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☆ Energy Dept. Aims to Speed Up Permits for Power Lines
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a rule meant to speed up federal permits for major transmission lines, part of a broader push to expand America’s electric grids. The pace of construction for high-voltage power lines has sharply slowed since 2013, and building new lines can take a decade or more because of permitting delays and local opposition. The Energy Department is trying to use the limited tools at its disposal to pour roughly $20 billion into grid upgrades and to streamline approvals for new lines. Under the rule announced on Thursday, the Energy Department would take over as the lead agency in charge of federal environmental reviews for certain interstate power lines and would aim to issue necessary permits within two years. Currently, the federal approval process can take four years or more and often involves multiple agencies each conducting their own separate reviews.

Persons: Biden Organizations: The Energy Department, Energy Department

☆ The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Here’s a Fast Solution.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One of the biggest obstacles to expanding clean energy in the United States is a lack of power lines. But there may be a faster, cheaper solution, according to two reports released Tuesday. Replacing existing power lines with cables made from state-of-the-art materials could roughly double the capacity of the electric grid in many parts of the country, making room for much more wind and solar power. This technique, known as “advanced reconductoring,” is widely used in other countries. Working with GridLab, a consulting firm, researchers from Berkeley looked at what would happen if advanced reconductoring were broadly adopted.

Persons: ”, Amol Phadke Organizations: University of California Locations: United States, Berkeley

☆ Berkeley Will Repeal Its Landmark Ban on Natural Gas in New Homes
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The city of Berkeley, Calif., has agreed to repeal a landmark climate rule that would have banned natural gas hookups in new homes, throwing into question the fate of dozens of similar restrictions on gas in cities across the country. The city settled the lawsuit last week by agreeing to immediately halt enforcement of the rule and eventually repeal it altogether. “To comply with the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, we have ceased enforcement of the gas ban,” Farimah Brown, the city attorney for Berkeley, said in an email. However, she added, “Berkeley will continue to be a leader on climate action.”The decision could have widespread ripple effects. Many of those efforts are facing fierce resistance and legal challenges from the gas industry, restaurants and homebuilders.

Persons: ” Farimah Brown, “ Organizations: California Restaurant Association, United States, Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Berkeley, New Locations: Berkeley, Calif, “ Berkeley, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle

☆ Energy Dept. Awards $6 Billion for Green Steel, Cement and Even Macaroni Factories
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration plans to spend up to $6 billion on new technologies to cut carbon dioxide emissions from heavy industries like steel, cement, chemicals and aluminum, which are all enormous contributors to global warming but which have so far been incredibly difficult to clean up. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Monday that her agency would partially fund 33 different projects in 20 states to test methods for curbing emissions from a wide variety of factories and industrial plants, calling it “the single largest industrial decarbonization investment in American history.”Constellium, an aluminum producer, would receive up to $75 million to build a first-of-a-kind aluminum casting plant in Ravenswood, W.Va., that can run on cleaner burning hydrogen fuels rather than natural gas. Kraft Heinz, a food manufacturer, would get up to $170.9 million to install electric boilers and heat pumps at 10 facilities across the country, where they would be used to generate the large amounts of heat needed for things like drying macaroni without directly burning fossil fuels.

Persons: Jennifer Granholm, ”, Kraft Heinz Organizations: Biden, Energy Locations: Ravenswood, W.Va

☆ A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Brad Plumer | Nadja Popovich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Nathan Howard for The New York TimesIn California, electric vehicles could soon account for 10 percent of peak power demand. AP Photo/Mike StewartIn interviews, utility executives say gas is needed to back up wind and solar power, which don’t run all the time. Gas plants can sometimes be easier to build than renewables, since they may not require new long-distance transmission lines. “It’s going to take a diversified fleet.”Mr. Mitchell noted that Georgia Power was planning a large build-out of solar power and batteries over the next decade and would offer incentives to companies to use less power during times of grid stress. The tech companies and manufacturers that are driving up electricity demand could also play a major role, experts say.

