Most recent 40 articles: Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy
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Project 2025’s Assault on EPA, Human Health and the Environment Must Never Be Put into Action - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Oct 15) |
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Oct 15 · For more on other harmful aspects of Project 2025, see this blog.
The Heritage Foundation’s blueprint - Project 2025 - to dramatically alter the US Environmental Protection Agency should concern you. It does me.
This summer my family vacationed in Vancouver, BC, Canada where we had the good fortune of going on a whale watching trip and seeing majestic orcas. I’ll never forget witnessing how a family moved around hunting their prey - sea lions - and celebrated by springing out of the water.
The trained marine biologist guides shared that water pollution in the Pacific Ocean and local bay have contributed to the population’s decline, and they talked about what is ... Read more ...
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Gas Plants Have a Real Climate Problem. So Do Some Proposed Approaches for Addressing It. - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Oct 14) |
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Oct 14 · Power plants fueled by methane gas have a serious climate problem. The fuel, commonly known as natural gas, now powers the biggest portion of US electricity generation - more than 40 percent. It has also grown to be the largest source of carbon pollution from the US power sector, even as zero-carbon renewable energy has been growing by leaps and bounds. Moreover, gas-fired electricity generation hurts communities and the environment in numerous additional ways beyond climate.
So the conversation around how to rapidly drive down gas plant pollution has been (rightly) heating up.
While maximizing energy efficiency is crucial, there will still be enormous amounts of ... Read more ...
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Ask a Scientist: How Close Are We to a Clean Energy Transition? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Oct 9) |
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Oct 9 · After the hottest summer on record, the world continues to witness extreme weather fueled by the burning of fossil fuels. In the United States alone, we’re in the midst of a record-setting hurricane season, with back-to-back destructive hurricanes, Helene and Milton, causing immense destruction in Florida and neighboring states. Both hurricanes were exacerbated by warmer ocean surface temperatures, and are examples of “what hurricanes will look more like in the future,” according to Dr. Marc Alessi, an atmospheric scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
We need to stop burning fossil fuels immediately.
Thankfully, we are in the midst of a much-needed transition ... Read more ...
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This Hydrogen Tax Loophole Would Spike Carbon Emissions–But it’s Not Too Late. - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Oct 2) |
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Oct 2 · For hydrogen to have any role in the clean energy transition, it must be cleanly produced.
The Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (“45V”), passed as part of 2022’s landmark climate investment law, was specifically designed to spur the shift away from today’s dirty methods of hydrogen production to truly clean production processes instead.
But as I’ve previously written, it turns out that under the 45V credit eligibility framework, there are a lot of ways for hydrogen production to look clean while actually resulting in substantial increases in carbon emissions overall - not to mention electricity price spikes, worsened air pollution, delayed retirements of ... Read more ...
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Three International Climate Priorities for UNGA and NYC Climate Week - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Sep 23) |
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Sep 23 · This week, New York City is hosting the UN General Assembly meetings and the annual Climate Week events. With the continued trend of extreme climate-fueled disasters around the world - including deadly and damaging heatwaves, floods, fires, and storms - the urgency of solutions for the climate crisis couldn’t be clearer.
What we hear from world leaders this week will give us an indication of their seriousness in helping to secure an ambitious outcome at the annual UN climate talks, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan in November. Civil society groups will also be at climate week to demand action and remind world leaders of their responsibilities. And business leaders will have the ... Read more ...
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Energy Efficiency Home Retrofits Can Protect You During Extreme Temperature Events - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · As human actions worsen climate change, severity and frequency of extreme weather events increase.
Within the category of extreme weather events, heat waves and cold flashes push the human body to its upper and lower limits of temperature regulation. When the power fails, our homes are similarly unable to regulate their interior temperatures. However, homes with energy efficiency retrofits can retain cool or warm air longer, while simultaneously saving money throughout normal yearly temperature fluctuations.
Energy efficiency retrofits increase home comfort during normal temperature deviations and home safety during extreme events.
For example, during a normal ... Read more ...
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The Electricity Distribution System Can Stay Resilient in Extreme Weather - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · When Hurricane Beryl hit Texas this past July, millions of customers lost their power, some for over a week. This event, though saddening, is not a unique one. In recent years the frequency of extreme weather events has skyrocketed, and many events have included power outages that threaten people’s safety and even lives.
