Global spending on renewable energy is outpacing investment in electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants, driven by falling costs of producing wind and solar power. More than half of the power-generating capacity added around the world in recent years has been in renewable sources such as wind and solar, according to the […]
After the well at Aliso Canyon was sealed, the state of California prohibited Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) from filling the storage facility, a series of underground caverns made of depleted former oil wells, to capacity. SoCalGas also may not draw gas from Aliso Canyon unless other options have been exhausted. The result is that California […]
Power companies are shutting so many generating plants in Texas and California that the two most populous U.S. states may struggle to keep the lights on this summer. Texas is facing a generation shortfall in part because there are 5,000 megawatts of power plants that have been retired in the past year, according to a […]
California’s strict environmental rules mandate gasoline sold within the state be produced according to strict formulas designed to reduce pollution. Unfortunately for citizens, the exotic formula makes a gallon of gas more expensive and difficult to produce. Few refineries outside the state are equipped to produce it. Worse yet, the gasoline formula changes multiple times […]
In 2009 the U.S. government attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and pledged to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020. To make it happen, the Obama administration directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lead the way starting with carbon dioxide (CO2) and that resulted in the Clean Power […]
Do we currently have the technology to create an energy infrastructure that is based 100% on renewable energy? That is a legitimate and very useful debate to have, and one that is playing out in the published literature. Two recent systematic reviews in particular take opposite sides of this question. In one Heard et al […]
In 2009, the United States pledged at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 83% by 2050 and by 17% as early as 2020. This pledge was made in the context of a line of legislative and regulatory attempts at CO2 regulation in the […]
This pro-solar decision will cause California to suffer the same fate as Germany and Denmark. Since California’s solar-energy build-out began in 2011, energy prices have risen 24 percent. Abigail Ross Hopper, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s CEO believes this a positive, momentous decision by California when he stated: “California has long been our nation’s biggest […]
A subsequent article will then make the case that the current norm of promoting a chosen technology class as the dominant solution actually extends the reign of fossil fuels. If we want to move past the current wasteful and unhealthy fossil fueled consumerist mindset, technology neutrality is the best way to get there, while technology-forcing […]
Gasoline prices in Fresno already increased beyond $4 per gallon this week at some places in town. And gas prices are projected to rise even more going into the summer in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. A year ago, the national average for was $2.34 for […]
California’s chief utility regulator is warning that the state could find itself in the throes of another energy crisis if it doesn’t address the droves of customers defecting from utilities. The state is going to find it increasingly difficult to ensure it has enough electricity to keep the lights on as more Californians leave utilities […]
The managers of California’s electrical grid warned Wednesday that the state is facing tight power supplies this summer, due in part to a drier winter that is reducing available hydro power. Some Californians could be forced to turn down their air conditioners, hold off on doing their laundry or make other sacrifices in the name […]
The specific reactor approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is built by NuScale, an Oregon-based energy company that has been working on its design for over a decade. The reactor design is only about 65 feet long and generates 50 megawatts of power, and comes with enough fuel to last an entire year. The reactor […]
The analysis, conducted by Navigant Consulting found that in homes with natural gas appliances, swapping those appliances for all electric alternatives would cost the average household in Southern California more than $7,200 to upgrade wiring and electrical panels and purchase new appliances. This, along with higher electricity bills, could increase energy costs up to $877 […]
A separate, recent poll conducted by the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) found that when purchasing a home, only one-in-ten would choose solely electrical appliances and fully two-thirds of voters oppose eliminating the use of natural gas in California. Moreover, recent and proposed updates to residential energy efficiency standards, mandated by the California Energy Commission […]