Persons: ”, Daniel Brooks, Nathan Howard, Lauren Justice, Biden’s, “, Tyler H, Norris, Mr, John Wilson, Ken Seiler, Seiler, Devin Hartman, Duke, Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s, it’s, we’ve, Georgia Power, It’s, Greg Buppert, Megan Varner, Mike Stewart, Aaron Mitchell, “ It’s, Mitchell, Heather O’Neill, Brian Janous Organizations: Electric Power Research Institute, The New York Times, Duke University, Biden, Utilities, North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Boston Consulting, Dominion Energy, Nationwide, R Street Institute, The New York Times Soaring, Duke Energy, Georgia, Southern Environmental Law Center, AP, Dominion, Georgia Power, Advanced Energy, Microsoft Locations: America, California, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina , Tennessee, Kansas, Northern Virginia, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, York City, PJM, “ Texas, Ashburn, Va, Dalton , Ga, Dalton, Duke

☆ Support for Nuclear Energy Grows in Congress
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The House this week overwhelmingly passed legislation meant to speed up the development of a new generation of nuclear power plants, the latest sign that a once-contentious source of energy is now attracting broad political support in Washington. It received backing from Democrats who support nuclear power because it does not emit greenhouse gases and can generate electricity 24 hours a day to supplement solar and wind power. It also received support from Republicans who have downplayed the risks of climate change but who say that nuclear power could bolster the nation’s economy and energy security. “It’s been fascinating to see how bipartisan advanced nuclear power has become,” said Joshua Freed, who leads the climate and energy program at Third Way, a center-left think tank. “This is not an issue where there’s some big partisan or ideological divide.”The bill would direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the nation’s nuclear power plants, to streamline its processes for approving new reactor designs.

Persons: “, ”, Joshua Freed Organizations: Atomic Energy Advancement, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Locations: Washington

☆ How the U.S. Became the World’s Biggest Gas Supplier
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Brad Plumer | Nadja Popovich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

Became the World’s Biggest Gas SupplierTop exporters of liquefied natural gas 12 billion cubic feet per day U.S. Qatar 10 Australia 8 6 Russia 4 Malaysia 2 2014 2023 12 billion cubic feet per day United States Qatar Australia 10 8 6 Russia 4 Malaysia 2 2014 2023 Source: S&P Global Note: Data reflects annual average liquefied natural gas exports by country. But climate activists worry that soaring exports of liquefied natural gas could make global warming worse. In the early 2000s, natural gas was relatively scarce at home, and companies were spending billions of dollars to build terminals to import gas from places like Qatar and Australia. In the mid-2000s, U.S. drillers perfected methods to unlock vast reserves of cheap natural gas from shale rock. The process of making and shipping liquefied natural gas adds complexity and cost, but if the difference between U.S. natural gas prices and overseas prices is big enough, it is profitable.

Persons: Biden, Fracking, ”, Kenneth Medlock, —, Ben Cahill Organizations: U.S, drillers, Cheniere Energy, Center for Energy Studies, Rice University, “, Asia, Department of Energy, Energy Department, . Energy, Energy Information Administration, Clearview Energy Partners, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: U.S, Qatar, Australia, Russia, Malaysia, United States Qatar Australia, United States, Japan, Europe, Asia, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Texas , Louisiana, Maryland, Georgia, Mexico

☆ Are You a Super Driver? Some States Want to Help You Go Electric.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The key to cutting emissions from cars and light trucks that are heating the planet could lie with the nation’s super drivers, the small percentage of American motorists who drive, on average, about 110 miles per day. If more of those drivers switched to electric vehicles from gasoline-powered models, it would make a major dent in greenhouse gases from transportation, which have so far been slow to decline, according to a new analysis published on Wednesday by Coltura, an environmental nonprofit group based in Seattle. While the average American driver travels about 13,400 miles per year, people who buy electric vehicles today tend to drive them less than that, limiting the climate benefits of switching to a cleaner car. By contrast, the top 10 percent of motorists in the United States drive an average of about 40,200 miles per year and account for roughly one-third of the nation’s gasoline use. Persuading more of these “gasoline superusers” to go electric would lead to a much faster reduction in emissions, the Coltura report found.

