Climate 411

Success of Hydrogen Hubs requires a step increase in transparency

By Natasha Vidangos / Published: October 20, 2023

This blog was co-authored with Erik Kamrath, Hydrogen Advocate, Climate and Clean Energy at NRDC and Pete Budden, Advocate, Climate and Clean Energy at NRDC.

After much anticipation, President Biden and the Department of Energy (DOE) announced on October 13th the winners of the DOE hydrogen hub (H2Hub) program — a program intended to leverage networks of “hydrogen producers, consumers and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier.” The program will provide a $7 billion funding stream created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to be split between seven H2Hubs spanning 16 states. The projects will include a mixture of hydrogen produced with renewable energy, hydrogen derived from natural gas with carbon capture, and other fuel sources including nuclear power and biomass. H2Hubs will also house a diversity of hydrogen end-uses, including in heavy industrial processes and long-haul transportation.

Also posted in News / Comments are closed

Duke aims to miss state carbon reduction requirements in proposed Carbon Plan

By Will Scott, Southeast Climate and Clean Energy Director / Published: October 17, 2023

Photo credit: Duke Energy via Creative Commons

To comply with its carbon-reduction laws on the books and support healthier communities, North Carolina should be shifting its electricity sources from coal to lower-cost clean energy. But in its latest plan presented to the NC Utilities Commission in August, Duke Energy proposed a coal-to-gas transition – a shift that offers North Carolina households and families higher levels of harmful air pollution and exposure to electricity price spikes via volatile natural gas costs, when compared to the clean energy alternative.

According to a law approved by overwhelming bi-partisan legislative majorities in 2021, North Carolina must reduce its carbon pollution from the power sector 70% below 2005 levels by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050, supporting a necessary, statewide shift to a clean energy economy. Much of the specifics around getting to those goals, however, are left to the NC Utilities Commission to determine with input from stakeholders and utilities. Duke Energy, the largest utility in North Carolina, plays a major role in achieving those goals, and it must regularly submit updated plans to the Commission outlining how it intends to meet them.

In its first Carbon Plan submitted last year, which detailed different approaches for meeting those goals, Duke also proposed a major build-out of new gas power plants. And again, in its latest Carbon Plan/Integrated Resource Plan (CPIRP), Duke doubled-down on a concerning portfolio that proposes to:

Miss the critical 2030 70% carbon reduction goal.
Almost triple the amount of new gas build out.
Delay offshore wind construction until the 2040s.

Here’s why the NC Utilities Commission should push Duke to submit a stronger plan that prioritizes renewables, not gas, and actually gets the state on track to meet its goals.

Also posted in Cities and states / Comments are closed

New analysis shows that, in a decisive decade for climate action, Oregon must aim higher

By Kjellen Belcher / Published: September 15, 2023

Last legislative session, Oregon’s lawmakers had the opportunity to update Oregon’s statutory climate targets. This would have been the first time that Oregon updated its outdated climate targets in 15 years and would have brought Oregon’s climate goals in line with the level of ambition of President Biden’s national climate targets and from other climate leadership states.

But then, Oregon’s legislative session was stalled by a small group of state Senators who fled the Capitol instead of fulfilling their core responsibility as elected officials: to represent their constituents by casting votes in the legislative process. This walkout tactic has been used time and time again and has prevented climate action supported by a majority of Oregonians. This year’s walkouts — the longest in Oregon’s history — prevented Oregon from updating its climate goals.

Without updated climate goals in place, Oregon risks falling short of securing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions that are needed to avoid the most dangerous, irreversible impacts of climate change. Oregon has made important progress in regulating emissions, as one of the states leading the way on cutting pollution from the power sector, the transportation sector, and natural gas fuels — but new analysis by EDF has found that without additional action, Oregon is projected to fall short of achieving its climate commitments.

Here’s what to know about the analysis and next steps Oregon can take to raise the bar for climate action.

Also posted in Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Energy, Health, Policy / Read 1 Response

New Mexico is off course for reaching its climate goals, but there’s enormous opportunity for action

By Alex DeGolia / Published: September 11, 2023

New Mexico communities know the stakes for climate change are high — hotter and drier conditions threaten public health, livelihoods, and cultural and recreational resources, as they lead to increased drought, extended and more extreme wildfire seasons, and extreme heat. Those impacts are projected to get much worse in the coming decades, without serious and urgent action to slash climate pollution. It’s why polls underscore that the majority of New Mexico voters support strong action on climate change.

Governor Lujan Grisham has made bold, science-based climate commitments and both the legislature and regulators have adopted a number of important policies, but a new EDF analysis finds that with existing state and federal policies in place, New Mexico is projected to fall well short of achieving its 2025 and 2030 climate goals unless it takes aggressive climate policy action as soon as possible. The analysis also finds that the state’s current course will lead to far more cumulative emissions through the end of the decade — a critical metric that ultimately determines the severity of climate damages that our kids and grandkids may face.

While New Mexico is projected to face a glaring “emissions gap” — the distance between emission reductions the state has committed to and those it is projected to achieve — the opportunity to correct course with bold action has never been greater. With historic federal investments lowering the cost of clean energy, New Mexico can leverage this momentum to put in place strong limits on pollution that secure a safer climate future and grow a prosperous, equitable clean energy economy.

Here’s what you need to know about this analysis:

Also posted in Carbon Markets, Cities and states, News, Policy / Comments are closed

Washington state’s carbon market continues to raise major investments, as state leaders consider linking to California-Quebec market

By Caroline Jones / Published: September 6, 2023

Results were released today for Washington’s third quarterly cap-and-invest auction, which was held on August 30th. The results from this sold-out auction continue to demonstrate strong demand for allowances in this program, which has brought in significant revenue for the state of Washington to reinvest in its communities. These results follow on two previous sold-out quarterly auctions, as well as an auction from the Allowance Price Containment Reserve last month which raised an additional $62,491,660 while functioning as a market stabilizing feature. In total, these auctions have generated $919,564,777 for Washington communities.

Also posted in California, Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Economics, Energy, Health, Policy / Read 1 Response

Washington state’s cap-and-invest program demonstrates cost containment features with special August auction

By Caroline Jones / Published: August 17, 2023

Yesterday, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) released the results from Washington’s first Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) auction, held on August 9th. At this auction, all 1,054,000 of the available APCR allowances were sold at the two APCR tier prices of $51.90 and $66.68, with 527,000 allowances available at each price tier. This auction, along with two previous sold-out cap-and-invest auctions, shows continued strong demand for allowances under Washington’s cap-and-invest program and demonstrates the important role that an APCR can play in building predictability and stability into allowances prices.

Also posted in California, Carbon Markets, Cities and states, Economics, Energy, Health, News, Policy / Comments are closed

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