Jobs IRLDecoding DemocracyA Warmer WorldI've Always Wondered ...

Loading...

0:00
0% played
Stories Tagged as

Renewable energy

"Green bank" funding could help renewables be more profitable for investors

by Savannah Maher
Apr 5, 2024
The government will route $20 billion through community lenders and nonprofits that are geared to clean energy and climate solutions.
The hope behind green bank grants is that government backing will mobilize private investment in climate-friendly projects.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Alaska has "gobs and gobs" of natural gas, but still may need to import it

by Eric Stone
Mar 20, 2024
It’s one thing to have plenty of gas available in the ground. But in a state as big as Alaska, it’s another thing to get the gas to where people can use it.
Enstar Natural Gas President John Sims explains how pipes and machinery pump natural gas into underground reservoirs at this Kenai, Alaska, facility, where it's stored for later.
Riley Board
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Geothermal energy could be on its way to Chicago’s South Side

by Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco
Mar 19, 2024
The key to building out the low-carbon energy source could be the city’s trademark alleys.
Retta Ford, left, and daughter Debra Gay attend a community meeting about geothermal power. Ford asked whether the project could affect the foundations of homes.
Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco/WBEZ
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE
A Warmer World

U.S. carbon emissions fell in 2023, mainly thanks to natural gas displacing coal at power plants

by Henry Epp
Feb 22, 2024
Emissions from transportation, on the other hand, were up.
Coal has increasingly been replaced by alternative fuel sources, like natural gas and renewables.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

To put more renewable power to use, utilities are doubling down on battery storage

by Henry Epp
Jan 16, 2024
Giant batteries can extend the reach of wind and solar power — which accounted for 22% of electricity generated last year, the EIA says.
Rows of lithium ion batteries that store renewable energy. The EIA expects utility battery storage to nearly double by the end of 2024.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

As one new offshore wind project is approved, two others are canceled — for now

by Samantha Fields
Nov 2, 2023
More offshore wind projects are being approved, but many are also running into economic and logistical challenges.
An offshore wind farm off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island.
John Moore/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE
A Warmer World

As weather gets less predictable, hydropower dams look to new forecasting techniques

by Amy Scott and Sarah Leeson
Oct 24, 2023
"Forecast-informed reservoir operations" may help planners deal more effectively with flood or drought conditions.
Dams were built during a much different climate regime from the conditions we're experiencing and expecting. Operators of the facilities are seeking ways to adapt.
Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

For public good, not for profit.

Donate

How the 1973 oil embargo changed the way the U.S. thinks about energy

by Henry Epp
Sep 21, 2023
Fifty years ago this fall, Arab members of OPEC cut off their oil exports to the United States.
Above, an oil pumpjack in California. Then-President Richard Nixon, in a 1973 speech addressing the oil embargo, expressed the need for U.S. energy independence.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

An electrical transformer shortage has big implications for housing, renewables

by Justin Ho
Sep 19, 2023
You may not think much about electrical distribution transformers, but not having them can delay entire housing developments and grid updates.
"Typically on a utility pole they’re round, and they’re at the top of the pole," said John Kirk, managing director at Embrey, a multifamily developer based in San Antonio.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE

Solar a bright spot in slow progress toward U.S. renewable energy goals

by Samantha Fields
Aug 30, 2023
Shipments of solar panels reached a record high last year, though most were imported. They're also getting cheaper.
Solar is projected to grow even more in the next couple of years, largely because of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Subscribe Using:
SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE