This article by Yale Climate Connections is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. The tall grass prairie of the Flint Hills provides food for cattle, and on the Ferrell Ranch, wind to power 50 turbines. The 7,000-acre ranch in Beaumon … | Continue reading
A clean grid will need a lot of batteries to balance out the ups and downs of solar and wind power. Today, those batteries tend to come in two forms. The first is utility-scale battery farms that take up acres of land and cost up to hundreds of millions of dollars. The second is … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Renewable energy didn’t just grow last year — it expanded at a pace not seen in years. An estimated 507 gigawatts of renewable electricity were added to grids around t … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s Charging Up column chronicles gender diversity in the climatetech sector. Part 1 is a short Q&A with an industry role model about their career path. Part 2 features updates on career transitions. Please send feedback and tips to wesoff@canarymedia.com. Kim Ann Mi … | Continue reading
Conditions are perfect for the American nuclear renaissance. The U.S. government and the Department of Energy stand squarely behind commercial nuclear power, providing meaningful incentives to construct new advanced reactors, enrich fuel and keep existing plants open. Citizen sen … | Continue reading
For a moment there, it looked like Hawaii had found the ideal resolution to the rooftop solar wars raging around the country. Ever since rooftop solar took off, utilities, installers and regulators have fought over how much to compensate this consumer-led form of energy productio … | Continue reading
This article by Yale Climate Connections is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. It was easy to make the case for the low cost of electric vehicle charging way back in 2022 when gasoline prices were high and charging an EV was about … | Continue reading
Cement and concrete are essential building blocks of modern society — and they’re both extremely carbon-intensive to produce. In recent years, startups across the country have begun devising novel ways of making low-carbon construction materials, including by using methods that m … | Continue reading
This story was first published by The Kentucky Lantern . Kentucky’s largest utility has built what it says is the state’s first utility-scale wind turbine in an effort to test the potential of wind energy. The wind turbine, which Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilitie … | Continue reading
Last month, utilities in New York state submitted plans for 13 pilot projects meant to transform fossil-gas pipelines into infrastructure that can power clean, carbon-free heat pumps. These underground thermal networks range from dense midtown Manhattan commercial centers to low- … | Continue reading
This article by Knowable Magazine is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. For the better part of a century now, astronomers and physicists have known that a process called thermonuclear fusion has kept the Sun and the stars shining f … | Continue reading
The Biden administration’s newly proposed hydrogen tax-credit rules aim to enforce strict carbon emissions limits on companies making hydrogen from carbon-free electricity — so-called “green hydrogen.” But its plans for policing the emissions from hydrogen made from fossil gas — … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. The U.S. energy storage industry has its New Year’s resolution ready to go: double the capacity of batteries connected to the American grid. And it looks achievable fo … | Continue reading
Auxin , a small California-based builder of solar panels, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Customs and Border Protection in late December, claiming that President Biden’s 2022 order to pause import tariffs on a range of solar products has harmed do … | Continue reading
America’s electrical grid is increasingly powered by renewable energy, and this helped slash the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions last year — even as the wider economy grew, according to new estimates by Rhodium Group. A record-shattering number of solar power projects and utili … | Continue reading
Hawaii shut down its last coal plant on September 1, 2022, eliminating 180 megawatts of fossil-fueled baseload power from the grid on Oahu — a crucial step in the state’s first-in-the-nation commitment to cease burning fossil fuels for electricity by 2045. But the move posed a qu … | Continue reading
It’s hard to get EV chargers to bloom in “charging deserts.” More than seven in 10 EV chargers in the U.S. are in the country’s wealthiest counties, according to recent research , while many rural, low-income and disadvantaged communities have few if any places for EV drivers to … | Continue reading
This story was first published by The Texas Tribune . Keith Kimbrough is the first to admit that electric school buses were not an easy sell in the tiny unincorporated town of Martinsville. In Martinsville, which sits just outside of Nacogdoches in the Piney Woods region of East … | Continue reading
The tax-credit rules for clean hydrogen proposed by the Biden administration last month have a specific purpose: to drive the development of a brand-new source of carbon-free fuel for long-term decarbonization needs, ultimately decreasing carbon emissions. But it turns out that … | Continue reading
To cool the planet, homes will need clean energy makeovers . That entails households making the switch from fossil-fueled cars and appliances to electric vehicles, heat-pump AC/heaters , heat-pump water heaters and electric stoves , with some even opting for their own clean ener … | Continue reading
This story was first published by Grist . Last week, a federal appeals court decided not to revisit its earlier decision to strike down Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation gas ban in new buildings. The ruling dealt a blow to the city of Berkeley, which requested a reheari … | Continue reading
Canary Media chronicles many of the bold venture-capital investments made in cleantech, but the flip side of that coin is that most VC-funded startups fail. While billions are being invested in shiny technologies such as nuclear fusion, carbon dioxide removal and sustainable airc … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. The dirtiest source of electricity — coal — may have reached its peak in 2023. Coal-fired power generation is set to plateau in the coming years as more and more so … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s Charging Up column chronicles gender diversity in the climatetech sector. Part 1 is a short Q&A with an industry role model about their career path. Part 2 features updates on career transitions. Please send feedback and tips to wesoff@canarymedia.com. Malini Bal … | Continue reading
