Chart: Green industrial projects are stuck in limbo

Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Canary thanks Clean Energy Counsel for its support of the column. Over 700 facilities for making low-carbon materials and fuels are in development or are operating glo … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 1 day ago

Lasers could help cut CO2 emissions from Maine’s paper and pulp mills

This story was first published by Energy News Network . A Massachusetts university is developing technology that aims to use lasers to drastically cut emissions and energy use from Maine’s paper and pulp industry. Worcester Polytechnic Institute recently received a $2.75 million … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 1 day ago

Sustainable aviation fuel is taking off. What is it, exactly?

Late last year, Virgin Atlantic ran a radio spot in the United Kingdom touting a noteworthy environmental achievement: The British airline was about to fly a plane on “100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.” The ad referred to a unique demonstration flight that took place days la … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 2 days ago

The biggest grid storage project using old batteries is online in Texas

Cleaning up the grid will require installing a lot of batteries to store renewable energy. Startup Element Energy has delivered a powerful proofpoint for a new way to do that more cheaply without sacrificing safety. Element has been operating what appears to be the largest grid s … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 2 days ago

‘Business as usual:’ Why the $27B ‘green bank’ could survive Trump

One of the Inflation Reduction Act’s most celebrated programs — a nationwide “green bank” to help fund climate projects that struggle to secure private-sector loans — has also been one of the most reviled by Republican lawmakers. Last October, House Republicans dogged the U.S. En … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 3 days ago

Voters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, create a local clean energy utility

Election Day yielded few bright spots for the transition to clean energy, but there was one in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The city of nearly 120,000 voted 79 percent in favor of a measure to create a “sustainable energy utility” (SEU) that will supplement the existing grid and help res … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 3 days ago

Google Nest spinout picks Texas for 1GW virtual power plant

Texas may be the country’s oil and gas heartland, but it’s also the nation’s most dynamic market for clean energy. That’s made the state an epicenter for utility-scale wind, solar, and battery development — and, potentially, for “virtual power plants” that can turn homes and busi … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 4 days ago

The economic case for green steel production at a Michigan steel mill

Dearborn, Michigan, was at the heart of auto industry innovation during the days of the Model T Ford. Now clean energy and environmental justice advocates are proposing that the city play a lead role in greening the auto industry, through a transformation of the Dearborn Works st … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 4 days ago

In North Carolina, conservative clean energy supporters aren’t worried

Mark Fleming has a prediction for those terrified about the impact of a second Trump administration on the clean energy transition: “It’s going to work out better than folks think.” Fleming is head of Conservatives for Clean Energy, a Raleigh-based nonprofit that brings together … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 5 days ago

Move over, data centers. US steel mills need lots of clean power too.

The United States is the world’s fourth-largest steel producer, and today, most of the country’s primary steel is made using coal in scorching-hot furnaces. For steelmakers to shift away from these polluting facilities , they’ll need to use huge amounts of clean energy and adopt … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 5 days ago

Massachusetts passes bill to speed clean energy and slow gas expansion

Yesterday, Massachusetts lawmakers made major moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition the state to clean energy. Legislators approved a long-awaited climate bill that will limit gas pipeline expansion, make it easier to site and build renewables, and allow utiliti … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 7 days ago

Chart: Most Americans support expanding solar and wind power

Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Canary thanks Clean Energy Counsel for its support of the column. Solar and wind power are more popular among Americans than nuclear power or fossil fuels, according t … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 8 days ago

California’s rooftop solar is a benefit, not a cost, to the state

For years, California utilities, regulators, and consumer advocates have argued that residents with solar panels on their rooftops are making electricity more expensive for everyone else in the state. In August, a state agency released the latest report detailing this so-called c … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 8 days ago

How New York can get on track to meet its big clean energy goals

After the reelection of former President Donald Trump, clean energy advocates across the country are preparing for a White House that will no doubt pursue aggressive rollbacks of climate policies and further expand fossil-fuel production. Now more than ever, states will need to s … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 9 days ago

Can clean energy manufacturing survive under Trump?

Northwest Georgia is churning out solar panels like never before. Detroit automakers are constructing billion-dollar battery factories to supply electric vehicle production. Pittsburgh steelworkers are forging torque tubes for massive solar plants. The U.S. has succeeded in kicki … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 9 days ago

California’s new clean-fuel plan makes old problems worse

For years, environmental groups and climate and energy experts have complained that California’s landmark clean-fuels program, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard , misdirects billions of dollars per year to subsidize unsustainable crop-based and cow-manure-derived biofuels . Instead of … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 10 days ago

How will offshore wind fare under a second Trump term?

Few clean energy sectors have been threatened as directly by Donald Trump as offshore wind. The president-elect vowed on the campaign trail to end offshore wind development via executive order “on day one” of his second term. Trump has nurtured a hatred for the industry since at … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 10 days ago

A new generation of cheaper batteries is sweeping the EV industry

A significant shift is underway in the electric-car segment. No, I’m not talking about the shift to EVs. That’s still progressing despite a few manufacturers getting cold feet . What I’m referring to here is a subtle change in the makeup of EV batteries that carries some signific … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 11 days ago

This DOE-backed software is helping to unclog the grid

Brian Fitzsimons, CEO of GridUnity , doesn’t think his company alone can solve the grid interconnection backlog that’s holding back the U.S. energy transition . But he’s sure that its software is a lot better than the combination of paper, spreadsheets, and email that most grid o … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 11 days ago

Biden’s $6B bid to clean up heavy industry at risk under Trump

A $6 billion federal initiative to cut carbon emissions from steel mills and cement plants — and even whiskey distilleries and ice cream factories — is at risk of being gutted under the second Trump administration, experts say. The Biden administration announced the Industrial De … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 12 days ago

How to keep the climate fight alive through a second Trump term

Leah Stokes and Adrian Deveny helped craft the Inflation Reduction Act, the most consequential climate law in U.S. history. Now they’re planning how to keep it alive through the next four years of a Donald Trump administration. That plan starts with pushing through as much climat … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 12 days ago

Chart: Trump’s win could lead to far more planet-warming emissions

Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Canary thanks Clean Energy Counsel for its support of the column. The U.S. energy transition will suffer a major setback thanks to the election of former President Don … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 15 days ago

After Trump win, it's up to states to lead on climate action

States took on the mantle of combating climate change during the first Trump administration. Now they need to redouble the work during the second. That’s the message that Caroline Spears, executive director of Climate Cabinet , has for state lawmakers following Trump’s victory on … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 15 days ago

Republicans sweep key utility regulator races in Arizona and Louisiana

The nation veered in a more conservative direction on Election Day, and the few contested races for state-level utility regulators were no exception. Public utility commissioners vote on crucial decisions for each state’s energy system, like what power plants and gas infrastructu … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 15 days ago

California voters pass $10B bond to help protect people from climate change

California voters appear set to approve a $10 billion bond package to fund key state climate and environmental priorities — a bright spot in what has been a dark election for U.S. climate efforts. Proposition 4 was passing with nearly 58 percent voter approval on Wednesday mornin … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 16 days ago

Washington voters uphold the state’s pioneering climate law

On Tuesday, voters in Washington state decisively upheld a landmark climate law that created a cap-and-invest program that has raised billions of dollars for clean energy and electrification projects across the state. The 2021 Climate Commitment Act, which launched a carbon marke … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 16 days ago

How Trump’s second term could derail the clean energy transition

The Biden administration has enacted the most consequential federal clean energy and climate policy in U.S. history, giving the nation a fighting chance at reducing greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to deal with the climate crisis. Former President Donald Trump, who has won th … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 17 days ago

Feds deal blow to dream of data centers connected to nuclear plants

As tech giants search for clean electricity to power their massive data-center expansions, one energy source has garnered strong interest: existing nuclear power plants. But on Friday, federal regulators unexpectedly rejected a proposal from Amazon and power-plant owner Talen Ene … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 17 days ago

Regulators OK Duke Energy's gas-plant buildout despite N.C. climate law

This story was first published by Energy News Network . North Carolina regulators on Friday accepted Duke Energy’s controversial plan for curbing carbon pollution, a blueprint that ramps up renewable energy and ratchets down coal power but also includes 9 gigawatts of new plants … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 17 days ago

Electric aircraft startups are having a topsy-turvy week

The emerging world of electrified air travel has experienced big highs and lows in the past few days. Late last week, the Vermont-based startup Beta Technologies announced that it landed $318 million in Series C equity capital to produce and commercialize its all-electric aircraf … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 18 days ago

Moment Energy plans to mass-produce grid storage from used EV batteries

Plenty of visionaries have extolled the benefits of putting old electric-car batteries to work instead of throwing them away. Moment Energy is bringing something new to this concept: large-scale manufacturing. In late October, the startup won a $20 million grant from the U.S. Dep … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 18 days ago

New York City tests a solar-powered electric-school-bus microgrid

New York City utility Con Edison will need to be able to charge about 10,000 electric school buses on its constrained power grid within the next 10 years or so. A $9 million pilot project in Brooklyn could help it figure out how to do that. The project is starting small. Four bat … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 19 days ago

How is clean energy manufacturing playing out in swing states?

