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Hot water in Boise

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Boise is the capital of Idaho, and the Idaho Statehouse is the only one in the United States to use geothermal heat.  Geothermal heating is possible in Boise because of fault lines that expose its groundwater to hot rocks.  The underground water supply in Boise is heated to around 170 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is the basis of the largest municipally-run geothermal system in the country.

People in Boise began using this natural resource to supply heat to buildings in the 1890s by drilling wells into aquifers that yielded hundreds of thousands of gallons of piping hot water a day.  The water heated pools and public baths, a Victorian mansion, and, eventually, hundreds of homes in what was called the Boise Warm Springs Water District.

The number of buildings that the city of Boise heats with its geothermal resource has grown more than sixfold over the past 40 years.  The water is drawn from wells in the nearby foothills and pumped into a closed-loop network of pipes that reach into buildings.  In each building, the geothermal heat is transferred to water in separate adjoining pipes that distribute the heat throughout the building.  The well water goes back to the aquifer to be heated again.

Today, there are four separately run geothermal water systems in Boise.  One is run by the city, another by the Boise Warm Springs District, and two others that serve the Capitol and Veterans Affairs Buildings.

In 2024, city officials calculated that using geothermal heat reduced annual carbon dioxide emissions by 7,000 tons, the equivalent of removing 1,500 gas-powered cars from the road each year.

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They’re in Hot Water in Idaho. Here’s Why That’s a Good Thing.

Photo, posted May 26, 2010, courtesy of Jason W via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The largest iceberg runs aground

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The largest iceberg in the world, which has been slowly drifting for nearly 5 years, has finally come to a halt.  The iceberg – called the unexciting name A-23A – came into existence in 1986 when it broke off from another iceberg A-23 that had calved or torn off from Antarctica earlier that year.  For decades, A-23A sat in the Weddell Sea, east of the Antarctic Peninsula.  Then, in 2020, it came loose from the seafloor and began to move.  By 2023, it finally left Antarctic Waters.

Late last year, it began spinning in place caught in an ocean current called a Taylor column.  Finally, it headed for South Georgia, a British-owned island that is home to a couple dozen people and lots of seals and penguins.  A-23A is now stuck on the continental shelf, about 50 miles from the island.

A-23A is around 1,300 square miles in area.  By comparison, New York City is 300 square miles.

Four years ago, a large iceberg called A-68A also came to ground in the vicinity of South Georgia.  It quickly broke apart and ultimately added 150 billion metric tons of fresh water to the ocean as well as various nutrients.  A-23A is also likely to succumb to the warmer waters, winds, and currents it now encounters and will affect the flora and fauna in the area.

The climate is changing and is impacting how ice shelves melt.  Calving and the creation of mammoth icebergs are a normal part of the lifecycle of polar ice sheets, but we are likely to see even more events like this in the future.

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World’s Largest Iceberg Runs Aground

Photo, posted January 29, 2011, courtesy of Drew Avery via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Sand mining and the environment

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Sand mining is the world’s largest mining endeavor.  It is responsible for 85% of all mineral extraction.  It is also the least regulated, possibly the most corrupt, and likely the most environmentally destructive.  Sand is the second-most exploited natural resource in the world after water.  Its global use has tripled in the past two decades.  More than 50 billion tons of sand is extracted from the environment each year.

Sand plays a critical role in much of human development around the world.  It is a key ingredient of concrete, asphalt, glass, and electronics.  It is relatively cheap and relatively easy to extract.  But we use enormous amounts of it.

Sand mining is a major threat to rivers and marine ecosystems.  It is linked to coastal erosion, habitat destruction, the spread of invasive species, and damage to fisheries. 

The harm from sand mining is only beginning to attract widespread attention.  A recent study by an international group of scientists published in the journal One Earth identifies        threats posed by sand mining.  Sand extraction in marine environments remains largely overlooked, despite sand and sediment dredging being the second most widespread human activity in coastal areas after fishing.

Sand is generally seen as an inert, abundant material, but it is an essential resource that shapes coastal and marine ecosystems, protects shorelines, and sustains both ecosystems and coastal communities.  Sand extraction near populated coastlines is particularly problematic as climate change makes coastlines increasingly fragile.

