By John Schwartz and Brad Plumer | The New York Times Link to article The American oil and gas industry is leaking more methane than the government thinks — much more, a new study says. Since methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, that is bad news for climate change. The new study, published Thursday in […]
2018 Climate Denier Hall of Shame
I have had the pleasure of working with a group who cares very much about our country, called the Cowboys for Liberty. It is a group of volunteers from all over the country, with a high concentration in Texas, that wanted to do more to save the world. We are rolling out our first project: […]
First Floating U.S. Wind Farm May Be Built Off California Coast
By Lynn Doan | Bloomberg Link to article A project off Northern California’s coast is vying to become America’s first commercial-scale floating wind farm. An agency that leads sustainable energy efforts for cities and counties along the state’s Redwood Coast chose a consortium of companies — including Energias de Portugal SA’s EDPR Offshore North America […]
Solar and Wind Need a Larger Electric Grid—and California Might Just Create One
By LAURA WISLAND | [ Blog ] Union of Concerned Scientists Link to article Over the past decade, thousands of megawatts of clean renewable energy have been installed in the West thanks to the declining cost of wind and solar power and state policies like the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS). Since solar and wind power […]
A Fossil Fuel Company Tried to Put a Dirty Gas Plant on a Beautiful Coastline. It Failed.
By Jessica A. Knoblauch | Earth Justice Link to article A California regulators’ latest move to reject the short-sighted proposal is a turning point in the state’s clean energy future. This week, the city of Oxnard, California, became known for being more than just one of the strawberry capitals of the world. The coastal […]
Solar power’s greatest challenge was discovered 10 years ago. It looks like a duck.
By David Roberts | Vox Media Link to article A researcher discusses the “duck curve” he helped discover. Back in 2008, a group of researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) noticed a funny-looking shape in their modeling. They were starting to take solar photovoltaic (PV) panels seriously, running projections of what might happen […]
Big Batteries Are Taking a Bite Out of the Power Market
By Russell Gold | WSJ Link to article Giant batteries charged by renewable energy are beginning to nibble away at a large market: The power plants that generate extra surges of electricity during peak hours. Known as peakers, the natural-gas-fired plants are expensive to run, and typically are called into service only when demand rises and regular […]
Why a Big Utility Is Embracing Wind and Solar
By Justin Gillis and Hal Harvey | NYT Link to article DENVER — Imagine planning your next trip and finding that Delta was selling first-class seats for less than the cramped middle seats in the back of the plane. So you fly first class to New York and walk into the best French restaurant, only […]
24-Hour Solar Energy: Molten Salt Makes It Possible, and Prices Are Falling Fast
By Robert Dieterich | ICN Link to article Molten salt storage in concentrated solar power plants could meet the electricity-on-demand role of coal and gas, allowing more old, fossil fuel plants to retire. The first thing you see of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Facility, and you can be miles away, is a light so […]