The Tennessee Valley Authority is the latest to be caught short.The US electricity sector is in a period of unprecedented change and turmoil. Renewable energy prices are . Natural gas production continues its . Coal, the golden child of the current administration, is .In all that bedlam, it’s easy to lose sight of an equally important (if less sexy) trend: .Thanks to a combination of greater energy efficiency, outsourcing of heavy industry, and customers generating their own power on site, demand for utility power has been flat for 10 years, and most forecasts expect it to . The die was...…The Tennessee Valley Authority is the latest to be caught short.The US electricity sector is in a period of unprecedented change and turmoil. Renewable energy prices are . Natural gas production continues its . Coal, the golden child of the current administration, is .In all that bedlam, it’s easy to lose sight of an equally important (if less sexy) trend: .Thanks to a combination of greater energy efficiency, outsourcing of heavy industry, and customers generating their own power on site, demand for utility power has been flat for 10 years, and most forecasts expect it to . The die was...WW…

The world needs clean heat, and geothermal energy has it.The heat stored in the Earth’s crust, known as geothermal energy, is carbon-free and effectively inexhaustible. There’s enough of it to run all of civilization for generations, if it could be cost-effectively tapped.Tapping it turns out to be no small feat, but efforts have ramped up recently due to new urgency by the climate crisis and the search for low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels.The (including, yes, lasers) are devoted to drilling deeper and deeper, into hotter and hotter rock. Heat anywhere from 302°F (150°C) up to 703°F...…The world needs clean heat, and geothermal energy has it.The heat stored in the Earth’s crust, known as geothermal energy, is carbon-free and effectively inexhaustible. There’s enough of it to run all of civilization for generations, if it could be cost-effectively tapped.Tapping it turns out to be no small feat, but efforts have ramped up recently due to new urgency by the climate crisis and the search for low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels.The (including, yes, lasers) are devoted to drilling deeper and deeper, into hotter and hotter rock. Heat anywhere from 302°F (150°C) up to 703°F...WW…

What the 2020 US election means for climate change.All of recorded human history has happened during a period in which the average global temperature . But the burning of fossil fuels has triggered a temperature rise projected to by the end of the century. It will be catastrophic. But it can be avoided if we massively scale back the burning of fossil fuels.The US isn’t the biggest in the world, but it has emitted more carbon dioxide in total than any other country. So the US has an important role to play in global decarbonization — the world basically can’t get there without the US’s full...…What the 2020 US election means for climate change.All of recorded human history has happened during a period in which the average global temperature . But the burning of fossil fuels has triggered a temperature rise projected to by the end of the century. It will be catastrophic. But it can be avoided if we massively scale back the burning of fossil fuels.The US isn’t the biggest in the world, but it has emitted more carbon dioxide in total than any other country. So the US has an important role to play in global decarbonization — the world basically can’t get there without the US’s full...WW…

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our . Please also read our and , which became effective December 20, 2019.By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.I Accept☰דAn engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.”Geothermal power is the perpetual also-ran of renewable energy, chugging along in the background for decades, never quite...…We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our . Please also read our and , which became effective December 20, 2019.By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.I Accept☰דAn engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.”Geothermal power is the perpetual also-ran of renewable energy, chugging along in the background for decades, never quite...WW…

“An engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.”Geothermal power is the perpetual also-ran of renewable energy, chugging along in the background for decades, never quite breaking out of its little niche, forever causing energy experts to say, “Oh, yeah, geothermal ... what’s up with that?”Well, after approximately 15 years of reporting on energy, I finally took the time to do a deep dive into geothermal and I am here to report: This is a great time to start paying attention!After many years of failure to launch, new companies and technologies have brought geothermal out of its...…“An engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.”Geothermal power is the perpetual also-ran of renewable energy, chugging along in the background for decades, never quite breaking out of its little niche, forever causing energy experts to say, “Oh, yeah, geothermal ... what’s up with that?”Well, after approximately 15 years of reporting on energy, I finally took the time to do a deep dive into geothermal and I am here to report: This is a great time to start paying attention!After many years of failure to launch, new companies and technologies have brought geothermal out of its...WW…