Persons: Coltura Locations: Seattle, United States

To tackle dangerous global warming, countries have started to clean up their power plants and cars. That’s one big takeaway from a new, detailed forecast of global greenhouse gas emissions published Thursday by the Rhodium Group, a research firm. Overall, the report estimates that the world is currently on track to heat up roughly 2.8 degrees Celsius, or 5 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by 2100. Many world leaders and scientists consider that much warming to be perilous. Trying to predict emissions so far out in the future is inherently difficult, but the forecast offers a rough guide to where countries appear poised to make progress on climate change in the years ahead — and where they are still struggling.

☆ Nations Are Getting Serious About Climate Action. Just Not Serious Enough.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the Paris Agreement, world leaders vowed to hold global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in order to limit the risks from climate catastrophes. The planet has already warmed roughly 1.2 degrees Celsius. To stay below 2 degrees Celsius, global emissions would need to fall roughly 29 percent between now and 2030. To stay at 1.5 degrees, global emissions would need to fall about 43 percent. Earth will keep getting hotter and temperature records will keep getting shattered, scientists say, until countries manage to reduce their emissions down to nearly zero.

Persons: don’t, they’ve, ”, Anne Olhoff Locations: Paris, Denmark

Steam feeding into the Unit 3 turbine generator of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. “The United States is now committed to trying to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy,” John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, said in September. One recent Pew survey found that 57 percent of Americans favor more nuclear plants, up from 43 percent in 2016. A NuScale engineer gave a tour of a control room simulator, modeling the company’s plans for new nuclear reactors, in 2013. “The demand for clean energy is almost unprecedented,” said Maria Korsnick, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group.

Persons: Biden, ” John Kerry, Biden’s, “, ”, Jacopo Buongiorno, Jimmy Carter, Rosalyn Carter, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Reicher, Gavin Newsom, Reicher, Clinton, Jeffrey Collins, Arnie Gundersen, John Williams, “ It’s, Patty Durand, Julie Kozeracki, Kendrick Brinson, Jay Wileman, Bill Gates, Dow, Roger Blomquist, NuScale Power, Jose Reyes, Adam Stein, it’s, they’re, Ahmed Abdulla, Robert Taylor, Leah Nash, NuScale, David Schlissel, Joshua Freed, didn’t, Maria Korsnick Organizations: Unit, Republicans, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Associated Press, Madison, Natural Resources Defense, California Gov, Democrat, Associated, Fairewinds Associates, Components, Workers, Georgia, Southern Company, Georgia Power, Georgia Public Service Commission, Energy Department, The New York Times, GE, Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Vogtle . Ontario, Tennessee Valley Authority, Argonne, National Laboratory, Energy, Nuclear Regulatory, NuScale, ”, Breakthrough Institute, Carleton University, Soaring, Institute for Energy Economics, United, Nuclear Energy Institute Locations: U.S, Waynesboro, Ga, Savannah, Georgia, United States, ”, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Jenkinsville, Vogtle, South Carolina, South, Canada, Tennessee, Argonne, Chicago, Idaho, Wyoming, California, Alaska, Maryland, Pueblo County, Colo

☆ In a U.S. First, a Commercial Plant Starts Pulling Carbon From the Air
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In an open-air warehouse in California’s Central Valley, 40-foot-tall racks hold hundreds of trays filled with a white powder that turns crusty as it absorbs carbon dioxide from the sky. The start-up that built the facility, Heirloom Carbon Technologies, calls it the first commercial plant in the United States to use direct air capture, which involves vacuuming greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Heirloom will take the carbon dioxide it pulls from the air and have the gas sealed permanently in concrete, where it can’t heat the planet. Microsoft has already signed a deal with Heirloom to remove 315,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The plant can absorb a maximum of 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, equal to the exhaust from about 200 cars.

