Energy

Latino Futurism and Puerto Rico’s Solar Insurrection: Panels, Batteries and going Off-Grid after Hurricane Maria

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis thinks that the future of Puerto Rico is solar panels plus battery storage. It points out, moreover, that $12 billion in federal funding has been set aside for the promotion of renewables in the islands, most of it yet to be used. […]

Climate Crisis

How Recycling could solve the Shortage of Minerals essential to Clean Energy

The Conversation

By Serasu Duran, University of Calgary; Atalay Atasu, INSEAD; and Clara Carrera, INSEAD | – (The Conversation) – What do silver, silicon and gallium have in common? These expensive raw materials are essential components of our various solar energy technologies. What about neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium? These rare earth metals are used to build the […]

Climate Crisis

New Mexico Wind Farms: Largest Renewable Energy Infrastructure Project in US History, as High Density Line is Approved

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – About a year and a half ago, I wrote a piece on how New Mexico is set to become the Saudi Arabia of wind, which went viral. It described how four wind farms will have a capacity to generate 3.5 gigawatts of power, as much as four nuclear power plants. […]

Climate Crisis

Labor Day: Is Biden’s Green Energy IRA the most Pro-Worker Legislation in Decades?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature piece of legislation that was passed with no Republican support, contains $369 billion for the green energy transition. Since much of this funding leverages corporate and individual investments, its impact will be in the trillions of dollars. Given the dire climate crisis we […]

Climate Crisis

Evidence that Gas and Oil are Bad for Our and the Planet’s Health is Piling Up, but Governments turn a Blind Eye

The Conversation

By Melissa Haswell, University of Sydney; David Shearman, University of Adelaide; Jacob Hegedus, University of Sydney; and Lisa Jackson Pulver, University of Sydney | – (The Conversation) – We are seeing deadly heat and fires circle the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns we are fast running out of time to secure a […]

Climate Crisis

Rising Temperatures mean more Air Conditioning and Electricity Use: Rooftop Solar is the perfect Solution

The Conversation

By Tom Rogers, Nottingham Trent University; Amin Al-Habaibeh, Nottingham Trent University; Angelines Donastorg Sosa, Coventry University; and Vahid Vahidinasab, Nottingham Trent University | – On June 12 this year, the UK’s last remaining coal-fired power station was awoken from a 46-day slumber to meet demand for electricity to run air-conditioning units. These were rare circumstances […]

Climate Crisis

Solar soars by 13%, Fossil Fuel use Plummets 17% in Europe in first 1/2 of 2023

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – At the energy think tank Ember, Matt Ewen and Sarah Brown have issued a new report showing that the use of fossil fuels in the European Union fell a remarkable 17% in the first two quarters of 2023, year over year. Indeed, hydrocarbons accounted for only a third of energy […]

Climate Crisis

Global Subsidies for Fossil Fuels Skyrocket to $7 trillion per Year, as 2023 Promises to be Hottest on Record

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Imagine a bunch of people who are kidnapped and tortured by being put in a hot room, and their tormentors keep turning up the thermostat. So the prisoners stage a revolt and grab control of the thermostat. But they turn it up on themselves, making the room even hotter, and […]

Climate Crisis

As America faces Greatest Threat in Climate Crisis, Yellow-Bellied Republican Candidates Cower in Denial

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Neil Vigdor at the NYT focuses on the short moment in the Republican Debate last night when reality intervened in the proceedings and even the Fox News moderators, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, asked about the issue of the climate crisis. They wanted a show of hands by the candidates […]