RENEWABLES

RENEWABLES

In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Native American author Robin Wall Kimmerer writes of the “Honorable Harvest” as a means of maintaining a habitable Earth for future generations. Discussing energy, she reflects that “[it] does not mean we can’t consume the energy we need, but it does mean that we honorably take only what is given. The wind blows every day, every day the sun shines, every day the waves roll against the shore, and the Earth is warm below us. We can understand these renewable sources of energy as given to us, since they are the sources that have powered life on the planet for as long as there has been a planet. We need not destroy the Earth to make use of them. Solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal energy – the so-called “clean energy” harvests – when they are wisely used, seem to me to be consistent with the ancient rules of the Honorable Harvest.”

CURRENT NEWS

These states punch above their weight in renewable energy generation

By Dan Gearino 03/16/23
It’s not surprising that gigantic states like Texas and California are heavy hitters in generating some of the most electricity from wind and solar. But what if we look at generation per square mile of…
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The state that generates much more renewable energy than any other

By Dan Gearino 03/09/23
Here’s a state-by-state tally of the leaders and laggards for wind, solar and other renewable energy in 2022.
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msn

Engineers invent genius battery solution for storing solar and wind energy without lithium: ‘The first in the world to do something like this’

By Kecia Bal 03/04/23
Providing energy year-round has so far presented one of green power’s most insurmountable challenges — but now the world’s first fully functional sand battery, which can store green power for months, could present a valuable…
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“It’s almost like a cult.” Activists shout down rural renewable energy projects

By Peter Sinclair 02/28/23
Officials and farmers report threats and intimidation in small Midwest communities that are considering solar and wind farms.
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As oil companies stay lean, workers move to renewable energy

By Clifford Krauss 02/27/23
Solar, wind, geothermal, battery and other alternative-energy businesses are adding workers from fossil fuel companies, where employment has fallen....
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Which state is winning at renewable energy production?

By Karin Kirk 02/23/23
Electricity is changing. As states like Minnesota commit to 100% carbon-free electric power, Montana is opting to double down on coal. Some of these developments make headlines, while others go unnoticed – though they’re no…
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China’s Renewable Energy Capacity Overtakes Coal for First Time

By Zhao Xuan and Ward Zhou 02/15/23
China's renewable energy generation capacity edged out coal power capacity for the first time last year, with new solar driving the electricity sector’s efforts to reach ambitious national carbon emissions goals even as the removal…
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We have the technology to fix the climate.

By Mark Z. Jacobson 02/07/23
Wind, water and solar energy is cheap, effective and green. We don’t need experimental or risky energy sources to save our planetNearly 7 million people die each year from air pollution. Moreover, global warming is…
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Oil and Gas Technology and Geothermal Energy Development

01/31/23
The U.S. energy industry is undergoing a decades-long transition that includes increased
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Renewable energy farms outstrip 99% of coal plants economically

By Oliver Milman 01/30/23
It is cheaper to build solar panels or cluster of wind turbines and connect them to the grid than to keep operating coal plants.
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New Wind and Solar Are Cheaper Than the Costs to Operate All But One Coal-Fired Power Plant in the United States

By Dan Gearino 01/30/23
A coal-fired plant near Gillette, Wyoming stands alone in the nation on one measure of economic viability—a positive distinction for that plant, but a damning one for coal-fired electricity in general. Dry Fork Station, with…
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Vox

Clean energy is taking over the Texas grid. State officials are trying to stop it.

By Umair Irfan 01/30/23
Clean energy is rapidly rising on the Texas power grid, but regulators in the Lone Star State are now considering a plan that could give fossil fuels a boost.
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KEY RESOURCES

Renewables will be world’s top electricity source within three years, IEA data reveals

02/08/23
Renewables will cover almost all of global electricity demand growth out to 2025, becoming the world’s top source of electricity within three years, new figures reveal. Carbon Brief analysis of figures in the International Energy…

Global Electricity Review 2022

03/30/22
Wind and solar, the fastest growing sources of electricity, reach a record ten percent of global electricity in 2021; all clean power is now 38% of supply. But demand growth rebounded, leading to a record…

EIA adds new forecasts of renewable diesel and other biofuels to Short-Term Energy Outlook

02/28/22
In our February Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we introduced new forecasts of U.S. production, consumption, and the net of imports less exports of biodiesel, renewable diesel, and other biofuels in the United States. This new…

Clean Edge

06/15/21
Clean Edge, Inc. is a developer and publisher of thematic stock indexes tracking clean energy, transportation, water, and the grid...

