Ah, March. A time of change, of budding flowers and longer days — and of inescapable amounts of college basketball. Now, here at Canary Media, we don’t cover basketball. We cover the energy transition. But, you know, in a culturally relevant way. Add those facts together, and wha … | Continue reading
Arizona just added its biggest grid battery so far, part of a nationwide trend toward unprecedented energy storage installations this year. Grid batteries have soared from obscurity to become the second-most popular type of power plant expected to be built in the U.S. this year — … | 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. If you've read this column even once — or ever tried to decarbonize your own home — then you're aware tha … | Continue reading
The United States is facing a new energy crisis — one that could make the climate crisis even worse. After more than 30 years of falling or flat demand for electricity, electric utilities are forecasting the nation will need the equivalent of about 34 new nuclear plants, or 38 gi … | Continue reading
When U.S. aluminum maker Alcoa signed a $2.2 billion deal to gain more control of its global supply chain last week, analysts described the move as a “ bet ” and a “ gamble ” that demand for the commodity will soar in coming years — driven largely by the clean energy transition. … | Continue reading
Here’s one way to accelerate the clean energy transition: quadruple the energy storage projects you’re already building. Salt Lake City–based rPlus Energies made this move with its Green River Energy Center in eastern Utah. Utility Rocky Mountain Power had awarded a contract from … | Continue reading
A carbon-free grid needs batteries that can store solar and wind power for use when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. But batteries don’t necessarily make power grids cleaner — not unless the power they charge up with is much lower-carbon than the power they displ … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Myths run rampant about whether electric vehicles are actually better for the climate than fossil-fueled cars. Electric vehicles run on batteries, which are made from … | Continue reading
This story was first published by Sierra , the Sierra Club magazine . Last July, a small group of rabble-rousers boarded a trio of powerboats, banners and bullhorns in hand. They were headed for the massive floating construction site of an offshore wind farm 35 miles from the eas … | Continue reading
America’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm is finally finished , marking an important milestone in what’s shaping up to be a busy year for the emerging U.S. industry. On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) announced the completion of South Fork Wind , a 132-megawat … | Continue reading
When CarbonCapture emerged from stealth mode in 2021, the Los Angeles–based startup had a unique vision for carbon removal: small-scale, modular devices that would be hauled around the country on the back of flatbed trucks. Customers could order a few or many modules, adding more … | Continue reading
This is the final installment of a three-part series examining the controversies and conflicts surrounding the future of the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Read Part 1 and Part 2 . For years, environmental groups, community activists and climate scient … | Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas — America’s demand for electricity is growing for the first time in decades. Sprawling data centers are cropping up across the country to enable our hyperconnected digital lives and support emerging AI systems. The rise of electric vehicles and the switch to electri … | Continue reading
This is Part 2 of a three-part series examining the controversies and conflicts surrounding the future of the California Air Resources Board's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Read Part 1 . Michael Wara is worried that a key California climate regulator is about to lock the state … | Continue reading
This story was first published by Energy News Network. Climate and clean-energy advocates weighing in on CenterPoint Energy’s ideas to decarbonize its natural-gas business in Minnesota applaud the effort but say it falls short of what’s needed to meet the moment. The state’s lar … | Continue reading
One of California’s marquee programs for cleaning up transportation emissions is at a crossroads. Decisions made in the next few months could set the decade-and-a-half-old Low Carbon Fuel Standard on one of two very different paths. One path, favored by fossil fuel and renewable … | Continue reading
A surge in funding for early-stage climate startups has produced a bounty of new technologies. Now founders must confront a new challenge: getting past the first installation of novel climate solutions so they can move on to large-scale deployment. Doing anything that’s never bee … | 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. You might consider heat pumps to be a tantalizing climate solution ( they are ) and one you could adopt … | Continue reading
A surge in funding for early-stage climate startups has produced a bounty of new technologies. Now founders must confront a new challenge: getting past the first installation of novel climate solutions so they can move on to large-scale deployment. Doing anything that’s never bee … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s Charging Up column chronicles gender diversity and notable career moves in the climatetech sector. Got a person or event you’d like to see us cover or a hot job tip? Let us know ! Sandra Peterson: A drive to innovate Sandra Peterson is vice president of sales and … | 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 transition has more money behind it than ever. Last year, climatetech investment reached a total of $239 billion, a record-breaking figure that’s 38 pe … | Continue reading
The United States is producing and exporting more liquefied natural gas, or LNG, than ever before. Last year, the country became the world’s largest exporter of the superchilled fossil fuel — a development that is raising urgent questions in Washington, D.C. and nationwide about … | Continue reading
During a summer’s afternoon in 2022, a 450-foot fireball exploded at a liquefied natural gas terminal south of Houston, rocking sunbathers on Quintana Beach, adjacent to the Freeport LNG terminal, and rattling homes for miles around. Twenty-one months later, residents around the … | Continue reading
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Electrical panels — the gray boxes of circuit breakers that sit in basements or on the exterior of a house — can be a major barrier to electrifying homes and apartments. Millions of homes have undersized electrical panels that may be unable to handle the extra power demand that c … | Continue reading