Extreme weather, which is increasing due to climate change, can degrade the electricity system and cause these failures. In fact, between 2000 and 2023, 80% of all major power outages in the United States were due to weather, including severe storms, wildfires, and extreme heat. Power outages are costly, can have extreme impacts on both the health and safety ... Read more ...
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Michigan Can Get Solar for All Right With These Steps - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · Michigan, along with many other states, is set to receive significant funding under the federal Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All program (more than $156 million for Michigan specifically). With these funds the state can dramatically increase community and household access to the benefits of solar energy. The program requires that participating low-income households see a minimum of 20% savings in their electricity bills - but it’s important for Michigan officials to get the details right in setting up the program.
Last month, the Empower Michigan coalition shared resources on best practices for community engagement and program design with the Michigan Department of ... Read more ...
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New Energy Permitting Legislation: One Step Forward, Too Many Steps Back - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Sep 3) |
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Sep 3 · The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently approved bipartisan energy permitting legislation (S.4753) sponsored by Chair Joe Manchin (I-WV) and Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY). The legislation combines worthwhile provisions to speed transmission buildout for renewable energy with windfalls for fossil fuel and mining companies, including provisions that would degrade public lands, double down on fossil fuels, harm frontline communities, and fail to meet the moment when it comes to responding to the climate crisis in an equitable and just manner.
In its current form, the price of the Manchin/Barrasso bill is simply too high. As a result, UCS joined more than ... Read more ...
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Safety and Equity Must be Central to Battery Storage Development. - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 30) |
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Aug 30 · Battery storage is essential to integrating more renewable energy into the grid. It provides energy resiliency in the case of natural disasters. It can advance environmental justice by replacing peaker plants, gas or oil plants that run when there is high demand. Peaker plants are dirtier than most power plants and usually sited in low-income communities and communities of color.
There have increasingly been concerns about the safety of large-scale battery storage systems. You may have seen news stories about large battery storage systems, particularly those with lithium-ion batteries, catching fire or exploding. These stories are alarming. Battery failures can emit dangerous ... Read more ...
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Seven Years after Hurricane María, in Puerto Rico You Can’t Even Count on Keeping the Lights On - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 22) |
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Aug 22 · On August 13, Tropical Storm Ernesto rapidly intensified just before hitting Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The intensification and trajectory merited a hurricane warning for the Virgin Islands as well as the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra. Despite not making landfall in either archipelago, Ernesto brought with it winds of up to 50 miles per hour (80.5 kilometers per hour) and up to 10 inches (25.5 cm) of rain to Puerto Rico. The next day, Wednesday, August 14, Puerto Rico woke up with 728,000 clients (almost half) without electricity, thousands without drinking water (because many communities rely on electricity to pump water), and flood warnings throughout the ... Read more ...
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These Are the Critical Issues to Track with the New “Tech-Neutral” Clean Electricity Tax Credits - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 20) |
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Aug 20 · The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) included a major - forthcoming - refresh for one of the biggest policy drivers of the nation’s clean energy transition to date: tax credits subsidizing the deployment of clean electricity resources.
These incentives aren’t just historically important. Across multiple analyses, they’ve been repeatedly identified as one of, if not the, single most impactful incentives coming out of the IRA for delivering future emissions reductions, too, by supporting the deployment of hundreds upon hundreds of gigawatts of renewable resources.
Yet, for how pivotal these tax credits are, exactly how the refresh plays out is still to be ... Read more ...
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UCS Expert Testifies on the New Clean Electricity Tax Credits - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 20) |
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Aug 20 · Earlier this month, the US Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service hosted a public hearing on their recent proposed rules governing implementation of the Section 45Y Clean Electricity Production Credit and the Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Credit.
My testimony is copied below. It covered a subset of issues from the full set of technical comments UCS submitted to the record earlier in August and focused on:
For more information about the tax credits and the key issues at play, see this accompanying blog post.
Presented telephonically during the August 13th, 2024, public hearing for Docket ID No. REG-119283-23.
My name is Julie ... Read more ...
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Ask A Scientist: What Energy Solutions to the Climate Crisis Are Within Reach? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 13) |
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Aug 13 · As electric vehicle charging stations sprout like mushrooms along our roads and clusters of new wind turbines come online, these two clean energy solutions to the climate crisis are becoming more commonplace. Also more commonplace are the obvious, dangerous, and destructive effects of climate change on people and communities.