A detailed road map for building a US energy innovation ecosystem.“Innovation” is a fraught concept in climate politics. For years, it was used as a kind of fig leaf to cover for delaying tactics, as though climate progress must wait on some kind of technological breakthrough or miracle. That left climate advocates with an enduring suspicion toward the notion, and hostility toward those championing it.Lately, though, that has changed. Arguably, some Republicans in Congress as a way to create the illusion of climate concern (without any conflict with fossil fuel companies). But among people...…A detailed road map for building a US energy innovation ecosystem.“Innovation” is a fraught concept in climate politics. For years, it was used as a kind of fig leaf to cover for delaying tactics, as though climate progress must wait on some kind of technological breakthrough or miracle. That left climate advocates with an enduring suspicion toward the notion, and hostility toward those championing it.Lately, though, that has changed. Arguably, some Republicans in Congress as a way to create the illusion of climate concern (without any conflict with fossil fuel companies). But among people...WW…

Trump wants to make the shift to clean energy sound abrupt and scary.At the on Thursday, when asked by President Donald Trump if he would “close down the oil industry,” former Vice President Joe Biden said that he intends to “transition away from the oil industry, yes.” Republicans are to make this supposed admission into a scandal, hoping it will with oil-state Dems and swing voters and sow division in the party. The right sees energy as a as the election approaches.Trump himself put it in the most dramatic terms:Last week, Joe Biden made perhaps the most shocking admission ever uttered in...…Trump wants to make the shift to clean energy sound abrupt and scary.At the on Thursday, when asked by President Donald Trump if he would “close down the oil industry,” former Vice President Joe Biden said that he intends to “transition away from the oil industry, yes.” Republicans are to make this supposed admission into a scandal, hoping it will with oil-state Dems and swing voters and sow division in the party. The right sees energy as a as the election approaches.Trump himself put it in the most dramatic terms:Last week, Joe Biden made perhaps the most shocking admission ever uttered in...WW…

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our . Please also read our and , which became effective December 20, 2019.By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.I Accept☰×What the 2020 US election means for climate change.All of recorded human history has happened during a period in which the average global temperature . But the burning of fossil fuels...…We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our . Please also read our and , which became effective December 20, 2019.By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.I Accept☰×What the 2020 US election means for climate change.All of recorded human history has happened during a period in which the average global temperature . But the burning of fossil fuels...WW…

The US has everything it needs to decarbonize by 2035.In the runup to World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enlisted the entire US economy in an effort to scale up production of war material. All of the country’s resources were bent to the task. In 1939, the US had 1,700 aircraft; in 1945, it had 300,000 military aircraft and 18,500 B–24 bombers.By the time the war was won, the economy was up and humming with a massively expanded workforce (drawing in women and African Americans) and turbocharged productive capacity. Investments made during the war mobilization yielded a robust...…The US has everything it needs to decarbonize by 2035.In the runup to World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enlisted the entire US economy in an effort to scale up production of war material. All of the country’s resources were bent to the task. In 1939, the US had 1,700 aircraft; in 1945, it had 300,000 military aircraft and 18,500 B–24 bombers.By the time the war was won, the economy was up and humming with a massively expanded workforce (drawing in women and African Americans) and turbocharged productive capacity. Investments made during the war mobilization yielded a robust...WW…

Financing, policy, and private sector tools can fund vehicle costs and new charging infrastructure.There’s a growing consensus in the climate change community that the key to transitioning the US economy from fossil fuels is to — shift the electricity grid over to carbon-free power and shift other big polluting sectors like transportation and heating over to electricity.When it comes to transportation, electrification is going to be tricky. Not long ago, the consensus was that the cost and power limitations of batteries would make it difficult to fully electrify anything larger than...…Financing, policy, and private sector tools can fund vehicle costs and new charging infrastructure.There’s a growing consensus in the climate change community that the key to transitioning the US economy from fossil fuels is to — shift the electricity grid over to carbon-free power and shift other big polluting sectors like transportation and heating over to electricity.When it comes to transportation, electrification is going to be tricky. Not long ago, the consensus was that the cost and power limitations of batteries would make it difficult to fully electrify anything larger than...WW…