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.

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Electricity Regulations Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels 129

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 12, 2022

Nearly all of the alliance members have a renewable electricity standard (RES), which requires utilities in their jurisdiction to increase their use of renewable energy to a particular percentage by a specific year. Our analysis also demonstrates renewables’ power. EN: What were your top findings?

Electricity 279

Electricity Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Nitrogen Oxides 279

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Electricity is necessary for reading this blog, phoning your family, and buying milk at the store. Most every modern public health, safety and security system we rely on also depends on the electric grid. To expand and modernize the nation’s electric infrastructure, the federal government recently announced new funding.

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Electricity Government Nuclear Power Renewable Energy 293

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. Renewable energy will help with all of that—but we need a grid that is designed for wind and solar instead of having to rely on expensive coal and gas plants.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Electricity 362

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. Clean energy on hold.

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Technology Technology Climate Change Fossil Fuels 263

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.

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Electricity Recycling Fossil Fuels Climate Change 309

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. Here’s how. That’s the supply part.

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Electricity Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Cooling 245

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.

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Electricity Renewable Energy Climate Change Sea Level 257

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.

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Law Renewable Energy Clean Energy Fossil Fuels 325

Environment + Energy Leader

DECEMBER 11, 2022

(Credit: Canva) The 2022 Standard Scenarios, a collection of forward-looking scenarios for the electricity sector in the United States, have been made available by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The post NREL Releases Eighth Edition of Annual Standard Scenarios appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Renewable Energy Electricity Technology Technology 279

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. Wastewater-to-energy systems start with a process called anaerobic digestion, which treatment plants have been using for ages to reduce the volume of sewage waste. Photo © Richard Webb / Wikimedia Commons.

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Carbon Emissions Waste Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 317

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

This experience, not far from Seattle and with ties to the information tech industry, highlights some of the issues surrounding the electric power needs of data centers. He was obviously oblivious to the fact that old-style electric heat (i.e. He assured me he hadnt: it doesnt require electricity! Modernize, or bypass, the grid?

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Nuclear Power Electricity Clean Energy Technology 192

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

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Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Solar Power 307

Environment + Energy Leader

OCTOBER 1, 2022

The coalition's mission is to accelerate the deployment and use of sustainable aviation fuel technologies to reach 10% of the global jet aviation fuel supply by 2030. The post Air Canada Aims to Decarbonize Using Electric-Hybrid Aircraft and Sustainable Aviation Fuels appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Electricity 2030 Technology Technology 246

Environment + Energy Leader

OCTOBER 1, 2022

The coalition's mission is to accelerate the deployment and use of sustainable aviation fuel technologies to reach 10% of the global jet aviation fuel supply by 2030. The post Air Canada Aims to Decarbonize Using Electric-Hybrid Aircraft and Sustainable Aviation Fuels appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

Electricity 246

Electricity 2030 Technology Technology 246

Environment + Energy Leader

DECEMBER 11, 2022

(Credit: Canva) The 2022 Standard Scenarios, a collection of forward-looking scenarios for the electricity sector in the United States, have been made available by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The post NREL Releases Eighth Edition of Annual Standard Scenarios appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Renewable Energy Electricity Technology Technology 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 27, 2022

As electric vehicle (EV) sales continue to increase, questions about how these cars and their batteries will be disposed of have been top of mind for current owners, future buyers, policymakers, and many experts in the automotive industry. After this second-life use, the batteries are then ready to be recycled.

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Recycling Electricity Renewable Energy Technology 362

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2022

The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) is one of the go-to sources for reliable information about the US power sector. 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. Carbon emissions remain high.

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Natural Gas Renewable Energy Climate Change Electricity 291

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 30, 2023

And, long-duration storage is particularly important for the power grid’s transformation to clean energy and what I’m focusing on here. Long-duration refers to the amount of time a power system can discharge electricity. This results in a deliberate reduction of electricity output. How long is long-duration?

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Renewable Energy Clean Energy Technology Technology 273

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 17, 2025

In the rush to integrate artificial intelligence into the economy, fast-moving information technology companies are running into a problem: slow-moving electric utilities. In more ways than one, the electricity supply so vital to running a data center simply doesnt respond the way Silicon Valley and big investors want.

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Electricity Nuclear Power Technology Technology 130

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?

