Skip to content Skip to navigation

Energy News

Maryland Public Service Commission authorizes utilities to install 5,000 electric vehicle charging stations statewide

The Baltimore Sun | Posted on January 17, 2019

Maryland’s utility companies on Monday won state approval to install a network of more than 5,000 electric vehicle charging stations — fewer than they had hoped for, but a step toward the state’s ambitious goal of 300,000 electric vehicles on the streets by 2025. The Maryland Public Service Commission authorized BGE, Potomac Electric Power Co., Delmarva Power and Potomac Edison Co. to move forward with a modified, five-year pilot program of residential, workplace and public charging stations, paid for mostly by ratepayers.


Iowa ethanol plants continue record production

The Daily Reporter | Posted on January 17, 2019

Iowa’s ethanol industry continues it’s streak of breaking annual production records as ethanol plants in the state produced 4.35 billion gallons of ethanol in 2018. Up from 4.2 billion in 2017, the production is just shy of the 4.5 billion gallon capacity of Iowa’s ethanol producers, which is expected to make up approximately 27 percent of all production nationally. Officials with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association said the achievement came during a difficult year and is a sign of strength.


2019 US renewable generation additions expected to far outpace gas: EIA

Utility Dive | Posted on January 17, 2019

23.7 GW of new U.S. electric generating capacity, mostly from wind, natural gas and solar, are expected in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory of electric generators. In addition, EIA data shows 8 GW of primarily coal, nuclear and natural gas generation are expected to retire this year, though that number could increase as utilities continue to evaluate their generating portfolios. The expected retirements include Arizona's 2.3 GW Navajo coal-burning power plant, Exelon's 819 MW Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania and Entergy's 677 MW Pilgrim nuclear power station in Massachusetts.


Oceans are warming even faster than previously thought

Science Daily | Posted on January 17, 2019

Heat trapped by greenhouse gases is raising ocean temperatures faster than previously thought, concludes an analysis of four recent ocean heating observations. The results provide further evidence that earlier claims of a slowdown or 'hiatus' in global warming over the past 15 years were unfounded.


Colorado could save $2.5B through 2040 by replacing coal with clean energy: report

Utility Dive | Posted on January 14, 2019

A new model of Colorado's energy mix shows consumers could save $250 million annually over a 10-year span if the state were to replace its coal plants with a mix of wind and solar, backed up by energy storage and natural gas.The report, commissioned by clean energy developer Community Energy and completed by Vibrant Clean Energy, also estimates the new resources would cut Colorado's state-wide annual carbon emissions from power generation by almost two-thirds.The analysis adds to a growing body of data showing Colorado consumers would save money by making a rapid shift away from coal, and echoes recent findings in other states.


Oil and ethanol industries renew hostilities over mandate

Washington Examiner | Posted on January 14, 2019

The oil and ethanol industries are eager to renew hostilities with each other over the Environmental Protection Agency’s renewable fuel program and ethanol mandate, no matter that the government is closed. American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers kicked things off while presenting the first State of American Energy report he's published as head of the oil and natural gas industry's lead trade group. In the recommendations for the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard, the report called for sunsetting the ethanol mandate.For the oil industry, it is simple: The program, which mandates that they blend billions of gallons of corn ethanol in gasoline and costs them billions of dollars, is “outdated and broken,” while placing consumers at risk. Therefore, the program should be either killed off or "significantly overhauled,” the report said.


State lawmakers join forces against offshore drilling

AP News | Posted on January 9, 2019

A group of nine Democratic state lawmakers from different coastal states announced that they are going to use their coming legislative sessions to try to block attempts at offshore drilling. The lawmakers’ announcement came as new and re-elected legislators were entering office around the country after an election that saw high turnover in some states, and the group said it wants to take advantage of new political dynamics that could favor environmental bills. The announcement also came about a year after Trump’s administration announced plans to expand drilling.“We need to pass permanent legislation in our states so that this ban would be in place for the future,” New Hampshire Sen. Martha Fuller Clark said. “We can’t afford to rely on Washington to protect us.”Others lawmakers involved in the effort represent Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island. Some of the lawmakers said they would seek outright bans on drilling, while others said they would look to pass bills that restrict it or do more to hold companies liable for spills.


Michigan Attorney General to review pipeline deal at governor's request

My Northwest | Posted on January 9, 2019

Michigan’s new governor and attorney general moved to review the legality of a contentious state deal to run an oil pipeline beneath a crucial section of the Great Lakes. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced her request for a legal opinion from Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat who welcomed the opportunity and expressed concern with a law that facilitated the agreement between the state and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge. Such opinions, while not the same as legal rulings, are considered to bind state agencies unless reversed by a court. Both Whitmer and Nessel had questioned the deal before taking office.The Republican-led Legislature and GOP former Gov. Rick Snyder rushed to enact the law after Whitmer was elected in November. The new Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority then swiftly approved the proposal to drill a tunnel through bedrock up to 100 feet (30.4 meters) below the more than 4-mile-wide (6.4 kilometer) channel that links Lakes Huron and Michigan. A new segment of pipeline will extend through the tunnel, replacing twin pipes that have lain along the lake bed since 1953. They are part of Enbridge’s Line 5, which carries crude oil and natural gas liquids used in propane from Superior, Wisconsin, through northern Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario.


Staring down tariffs and rollbacks, US renewables rang in a record year

Utility Dive | Posted on January 9, 2019

2018 was a difficult year to find good news when it comes to climate change. The dire predictions announced by climate scientists in report after report played out in real time as we witnessed unprecedented wildfires and storms devastating communities. As scientists issued a clarion warning that avoiding catastrophic climate impacts requires slashing carbon pollution within the next decade, President Trump remained determined to move in the opposite direction. His ongoing efforts include rolling back policies that would reduce carbon emissions, imposing tariffs on solar panels, and threatening to cut subsidies for clean energy. Globally, in a reversal of recent slowing trends, carbon emissions hit an all-time high. Yet behind the scenes, a seismic shift is quietly taking place, a shift that might hold the key to our future. Clean energy is not only weathering these storms, it is thriving. The "We Are Still In" coalition — more than 3,600 cities, states, companies, colleges and universities, faith communities and other institutions across the U.S., collectively representing 154 million people and $9.46 trillion in GDP — have publicly committed to the Paris Agreement, and they’re backing up that commitment with action.U.S. companies signed contracts for more than 6,400 megawatts of renewable energy, an all-time record and more than double the amount companies purchased the year before. Once dominated by silicon valley tech companies, last year's list of corporate renewable energy buyers represented a growing diversity of industries and geographies. 


Termite-gut microbes extract clean energy from coal

Tech Xplore | Posted on January 9, 2019

Termites generally don't elicit a whole lot of love. But surprisingly, this wood-eating insect may hold the key to transforming coal—a big polluting chunk of the global energy supply—into cleaner energy for the world, according to University of Delaware researchers. A community of termite-gut  converts  into methane, the chief ingredient in natural gas. The study, which produced computer models of the step-by-step , was a collaboration with ARCTECH, a company based in Centerville, Virginia, that has been working with these microbes for the past 30 years. ARCTECH provided the UD team with the experimental data that was used to validate the models.


Pages