“The costs are affordable, the tool kit is there, but the scale of transformation across the country is significant. This is a major national undertaking that will only happen if we have the right national commitment, “ said Jesse Jenkins, a Princeton professor and one of lead authors of a new study outlining what it would take for the U.S. to achieve net zero emissions in 30 years.
Map & Data: 2020 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard from ACEEE
Political Climate: How the Energy Transition Accelerated in a Turbulent Year Energy Gang: Revisiting Pandemic Predictions for Energy Role in Enabling the Energy Transition.
Supported by the right national policies, it is affordable and technically feasible to achieve net zero emissions in the U.S. in 30 years, according to a new report from Princeton University. The report outlines five pathways to achieve “net zero” by 2050, meaning any greenhouse gas emissions would be offset through forests, agriculture practices or other technologies. Priority actions included across all scenarios involve electrification, especially of cars and home heating, and supplying power via renewable energy, which will require tripling existing transmission infrastructure. The report estimates that it would cost $2.5 trillion in the 2020s – relatively low considering the scale of the U.S. economy and what the country already spends on energy – and would lead to a significant number of new jobs. (Washington Post $)
Chicago’s public electric vehicle charging stations are disproportionately located in the wealthier and majority-white North Side, hindering education efforts and equitable EV adoption. As of 2018, 70 percent of city charging stations were located in three community areas and 47 of 77 areas had none at all, primarily on the South Side and West Side. These “charging deserts'' are an obstacle to the transition to clean energy and discourage Black and Brown communities from buying electric cars, which are already perceived as too expensive and inconvenient. Proposed state-wide legislation would create an inclusive process where low-income and environmental justice communities could have a direct say in the location of charging stations. (Energy News Network)
Electric vehicles could reach cost parity with gas-powered cars within three or four years, as battery prices continue to fall, according to new analysis from BloombergNEF. That tipping point will come when battery packs reach $100 per kilowatt-hour, which BNEF expects will happen in 2023. Battery costs have declined 90 percent over the last decade and battery packs built for cars now average $126 per kilowatt-hour. BNEF expects prices to continue dropping, in part thanks to the potential for solid-state batteries that could be made for 40 percent the cost of lithium-ion batteries. This week, Toyota announced its solid-state battery prototype would be ready by next year and enable cars to travel more than 300 miles after charging for just around 10 minutes. (Bloomberg $, Motor Trend)
Europe’s seven largest truckmakers moved up their deadline to stop selling gas- or diesel-powered vehicles by a decade to 2040. The CEOs of the companies – Daimler, Scania, Man, Volvo, Daf, Iveco and Ford – signed a pledge that also calls for increased investment in energy grids and a higher carbon tax across Europe to drive the transition. The industry said it will spend $70-122 billion on new technologies and are working with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research to identify the best technologies among options that include hydrogen, battery technology and clean fuels. Freight delivery, involving long-distance routes, is known as one of the most challenging areas to decarbonize. (Financial Times $)
President-elect Biden will tap Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as Energy Secretary and Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary. Both would play key roles in executing Biden’s climate change policies through infrastructure investments and his proposed $2 trillion plan to increase the use of clean energy across transportation and the power sector. As governor, Granholm led efforts to diversify her state’s economy during the Great Recession with an emphasis on policies that incentivized the growth of wind, solar, advanced batteries and electric vehicles. Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy is expected to be nominated to lead coordination on domestic climate change policies. (Associated Press)
U.S. solar installations are expected to grow 43 percent this year despite the pandemic, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association. The industry has recovered faster than expected, as utilities invest in new solar as part of carbon-reduction goals and homeowners demand rooftop solar systems that have become more affordable. Analysis initially forecast the industry to grow 47 percent in 2020, but revised expectations to 33 percent as COVID-19 took hold in the U.S. The sector is expected to install more than 19 gigawatts of solar capacity this year – enough to power more than 3.6 million homes – compared with 13.3 gigawatts installed last year. (Reuters)
More frequent extreme weather events have led to a 400 percent increase in insurance premium costs for solar energy projects over the past 18 months. The data comes from global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright and points to wildfires in California and an intense hailstorm in Texas leading to much of the damage. One of the projects in California faces $25-28 million in insured losses. As a result of these increased losses, solar project owners are facing other challenges including higher deductibles, limits for natural disaster events, and inconsistency among insurers regarding policy terms. Some insurers have started to offer specific hail insurance programs as a solution. (PV Magazine)
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