Environment
fromwww.amny.com
14 hours agoThe fossil fuel illusion, and New York's chance to move beyond it
Dependence on fossil fuels makes nations vulnerable; transitioning to renewable energy is essential for economic and political stability.
The headline catalyst is a Front-End Engineering Design contract awarded to Plug Power to supply a 275 MW GenEco PEM electrolyzer system for Hy2gen Canada's 'Courant' project in Baie-Comeau, Quebec. This project will utilize low-carbon electricity from Hydro-Quebec to produce green hydrogen, which will then be converted into low-carbon ammonia and decarbonized ammonium nitrate for use in the mining and agriculture industries.
Octopus Energy reported that its heat pump orders more than doubled in March compared to February, while sales of solar power systems increased by almost 80%. This trend reflects a growing consumer shift towards renewable energy solutions.
EDF chairman Bernard Fontana stated that financial aid will be targeted at low income households, providing up to €1,000 towards the cost of installing a heat pump. This can be combined with existing government aid schemes for heat pumps, resulting in a total out-of-pocket cost of €3,000 for installation, which is less than the cost of a replacement gas heating system.
The group points out, correctly, that the grid is designed for brief bursts of high demand; most of the time there's lots of capacity that goes unused. Utilize thinks that should change. The group argues that smarter ways to use that capacity already exist. Utilize name checks a number of those solutions, including battery storage, demand response, and virtual power plants, all of which have emerged en masse over the last decade, but remain under utilized.
The overarching message of The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review was that failing to invest in mitigating climate change would exact an alarmingly high price, estimated between 5% and 20% of global GDP per year.
The pioneering technology means one of the oldest forms of energy storage, hydropower, can be used to store and release renewable energy using even gentle slopes rather than the steep dam walls and mountains that are usually required. The design means the principles of hydropower could be used as a form of long duration energy storage in many more locations across the UK, and the world, than traditional hydropower dams. The projects could be quicker and cheaper to build too.
When Specian dug into the data, he discovered that implementing energy-efficiency measures and shifting electricity usage to lower-demand times are two of the fastest and cheapest ways of meeting growing thirst for electricity. These moves could help meet much, if not all, of the nation's projected load growth. Moreover, they would cost only half-or less-what building out new infrastructure would, while avoiding the emissions those operations would bring.
Solar and wind power provided more electricity than coal and gas last year, leading a global trend, said think tank Ember. Solar and wind power outperformed fossil fuels in the European Union for the first time last year, a new high watermark on Europe's transition to green and autonomous energy. The two sources of energy generated 30 percent of EU electricity, compared with 29 percent for coal and gas, Ember, a global energy think tank, said on Thursday in its European Electricity Review.
The US is leading a huge global surge in new gas-fired power generation that will cause a major leap in planet-heating emissions, with this record boom driven by the expansion of energy-hungry datacenters to service artificial intelligence, according to a new forecast. This year is set to shatter the annual record for new gas power additions around the world, with planned and under-construction projects earmarked for 2026 set to nearly triple the amount of existing gas capacity, a report by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found.