Courtesy of RMI. By Ryan Shea & Russell Mendell Through the Justice40 Initiative, President Biden has made clear that bringing clean energy benefits to marginalized and low-income communities is a priority. Right now, low-income households experience up to three times higher energy burden (the percent of household income spent on energy costs) than high-income … [continued]
Solar power keeps getting cheaper and keeps growing year after year, now accounting for nearly half of new power capacity in the United States. But coal and fossil methane (also deceivingly called “natural gas”) power plants need to be retired more quickly than they have been. We need to cut … [continued]
One decade ago, I was writing about the rapid growth of solar power in the United States and the exciting forecast for much more solar growth in the country. The past couple of years have again brought record solar installations in the United States, and record solar activity more broadly. … [continued]
Originally published on RMI.org By Heather Clark, Mark Kresowik & Darien Crimmin There is much talk about the urgency of climate change and how federal policy is currently being crafted to address it. However, there remains a critical need for targeted tax credits for zero-carbon buildings and retrofits. Buildings are the largest single contributor of global greenhouse gas (GHG) … [continued]
Originally published on RMI.org. By Uday Varadarajan, David Posner, Sam Mardell, & Russell Mendell According to the latest US government inventory, solar will account for 39 percent of the electric generation capacity added in 2021, and wind will constitute a further 31 percent. With current technology costs and policy incentives, renewables are now unquestionably … [continued]
Episode 38 of Cleantech Talk kicks off with a discussion of how, while China may be overperforming with its solar panel buildout, those panels are underperforming due to the low air quality there. Which is a polite way of saying that coal-combustion aerosols are reducing solar panels’ electricity harvest — by up to a third! (Dark aerosols, like soot, tend to absorb light; other aerosols such as sulfates and nitrates, reflect light. In both cases, the aerosols prevent light from reaching solar panels below.)
Originally published on Solar Love. Almost across the board, it is expected that the phasing out of the federal investment tax credit (ITC) for solar will result in a big drop in US solar power installations… unless it is renewed, of course. However, one segment of the market that may be … [continued]
A coalition of clean energy economy leaders and stakeholders has sent Congress a letter urging them to extend the Treasury Section 1603 grant program through 2012. Enacted to sustain investment flows in the wake of the 2008 financial systems collapse and due to expire at year-end, the 1603 grant program has been central to the continued growth and development of clean energy across the US in all its forms in ensuing years.
Through its Texas subsidiary Horizon Wind Energy, the giant Portuguese company EDP Renewables; the second largest wind company in the world, intends to almost triple its US projects to $4 billion worth of new wind energy projects in the United States through 2012. This year alone Horizon Wind Energy installed … [continued]