EIA forecasts renewables will be fastest growing source of electricity generation

11/27/20
EIA expects non-hydroelectric renewable energy resources such as solar and wind will be the fastest growing source of U.S. electricity generation for at least the next two years. EIA’s January 2019 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO)…

U.S. renewable electricity generation has doubled since 2008

08/14/20
Renewable generation provided a new record of 742 million megawatthours (MWh) of electricity in 2018, nearly double the 382 million MWh produced in 2008. Renewables provided 17.6% of electricity generation in the United States in…

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

07/07/20
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and…

TOP POLICIES

05/07/20
No single policy can solve climate change, but a broad portfolio of policies already available to policymakers can drive down emissions. The most-effective policies in each countries may vary, but new modeling abilities highlight a…

Renewable Energy

04/22/20
Renewable energy is derived from resources that are replenished naturally on a human timescale. Such resources include biomass, geothermal heat, sunlight, water, and wind. All of these sources have their strengths and weaknesses. Some are…

Renewable Energy

04/22/20
Renewables made up more than 17 percent of net U.S. electricity generation in 2018, with the bulk coming from hydropower (7.0 percent) and wind power (6.6 percent).

Renewable Energy: The Clean Facts

04/22/20
Wind and solar are powering a clean energy revolution. Here’s what you need to know about renewables and how you can help make an impact at home.

Renewable energy explained

04/22/20
The consumption of biofuels and other nonhydroelectric renewable energy sources in the United States more than doubled from 2000 to 2018, mainly because of state and federal government requirements and incentives to use renewable energy.…

MORE NEWS

The Coal Cost Crossover 3.0

01/28/23  
The cost of running existing coal power plants in the United States continues rising while new wind and solar costs keep falling. Our first Coal Cost Crossover report (2019) found 62 percent of U.S. coal…
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DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy FY2023 Appropriations

01/27/23  
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is .....
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Clean energy sets $1.1 trillion record that’s bound to be broken

By Nathaniel Bullard   01/26/23  
It was a banner year for money spent on solar and wind projects, EVs and more in 2022. The way things are going, that level of investment will quickly be eclipsed.
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Pew

States Reimagine Power Grids for Wind and Solar Future

By Alex Brown   01/25/23  
For years, many states have set ambitious goals and incentives to promote renewable electricity projects. Now, more of those states are turning their attention to the transmission lines, substations and transformers needed to get that…
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Renewables Projected to Soon Be One-Fourth of US Electricity Generation. Really Soon – Inside Climate News

By Dan Gearino   01/19/23  
Renewable energy is poised to reach a milestone as a new government report projects that wind, solar and other renewable sources will exceed one-fourth of the country’s electricity generation for the first time, in 2024.…
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Winter Blackouts Highlight Need for Clean Energy

By Michael R. Bloomberg   01/19/23  
Restricting Americans’ access to solar-powered electricity is an expensive, and dangerous, proposition in our changing climate.
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Sweden Says It Has Uncovered a Rare Earth Bonanza

By Stanley Reed   01/13/23  
A Swedish mining company said this week that it had found Europe’s largest known deposit of coveted rare earth metals, critical to many green technologies including electric vehicles, in a far northern part of the…
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A new tool helps map out where to develop clean energy infrastructure

By Marguerite Huber   01/10/23  
The Geospatial Energy Mapper is an interactive online mapping tool that can help identify areas across the country that are suitable for wind, solar, and other clean energy infrastructure projects.
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Analysis Shows U.S. Wind and Solar Could Outpace Coal and Nuclear Power in 2023

By Jake Johnson   01/08/23  
A new analysis of federal data shows that wind and solar alone could generate more electricity in the United States than nuclear and coal over the coming year, critical progress toward reducing the country's reliance…
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Global Energy Crisis Triggered Renewables Momentum—Let’s Keep It Going

By Sami Grover   12/19/22  
Back in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we witnessed in some European circles a resurgence of calls for fracking fossil fuel exploration—with Liz Truss’ brief tenure as the U.K. Prime Minister leading…
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Renewables to overtake coal as world’s top energy source by 2025, IEA says

By Rachel Pannett   12/12/22  
The global energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine has sped up existing growth in renewables, particularly solar power, a new report says....
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One Man’s Determined Fight for Solar Power in Rural Ohio

By Dan Gearino   11/29/22  
When Michael Wildermuth was growing up here, the snow sometimes had black specks in it because of pollution from the city’s heavy industry.
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Once Cheap, Wind and Solar Prices Are Up 34%. What’s the Outlook?

