“When the grid is stressed, wouldn’t it be great if instead of firing polluting fossil fuel peaker plants typically located in disadvantaged communities, we were using our electric vehicles?” said Kurt Johnson, community energy resilience director at the California nonprofit The Climate Center.
CLEAN ENERGY
Must Be Equitable
Clean energy investment may be going to the wrong places. While much of the money flowing to clean energy sectors is centered on high-tech products, important low-tech solutions are being overlooked and underinvested. Taking the example of the transportation sector, automakers and investors are pumping money into production of big SUVs like the electric Hummer, even though smaller cars — or even improving bus lines — could accomplish the same clean mobility goals more efficiently and often more equitably. One system transitions designer argues the focus on flashy, resource-intensive climate interventions have more to do with glamor and pursuit of shareholder returns rather than the best ways to solve a particular issue. (WIRED)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Affordable
EPA car rules would save trillions of dollars. The Agency’s proposed rules for model year 2027-2032 vehicles are expected to deliver huge savings nationwide, according to EPA analysis. The agency predicts rising EV adoption will save drivers over $1,100 annually in fuel, maintenance, and repair costs — enough to save people $1 trillion in vehicle ownership costs over the next 30 years. The standards are also expected to avoid $330 billion in climate damages and up to $280 billion in public health costs related to vehicle-driven air pollution. (Yale Climate Connections)
CLEAN ENERGY
Has Many Benefits
California’s EVs could shore up the grid. As the state transitions to 100 percent electric vehicle sales by 2035, a new bill under consideration in the California legislature would leverage the state’s growing EV fleet to help back up the grid to avoid blackouts. Using bidirectional charging technology, EVs can deliver power from their batteries back to the power grid or directly power buildings during high demand moments. Bringing the technology up to scale would impose new costs for the shift to EVs, but advocates say the opportunity is worth pursuing despite the challenges, and that the bill only represents a starting point for vehicle-to-grid integration. (Canary Media)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Replacing Fossil Fuels
Defunct oil wells could become clean energy batteries. As the world transitions to clean energy, there may be a practical use for retired oil and gas wells: providing on-demand clean power to back up the grid. Companies are already investing in efforts to build “gravity batteries” that transition fossil fuel assets to cheap clean energy resources while cleaning up infrastructure that might otherwise sit idle and leak climate pollution. The Energy Department has also invested $2.7 billion in a partnership to test and optimize this kind of gravity storage technology. While technical challenges remain, one company says the solution could bring down the cost of storage to $5 per kilowatt-hour by 2028 — significantly lower than the $100 per kWh cost of lithium battery storage in 2026, according to BloombergNEF. (Bloomberg $)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is A Good Investment
Climate policy drives clean energy investment boom. While the overall manufacturing sector is struggling, the clean energy manufacturing sector is in the midst of a major growth spurt. In just eight minutes since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law, companies have announced over $150 billion in clean energy investments for everything from wind turbines to battery manufacturing. The boom has even surprised administration officials and advocates, who see the investments accelerating the U.S. energy transition faster than initial expectations. While some politicians have expressed concerns about the cost of the tax credits, the communities where investments are taking place have largely welcomed the economic boosts. (New York Times $)
California is poised for a white gold rush. California’s Salton Sea region is poised for a huge economic boom thanks to its significant supply of lithium, which is vital for many clean energy technologies. Companies are investing in lithium extraction operations that could be operational as soon as 2025, including some that use new extraction methods that pull lithium directly from geothermal brines rather than hard rock mining. Those new technologies could make lithium production cleaner and more efficient. Companies estimate there could be enough lithium to produce 7.5 million EVs every year in the area, which is currently one of the poorest regions in California. (60 Minutes)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Challenging
Texas Republicans are at war with clean energy. Despite major economic benefits from a renewable energy boom across Texas, state-level GOP politicians have been fighting in the legislature to kill clean energy expansion. Today, Texas produces more renewable power than the next five states combined, and $93 billion of clean energy infrastructure infrastructure investments have created thousands of jobs while lowering the cost of electricity by $11 billion last year. But even though a majority of Texans support greater access to clean energy, new bills in this year’s state legislative session would impose major new burdens on renewable energy projects to discourage development and favor the fossil fuel industry. Unsurprisingly, much of this push has been backed and funded by fossil fuel-aligned think tanks and lobbyists. (Texas Monthly)
MULTIMEDIA
Map: We need an area the size of Texas for wind and solar. Here’s how to halve it.