The United States needs to speed its transition to clean energy in order to stave off even worse impacts of climate change. But beyond more electric cars and solar panels, what can everyday people do?
One place to look is the power grid, responsible for a quarter of the United States’ carbon emissions. UCS grid modeling shows that there are readily ... Read more ...
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New England’s Offshore Wind Resource Is a Winter Powerhouse - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 4) |
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Aug 4 · It was a bitter cold day on January 5, 2018, and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker had no choice. An Arctic air mass had descended on New England, causing temperatures in Boston to remain below 20 degrees Fahrenheit for a week. Outside, the windchill was negative 15 degrees, and the regional grid operator was warning that the situation was dire. Demand for electricity was high, but there was not enough gas available to keep all the gas-fired power plants running. Meanwhile, the power plants that burned oil had only a few days’ worth of fuel left in their tanks.
To make matters worse, the oil truck drivers, who had been working overtime to make deliveries to power plants as ... Read more ...
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Battery Minerals: A Common Fight Over Uncommon Things - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Aug 1) |
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Aug 1 · The current media and political churn over the production and distribution of battery minerals is generating some energy of its own. The debate feels modern because it touches on the future of electric cars, wind turbines, solar panels, and energy storage. If we could only get our hands on some Vibranium! In reality, however, this is a classic question of balanced resource allocation.
What are the appropriate standards for mining, refining, and distributing this resource, given its manufacturing and political importance on one hand, and the potential for harmful social, environmental, and labor outcomes on the other? These concerns are not novel. In fact, they are centuries ... Read more ...
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Don’t Get It Twisted - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jul 30) |
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Jul 30 · A group of climate and energy experts and enthusiasts enters a theater to watch Twisters, hoping for a renewable energy twist. Little did they know they would be left chasing for more…
But really, as I entered the movie theater with my Chicago-based UCS colleagues and friends a week and a half ago, I knew we would be carefully watching the summer blockbuster for an accurate portrayal of our present situation: stark climate realities, Midwest experiences, and greatly impacted weather systems. Especially after 27 reported tornadoes in the Chicagoland area just this month, we all had high expectations for a story that connected all those realities - or at least a CGI-flying cow ... Read more ...
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Public Concern for a Cleaner Energy Grid vs. Corporate Interests: Who Will Win? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jul 16) |
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Jul 16 · Active public policy to support the broader economic well-being is a hallmark of democracies and modern economies. Everyone will suffer greatly from sea-level rise and climate change if policymakers cede decision-making to corporate interests.
In the electric utility industry, this conflict is on display in the debate over who makes decisions on new electric transmission and how to include policies set by state laws.
Because new transmission investments are widely needed for economic growth and decarbonization, attitudes among the central players in the electric power industry are changing. Leaders of states, regulatory agencies and grid planning bodies are motivated by ... Read more ...
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Massachusetts’ Siting Process is Hurting Environmental Justice Populations. Will New Legislation Help? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jul 8) |
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Jul 8 · Massachusetts is laser focused on passing new legislation to streamline the building of new energy infrastructure to clean the electric grid and electrify buildings and transportation. While being able to build fast is a key component of a clean energy transition, the slow speed is not the only major failure of Massachusetts’ current siting process. Appropriate attention to the needs of communities, and particularly to those who have been most heavily burdened by energy infrastructure and pollution, has been sorely lacking. And on that score, the legislature’s latest push leaves a lot to be desired.
A recent analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists and community ... Read more ...
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What UCS Said to Pennsylvania Legislators About Hydrogen Hubs and Climate Change - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jun 24) |
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Jun 24 · This June, I had the opportunity to testify at the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee’s hearing on “Hydrogen Hubs and Climate Change.”
With both Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) and Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) located in state, Pennsylvania is home to two out of seven total selections for the nation’s $7 billion Hydrogen Hubs Program. As a result, the hydrogen priorities and frameworks advanced by Pennsylvania’s policymakers will have an outsized role in shaping the development of the US hydrogen industry as a whole.
My testimony highlighted the critical importance of making sure ... Read more ...
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Hydrogen and “Renewable” Gas Aren’t Realistic Solutions for Decarbonizing Maine’s Buildings - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jun 18) |
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Jun 18 · Last month, the Maine legislature ended their session without formally enacting several pieces of environmental legislation, allowing the bills to die.