By Dan Gearino   10/20/22  
Early last year, I thought the increase in wind and solar power prices was a blip. After all, one of the constants in my decade-plus covering energy was that wind and solar prices were in…
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Green energy projects face stark environmental, local opposition nationwide

By Thomas Catenacci   10/17/22  
International Climate Science Coalition Executive Director Tom Harris discusses how he was once a climate alarmist but now sees it as a scam on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’
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NPR

Greece’s entire electrical grid ran on 100% renewables for the first time

By Bill Chappell   10/13/22  
Renewable energy sources covered Greece's electricity demands for about five hours last Friday, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, or IPTO, said. Renewables also posted a new record that day, reaching a peak of 3,106 megawatt…
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Can renewables solve the inflation crisis?

By Dave Keating   10/12/22  
Rising energy costs have been the main cause of rising inflation worldwide. Experts say the low-carbon energy transition could bring inflation down.
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The new hurricane resiliency: being off the grid

By Niala Boodhoo   10/11/22  
More than 4 million Floridians lost power after Hurricane Ian. But not communities like Babcock Ranch, a Southwest Florida development that bills itself as America’s “first solar-powered town.”
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Babcock Ranch: Solar-powered “hurricane-proof” town takes direct hit from Hurricane Ian, never loses electricity

10/09/22  
While hard-hit Fort Myers, Florida, continues its recovery from Hurricane Ian, some hope can be found 12 miles to the northeast at the planned community of Babcock Ranch. That's where Syd Kitson and his partners…
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E&T

Global rise in electricity demand met entirely with renewables, report finds

By E&T Editorial Staff   10/05/22  
The rise in wind and solar generation met over three-quarters of the demand growth in the first half of 2022, while hydro met the remainder, preventing a possible 4 per cent increase in fossil generation…
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Clean energy projects surge after climate bill passage

By Jack Ewing and Ivan Penn   09/07/22  
Investments in battery factories, solar panel manufacturing and mining will help the Biden administration meet targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
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Negative Power Prices? Blame the US Grid for Stranding Renewable Energy

By Naureen S Malik   08/30/22  
As energy costs soar around the world, a curious thing is happening with increasing frequency in power grids in certain corners of the US: Prices are plunging below zero.
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Chart: America’s surge of spending on clean energy

By Ben Geman   08/23/22  
A new report from the think tank RMI has a banger of a graphic that puts new and recent energy laws into historical context.
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Rising fuel prices, Inflation Reduction Act incentives likely to spur rapid renewable energy growth: S&P

By Emma Penrod   08/18/22  
The U.S is now on track to source 62% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040 thanks to recent state policy developments and the rising cost of fossil fuels, especially natural gas, according to…
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Adding it Up: Groundbreaking Federal Investments into Clean Energy Innovation

By Nicholas Montoni   08/18/22  
In the last year, three pieces of legislation have become law (or are poised to soon) that advance clean energy programs and provide funding to get the job done Total clean energy funding contained in…
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Renewables will total 22 percent of U.S. electricity generation in 2022, says government

By Zack Budryk   08/17/22  
Renewable energy will comprise nearly a quarter of electricity generated in the U.S. this year, according to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The number represents an increase from 2020 and 2021, both…
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Renewable Energy, Electrification Big Winners in Inflation Reduction Act

By Darrell Proctor   08/12/22  
The U.S. House on Aug. 12 passed a bill with major implications for the power generation industry, joining the U.S. Senate in supporting the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The bill, which now heads to President…
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Rare earth minerals essential to renewable energy not as rare as advertised

By Scott Weiser   08/11/22  
The confluence of the need for renewable energy with China’s dominance in the "rare earth minerals market" puts America’s supply chains for these essential components in a precarious position, say extraction and refining executives in…
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Wrangling over renewables: Counties push back on Newsom administration usurping local control

By Julie Cart   08/04/22  
Kings County Supervisor Joe Neves guided his pickup to a stop next to a long line of chain-link fencing. On one side of a gravel road stood row after row of glinting solar panels. The…
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Geothermal heating and cooling: Renewable energy’s hidden gem

By Philip Warburg   08/04/22  
Often described as a giant tower of Jenga blocks, Boston University’s Center for Computing and Data Sciences shows no outward signs of leading the race to sustainable energy design. No rooftop wind turbines grace its…
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Sinema, Democratic leaders reach deal on changes to health and climate bill

By Jennifer Haberkorn   08/04/22  
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said late Thursday she will support moving forward with Democrats’ health, tax and climate bill, a strong sign that the party will be able to advance some of its major policy priorities…
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Power

By Rory Clune and Others   08/01/22  
The global power system currently accounts for 30 percent of CO₂ emissions. Under a net-zero scenario, power generation from fossil-fuel plants would be replaced with renewable energy like solar, wind, or nuclear, and other forms…
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NYPA does not want new authority to build renewable generation, officials tell New York lawmakers

By Robert Walton   07/29/22  
The New York Power Authority is the largest public power utility in the country by generation but officials told state lawmakers on Thursday that they do not support legislation enabling it to build more renewables…
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Renewables industry marks slowest quarter since 2019 with installations down 55%

By Emma Penrod   07/27/22  
Developers installed 3,188 MW of utility-scale clean power in the second quarter, 55% less than the same period last year, according to a new report from the American Clean Power Association.
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In a twist, old coal plants help deliver renewable power. Here’s how.

