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Energy Department issues emergency orders for mid-Atlantic power grid amid heat wave
s an electric grid operator warns of potential power shortages amid this week’s heat wave, the Trump administration is issuing emergency orders aiming to maximize output. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued orders directing grid operator PJM to dispatch more power generation from various fossil fuel plants, as needed, despite environmental restrictions that are typically in place. Read more...
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Can Brazil become a key rare earth supplier for the West?
As Western governments seek to reduce dependence on Chinese rare earth supply chains, Brazil is emerging as one of the world’s most promising new sources of critical minerals. The country holds the world’s second-largest rare earth resource base and is home to a growing number of advanced ionic clay projects. At the same time, the...
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Against the Wind: Inside the Completion of America’s Largest Offshore Wind Plant
When Dominion Energy first announced the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project in September 2019, the proposal was striking. At the time, the U.S. offshore wind market was still fairly nascent, though federal and state permitting activity, lease auctions, and offtake agreements were beginning to advance projects in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York....
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Trump Energy Department hits its target on small nuclear reactors. Now comes the hard part.
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that three advanced nuclear reactors built by U.S. companies had reached key operational milestones, meeting its July 4 goal to advance the nascent technology it hopes will revolutionize the power sector. A reactor from Houston-based Deployable Energy became the third during Trump’s term to reach criticality, in which it produces...
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Blame Environmental Regulations for U.S. Solar’s Troubles
Drew Bond wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal on the red tape and poor tax credits hindering the solar industry. Rahm Emanuel rightly identifies America’s dependence on Chinese solar as a policy failure in his op-ed “On Energy, Democrats Can Learn From Texas” (June 16), but he misattributes the cause. The U.S. didn’t lose...
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Duke to reinvest $129M after canceling NC offshore wind lease
Two months after the Trump administration canceled two large offshore wind energy leases, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) announced a settlement with Duke Energy. The agreement, announced Monday by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, allows Duke Energy, the state’s largest electrical producer and provider, to voluntarily terminate its federal offshore wind lease for its Carolina Long Bay project. The Carolina Long Bay project was planned around 22 miles...
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How Europe’s growing need for cooling is reshaping electricity demand
Extreme heat is putting increasing pressure on Europe’s electricity grids as rising temperatures increase the need for air conditioning in homes, offices and businesses, driving up electricity demand, tightening power markets and, in some cases, reducing electricity supply. Although air-conditioning remains far less common in Europe than in many other parts of the world, ownership...
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Smart farming is not the future; it is already here
Farmers today are producing food under pressures that would have been unimaginable to previous generations. Input costs are rising and supply chains are unreliable. Water is scarcer. Weather is less predictable. And for a growing number of farmers — in Sudan, in Ukraine, in Myanmar, in Gaza — the challenge is producing food at all,...
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Department of Energy Announces American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) issued a conditional loan commitment to finance the purchase of long-lead time items needed to rebuild America’s commercial nuclear supply chain. The $17.5 billion American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans will help finance five eligible projects sponsored by utilities and energy companies nationwide to...