Climate change
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Nuclear
Bill Gates’ Energy Group, Former Google CEO Investing in Pacific Fusion Startup
A fusion energy company that counts executives such as Eric Schmidt and Bill Gates among its backers has emerged from stealth, announcing $900 million in pledged funding. Pacific Fusion, whose technology builds on recent fusion advances at two U.S. national labs, is the latest U.S.-based group to join a growing list of companies working on […]
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Commentary
Advancing Carbon Capture: Supreme Court Ruling and Innovative Solutions for Reducing Emissions
As global efforts intensify to mitigate climate change, carbon capture has emerged as a vital technology to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Power generation, a major source of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, is under increasing pressure to adopt technologies that reduce its carbon footprint. As highlighted by recent rulings and federal initiatives, the focus on […]
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Hydrogen
Concerns About Appalachian Hydrogen Hub as Companies Drop Out; New Participants Sought
A report from a group that looks at economic conditions in the Appalachia region of the U.S. says a hydrogen hub proposed for the area already faces significant challenges. The Ohio River Valley Institute in a research brief published this month said five of the 15 originally proposed projects in the hub have been canceled, […]
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Commentary
How the Presidential Election Could Impact Renewable Energy Tax Credits
President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law in 2022. The IRA is the largest public investments in renewable energy in American history and created more than 20 different tax incentives for renewable energy and related manufacturing. Certain Republic politicians have directed vitriol at the IRA. However, even if Republicans win the White […]
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Trends
Severe Solar Storm Threatens Power Grid Amid Hurricane Helene, Milton Recovery
UPDATED (Oct. 11): The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has upgraded its G4-level “severe” geomagnetic storm watch to a G3-level “strong” geomagnetic storm warning after an anticipated coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived at Earth at 11:15 a.m. EST on Thursday, traveling at nearly 1.5 million miles per hour. The G3-level warning is now in […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Supreme Court Clears Way for Limits on Power Plant Mercury, Methane Emissions
The U.S. Supreme Court has said that rules requiring power plants burning fossil fuels to reduce emissions of toxic substances can stand, dealing a blow to several Republican-led states and some power generators that had challenged the regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May of this year finalized rules on emissions of mercury, after […]
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Business
Offshore Wind Growth and HVDC Developments in the North Sea: Key Trends and Future Outlook
Europe is pursuing an ambitious energy transition to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. To reach this goal, the region has set stringent targets to decrease reliance on Russian fossil fuels and increase the adoption of renewable energy across the power and transportation sectors. Significant strides are being made in developing solar and […]
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Hydro
Demonstration to Convert Kentucky Coal Mine to Pumped Hydro Secures Federal Funding
A project that will demonstrate the conversion of a former coal mine in Bell County, Kentucky, into a utility-scale 287-MW pumped storage hydroelectric facility has garnered federal backing from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). Rye Development, a pumped storage hydropower developer, on Sept. 25 secured $12.1 million—the first tranche […]
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Electrification
Greenlane Receives $15 Million Grant for Western U.S. EV Charging Corridor
An electric vehicle charging infrastructure group has received a $15 million grant from a Southern California air quality agency to support development of a commercial charging corridor along Interstate 15. Greenlane Infrastructure, a joint venture among Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources, and BlackRock (through a fund managed by its Climate Infrastructure business), was […]
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Hydro
DOE Injects $430M to Revitalize, Modernize U.S. Hydropower Fleet
The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 293 hydroelectric projects across 33 states that will receive up to $430 million in incentive payments for capital improvements directly related to grid resiliency, dam safety, and environmental improvements. The funding, unveiled on Sept. 5, stems from the DOE Grid Deployment Office’s (GDO’s) Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives […]