Enviromental Defense

DECEMBER 2, 2024

Statement by Alienor Rougeot, Senior Program Manager, Climate and Energy, on Ontario’s claims regarding the federal Clean Electricity Regulations. The federal government’s proposed regulations to reduce emissions in electricity generation are achievable without breaking the bank. Battery storage is very cost-effective.

Electricity 131

Electricity Regulations Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels 131

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 13, 2022

I was invited to speak at a panel discussion last Wednesday as part of The Economist ’s annual Sustainability Week, titled “What technologies are needed to avert a climate disaster?” True to the theme, I was asked about which technological innovations would be necessary to save our planet. And yet, we aren’t.

Technology 251

Technology Technology Climate Change Fossil Fuels 251

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

For more than 50 years, we have pioneered new policies and ushered in new technologies to clean our air and protect our climate. Over its short lifetime, the program has already transformed many segments of the fuels market. If CARB approves amendments to the program, the shift to clean fuels in California will only accelerate.

Air Pollution 279

Air Pollution Fossil Fuels Greenhouse 2010 279

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 9, 2025

The bill, introduced by State Representative Supreme Moore Omokunde and State Senator Chris Larson, creates an enforceable timeline with specific objectives, allowing flexibility for discussions of the various technology and policy approaches to come later. I came to Madison ten years ago to pursue a masters in electrical engineering.

Fossil Fuels 181

Fossil Fuels Climate Change Natural Gas Clean Energy 181

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Since the beginning of 2022, electric vehicle sales in the United States have been downright electrifying. Last year, US drivers bought more than 800,000 new electric vehicles (EVs), 65 percent more than in 2021, even as overall car sales declined. billion to help California drivers switch from gasoline to electricity.

Electricity 326

Electricity Air Pollution 2030 Clean Air Act 326

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 23, 2025

It depends on the costs The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) represents the average cost to build and operate a generating resource per unit of electricity generated. The cost of other energy technologies matters as well. And the answer to that question depends heavily on the costs of new nuclear power plants.

Nuclear Power 208

Nuclear Power Clean Energy Technology Technology 208

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 15, 2022

The ones that’ll soon be gracing areas over the horizon are powerful enough, each one, to generate the equivalent of an average home’s daily electricity use in just a few seconds. Even more important, though, wind is an impressive piece of our electricity supply. Wind is now the largest source of renewable energy in the country.

Wind Power 360

Wind Power Fossil Fuels Electricity Climate Change 360

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 8, 2023

Electric transportation is essential for a cleaner and healthier world. Replacing gasoline vehicles with electric can reduce emissions that cause climate change and illnesses. Researchers like me are putting a microscope to the electric vehicles (EVs) because, as with any extraction and manufacturing, there are associated impacts.

Electricity 293

Electricity Recycling Fossil Fuels Climate Change 293

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 22, 2023

But extreme heat also hits our electricity system in ways that make it more expensive, more polluting, and less reliable. Extreme heat means more expensive electricity Extreme heat can sharply increase electricity consumption as people turn up their air conditioners for relief. One factor is the dirtiness of fossil fuels.

Electricity 235

Electricity Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Cooling 235

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 21, 2024

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) included a major—forthcoming—refresh for one of the biggest policy drivers of the nation’s clean energy transition to date: tax credits subsidizing the deployment of clean electricity resources. These incentives aren’t just historically important.

Electricity 277

Electricity Clean Energy Greenhouse Technology 277

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 22, 2022

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Most Minnesotans are familiar with their local electricity utility, since that’s who bills them for electricity they provide.

Renewable Energy 351

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Electricity 351

Legal Planet

JULY 15, 2024

The first efforts to use of wind to generate electricity was 134 years ago, and the photoelectric effect was discovered six decades earlier. So in a sense, these are old technologies — about the same age as the very first internal combustion engines. Persian experts were sent by Genghis Khan to establish the technology in China.

