Community choice aggregation (CCA) is a tool to encourage local control of energy systems that can drive significant growth in clean energy. In California, communities are using CCA to invest in renewable energy; in other US states, it’s a different story. Ben Paulos takes a look.
All posts tagged: USA
Can the Brooklyn Microgrid project revolutionise the energy market?
A New York-based energy project built on blockchain is currently attempting to create peer-to-peer marketplaces for distributed energy. As the global energy market is still trapped in a previous era and needs an urgent and thorough redesign, the Brooklyn Microgrid could be a game changer. Urszula Papajak explains.
Converting renewable power to other low-carbon products
With wind and solar booming, researchers are looking for ways to turn electricity into other products, to cut carbon and integrate renewables into the power grid. Power-to-X could go a long way towards these goals, says Ben Paulos.
Washington State leaves coal behind, but not its workers
Centralia, USA faced disaster when its local coal plant run by TransAlta closed. But after getting a permit to build a natural gas plant on the same site, the company has committed $55 million for community development. Ben Paulos explores at the transition away from coal in Washington State.
Keeping coal plants open: the Spanish government’s costly intervention in the power market
After power producer Iberdrola announced the closure of their last coal plants, the Spanish government has said it might intervene to keep them open. Such an intervention, write energy experts Gerard Wynn and Paolo Coghe, is taking a page out of Donald Trump’s book. It is costly, bad for the investment climate, and for the planet’s climate.
US cities leading the climate battle
In the US, where climate denialism is rampant, and the President is working against the energy transition, can cities take a leadership role in reducing emissions? Certainly, and they’re doing it. Silvia Weko takes a look at the American cities that want to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, and improve quality of life while they’re at it.
What bottom-up sustainability looks like
Increasingly, western democracies are divided over visions for the country’s future. But if we can’t agree on where we should go together, we won’t be able to address issues like climate change. Craig Morris investigates.
Why Native American women are going after Europe’s banks to divest from Big Oil
From Standing Rock to Switzerland, Native American women are putting pressure on banks to divest. Shannan Stoll speaks to Jackie Fielder about the delegation of Indigenous women who recently visited Europe, and the future of the movement to defund fossil fuel projects that threaten Indigenous peoples.
Germany and California look beyond the power sector to cut carbon
As their electricity systems grow cleaner, both Germany and California are looking for additional ways to cut global warming emissions. But cleaning up the transportation and heat sectors has proven to be more challenging than cleaning up power plants. Ben Paulos takes a look.
Rising from the ashes, a Buffalo suburb ends its dependence on coal
In March 2016, the coal-fired Huntley Generating Station, which sits on the banks of the Niagara River, stopped producing power for first time since World War I. And soon after, the surrounding towns started to go broke. Elizabeth McGowan takes an in-depth look at what US communities are doing to keep their communities going after coal.