The U.S. clean hydrogen industry may be vanishingly small, but thanks to new proposed rules from the Biden administration, the geography of the emerging sector is coming into focus — and not everyone is pleased with it. Late last month, the Biden administration laid out its rules … | Continue reading
A wonky new process that’s meant to help clean energy firms maximize Inflation Reduction Act subsidies is starting to gain traction. First Solar , the biggest U.S.-based manufacturer of solar panels, has entered into two deals to sell up to $700 million worth of tax credits, jus … | Continue reading
This story was first published by Grist . "BlueOval City” sounds like some kind of fantastic utopian megalopolis of the future. In reality, it’s a massive automotive-manufacturing complex that will provide several links in the electric-vehicle supply chain. The joint venture betw … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s Down to the Wire column tackles the more complicated challenges of decarbonizing our energy systems. It’s hard to solve a challenge as sprawling and complex as doubling or tripling the scale of the transmission grids across the U.S. in a little over a decade. But … | Continue reading
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. Just a few major decisions about your home and commute can massively cut your carbon pollution — and hav … | Continue reading
This article by Knowable Magazine is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. About twice a month, many of Australia’s wind farms receive an important visit from dogs and their handlers. The dogs are professionals and know exactly what t … | Continue reading
The energy transition is unfolding so rapidly that it can be hard to keep up. Fortunately — both for you and for us — you are a reader of Canary Media. That means you’re perfectly attuned to the goings-on of the U.S. energy transition over the past year. In fact, you’re so knowl … | Continue reading
The transition away from fossil fuels is a messy, frustrating and frequently uncertain story. Sometimes it seems like major change is just around the corner; other days it feels like we’re moving in the wrong direction. But despite the ups and downs, one thing is clear: The energ … | Continue reading
Dear readers, Over the last year, I took it upon myself to become Canary Media’s roving correspondent. My cherished colleagues have other duties — to packs of felines, an adorable corgi, children, significant others. Blissfully unencumbered, I gave up my rental house in L.A. and … | Continue reading
As a team of writers and editors, we at Canary Media certainly believe in the power of the written word. But when you're reporting on a story as big as the energy transition, sometimes text alone doesn’t cut it. That's why we spend so much time digging through spreadshe … | Continue reading
Canary readers stampeded to these clean energy stories, from close looks at fatty fuels and electric lawn tools to California’s controversial solar policy moves and an inspiring account of one country’s recent renewable-power streak. Did your favorites make the list? Check out 10 … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. COP28 concluded last week with what many called a " historic ” achievement: The final agreement signed by all countries included language explicitly calling for “trans … | Continue reading
It’s been a topsy-turvy year for cleantech venture investing, complete with unexpected corporate implosions. 2023 began on a somber note, with foreboding signs from the broader economy. Demoralizing interest rates, inflation and lingering supply-chain weirdness had investors and … | Continue reading
ATLANTIC OCEAN — Three huge blades spin hypnotically overhead, illuminated by the morning sun shining through cotton-ball clouds. Our vessel cruises over gentle waves past the yellow foundation of a 600-foot-tall wind turbine, one of five rising from the waters off the coast of R … | Continue reading
This story was first published by Grist . A new law in Seattle marks the latest in a wave of local efforts to electrify homes and other buildings. Under the city’s Building Emissions Performance Standard , signed into law last week, all existing commercial and multifamily residen … | Continue reading
For the past two decades, demand for electricity across the United States has hardly increased. But those dynamics appear to have dramatically reversed — and U.S. electric utilities, regulators and power grid planners aren’t prepared to deal with this new paradigm of surging elec … | Continue reading
Years of renewables development set Portugal up for stunning success this fall when the country met all of its electricity needs with renewable sources for six days straight . For five of those days, no fossil fuels had to be burned at conventional power plants to keep the grid h … | Continue reading
Octopus Energy, the many-tentacled British clean energy juggernaut, just raised an additional $800 million to fund its next phase of expansion. Octopus started as a retailer in the U.K.’s competitive power markets, but it promised to source clean energy for its customers. It also … | Continue reading
Dear Canary Media readers, I love making the clean energy transition something everyone can embrace in their own homes and lives. And I couldn’t ask for a better time to be doing this work. The Inflation Reduction Act unleashed a bonanza of incentives to help us get off fossil f … | Continue reading
This story was first published by ENN . A 128-year-old Cleveland-area industrial equipment manufacturer is among the newest makers of fast chargers for the growing electric vehicle market. Lincoln Electric’s new Velion DC fast charger adapts and adds to technology the company ha … | Continue reading
Back in October 2022, the Biden administration announced the first investment from its historic program aimed at addressing the climate and health impacts of the nation’s nearly 500,000 diesel-burning school buses. The initial award of nearly $1 billion in rebates was enough to o … | Continue reading
As a child, Tonya Hicks was fascinated by car engines. She spent her summers in her grandparents’ garage with her uncle, an industrial mechanic, who taught her how to build a motor from scrap by the time she was 8. She constantly got in trouble with her mother and grandmother for … | Continue reading
When it comes to the existentially important process of connecting new clean energy to the grid, 2023 is ending much as it began: in a literal gridlock. Despite getting a ton of attention from policymakers — and a major push from federal regulators demanding interconnection refor … | Continue reading
The U.S. clean energy manufacturing sector got a major boost Thursday when the Internal Revenue Service released long-awaited tax credit rules . The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act created unprecedented manufacturing incentives for wind, solar, batteries and critical materials produ … | Continue reading