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Electricity Biofuels Technology Technology 291

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. Prices for battery storage have declined even more sharply.

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Fossil Fuels 2008 2010 Clean Energy 279

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 22, 2022

The renewable energy transition involves harnessing epic forces of nature. Sleek solar panels forged from silver and silica from the depths of the Earth translate the sun’s blindingly fiery light energy into electricity. Source: UniEnergy Technologies / Wikimedia Commons. Batteries help store surplus energy.

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Wind Power Renewable Energy Electricity Clean Energy 242

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Solar panels generated almost 4 percent of electricity in the US in 2021, up from less than 1 percent in 2015. In some places that number is much higher; for example, 17% of California’s electricity generation came from solar in 2021. Almost half of all new energy capacity added to the US grid in 2021 came from solar.

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Carbon Monoxide Electricity Carbon Dioxide Renewable Energy 317

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 4, 2023

And, while renewable energy is growing fast too, it’s not happening fast enough—and can never happen fast enough if its outpaced by fossil fuel expansion. The amount of electricity needed to power these technologies would be greater than the entire world’s electricity demand today.” Particulate matter (PM2.5)

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Fossil Fuels Nitrogen Oxides Clean Energy Paris Agreement 326

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. To meet our climate goals and reach net zero emissions by 2050, most studies show that we need to dramatically reduce gas use for generating electricity, heating homes and businesses, and running industrial processes.

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Fossil Fuels Electricity 2030 Clean Energy 302

HumanNature

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University There is a renewable energy revolution happening all over the world: costs for renewable energy have dropped significantly in the last 10 years and the world is starting to adopt the technology at a very fast pace. kWh per day.

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Renewable Energy 2009 Solar Power 2023 105

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

JANUARY 4, 2024

A new North American Electricity Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) review of power outages and gas industry failures reveals the potential for prolonged and deadly power outages. What Happened in Texas?

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Electricity 2021 Renewable Energy Natural Gas 294

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Lithium-ion batteries are essential for decarbonizing transportation through electric vehicles and building a resilient, renewable energy grid through energy storage batteries. Nearly every part of a renewable energy grid can be circular, with all outputs circulating back as inputs in a regenerative cycle.

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Recycling Clean Energy Renewable Energy Electricity 246

Environmental News Bits

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

by Lisa Sheppard, Prairie Research Institute As renewable energy is poised to replace fossil fuels long term in Illinois, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is delving into a looming issue: what to do with solar modules, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries that are no longer used.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Waste Electricity 104

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

There are a lot of moving pieces, but it starts with decarbonizing the electricity sector and powering the economy with a diverse combination of clean energy resources—primarily wind, solar, and battery storage—connected with a modernized bulk transmission system that can reliably deliver electricity to consumers all 8,760 hours of the year.

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Clean Energy Renewable Energy Electricity 2030 330

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 12, 2023

What happens when promise of electricity reliability fails in bad weather? We know that consumers pay for electricity reliability and bear the cost when supplies are tight. The electric power system is trapped by gas-dependent power plants that cannot obtain gas when it needs it to keep the lights on.

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Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Electricity Regulations 228

Real Climate

AUGUST 17, 2022

As you can see there are tax credits and subsidies for electric vehicles, renewable energy, nuclear energy, transmission, hydrogen, air pollution reduction, energy infrastructure, climate resilience, rural development, residential buildings, etc. Modeling the impacts of all this is hard.

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Paris Agreement Air Pollution Renewable Energy 2030 349

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

The best solution: Replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. Climate change is overwhelmingly caused by burning fossil fuels, and the most immediate path to avert climate disaster is to stop investing in those fuels and start powering our economy with an equitable transition to renewable energy.

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Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 322

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Climate action is limited by political will (not technology) In this pivotal moment of history, where the imperative to avert the worst impacts of climate change is clear, the world stands at the cusp of a transformative shift toward a renewable energy paradigm.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 331

Enviromental Defense

OCTOBER 6, 2022

Ontario recently re-contracted four gas-fired power plants to generate electricity for the province and appears poised to contract more in the near future. . Yes, Ontario needs new electricity generation. This is a national-level policy being developed to decarbonize electricity systems across the country.

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Renewable Energy Electricity Wind Power 2005 104