Clean Energy - Inside Climate News

University of Maryland Researchers Are Playing a Major Role in the Future of Climate-Friendly Air Conditioning

By Hannah Marszalek — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Thanks to consistent funding from the Department of Energy, the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering has been improving the global landscape of energy conversion.

By Hannah Marszalek

As global temperatures continue to rise at a dangerous rate, so does the number of air conditioning units in use. Researchers at the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Energy Engineering have been working for years on Department of Energy-funded projects to implement technologies that may be the solution to making these machines more efficient and eco-friendly as dependence on them grows.

The US Appetite for Electricity Grew Massively in the First Half of 2024, and Solar Power Rose to the Occasion

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

By Dan Gearino

The United States increased its electricity generation from utility-scale solar power by nearly one-third in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

In Final Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, BLM Sticks With Conservation Priorities, Renewable Energy Development

By Jake Bolster — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The controversial plan would also place new limits on the terrain open to coal mining and oil and gas drilling, mainly due to a lack of resources in the areas, irking many fossil fuel advocates in the state.

By Jake Bolster

The Bureau of Land Management, on Aug. 22, released its final Resource Management Plan for its Rock Springs District in Southwest Wyoming, spurring blowback from the governor and the fossil fuel industry, and drawing mostly praise from conservation groups.

How a Technology Similar to Fracking Can Store Renewable Energy Underground Without Lithium Batteries

By Dylan Baddour — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Three Houston startups are using fracking-like techniques to create underground storage caverns for pressurized water, which when released drives a turbine to send power to the grid.

By Dylan Baddour

The rapid buildout of wind and solar power generation has set off a race for experimental technologies to capture and store that energy. Several startups in Houston say they’ve developed ways to cache it underground, and one just announced its first commercial project.

Want an EV With 600 Miles of Range? It’s Coming

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:05:00 +0000

The push for solid-state batteries could lead to extra-long battery ranges as soon as 2027.

By Dan Gearino

Solid-state batteries—which pack more energy into each unit of volume than current batteries and will stretch the range of electric vehicles—have long felt just out of reach.

In Wisconsin Senate Race, Voters Will Pick Between Two Candidates With Widely Differing Climate Views

By Kristoffer Tigue — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

While Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin has warned that climate change threatens “our very way of life,” GOP challenger Eric Hovde compared clean energy tax credits to “corporate welfare.”

By Kristoffer Tigue

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Democrats kicked off their national convention in Chicago Monday. But today, Vice President Kamala Harris will be 80 miles north, in Milwaukee, as she makes her third visit to Wisconsin since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate last month.

Will the Cowboy State See the Light on Solar Electricity?

By Jake Bolster — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Wyoming has ample sun, but only two utility-scale solar energy facilities. Four new project proposals could make it the home of some of the largest solar plants in the region.

By Jake Bolster

Scott Kane, co-founder and co-owner of a solar company operating in Utah and Wyoming, does not work on the utility side of the industry, but when the United States Geological Survey released its map of utility-scale solar projects across the country late last year, he took an immediate interest. Kane is deeply invested in the country’s clean energy transition, and was curious to see how large-scale solar was growing across the country.

Gov. Hochul Ponders a Relaxation of Goals Under New York’s Landmark Climate Law

By Peter Mantius — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The act calls for New York to obtain 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030. But a leading business group and an influential GOP state senator want to go beyond pushing back deadlines and rewrite the law entirely.

By Peter Mantius

This article previously appeared in WaterFront.

Wisconsin Environmentalists Campaign Against Amendments Altering Federal Grant Allocation

By Lydia Larsen — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The amendments would allow the Republican-led legislature to determine where non-designated grants go. IRA funds could be affected.

By Lydia Larsen

Environmental groups in Wisconsin are urging voters to reject two proposed amendments to the state constitution in the upcoming Aug. 13 primary. The measures, if approved, would remove the governor from the process of allocating certain federal funds and instead place control in the hands of the legislature. Members of Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature proposed the amendments in an attempt to rein in what they see as a series of oversteps by the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers.

Consumers—and the Environment—Are Going to Pay for Problems With the Nation’s Largest Grid Region

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Prices soared last week in an auction conducted by PJM Interconnection, reflecting a backlog of approval for renewable energy projects.

By Dan Gearino

A process designed to make sure a swath of the country has reliable electricity has become an example of how not to manage a complex system during a time of rapid change.