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☆ Data centers are booming. Their need for power is causing utilities to retreat on green energy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Katie Hobbs at Google's September announcement of a a new $600 million data center in Mesa, Arizona. The amount of electricity needed to power data centers in the U.S. is expected to more than double by 2030, according to McKinsey. "With data centers, you're going to do all of the above to have capacity to meet those loads." Utilities struggle to meet data center loads while cutting carbonThe utility-level impact of the data center industry's energy demand reaches beyond Phoenix. In preliminary documents, it has identified data centers as "the major source of load growth during 2023-2038."

Persons: Karla Moran, Moran, Katie Hobbs, you've, Terry Boston, James Glynn, Glynn, Caryn Potter, it's, OPPD, that's, David Corbin, Corbin, Valerie Plesch, Aaron Ruby, Devon Smiley, Smiley, Lee Kestler, Ruby, George Frey, Wendy Bridges, Bridges, Jill Hanks, Hanks, Potter, Meghin Delaney, Reno, Kestler, EdgeCore, Hunter Holman, Delaney, Holman Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Digital Realty, Arizona Gov, McKinsey, PJM, Columbia University's Center, Global Energy Policy, Southwest Energy Efficiency, Utilities, Omaha Public Power, Sierra Club's, The Washington, Getty, Dominion Energy, Dominion, Blackstone, KKR, APS, Phoenix, Goodyear, NV Energy, Reno, Bay Area, Silver State, Western Resource Locations: Phoenix, Salt, Mesa , Arizona, City, Mesa, U.S, Arizona, Phoenix . Omaha , Nebraska, New York, Sierra Club's Nebraska, Woodbridge , Virginia, Virginia, Nebraska, OPPD, Eagle Mountain , Utah, Brookfield, Seattle, Goodyear, Bay, Nevada, Reno, Las Vegas, North

[1/2] Former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg speaks during a meeting with Earthshot prize winners and finalists at the Glasgow Science Center during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021. The $500 million infusion into his decade-long Beyond Carbon initiative aims to "finish the job on coal" by working with state and local organizations to force the closure of the roughly 150 coal plants that have not yet retired, slash current gas generation in half and block the construction of new gas-fired plants. Bloomberg already has spent over $500 million to support the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which originally aimed to retire 30% of the U.S. coal fleet by 2020. The money would support litigation brought against utilities and power companies by grassroots groups, state and local policy advocacy and financing to assist local communities with coal plant closures, Bloomberg Philanthropies said. Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Katy Daigle and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: New York Michael Bloomberg, Alastair Grant, Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg Philanthropies, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Grant McCool Organizations: New York, Glasgow Science Center, Change, UNITED NATIONS, Former New York City, Bloomberg, Sierra, General Assembly, Thomson Locations: Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, United States, U.S, America

☆ US oil lobby blasts EPA emissions cuts plan, California likes it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - The largest U.S. oil and gas trade lobby group said on Wednesday it believes sharp emissions cuts proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would result in the elimination of new internal combustion vehicles. Just said the rules would "eliminate the opportunity to improve" internal combustion and hybrid technologies "and create an outsized reliance on battery materials from other countries to meet United States' transportation needs." They testified the second day of the EPA's virtual public hearings on its aggressive proposal for cutting U.S. vehicle emissions for 2027-2032 model years. The plan would require 13% annual average pollution cuts and a 56% reduction in projected fleet average emissions over 2026 requirements. The EPA estimates the plan would result in 60% of new vehicles by 2030 being electric and 67% by 2032.

Most new gas plants currently do not pay for emitting carbon, so the rules could make it harder for them to compete with solar and wind power. Second, the Inflation Reduction Act created tax credits making carbon capture and hydrogen more affordable and affirmed EPA's authority to regulate power plants. Existing technology can capture and store approximately 90% of carbon emissions, Lynch said. The EIA projected that this year, 54% of new generation (21GW) will be solar and 14% will be natural gas (7.5GW). Southern, which also runs the National Carbon Capture Center with the Department of Energy, said commercial deployment of carbon capture technology "is many years away" despite the cost-reduction potential of the Inflation Reduction Act.

☆ Biden Interior proposes leasing public lands for conservation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration this week proposed a new rule that would allow the Interior Department to lease public lands for conservation, a process similar to how the agency delivers leases for oil and gas development and mining projects. The Interior on Thursday said establishing conservation leases would help states and companies offset the environmental impact of their development plans. Issuing conservation leases would generate revenue and make landscapes more resilient to climate change, Interior officials said. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement said the country's public lands are under mounting pressure amid unprecedented climate-related disasters like wildfires and drought. "We appreciate the meaningful conservation measures in this new rule that have the promise to advance biodiversity, climate resilience and equity on our public lands," O'Shea said.

☆ U.S. Postal Service to transform delivery fleet with 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Three United States Postal Service (USPS) mail trucks are parked in front of the post office in Danville. On July 20, the USPS announced that at least 40 percent of its Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) and commercial off-the-street (COTS) vehicles will be battery electric vehicles. Postal Service said Tuesday that it intends to purchase at least 66,000 electric delivery vehicles as part of a push to transform its delivery fleet. The electric vehicles would amount to more than half the 106,000 vehicles it plans to acquire for delivery between now and 2028. The new vehicles will start to replace its aging fleet of 220,000 vehicles, the Postal Service said in a press release.

The operator of the Keystone Pipeline System, which carries a form of crude oil from Canada to multiple states for refining, said over the weekend that its largest-yet breach has been contained for now. TC Energy, the Canadian parent of day-to-day pipeline operator TC Oil, said in a statement Saturday that the spill was no longer moving downstream. It mobilized 250 crews to handle cleanup and has deployed booms and vacuum trucks to stop the oil, the company said. The failure along a 96-mile segment in parts of Washington County, Kansas, Clay County, Kansas and Jefferson County, Nebraska, brings renewed concern over pipeline safety following the demise of the contentious Keystone XL pipeline project. Mayberry wants TC Oil to determine the root cause of the breach and name decision-makers who might have contributed to the spill, according to the letter dated Thursday.

☆ The US is creating a carbon-offset plan for corporations that would fund developing countries' moves to clean energy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The plan would create revenue to fund developing countries' moves toward clean energy. "This is a critical tool that will supplement, not replace, other sources of climate finance." The US will also consult with organizations that are trying to improve the scientific integrity of carbon credits. "Buying emissions reductions from developing countries is not the same thing as channeling climate finance and raises questions about who can count the reductions." African nations unveiled their own carbon-market initiative Tuesday, with an aim to supply 300 million carbon credits each year by 2030 and raise up to $6 billion.

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