U.S. Energy News is one of five regional services published by the Energy News Network. Today’s edition was compiled by Kathryn Krawczyk.
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CLIMATE: The Biden administration restores parts of an environmental law dismantled by former President Trump, once again requiring climate impacts and local communities be considered before approving federal infrastructure projects. (New York Times)
ALSO: As Biden promises to reimplement parts of the National Environmental Policy Act, environmental groups say they’ll continue their legal challenges to completely restore the rules. (E&E News)
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SOLAR:
• A federal website that lets installers obtain permits for rooftop solar projects in participating cities has processed 4,700 permits for 31.3 MW of new energy since its launch last May. (Utility Dive)
• A federal probe into Southeast Asian solar imports threatens 65% of U.S. solar capacity set to come online in 2022 and 2023, an advocacy group fighting the investigation finds. (Bloomberg)
• Dozens of North Carolina churches and faith communities have gone solar since 2017 by taking advantage of a Duke Energy nonprofit rebate program that’s set to expire this year. (Energy News Network)
GRID:
• Renewables make up 93% of utility-scale electric projects looking to connect to the grid, but long wait times are stalling the clean energy transition and leading some developers to drop their projects. (Grist)
• Con Edison pitches a $1 billion plan to construct eight new transmission interconnection points to connect offshore wind farms to the grid in New York City, a proposal the utility says could be operational by 2027. (E&E News)
NUCLEAR: The Energy Department extends $6 billion in grants to keep struggling nuclear plants operating. (E&E News)
EMISSIONS:
• The Biden administration, responding to climate advocates’ claims that it broke campaign promises by resuming oil and gas leasing, says it was forced by a court order to do so. (The Hill)
• A series of investigations finds countries’ climate pledges are built on flawed emissions data and identifies ways countries can prevent methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. (Washington Post)
• Researchers find low-production oil and gas wells are a disproportionately large source of methane emissions. (Nature Communications)
• Louisiana is the first Deep South state with a plan to cut its carbon footprint, but already-approved future industrial projects are still set to release major emissions. (WWNO)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The CEO of electric vehicle maker Rivian warns of challenges in sourcing EV battery components as the company prepares to build a factory in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Volkswagen prepares to begin operation of a new battery engineering lab in eastern Tennessee as it seeks to overtake Tesla as the largest electric vehicle maker. (CNN Business)
• An energy storage company plans to establish a factory in California’s Imperial Valley using locally extracted lithium to produce up to 650,000 electric vehicle batteries annually. (news release)
HYDROGEN: Walmart agrees to buy green hydrogen from Plug Power to operate forklifts in its U.S. facilities. (Bloomberg)
OIL & GAS: A liquified natural gas company presses for a break on federal emissions regulations from its LNG export terminals in Louisiana and Texas as it ramps up exports to Europe. (Inside Climate News)
COMMENTARY:
• Clean energy advocates urge anyone managing vehicle electrification initiatives to provide input to the Federal Highway Administration as it determines the distribution of federal electric vehicle funding. (Utility Dive)
• Focusing on the current dangers of air pollution over the future dangers of climate change may encourage action against fossil fuels, a columnist writes. (New York Times)
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