprofit offers Oregonians cash incentives to make their homes more energy efficient, for example by adding insulation or installing electric heat pumps.
He says that after the wildfires, his organization began ... Read more ...
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Online marketplace helps companies buy solar energy from underinvested communities - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Jun 30) |
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Jun 30 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
When corporations decide to transition to clean energy, they rarely power their operations directly with wind or solar generated on site. Instead, they often pay for renewable energy that’s generated elsewhere and fed to the electric grid.
That renewable electricity often comes from big solar and wind farms.
But Dana Clare Redden, founder of Solar Stewards, saw an opportunity for companies to meet their renewable energy goals by supporting small solar projects installed at community institutions instead so the revenue can benefit those ... Read more ...
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Fort Liberty installs floating solar panels - Yale Climate Connections - Energy (Jun 27) |
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Jun 27 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Fort Liberty - the North Carolina Army installation formerly known as Fort Bragg - is going solar in an unconventional way.
The Army has put 2,700 solar panels on a lake at nearby Camp Mackall. The panels float on the surface and provide clean energy that helps power Army operations.
Audrey Oxendine is the energy and utilities branch chief for the fort. She says a traditional ground-mounted solar installation would have required cutting down trees on land that’s used for special forces training.
“We also have endangered species in that ... Read more ...
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