When I was growing up, during the Clinton and Bush presidencies, American manufacturing was on the wane. The bipartisan Washington consensus accepted the steady outflow of American jobs to other countries in the name of abstract economic theories. If your town lost its anchor fac … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 19 days ago

Chart: Which states rank highest for utility-scale solar?

Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Canary thanks Clean Energy Counsel for its support of the column. Texas installed more solar capacity than any other state in 2023. But more solar panels do not necess … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 22 days ago

Five smart policies can turbocharge clean US manufacturing

After decades of stagnation, the U.S. is beginning to see new growth in domestic manufacturing, driven by investments in breakthrough industrial technologies in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These two ambitious pieces of legislation — aiming t … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 22 days ago

Solar is helping schools save big. Your district could be next.

Canary Media’s Electrified Life column shares real-world tales, tips, and insights to demystify what individuals can do to shift their homes and lives to clean electric power. More than a decade ago, Denver Public Schools decided that it was time to go solar. There was just one p … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 23 days ago

Indiana residents push for a cleaner steel industry in their community

This story was first published by Energy News Network . A prospective buyer’s recent commitment to reinvest in a Gary, Indiana, steel plant sought to address union and government leaders’ worries about the sale’s potential impact on jobs and U.S. steelmaking capacity. The plan to … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 23 days ago

Redoxblox raises $31M to commercialize its energy storage ‘booster’

Many of the world’s hardest-to-decarbonize industries face a similar challenge: how to obtain the white-hot heat their operations need — without using fossil fuels. Redoxblox , a San Diego-based startup that landed $31 million in venture investment on Wednesday, says it has found … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 24 days ago

Hundreds of New Yorkers got free batteries to help clean up the grid

A network of more than 300 solar-powered homes started supplementing the New York grid this summer — the result of an unusual partnership that could unlock more localized clean energy for the state. Sunrun , the nation’s largest rooftop solar installer, teamed up with utility Ora … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 24 days ago

‘Green bank’ launches $250M effort to electrify California’s port trucks

Electric trucks, which are cleaner and cheaper to operate than diesel options, could be a win for both the planet and trucking companies. The only problem? Smaller trucking companies still face steep upfront barriers to going electric, including high price tags, uncertain chargin … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 25 days ago

Huge offshore wind lease sale comes to the Gulf of Maine’s deep waters

On October 29, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold the largest offshore wind lease sale the country has ever seen, offering up eight swaths of ocean in the Gulf of Maine. Depending on how the sale goes, up to 13 gigawatts of wind power could be developed there in the … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 25 days ago

Gulf of Maine offshore wind lease sale brings in $21.9 million in bids

Avangrid Renewables and Invenergy won the leases, which could enable the development of up to 6.8 gigawatts of floating offshore wind in Maine’s deep… | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 25 days ago

The tax code change unleashing $25B in clean energy investment

Tax credits are the driving force behind the Inflation Reduction Act’s unprecedented investment in clean energy. But there’s a catch to relying on tax credits: The amount of money a company can receive from them is limited to what it pays in taxes each year. In recent decades, a … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 26 days ago

How solar microgrids are bringing power (and quiet) to North Carolina

This story was first published by Energy News Network . Seventeen days after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, tearing down power lines, destroying water mains, and disabling cell phone towers, the signs of relief efforts were hard to miss. Trucks formed a carav … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 26 days ago

Chart: Heavy industry is the world's biggest decarbonization challenge

Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Canary thanks Clean Energy Counsel for its support of the column. The world’s biggest decarbonization challenge comes not from cars, planes, or power plants, but from … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 29 days ago

Clean energy is on the ballot in these utility regulator races

The presidential election may well decide the future of the United States' ambitious new clean energy agenda, but a handful of smaller, less-discussed races will have a more immediate and direct impact on the energy transition in several different states. Public utility commissio … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 29 days ago

This automated tool helps tackle methane emissions from landfills

When Melinda Sims first started LoCI Controls , a company that provides landfills with real-time data on methane collection, she wasn’t trying to address climate change. It was 2012, and methane — a super-pollutant that traps 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide over a 20-year … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 1 month ago

We need distributed solar and energy storage, not utility monopolies

This August, Xcel Energy submitted a proposal to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission asking permission to build nearly 800 megawatts of distributed solar and energy storage. That a large, investor-owned utility wants to “leverage fast-to-deploy, modular distributed energy r … | Continue reading


@canarymedia.com | 1 month ago