Summary

Quote of the Week:

“A lot of folks that I know work in oil and gas, and when we look at a decarbonized future, there’s not going to be jobs for those folks,” said Johanna Ostrum, Chief Operating Officer of Transitional Energy, who spent 15 years working in the oil and gas industry herself before losing her job during the pandemic. “I think geothermal is a really great place for them to land. Oil and gas workers know how to safely, efficiently, and economically produce fluid.”

CLEAN ENERGY

Must Be Equitable

Clean energy gains support in rural communities. As rural communities field proposals for solar and wind farms, some have been divided over these developments. But local examples suggest that meaningful consultation and peer-to-peer conversations with neighbors and clean energy developers can help bridge this divide. On top of the direct benefits of clean energy, solar and wind projects can bring new sources of income to rural landowners and local governments. (Yale Climate Connections)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Replacing Fossil Fuels

As clean energy accelerates, transmission planning takes center stage. While clean energy has been growing fast in the U.S., many projects have been hampered by a lack of transmission capacity to carry the energy from region to region. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a new proposal to address these bottlenecks, which would require transmission providers to develop long-term, 20-year plans for large-scale regional transmission and cost-sharing. Planners would have to consider a wider range of costs and benefits that FERC hopes will facilitate greater transmission investment and give state utilities flexibility to shape project cost-allocation. (Utility Dive, Canary Media)

Beyond solar and wind: developers continue to research geothermal and tidal power. A new pilot program from the Department of Energy is exploring the potential for geothermal energy to replace fossil fuels and complement renewables. While it faces challenges in long-distance transmission, geothermal energy has an advantage in its ability to leverage existing oil & gas infrastructure and create new jobs for oil & gas workers with minimal retraining. Meanwhile, researchers in Wales are working to harness the power of the tides to produce clean energy, and companies in the U.S. are experimenting with concentrated solar-thermal power, which uses an array of mirrors to concentrate solar rays and create thermal energy. (Vox, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal $)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is a Good Investment

Wind energy booms in the American heartland. Thanks to plentiful wind and attractive lease rates for landowners, wind farms are growing throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and other Republican-leaning states. Farmers say wind energy can bring financial stability to rural regions, while the federal government is prioritizing wind energy as a key solution to reducing the nation’s climate pollution. Wind power now represents a majority (57 percent) of electricity in Iowa, 44 percent in Kansas, and 36 percent in Oklahoma. (CNN)

CLEAN ENERGY

Has Many Benefits

A deadly landfill in Houston becomes the country’s largest urban solar farm. A landfill that plagued a Black community in Houston with deadly air pollution for decades is set to become a solar array that will provide clean electricity — and cleaner air — to 10,000 homes. The long-neglected site will become home to a 50 megawatt commercial solar array and a 2 megawatt array owned by the community, as well as a 150 megawatt battery backup. The facility is set to open by July 2023. (Houston Chronicle $)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Affordable

New light bulb rules will save money and cut climate pollution. The Department of Energy is officially phasing out incandescent light bulbs as it rolls out new energy efficiency standards. The administration projects that the new rules will save $3 billion every year once fully implemented, and cut the equivalent of 28 million homes’ climate pollution over 30 years. While more efficient LED bulbs are rapidly growing, older incandescent and halogen bulbs still made up about a third of the market in 2020. (Washington Post $)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Challenging

Midwest transmission line pits public interest against private property rights. The 800-mile Grain Belt Express transmission line has been in development for over a decade with the goal of bringing wind energy from the Midwest to other parts of the country. But development has been challenged by landowners opposed to letting the line cross their land despite proposals to pay above market value for their land. Because of its necessity for stabilizing regional grids, the Grain Belt Express developers have successfully lobbied to use eminent domain to accelerate the project — a move that has sparked further backlash from landowners who say they’ve been left out of the loop and disrespected by the developers. (Flatland)

MULTIMEDIA

Video: California farm town leads the electric car revolution with an equity-focused rideshare program