Summary

Quote of the Week:

“We have a really large challenge right now with making it easy for people to charge who live in apartments,” said Jeff Allen, executive director of Forth, a nonprofit that advocates for equity in electric vehicle ownership and charging access. “There’s a mental shift that cities have to make to understand that promoting electric cars is also part of their sustainable transportation strategy. Once they make that mental shift, there’s a whole bunch of very tangible things they can — and should — be doing.”

CLEAN ENERGY

Must Be Equitable

EPA building a $27 billion green bank. The EPA's green bank will provide grants for low- and zero-emissions projects in disadvantaged communities. The bank will be financed by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund passed in the Inflation Reduction Act, and the EPA has started seeking public input on its design. EPA Administrator Michael Regan says the funds will bring the clean energy economy to areas of the country that have been left out of the energy transition. (Reuters)

CLEAN ENERGY

Has Many Benefits

Solar power and farming go hand-in-hand. Some of the ideal sites for solar panels are on agricultural lands, and growing evidence indicates that co-locating solar arrays with planted crops can have significant benefits. When solar panels are elevated over crops, they can ensure crops get enough sunlight while shielding them from extreme heat, drought, and storms — all while generating clean energy. One research team found that growing peppers under solar panels tripled yields compared to control plots. Researchers have also calculated that devoting just 1 percent of U.S. farmland to agrivoltaics would meet one-fifth of national electricity demand, while still producing plenty of food and creating 100,000 new jobs. (Mother Jones)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is A Good Investment

Automakers will spend $1.2 trillion on EVs by 2030. New analysis shows the world’s top automakers are expected to double their investment in EV production compared to estimates from last year. These investments are projected to yield 54 million EVs per year by 2030, nearly half of total global vehicle production, and 5.8 terawatt-hours of battery production capacity. While Tesla continues to lead the market, legacy automakers like Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, GM, and others are rapidly increasing their EV ambitions. (Reuters)

U.S. battery capacity has tripled in the last year. Since the start of 2021 U.S. battery storage capacity has risen to 6,702 megawatts across 376 projects, according to analysis from research group Zpryme. Planned capacity additions have also increased by more than 25 percent, with 22,678 megawatts of battery storage in the pipeline. California and Texas lead the country in battery capacity, and corporate funding for energy storage has reached $22 billion this year, up from $13 billion in 2021. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Replacing Fossil Fuels

Clean energy keeps emissions rise at bay. Global climate pollution is projected to rise in 2022, but thanks to the growing deployment of renewable energy this increase will be significantly smaller than last year’s rate. The International Energy Agency predicts global emissions will rise 1 percent this year, compared to 6 percent in 2021. While coal demand has increased amid the war in Ukraine and rising oil & gas prices, growing clean energy installations are filling much of the gap left by the shift away from Russian gas. Solar and wind capacity is expected to increase by 700 terawatt-hours this year, representing a new record for yearly increases that is expected to cut 600 million tons of climate pollution. (Gizmodo)

Long-duration storage could spell the end of fossil fuels. While lithium-ion batteries have dominated utility-scale storage, they are currently only able to discharge power for about four hours at a time. Long-duration storage developers are now exploring and deploying new technologies like iron-air batteries, which can store electricity for 100 hours, that can help fill these gaps and support deeper decarbonization. One iron-air battery company is working with utility Georgia Power on a project that would add 15 megawatts of storage capacity and is preparing for commercial battery production by 2024. (Protocol)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Challenging

Shift to EVs is leaving renters behind. The shift to electric cars and trucks is well underway for homeowners, but renters have faced major barriers to equal, easy charging access. While many EV drivers charge their cars overnight via home outlets, renters often lack driveways and designated parking spots with charging ports. Instead, many renters rely on public charging stations, which are sometimes busy or out-of-order and are generally more expensive. Major cities across the country are beginning to explore solutions — like on-street chargers connected to street lights and power poles — as federal funding for EV charging infrastructure begins to flow, but logistical challenges and geographic gaps continue to pose roadblocks. (Associated Press)

MULTIMEDIA

Graph: Homes and buildings in the West and Northeast have the largest share of small-scale solar