This included a bill that would have started a statewide conversation about the diminished role fossil fuels should play in Maine’s energy system as the state strives to meet its climate and clean energy commitments. The bill was set to require the state to conduct various studies and inquiries about fossil fuel use, particularly the use of methane gas (often called “natural gas”) in buildings.
From the time it was introduced in December, this gas study bill went through major changes before dying on Maine’s ... Read more ...
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For Clean Energy Progress in California, We Must Solve the Permitting Problem (Part 3 of 3) - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jun 7) |
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Jun 7 · This is part 3 of 3 posts on the roadblocks and bottlenecks California is facing in its transition to 100% clean energy. Read Part 1 about transmission needs and Part 2 about the interconnection backlog.
In my previous posts, I wrote about California’s need to increase its transmission capacity and reform the grid’s interconnection process for the clean energy transition. In this post, I’ll dive into the permitting challenges of clean energy infrastructure.
To briefly set the stage again, California’s grid now generates 28% of its electricity from solar and wind resources, up from just 14% in 2015. It’s a big step, but the pace of getting these resources on the grid ... Read more ...
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Want to Connect Clean Energy to California’s Power Grid? Get in Line (Part 2 of 3) - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jun 7) |
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Jun 7 · This is part 2 of 3 posts on the roadblocks and bottlenecks California is facing in its transition to 100% clean energy. Read Part 1 about transmission needs and Part 3 about permitting challenges.
In my previous blog post, I wrote about California’s need to increase its transmission capacity for the clean energy transition. In this post, I’ll dive into the need to reform how clean energy projects connect to the grid.
To briefly set the stage again, California’s grid now generates 28% of its electricity from solar and wind resources, up from just 14% in 2015. It’s a big step, but the pace of getting these resources on the grid still needs to be faster. With current ... Read more ...
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Transmission Is Holding up California’s Clean Energy Transition (Part 1 of 3) - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Jun 7) |
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Jun 7 · This is part 1 of 3 posts on the roadblocks and bottlenecks California is facing in its transition to 100% clean energy. Read Part 2 about the interconnection backlog and Part 3 about permitting challenges.
California’s grid now generates 28% of its electricity from solar and wind resources, up from just 14% in 2015. It’s a big step, but the pace of getting these resources on the grid still needs to be faster. With current electricity generation capacity at about 88 gigawatts (GW), California needs to add between 7 and 8 GW annually over the next 20 years to reach its clean energy goals. In the past four years, California has added an average of under 4 GW per year.?
The ... Read more ...
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In the Race for Clean Energy, the United States is Both a Leader and a Laggard - Here’s How - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (May 25, 2024) |
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May 25, 2024 · Announcing recently that the world broke a record by generating 30 percent of all electricity from renewable sources in 2023, the British think tank Ember said the data proves we are in a “new era” of energy in which a permanent decline in fossil fuels is “inevitable.”
The new era would be even more inevitable if the United States fully committed to phasing out fossil fuels. More on that shortly. But first, the undeniably good news.
The new global record in the generation of renewable energy was powered primarily by solar and wind. Solar power has been the fastest growing source of electricity in the world for 19 years in a row according to Ember’s Global Electricity ... Read more ...
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Wildfires and Power Grid Failures Continue to Fuel Each Other - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (May 23, 2024) |
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May 23, 2024 · It’s that time of the year again, when many of us are relieved that the bitter cold weather is finally behind us, yet apprehensive about the dangerously extreme weather events that are likely to come. May is not only the first month of Danger Season, it is also wildfire awareness month, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
With high-fire-risk months still ahead of us, 2024 has seen significant wildfire damage already. The largest fire so far this year has been the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas, which tends to experience the most wildfires in winter, unlike western states. The fire was the largest in the state’s history, burning more than a million ... Read more ...
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From Whale Oil to Wind Power: The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Disinformation Is an Ocean of Hypocrisy - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (May 08, 2024) |
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May 08, 2024 · Some years ago, I began to feel the most important thing I could do was learn how to replace fossil fuel with renewable energy. I had seen from an early age how oil dependency distorted and aggravated conflicts around the world, especially in the Middle East.