Organizations: Carbon, Microsoft Locations: Central Valley, United States, Iceland, Tracy , Calif

A developer of small nuclear reactors announced on Wednesday that it was canceling a project that had been widely expected to usher in a new wave of power plants. NuScale Power, a company in Portland, Ore., said it lacked enough subscribers to advance the Carbon-Free Power Project, which had been expected to deliver six of the company’s 77-megawatt reactors. The Carbon-Free Power Project was the result of an agreement between NuScale and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, which supplies electricity to public power providers in seven Western states, including California. “This decision is very disappointing given the years of pioneering hard work,” said Mason Baker, chief executive of Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems. “We are working closely with NuScale and the U.S. Department of Energy on next steps to wind the project down.”

Persons: NuScale, ”, Mason Baker Organizations: Power, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, U.S . Department of Energy Locations: Portland ,, Idaho, NuScale, Utah, California

☆ Biden Administration Approves Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Yet, in Virginia
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Interior Department on Tuesday approved a plan to install up to 176 giant wind turbines off the coast of Virginia, clearing the way for what would be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm yet. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, to be built by Dominion Energy, is the fifth commercial-scale offshore wind project approved by the Biden administration. The decision comes at a perilous time for the offshore wind industry. To fight climate change, the Biden administration wants to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power in the United States by 2030. In New York, the developers of four proposed offshore wind farms recently asked the state for more money before moving forward.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Interior Department, Dominion Energy, Commonwealth, York Locations: Virginia, United States, Pacific, Massachusetts, New York

☆ Energy Dept. Pours Billions into Power Grids but Warns It’s Not Enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Energy Department on Monday announced $1.3 billion to help build three large power lines across six states, part of a new gusher of money from Washington to upgrade America’s electric grids so they can handle more wind and solar power and better tolerate extreme weather. In a major report published the same day, the Energy Department said that the nation’s vast network of transmission lines may need to expand by two-thirds or more by 2035 to meet President Biden’s goals to power the country with clean energy. That would help slash carbon dioxide emitted by gas and coal-fired electric plants — pollution that is heating the planet. “We need to seriously build out transmission,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. The nation’s electric system is divided into a patchwork of regions, each overseen by different operators.

Persons: Biden’s, Jennifer Granholm Organizations: Energy Department, ” Locations: Washington

☆ Energy Agency Sees Peaks in Global Oil, Coal and Gas Demand By 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If that all came to pass, oil and gas demand would most likely plateau at slightly above today’s levels for the next three decades, expanding in developing countries and shrinking in advanced economies. “The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide and it’s unstoppable,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. After Mr. Birol first suggested the possibility in September, the oil cartel OPEC warned that such forecasts were highly uncertain and could lead countries and companies to underinvest in oil and gas drilling. If demand for fossil fuels did not fall as expected, the cartel said, the lack of supply could lead to “energy chaos.”OPEC issued its own outlook last year projecting that global demand for oil and natural gas would keep rising until 2045. “I have a gentle suggestion to oil executives, they only talk among themselves,” Mr. Birol said in an interview.

Persons: ”, Fatih Birol, “ It’s, ’ it’s, ’ —, Birol, “, ” Mr, — Organizations: International Energy Agency, OPEC

☆ Peak Oil Is Near, Energy Agency Says, but Climate Change Is Far From Solved
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a new report, the International Energy Agency issued an updated road map of what it would take to slash the world’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions to nearly zero by 2050. The agency laid out its first version of the road map in 2021 and said at the time that immediate action was needed to hit that target. On the one hand, global investment in low-emissions energy has increased roughly 40 percent, reaching $1.8 trillion this year. And the rapid expansion of solar power and electric vehicles has largely been in line with what that earlier report recommended, particularly in places like China, the United States and Europe. But the world can’t solve climate change with solar power and batteries alone, the new report warns.

