Good News Notes: “Let’s play Spot The Difference, urban edition. You’re on West 47th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, a Manhattan neighborhood known for its industrial vibe. Like much of the area, the street is lined with brick buildings; despite some color variations, the facades mostly look the same. There is, however, one striking difference. A…
Tag: natural gas
Clean Energy Will Lower Household Energy Costs – Center for American Progress
Good News Notes: “Fossil fuels are driving up consumer energy costs, in part as a result of the industry’s exposure to the very climate disruptions it is continuing to worsen. These rising costs are yet another great reason to invest in clean energy now. Yet in a darkly ironic twist, fuel prices have been used…
Illinois becomes 1st Midwestern state to pass a law to phase out fossil fuels
Good News Notes: “At a time when the Midwest is being battered by more severe storms due to climate change, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a landmark law this month that will transition the state to 100 percent clean energy by 2045, with benchmarks along the way. While the effort has largely escaped national media attention, it…
Boston University to Divest from Fossil Fuel Industry
Good News Notes: “Boston University will divest from fossil fuels, starting immediately, President Robert A. Brown announced on Thursday, a decision reached amid increasing proof that burning fossil fuels is accelerating the harmful effects of climate change—and after nearly a decade of campus activism and protests. “This has been a long journey within the BU…
Opec member urges oil producers to focus more on renewable energy
Good News Notes: “The finance minister of Iraq, one of the founding members of the global oil cartel Opec, has made an unprecedented call to fellow oil producers to move away from fossil fuel dependency and into renewable energy, ahead of a key Opec meeting. Ali Allawi, who is also the deputy prime minister of Iraq,…
Diesel Killing Locomotive of the Future Runs on Solar Power
Good News Notes: “The creators of the solar-powered locomotive of the future were aiming to set a Guinness record for speed last weekend, and that is more than just your ordinary attention-getting stunt. Demonstrating the functionality of PV panels on rail cars could help set the stage for solar power to knock diesel fuel out…
New catalyst converts methane into methanol at room temperature
Good News Notes: “Methanol has wide-ranging potential as a cleaner fuel for powering advanced automobiles or producing plastic materials or other chemicals, and recently we’re seeing how the production side of things could prove a boon for the environment, too. Scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) have now found a catalyst that allows the methane in natural…
After Scrapping Gas Pipeline, Duke Looks to Plug Hole With Renewables, Grid Investments
Good News Notes: “Duke Energy on Monday reported a $1.6 billion charge related to abandoning the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The utility also laid out how its renewable energy and grid modernization plans will fill in the capital-investments hole left by the canceled multibillion-dollar natural-gas project. Duke reported a second-quarter 2020 loss of $817 million, or…
An energy revolution for Israel: Solar power to be cheaper than fossil fuel
Good News Notes: “Gilad Yavetz, CEO of Enlight Energy, called it “an energy revolution” for Israel. On Tuesday, his company and two others were awarded the country’s first-ever contract to build photovoltaic power stations backed up by battery storage that will generate electricity at a lower cost than fossil fuels.” View the whole story here:…
In a potential big win for renewable energy, Form Energy gets its first grid-scale battery installation – TechCrunch
Good News Notes: “Form Energy, which is developing what it calls ultra-low-cost, long-duration energy storage for the grid, has signed a contract with the Minnesota-based Great River Energy to develop a 1 megawatt, 150-megawatt hour pilot project. The second-largest electric utility in Minnesota, Great River Energy’s installation in Cambridge, Minn. will be the first commercial…