Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

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Thermal power cell harvests electricity from heat at record efficiency
By Michael Irving
May 27, 2024
https://newatlas.com/energy/heat-batter ... y-storage/

A new heat-to-energy converter has reached a record efficiency of 44% – the average steam turbine manages about 35%, for comparison. This thermophotovoltaic cell is a major step on the way to sustainable, grid-scale renewable energy storage.

With renewable energy prices dropping fast, the barrier now is their intermittency – the first point any renewable energy skeptic will throw at you is “but what happens at night or when the wind isn’t blowing?” A little thing called “batteries” can help there, and there’s no shortage of grid-scale storage systems that can save energy for (literally) rainy days. That includes scaling up classics like lithium-ion batteries, or more experimental designs like iron-air, water-in-salt, flow batteries, or a variety of gravity-based systems.

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Michigan Looks to Join Pennsylvania, Montana and New York in Passing Green Amendments that Have Been Used to fight Environmental Threats
by Brian Allnutt
May 23, 2024

Introduction:

(Ensia) A proposed state constitutional amendment introduced in the Michigan House in April would put the right to clean air, water, soil and a stable climate on par with other fundamental liberties like the freedoms of speech and religion.

The Michigan Green Amendment, introduced by Rep. Rachel Hood (D-Grand Rapids), follows the passage of amendments in Pennsylvania, Montana and New York that have been used to fight environmental threats like PFAS contamination and hydraulic fracking in residential neighborhoods. More than a dozen other states are also considering such amendments.

“The goal is to make sure that our government is making better decisions so that our fundamental rights are protected,” says Maya K. van Rossum, founder of the nonprofit Green Amendments For the Generations. The amendment could offer legal recourse for residents whose right to a healthy environment is infringed upon and protect state laws from federal environmental rollbacks.

Pennsylvania’s green amendment has helped environmental advocates secure important victories in recent years. Although the state’s Environmental Rights Amendment was enacted in 1971, it didn’t have much impact until 2013, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court cited the amendment in its decision to overturn a requirement that municipalities allow oil and gas developments in all zoning areas.

In 2018, former Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf referred to the amendment in an executive order creating the state’s PFAS action team, which was followed by the state setting limits on two common types of PFAS in drinking water.

Read more here: https://ensia.com/articles/michigan-gr ... climate/

Here is a link to the Green Amendments For the Generations website: https://forthegenerations.org/

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Biden administration expands tax credits beyond wind, solar

Source: Reuters

May 29, 2024 6:12 PM EDT Updated 12 hours ago

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed expanding tax credits that have for years boosted U.S. solar and wind energy projects to cover a wider range of clean energy technologies including nuclear fission and fusion.

The Treasury Department announced its guidance for Clean Electricity Production Credits and Clean Electricity Investment Credits, created under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, that will be available in 2025 as the previously available wind and solar production and investment tax credits sunset.

"The Inflation Reduction Act’s new technology-neutral Clean Electricity credits, which will come into effect in 2025, are one of the law’s most significant contributions to tackling the climate crisis,” John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, said in a statement.

He said they will help the U.S. meet its goal to achieve a net-zero emission power sector by 2035.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 024-05-29/

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No need for countries to issue new oil, gas or coal licences, study finds

Thu 30 May 2024 19.00 BST

The world has enough fossil fuel projects planned to meet global energy demand forecasts to 2050 and governments should stop issuing new oil, gas and coal licences, according to a large study aimed at political leaders.

If governments deliver the changes promised in order to keep the world from breaching its climate targets no new fossil fuel projects will be needed, researchers at University College London and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) said on Thursday.

The data offered what they said was “a rigorous scientific basis” for global governments to ban new fossil fuel projects and begin a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry, while encouraging investment in clean energy alternatives.

By establishing a “clear and immediate demand” political leaders would be able to set a new norm around the future of fossil fuels, against which the industry could be held “immediately accountable”, the researchers said.

Published in the journal Science, the paper analysed global energy demand forecasts for oil and gas, as well as coal- and gas-fired electricity, using a broad range of scenarios compiled for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that limited global heating to within 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... tudy-finds

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