Business & Finance - Inside Climate News

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.

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.

Houston’s Plastic Waste, Waiting More Than a Year for ‘Advanced’ Recycling, Piles up at a Business Failed Three Times by Fire Marshal

By James Bruggers — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Houston seeks to be a national model for plastic recycling. But a program that started in 2022 hasn’t yet found its footing.

By James Bruggers

This story is a partnership between Inside Climate News and CBS News.

Coal Baron a No-Show in Alabama Courtroom as Abandoned Plant Continues to Pollute Neighborhoods

By Dennis Pillion — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was hailed as a hero five years ago when his family’s company purchased a troubled coke plant in North Birmingham that had polluted three historically Black neighborhoods. Now, a judge says the Justices’ Bluestone Coke is on a “superhighway to contempt.”

By Dennis Pillion

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor is fed up.

In Alabama Meeting, TVA Votes to Increase the Cost of Power, Double Down on Natural Gas

By Lee Hedgepeth — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 23:26:18 +0000

The 5.25 percent base price hike will fund ongoing construction and energy development, including fossil fuel infrastructure, according to TVA officials. Consumers and advocates are skeptical.

By Lee Hedgepeth

FLORENCE, Ala.—At Thursday’s meeting of the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, members got a friendly reminder from among their ranks.

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.

Greenidge Sues New York State Environmental Regulators, Seeking to Continue Operating Its Dresden Power Plant

By Peter Mantius — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Regulators have ordered the plant to close, finding that its greenhouse gas emissions linked to bitcoin mining were inconsistent with goals under New York’s ambitious climate law.

By Peter Mantius

This story previously appeared in Water Front.

After Partnering With the State to Monitor Itself, a Pennsylvania Gas Company Declares Its Fracking Operations ‘Safe’

By Kiley Bense — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:38:18 +0000

Environmentalists say a new report from CNX Resources’ monitoring program, created as part of a collaboration led by Gov. Josh Shapiro, is full of misinformation.

By Kiley Bense

On Wednesday, the natural gas company CNX Resources released the initial results from its environmental monitoring collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, a partnership predicated on “radical transparency” around fracking operations that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration announced in November.

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.