For 30 years I have been an advocate for offshore wind development off New England’s coast and for the creation of institutions to support a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. It was never going to be an easy task. New England has fewer energy production facilities and less experience with new energy development than most regions. In New England, the wind is powerful, but land with strong wind is ... Read more ...
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FERC and NERC Review of Winter Storm Gas Failures Lacks Transparency and Key Details - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (May 03, 2024) |
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May 03, 2024 · Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff recently revealed that winter storms Gerri and Heather brought a grid operator to the brink of rolling blackouts sometime between January 10 and January 17, 2024. But instead of providing a detailed assessment of what went wrong, they primarily highlighted the absence of rolling blackouts and the incremental improvements that have been made since the dangerous grid failures of storms Elliott in 2022 and Uri in 2021.
Gerri and Heather were two separate but overlapping storm systems. This blog post refers to them as one storm event to avoid confusion with past events.
Shortly before this latest storm broke out, UCS published a ... Read more ...
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Five Things the “Nuclear Bros” Don’t Want You to Know About Small Modular Reactors - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 30, 2024) |
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Apr 30, 2024 · Even casual followers of energy and climate issues have probably heard about the alleged wonders of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This is due in no small part to the “nuclear bros”: an active and seemingly tireless group of nuclear power advocates who dominate social media discussions on energy by promoting SMRs and other “advanced” nuclear technologies as the only real solution for the climate crisis. But as I showed in my 2013 and 2021 reports, the hype surrounding SMRs is way overblown, and my conclusions remain valid today.Unfortunately, much of this SMR happy talk is rooted in misinformation, which always brings me back to the same question: If the nuclear bros have ... Read more ...
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Calling Out Climate Lies for a Living - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 29, 2024) |
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Apr 29, 2024 · I have spent the better part of the last 12 years writing about lies. My colleagues call it “disinformation,” and I generally do, too, but let’s call it for what it is: lying. During this stretch, I have written more than 200 articles and columns, and most of them were either about CEOs who lie, experts who lie, scientists who lie, attorneys general who lie, legislators who lie, or a president who lies. And I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill white lies. I’m talking about lies that have grave consequences for the future of the planet.
(I should add that I also wrote 65 columns featuring Q&As with scientists and experts who work for my organization, the Union of Concerned ... Read more ...
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Earth Day 2024: The Climate Benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act Are Worth Celebrating - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 21, 2024) |
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Apr 21, 2024 · Leading up to Earth Day this year, I’ve been reflecting on the meaning and purpose of the annual celebration. Earth Day began under the Nixon Administration in 1970 as a day to support environmental protection and has grown to include nations and communities around the world in appreciation of Mother Earth.
Of course, like any other holiday, there have been instances of co-optation where big polluters seek to cover up their dirty deeds and greenwash their image by sponsoring Earth Day festivities. But I’m looking to celebrate the positives.
I’ve been to my fair share of trash cleanups, concerts, and craft fairs, but this year there’s one big policy I want to focus on ... Read more ...
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Earth Day Is a Day to Celebrate the Environmental Progress We’ve Made in Recent Years - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 19, 2024) |
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Apr 19, 2024 · Earth Day each year marks an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come as a society. Personally, I find it an exhilarating time to be part of the U.S. environmental movement that birthed Earth Day out of outrage over rampant use of toxic chemicals.
To address the global environmental and equity crisis of our generation, in the past three years Congress has passed two significant pieces of legislation advanced by the Biden administration that contain the most climate funding in the nation’s history: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, Congress has stubbornly refused to pass legislation that slashes carbon emissions ... Read more ...
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What’s Stalling the Transition to a Modern Electricity Grid? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 16, 2024) |
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Apr 16, 2024 · Much of our electricity system is 50 to 70 years old, yet current plans for domestic manufacturing, electric vehicle fleets, community solar gardens and more clean energy all depend on a modern grid. New demands for electricity and the need to reduce climate-changing emissions are driving new grid planning efforts. The obstacles to new technology and more effective investments need to be addressed. How we do this, and how well it happens, depends on planning and collaboration across local, state and federal government.
The ability of the current US power grid to handle growth in electricity demand is in doubt. We are already having blackouts in extreme cold-weather, due to ... Read more ...