Organizations: International Energy Agency Locations: China, United States, Europe

☆ Climate Report Card Says Countries Are Trying, but Urgently Need Improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight years after world leaders approved a landmark agreement in Paris to fight climate change, countries have made only limited progress in staving off the most dangerous effects of global warming, according to the first official report card on the global climate treaty. Many of the worst-case climate change scenarios that were much feared in the early 2010s look far less likely today, the report said. The authors partly credit the 2015 Paris Agreement, under which, for the first time, almost every country agreed to submit a voluntary plan to curb its own planet-warming emissions. Under the Paris Agreement, countries vowed to limit the rise in average global temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels and make a good-faith effort to stay at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Earth has already heated up roughly 1.2 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times.

Locations: Paris, staving, United States, South Africa

☆ The Race to Unlock a Vast Source of Clean Energy Beneath Our Feet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It was a drilling rig, of all things, transplanted from the oil fields of North Dakota. But the softly whirring rig wasn’t searching for fossil fuels. Mr. Latimer’s company, Fervo Energy, is part of an ambitious effort to unlock vast amounts of geothermal energy from Earth’s hot interior, a source of renewable power that could help displace fossil fuels that are dangerously warming the planet. “There’s a virtually unlimited resource down there if we can get at it,” said Mr. Latimer. “Geothermal doesn’t use much land, it doesn’t produce emissions, it can complement wind and solar power.

Persons: Tim Latimer gazed, ”, Latimer Organizations: Fervo Locations: Utah, North Dakota, “

Many opponents of renewable energy, she added, “are worried about the impacts to their very way of life.”Roadside opposition to renewable energy projects near Baldwin City, Kan. “We see offshore wind as a critical technology,” said Dan Burgess, the director of the Maine Governor’s Energy Office. Across the country, clean energy projects of all types are tied up in lengthy permitting processes. By then, India had not completed any offshore wind projects. Since 2000, the United States has barely built any major transmission lines that connect different regions of the country.

Persons: Scott Dickerson, ”, Biden, Alison Bates, “, Columbia University’s, Dan Burgess, Habib Dagher, Janet Mills, Gregory Wetstone, Mack, James Gillway, SunZia, ” Hunter Armistead, Broussard, There’s, Vaughan Woodruff, Tucker Carlson, Teslas, ” Ali Zaidi, Dagher, Rolf Olsen, who’s Organizations: University of Maine, Sears, Officials, Federal, International Energy Agency, Colby College, White, Columbia, Climate, The University of, Maine Governor’s Energy, Environmental, University of Maine’s, Composites Center, Gov, American Clean Power Association, American Council, Renewable Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, . Clean, Union United, China India European Union United States, China European Union United, China India United States European, China United States European Union, China United States European Union India, Energy, The New York Times, United, Pattern Energy, New York State Energy Research, Development Authority, Toyota Prius Locations: Penobscot Bay, Maine, , Maine, United States, Europe, China, Australia, India, Los Angeles, Ohio, Jersey Shore, Waterville , Maine, Baldwin City, Kan, Massachusetts, Ukraine, Gulf, Searsport , Maine, Searsport, Bangor, Mack, West, Union United States, U.S, China United States European Union India, Great, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Riesel , Texas, Energy, San Bernardino County, In Kansas, Atlantic City, N.J, New York, Manhattan, Sears

That is by far the most ever spent on clean energy in a year. Solar and Wind Power Have Taken Off Electricity generation per year, in terawatt hours China 600 TWh 500 Solar Wind U.S. China 400 E.U. It would shred regulations designed to curb greenhouse gases, dismantle nearly every federal clean energy program and boost the production of fossil fuels. 1 2 3 4 5 Even Tulsa, with its strong links to oil and gas, is embracing clean energy. “But we also understand that energy is energy, whether it is generated by wind, steam or whatever it might be.”Around the country, clean energy is taking root in unlikely locales.