By Elena Shao   07/15/22  
The sites, once a source of greenhouse gases, have a useful feature: They’re wired to the electricity grid. For new ventures like solar farms, that can save a lot of time and money.
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Wind and solar provided record 10% of world’s power in 2021

By Robert Rapier   07/04/22  
Last week the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2o22 was released, covering energy data through 2021. The Review provides a comprehensive picture of supply and demand for major energy sources on a country-level basis.…
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Cost of New Renewables Temporarily Rises as Inflation Starts to Bite

06/30/22  
London and New York, June 30, 2022 – The cost of new-build onshore wind has risen 7% year on year, and fixed-axis solar has jumped 14%, according to the latest analysis by research company BloombergNEF…
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In the Face of War and Pestilence, Clean Energy Keeps Growing

By Liam Denning   06/29/22  
Covid-19’s remission wasn’t great for the energy transition. That’s the headline from BP Plc’s latest Statistical Review of World Energy. But 2021 was kind of a Newtonian year: an equal but opposite reaction to 2020’s…
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Clean energy investment lags as oil and gas prices soar.

By Patricia Cohen   06/22/22  
The head of the International Energy Agency said high prices for fossil fuels would probably persist for years.
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CNN

Wind and solar power are ‘bailing out’ Texas amid record heat and energy demand

By Ella Nilsen   06/14/22  
But unlike previous extreme weather events in Texas which led to deadly blackouts, the grid is holding up remarkably well this week. Several experts told CNN that it's owed in large part to strong performances…
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Why we need to recycle clean energy technologies — and how to do it

By Jeff St. John   06/13/22  
In the past decade, solar panels, wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries have boomed in production volume and plummeted in price. That’s enabled many countries to accelerate the transition to lower-carbon electricity. It’s also helped electric…
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California breaks record by achieving 100% renewable energy for the first time

By Evan Raskin   06/10/22  
As Earth Month drew to a close, the state of California was recently able to produce virtually all of their energy needs from renewable sources for the first time ever.
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Biden administration to cut costs for wind and solar energy projects

By Lisa Friedman   06/01/22  
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the government would sharply reduce the fees it charges to companies that operate on public lands.
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Booster is making renewable fuels accessible in ways a gas station cannot

By Lora Kolodny   05/25/22  
Fuel delivery start-up Booster made its name filling up commuters’ cars while they were parked at the office. But after the Covid pandemic shifted so many to remote work, Booster CEO Frank Mycroft says, the…
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RMI

Accelerated Clean Energy Development Could Save Americans $5 Billion Annually, Protecting against Inflation and Rising Natural Gas Prices

By Courtney Bourgoin and Others   05/24/22  
With energy security, inflation, and gas and electricity prices flooding the news cycle, leaders are searching for solutions that will provide immediate and sustained relief. Global instability has once again put Americans at the mercy…
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Creaky U.S. power grid threatens progress on renewables, EVs

By Tim McLaughlin   05/12/22  
After decades of struggle, the U.S. clean-energy business is booming, with soaring electric-car sales and fast growth in wind and solar power. That’s raising hopes for the fight against climate change.
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Following record growth in 2021, renewables on track for new high

05/11/22  
The world added a record 295 gigawatts of renewable power in 2021 and is on pace to surpass that amount in 2022, according to a new analysis from the International Energy Agency.
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For the first time, US renewable energy output exceeds nuclear generation, EIA finds

By Elizabeth McCarthy   04/28/22  
The growing number of large solar and wind energy projects resulted in renewable generation beating out nuclear energy last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
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Voter Suppression in Texas, Where Renewables Out-generate Fossils

By Nexus Media   04/28/22  
Renewable energy generation outpaced gas as the state’s primary source of electricity in the first quarter of 2022. Wind and solar produced more than 32 gigaWatt hours in Q1, compared to the 29.7 produced by…
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The US has more clean energy projects planned than the grid can handle

By Jeff St. John   04/20/22  
The proposed wind, solar and battery projects seeking interconnection to U.S. transmission grids today are enough to bring the country to 80 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030. But based on historical trends, less than a…
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Renewables are growing — but a backlog of projects is holding up a greener grid

By Emily Pontecorvo   04/20/22  
From where Joe Rand stands, there’s good news and there’s bad news about renewable energy development in the United States — and it’s hard to tell which is more significant.
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