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The Gas Utility Industry is Gaslighting Us - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 11, 2024) |
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Apr 11, 2024 · During my first decade in Washington, D.C., my windows were caked with soot from the diesel buses that ran up and down my street. So when I found a place to live just a few blocks away on a street without buses, it was a relief. What I didn’t know is that my health was still at risk - from indoor pollution.
Thanks to a recent test conducted by my local Sierra Club chapter, I learned that the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions from the hoodless gas stove I’ve been cooking on for the last 30 years in my poorly ventilated galley kitchen exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum safe level of 100 parts per billion (ppb) for a one-hour exposure outdoors. (There is no EPA ... Read more ...
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A Handy New Chart Shows Clean Energy’s Remarkable Progress - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Apr 02, 2024) |
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Apr 02, 2024 · Spring is a glorious time for renewable energy. Whatever the weather in March and beyond - in-like-a-lion blustery or out-like-a-lamb sunny - spring tends to be a season of strong electricity production from solar and wind in particular. Spring is also a glorious time for taking stock, since the official data on the previous year’s US electricity generation become available. And, this spring, that clean energy production is looking more impressive than ever.
A new graphic from the Union of Concerned Scientists charts the portion of electricity coming from solar and wind over time in the United States. Drawing on data from the US Energy Information Administration, it depicts ... Read more ...
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Paula García Knows Renewable Energy Is for the People - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Mar 26, 2024) |
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Mar 26, 2024 · “Careful with the plants, careful with the trees, careful with the animals,” her grandfather would repeat.
Traveling to the southern region of Colombia as a young child, Paula García remembers being taught by her elders about the deep interconnectedness between humans and the natural world. During visits, her family would echo the teachings of their ancestors, perspectives that García still carries with her today.
As early as the 1920s, United States-based oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil began exploring and exploiting Colombian oil, starting with ExxonMobil’s acquisition of the Tropical Oil Company of Colombia in 1920. The subsequent decades brought expansion, ... Read more ...
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UCS Testimony on the Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Mar 25, 2024) |
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Mar 25, 2024 · From March 25 to March 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is hosting a public hearing on the December 2023 proposed regulations governing implementation of the Section 45V Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen.
My comments, to be presented on March 27, are copied below. They focus on four key issues from the full set of technical comments UCS submitted to the record in February: correctness of Treasury’s overall approach; necessity of the three-pillars framework; need for updating upstream methane emissions accounting; and concerns over treatment of biomethane and fugitive methane.
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Presented via telephone during the March 27, 2024, public hearing ... Read more ...
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Reevaluating the Role of Fossil Gas in a Decarbonizing Grid - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Mar 11, 2024) |
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Mar 11, 2024 · Fossil gas power plants currently provide the largest source of electricity generation and capacity in the United States. To meet our climate goals and reach net zero emissions by 2050, most studies show that we need to dramatically reduce gas use for generating electricity, heating homes and businesses, and running industrial processes.
But gas power plants have also played an important role in helping to maintain the overall reliability of the electricity grid by meeting peak power demands, such as on hot summer days when people turn on their air conditioners. However, as we replace fossil fuels with clean electricity for heating and transportation to meet our climate goals, ... Read more ...
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California Regulators Increased Their Clean Energy Ambition. Will They Deliver? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Feb 15, 2024) |
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Feb 15, 2024 · Today, California took another important step in planning for the transition to clean energy, a step that’s been a long time coming.
To reach the state’s goals of 100% clean electricity and economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has been tasked with planning the clean electricity transition via its Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process. The CPUC has a significant amount of discretion over the process; for example, the CPUC can choose to what extent and by when electricity providers must reduce their emissions.
Which brings me to the biggest news of the day: at long last, the CPUC has set an even more ambitious ... Read more ...
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Ohio Ratepayers Shouldn’t Have to Pay for Money-Losing Coal Plants - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy (Feb 15, 2024) |
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Feb 15, 2024 · Large numbers of coal plants in the United States have been closing for quite some time now due to the declining economics of coal-fired power. It doesn’t make financial sense for many coal plants stay open due to competition from more affordable clean resources - such as wind and solar - as well as from other fossil fuel power plants, such as those fired by methane gas.
But what if I told you that some coal plants are able to continue operating - and continue polluting - with little to no regard for how much money they’re losing? And further, what if I told you that these coal plants have been operating since the 1950s, and their ability to stay open is being aided by ... Read more ...
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