Persons: ”, Fatih Birol, Al Gore, Crews, Francis Energy, Dewey, Bartlett Jr, “, J.W, Peters, Mr, Lazard, Gregory Nemet, —, Biden, Tesla, Giovanni Bertolino, Jon Creyts, Steve Uerling’s, Uerling, Cathy Zoi, It’s, Mary Barra, ’, Barra Organizations: Buses, Port, International Energy Agency, India India, Energy, The New York Times, Heritage Foundation, Republican, Ford, University of Tulsa’s School of Petroleum Engineering, “ Oil, Drillers, Navistar, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Francis, Solar Power, U.S . Steel, Gas, University of Wisconsin -, Panasonic, United, European Union, United States ’, General Motors, RMI, Ford Fusion, Tesla, Postal Service, Amazon, Peterbilt, Companies, Francis Energy, BMW Group, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Benz Group Locations: Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Port of Los Angeles, Houston, Europe, United States, America, China, Britain, terawatt, India, U.S, States, Beijing, London, Tokyo, Washington, Oslo, Dubai, Tulsa, Okla, Italian, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Texas, Galveston, In Arkansas, Republican, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Georgia, Korean, Nevada, tailpipes, California, New York, San Francisco, Canada, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Steve Uerling’s Tulsa, E.U, G.M

☆ A Bottleneck on the Grid Threatens Clean Energy. New Rules Aim to Help.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Federal regulators on Thursday approved new rules to speed up the process for connecting wind and solar projects to the electric grid, in an attempt to reduce the growing delays that have become one of the biggest obstacles to building renewable energy in the United States. Energy companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in wind farms, solar arrays and batteries, spurred on by federal tax breaks and falling costs. But these projects face a severe bottleneck: It is getting harder and taking longer to connect new power plants to the power lines that carry electricity to homes and businesses. More than 10,000 energy projects — mostly wind, solar and batteries — were seeking permission to connect to electric grids at the end of 2022, up from 5,600 two years earlier. The new rules by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees electricity markets, aim to streamline that approval process, known as the interconnection queue.

Organizations: United States . Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Locations: United States

☆ Heat Records Fall Around the Globe as Earth Warms, Fast
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Brad Plumer | More About Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Tuesday, global average temperatures rose to a new high of 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit. But, he added, there may be other factors layered on top of human-caused warming that have helped drive temperatures up so dramatically in recent months. For instance, a cyclical phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation causes year-to-year fluctuations by shifting heat in and out of deeper ocean layers. Global surface temperatures tend to be somewhat cooler during La Niña years and somewhat hotter during El Niño years. “A big reason we’re seeing so many records shattered is that we’re transitioning out of an unusually long three-year La Niña, which suppressed temperatures a bit, and into a strong El Niño,” Dr. Hausfather said.

Persons: Zeke Hausfather, El, “, Hausfather Organizations: Service, Berkeley, Southern

☆ Permission to Build
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( German Lopez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So in 2010, developers started planning a large power-line project connecting Kansas with Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. They wanted to move the clean energy generated in Kansas, from both wind turbines and solar panels, to states with much bigger populations. Thirteen years later, however, full construction has not yet started on the project, known as the Grain Belt Express. Because in addition to federal permission, the project needs approval from every local and state jurisdiction it passes through. That decentralization makes it hard to coordinate the large, interstate projects needed to connect clean energy to the grid.

Persons: Nadja Popovich, Brad Plumer Locations: Kansas, U.S, Missouri , Illinois, Indiana, North America

☆ Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn’t Ready for the Energy Transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Nadja Popovich | Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. That makes it hard to build the long-distance power lines needed to transport wind and solar nationwide. To make the plan work, the nation would need thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines — large power lines that would span multiple grid regions. Utilities are sometimes wary of long-distance transmission lines that might undercut their local monopolies. “The grid is already a critical element of our energy system,” said Matteo Muratori, an analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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