A three-year effort to revamp California’s moribund community-solar market , spurred by state law and backed by solar industry groups, consumer advocates, environmental-justice organizations, labor unions and the state’s homebuilding industry, may now be in jeopardy. On Monday, t … | Continue reading
Electricity bills in Louisiana didn’t use to fluctuate based on geopolitical turmoil on the other side of the world. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 and kicked off a fossil gas shortage in Europe, the reverberations hit home in the Gulf Coast parishes that depend on … | Continue reading
This story was first published by Grist . Every year, hundreds to thousands of megawatts’ worth of wind turbines across the United States get a facelift. These aging turbines have their rotors swapped out, their blades replaced and key components like the generator upgraded in or … | Continue reading
Truly “smart” EV charging means a whole lot more than just giving EV drivers a schedule of times to avoid plugging into the grid. For example, with the right technologies and incentives in place, EVs can not only avoid charging when grid demand is at its peak — they can also abso … | 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. Cutting fossil fuels out of our homes and commutes can be a formidable challenge. But the climate divide … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. It’s been a messy few months for the U.S. electric vehicle market, but take a step back and the trend is crystal clear: Conventional gas-burning vehicles are on their … | Continue reading
Two major offshore wind farms slated for New York’s waters are back on track after a brutal 2023 threatened to derail the projects — and the emerging industry’s prospects in the U.S. On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the state had selected the 924-megawatt Sunrise … | Continue reading
The Biden administration’s proposed rules for clean hydrogen tax credits are taking heat from the seven regional hubs the administration hand-picked to jump-start the clean hydrogen industry . The Internal Revenue Service is finalizing the potentially transformational 45V tax cre … | Continue reading
One of the Inflation Reduction Act's most potentially transformative programs is close to being finalized — and now we have a window into how it could take shape. States are vying for a share of a historic $7 billion in federal funding to help low-income families access clea … | Continue reading
Rocks and hotness have existed for billions of years, but it’s only now that the two can be used to help the world decarbonize — and it’s all because the insanely low cost of solar and wind power has made thermal storage economically possible. In essential industries such as stee … | Continue reading
This week, Canary Media reported from the frontlines of America’s ongoing battle over exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. In South Texas, developers are seeking to build two hulking LNG export terminals and two accompanying gas pipelines near the Gulf of Mexico — along one … | Continue reading
See more scenes from South Texas in this companion photo essay . CAMERON COUNTY, Texas — Juan Mancias and I are sitting in his Dodge Ram pickup truck when a sharp jolt shakes him in his seat. The truck is stuck in deep muck on an unpaved road in southeastern Texas, and a rugged … | Continue reading
In late January, the Biden administration announced that it was pausing new approvals for liquefied natural gas export terminals until it can reassess its review process. That decision hinges on a key question: Is continuing to expand the country’s already massive fossil-gas expo … | Continue reading
Alex Honnold is no stranger to challenges. Most famously, in 2017, he became the only person to have climbed Yosemite National Park’s 3,000-foot vertical rock formation, El Capitan, without ropes or harnesses, a feat chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo . Last su … | Continue reading
California and Texas have a new clean-energy superlative to compete over: who’s got the most grid batteries. Last year, Texas overtook California in large-scale solar power capacity . When huge amounts of solar power rush onto the grid, batteries tend to follow. Now, Texas is bui … | 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. ARVADA, Colorado — On a gray Saturday, I pull up to the curb of the Geos neighborhood during a snowstorm … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s chart of the week translates crucial data about the clean energy transition into a visual format. Not long ago, people called wind, solar and batteries “alternative energy.” That old moniker has now lost its meaning: In 2024, the U.S. power industry is choosing cle … | Continue reading
Canary Media’s Charging Up column chronicles gender diversity and notable career moves in the climatetech sector. Got a person or event you’d like to see us cover or a hot job tip? Let us know ! Victoria Beasley: A nature-loving venture capitalist Victoria Beasley is a partner a … | Continue reading
Over the past decade or so, study after study has shown the potential for “ grid-enhancing technologies ” to improve the capacity and reliability of existing transmission grids without needing to deal with the difficult task of building new power lines. Now, a new report shows ho … | Continue reading
New rooftop solar systems are worth a lot less than they used to be in California , following the state’s dramatic changes in net-metering policy . Even batteries added to those solar systems to store power when the sun is shining and feed energy back after the sun goes down — a … | Continue reading
Based on headlines alone, you might expect that the U.S. is cruising toward its clean electricity goals while sputtering toward its EV goals. But in a counterintuitive turn, a new report finds the opposite to be true. Electric vehicles are on track to meet the country’s goals of … | Continue reading
This article by Yale Climate Connections is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now . I grew up knowing that when you had extra money, you put it under a bed, stashed it in a book or a clock, or, if there was enough of it, it went into a … | Continue reading
American liquefied natural gas exports surged from basically nothing just eight years ago to a formidable force reshaping domestic and global politics. Now, thanks to the Biden administration’s recent pause on approvals of new LNG projects , it’s become the hottest topic in U.S. … | Continue reading