Renewable Energy 264

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Technology Technology 264

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 16, 2024

Much of our electricity system is 50 to 70 years old, yet current plans for domestic manufacturing, electric vehicle fleets, community solar gardens and more clean energy all depend on a modern grid. New demands for electricity and the need to reduce climate-changing emissions are driving new grid planning efforts.

Electricity 261

Electricity Renewable Energy Clean Energy Law 261

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 24, 2023

There’s good news in the recently released official data on electricity generation in the United States in 2022: renewable energy has continued to grow, coal power has continued to drop, and renewables are now firmly ahead of coal for the first time ever. percent of the country’s electricity supply (up 1.1 It supplied 10.5

Clean Energy 303

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Solar Power 303

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Union of Concerned Scientists’ (UCS) research shows that top fossil fuel producers’ emissions are responsible for as much as half of global surface temperature increase. The best solution: Replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. A small number of big corporations are responsible for the climate crisis.

Fossil Fuels 321

Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 321

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Extreme weather, which is increasing due to climate change , can degrade the electricity system and cause these failures. Power outages are costly, can have extreme impacts on both the health and safety of a population, and can happen at any point in the process of electricity generation, distribution, and usage.

Electricity 228

Electricity Renewable Energy Climate Change Sea Level 228

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 13, 2024

As electric vehicle charging stations sprout like mushrooms along our roads and clusters of new wind turbines come online, these two clean energy solutions to the climate crisis are becoming more commonplace. But beyond more electric cars and solar panels, what can everyday people do?

Fossil Fuels 236

Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Electricity Climate Change 236

Enviromental Defense

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

With a new federal budget in the works, Finance Canada is currently developing two new investment tax credits – one for clean technology and one for hydrogen. Hydrogen, like electricity, is an energy carrier – it can be used to store and deliver usable energy, for example to a cement or steel factory or to produce fertilizer.

Fossil Fuels 114

Fossil Fuels 2023 Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 114

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

You don’t have to look beyond the front pages of newspapers , or beyond rooftops in your neighborhood to know that we are in the midst of a clean energy revolution, with renewable energy technologies dramatically decreasing in price and increasing in availability.

Law 325

Law Renewable Energy Clean Energy Fossil Fuels 325

Legal Planet

APRIL 29, 2024

The Department of Energy estimates the cost of an electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack declined 89% between 2008 and 2022. Different batteries may be ideal in settings where charging speed is not a factor, such as utility-scale electricity storage. I don’t mean to imply that technological progress will automatically fix things.

Fossil Fuels 279

Fossil Fuels 2008 2010 Clean Energy 279

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 12, 2024

Fossil gas power plants currently provide the largest source of electricity generation and capacity in the United States. However, as we replace fossil fuels with clean electricity for heating and transportation to meet our climate goals, these peak demands will increasingly shift to the winter in many parts of the country.

Fossil Fuels 275

Fossil Fuels Electricity 2030 Clean Energy 275

Circle of Blue

AUGUST 3, 2021

utilities have been slower to adopt the energy- and emissions-saving technologies than those in other parts of the world. Despite the economic advantages of these technologies and their potential environmental benefits, U.S. Despite the economic advantages of these technologies and their potential environmental benefits, U.S.

Carbon Emissions 317

Carbon Emissions Waste Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 317

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 16, 2023

That’s a really good thing given the central role we expect and need solar to play in a just transition away from fossil fuels. Last year, solar accounted for almost 5 percent of US electricity. Back then, my focus was on small (really small) systems, measured in tens of watts. Single projects can be hundreds of megawatts.

Solar Power 299

Solar Power Fossil Fuels Electricity Technology 299

A Greener Life

JULY 7, 2021

New research from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) confirms renewables are continuing to outpace fossil fuels on cost. They found that the share of renewable energy that achieved lower costs than the most competitive fossil fuel option doubled in 2020. With record-low auction prices of $1.1

Fossil Fuels 98

Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy 2010 2020 98

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Yet in 2023, China accounted for about 60% of the world’s new renewables and electric vehicles. accounting for over 10% of China’s electricity. However, China will also have to fix problems that have led to an underuse of renewable capacity and a preference for fossil fuel generation on the grid. Will that change?

Clean Energy 277

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy 2009 277

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 19, 2025

By Matthew Carroll, Penn State News Moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and solar will require better ways to store energy for use when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. over the existing technology. over the existing technology.

Technology 68

Technology Technology Renewable Energy Clean Energy 68

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2022

They just released their 2022 “Annual Energy Outlook” (AEO), which is a big deal: it tells us where electricity is headed over the next 30 years. Here are five key takeaways from this year’s AEO, focused primarily on the electricity sector: 1. Renewable energy generation increases faster than any other technology.

Natural Gas 290

Natural Gas Renewable Energy Climate Change Electricity 290

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 1, 2022

First and foremost, despite some fossil fuel interests swinging for the fossil fuel-favored fences, the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. What the Supreme Court decided in West Virginia v.

Fossil Fuels 277

Fossil Fuels Clean Air Act Clean Energy Greenhouse 277

PA Environment Daily

JANUARY 24, 2025

Rising electricity demand from U.S. data centers risks deepening Americas reliance on fossil fuels and can put consumers and communities at risk, according to the report. Electricity demand to power these centers is projected to increase as well. The 71 data centers in Pennsylvania are already responsible for about 3.2%

Nuclear Power 80

Nuclear Power Fossil Fuels Natural Gas Electricity 80

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 21, 2023

How would that change if I hopped on the electric bus route at the end of my block? The situation would indeed be much better if our gifts were delivered by a team of flying reindeer fueled by magic and apples instead of trucks running on polluting diesel fuel.

Nitrogen Oxides 277

Nitrogen Oxides Electricity Fossil Fuels Air Pollution 277

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Replacing petroleum with renewable electricity as the primary source of transportation energy will leave us all much better off. In other words, technological solutions are necessary but not sufficient. On the technology side, decarbonization is the key. How do we make this transformation happen?

Electricity 290

Electricity Biofuels Technology Technology 290

Legal Planet

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Utilities were famously set in their ways, using nineteenth century technologies to produce and deliver their products. The key to getting climate change under control is to rapidly decrease the user of fossil fuels. Technological changes. Only specialists really paid much attention. All that has changed dramatically.

Law 246

Law Fossil Fuels Regulations Electricity 246

Legal Planet

AUGUST 22, 2024

To address these dual needs, UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) and the UCLA Law Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment are today releasing the new report Fueling & Financing: Addressing the Urgent Challenges Facing Electric Heavy-Duty Vehicle Deployment.

Electricity 147

Electricity Climate Change Fossil Fuels 2009 147

Legal Planet

APRIL 3, 2023

Investment and incentives for clean technologies under the Inflation Reduction Act. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules bearing on electricity transmission E. Rules relating to renewable and fossil fuel development on public lands and offshore. Electric vehicle and biofuel policies E.

Law 246

Law Endangered Species Act Clean Air Act Biofuels 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Gas, which now generates 40 percent of US electricity, is considered by some to be critical to maintain grid reliability. For example, Dominion Energy, an electric and gas utility in Virginia, is planning to build a mammoth 1,000-megawatt gas plant in an area with a high percentage of residents who are people of color and low-income.

Clean Energy 330

Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides Fossil Fuels Electricity 330

Legal Planet

JANUARY 24, 2022

The core energy technology used by humans has always involved, in one form or another, burning things up. Yet to a large extent, human beings haven’t gotten beyond this primitive technology. We burn coal and natural gas for heat and to make electricity. We burn gas, diesel, and jet fuel to power cars, trucks, trains, and planes.

Fossil Fuels 246

Fossil Fuels Climate Change Natural Gas Electricity 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 26, 2024

Because one of Pennsylvania’s two hubs, ARCH2, is also proposing to be heavily reliant on fossil fuel-based hydrogen production projects, I also detailed the serious risks of policymakers propping up such an approach. Using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen does not by itself render produced hydrogen “clean.”

Climate Change 237

Climate Change Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Clean Energy 237