Category: ENERGY2021_MN

Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. Human activities are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years.1 The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation.

The Biden administration faces an oil crisis the likes of which haven’t been seen since the price shocks of the 1970s.
That troubled decade is burned on the American imagination with its Nixonian price controls to slash petroleum costs, gasoline shortages, trucker strikes and Middle Eastern conflicts.
But could it also serve as a guidebook, or cautionary tale, for today’s energy challenges? Some experts think so.

Lawmakers in Florida are clamping down on solar incentives for homeowners, escalating a years-long fight between clean energy advocates and politically powerful utility companies.

In an abrupt about-face after weeks of blowback, FERC voted unanimously on Thursday to solicit input and consider changes to its revamped policy statements that brought additional climate and environmental justice scrutiny to new fossil fuel projects.

Heat pumps are the cleaner choice. Even under conservative DOE minimum efficiency standards and 100-year global warming potentials, 98% of U.S. households would cut their carbon emissions by installing a heat pump. If all single family homes in the U.S. adopted heat pumps, the total annual emissions reduction would be at least 160 million metric tonnes by 2032.

The past several weeks have shaken the world order and given us a lot to process all at once. The IPCC released its latest report the same day the U.S. Supreme Court heard the most environmentally significant case in a decade, all while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is dominating headlines and policy agendas.

The Big Yellow School Bus first entered the U.S. transportation scene in 1939 and has since become an iconic symbol of American life. We sing about them in nursery rhymes and wait for them with anticipation during the school year. Up until now, these boxy yellow buses had a sole purpose—to safely transport children. What if these buses could serve a dual purpose?

Currently, fewer than 1% of the nation’s school buses are powered by electricity, but with advances in electric bus technology, growing understanding of the benefits of electrification, and now a fresh influx of federal money through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, electric school buses are becoming an increasingly viable option for school districts. Electric school bus models are now available to meet every use case, and the number of districts that have committed to electric school bus adoption, or have drawn up plans to do so, is growing.

U.S. electric utilities are poised to be a key part of the momentum to shift American school buses from diesel fuel to electricity. Federal and state-level investments, along with other funding and financing opportunities, promise to accelerate the transition, bringing health, climate and economic benefits to more communities across the country.

Today, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Ford Motor Company announced a collaboration exploring how Ford’s new F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV)—the first commercially available light-duty truck with bidirectional charging technology—can interact with the electric grid and provide electric reliability benefits to PG&E customers.