Energy 5g news

Hundreds more people died in Texas during the February deep freeze and blackouts than the state’s official count shows, according to an investigation by BuzzFeed News. The outages left millions of people without power as indoor temperatures dropped to deadly lows. The way authorities typically count death tolls from disasters tends to drastically low-ball the …

Go read this investigation into the real death toll from the Texas freeze Read More »

A Tesla Megapack caught fire today during initial testing of a highly anticipated new utility-scale battery in Victoria, Australia. Luckily, there were no injuries or disruptions to the local electricity supply, CNBC reports. The blaze posed no risk of spreading to the nearby community, according to Bloomberg, but it did trigger a toxic smoke warning …

A Tesla Megapack burst into flames at \”Victorian Big Battery\” Read More »

Fossil fuel companies are having a big reckoning with climate change this week. Shareholders for Exxon and Chevron voted for measures that could force them to take more responsibility for their emissions, while a Dutch court is forcing Shell to slash its pollution. Taken altogether, the actions reflect a growing push for the energy sector …

Big Oil and Gas had a no good, very bad day Read More »

With a new strategy for how it purchases renewable energy, Microsoft hopes to push electricity grids to get clean. The tech giant is now focused on making a local impact in the places where it operates. Since 2012, the company has purchased enough renewable energy to match how much juice it uses to power its …

Microsoft is changing the way it buys renewable energy Read More »

GE shared some new details today of a concept that might advance the development of futuristic floating wind farms. Floating turbines are engineering marvels — or nightmares, depending on how you see it — that could make massive swathes of deep ocean available to offshore wind development. Make massive swathes of deep ocean available to …

How futuristic floating wind turbines might ride the waves Read More »

Americans gobbled up fewer fossil fuels in 2020 than they have in three decades, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consumption of petroleum, natural gas, and coal dropped by 9 percent last year compared to 2019, the biggest annual decrease since the EIA started keeping track in 1949. The COVID-19 pandemic was responsible …

America used fewer fossil fuels in 2020 than it has in three decades Read More »

If Democrats and progressives have their way, tens of thousands — or even millions — of Americans could soon find work planting urban trees, managing forests, and making homes more energy efficient and resilient to the ravages of climate change. They’d form a new “Civilian Climate Corps” that lawmakers and activists are hoping to fund …

Reconciliation could create a new kind of climate job Read More »

Shortly before Darren Springer interviewed for a job at the Burlington Electric Department (BED) in 2016, the city proudly proclaimed that it would become a “net zero energy city” by 2030. That meant no more gas or oil to heat residents’ homes and swapping out gas-powered cars for electric vehicles and more public transportation. “That’s …

The places paving the way to 100 percent renewable energy Read More »

The US announced plans to build out a domestic supply chain for lithium batteries, which are critical for electric vehicles and renewable energy. Its new goal is to be able to do nearly everything — from mining to manufacturing and recycling batteries — within its borders by the end of the decade. If it fails, …

The US wants to fix its broken lithium battery supply chain Read More »

The Biden administration moved forward today with its plans to pause — and potentially halt — oil and gas drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced today that it suspended leases that the previous administration auctioned off to oil and gas developers just weeks before Donald Trump left …

Oil and gas leases suspended in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Read More »