Like all other resources on our planet, even sand cannot be taken for granted.  It must be responsibly managed.

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The rising tide of sand mining: a growing threat to marine life

Photo, posted February 7, 2013, courtesy of Pamela Spaugy / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A giant solar plus storage facility

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One of the country’s largest co-located solar and battery energy storage projects is now fully operational.  The Gemini Solar+Storage project is located in Clark County, Nevada, about 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas.

The project’s 1.8 million solar panels can generate up to 690 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to supply about 10% of Nevada’s peak demand.  The facility is co-located with 380 megawatts of 4-hour battery storage, which is enough to supply Nevadans with 1,400 MWh of power after sundown.

The project makes use of a unique storage configuration that allows the storage system to be charged directly from the solar panels, resulting in increased efficiency and maximizing the capture and storage of solar energy.

The project has minimized the environmental impacts to the nearly 5,000-acre site.  Primergy, the project developer, took measures to leave vegetation in place, installed solar panels to follow the ground’s natural contours, and reduced the overall footprint by more than 20% through careful design.  The project created 1,300 union and prevailing wage jobs and contributed $483 million to Nevada’s economy.

Solar facilities are increasingly co-located with battery storage plants.  There is a huge project in Kern County California that includes 1.9 million solar panels capable of generating 875 megawatts of solar power and storing 3,287 megawatt-hours of energy.  The deserts of the southwest are prime locations for such facilities.

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The house always wins: Massive Gemini solar + storage outside of Las Vegas reaches commercial operations

Photo courtesy of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Record carbon dioxide levels

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Despite the increasing concern about the warming climate, the period between March of last year and March of this year has set a new record for the largest 12-month gain in atmospheric CO2 concentration ever observed.  The new level, measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory was nearly 5 parts per million higher than last year’s level reaching more than 426 parts per million.

CO2 levels averaged 280 ppm for the past 800,000 years until the Industrial Revolution began and people started burning fossil fuels.  Levels started being measured at Mauna Loa in 1958, when they were 315 ppm.  Between 1958 and 2005, the CO2 level rose to 380 ppm.  Over the past 19 years, the amount of CO2 has continued to rise rapidly and with it, global temperatures.

The record increase in carbon dioxide over this past year is probably associated with the end of an El Niño event.  The previous record increase in 2015-2016 was also associated with El Niño.

But the overall trend is clear and discouraging.  Over the past 66 years, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 35%.  This increase is a result of the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as the effects of deforestation and livestock agriculture.

Carbon dioxide absorbs heat radiating from the Earth’s surface and re-releases it in all directions, including back toward Earth’s surface.  Without this greenhouse effect, the Earth would actually be frozen.  But people are supercharging the natural greenhouse effect and causing the global temperature to rise.  Global energy demand continues to grow and if we continue to meet that demand mostly with fossil fuels, temperatures will continue to rise.

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography: CO2 levels have largest 12-month gain

Photo, posted March 3, 2014, courtesy of Jon Roig via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The largest carbon removal plant

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Direct air capture (DAC) is process that removes carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it away where it can no longer trap heat in the atmosphere.  It is intended to be a way of getting rid of the greenhouse gases that have built up in the atmosphere.  In principle, it’s a great idea.  In practice, it is a huge challenge.

In 2017, a company called Climeworks became the first company to take carbon dioxide out of the air and sell it as a product for use in carbonated drinks and in greenhouses.  In 2021, the company opened a DAC plant called Orca in Iceland that captures CO2 and permanently stores it underground.  Clients like Microsoft pay Climeworks for doing this as a way of offsetting their own emissions.

Recently, Climeworks has started operating a new plant called Mammoth – also in Iceland – that will be able to capture about 10 times more carbon dioxide than Orca.  Iceland is a prime location for DAC technology because its abundant geothermal energy makes powering it cheap and environmentally friendly.

Mammoth, when fully operational, will remove about 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, the largest DAC system in the world.  But there is a long, long way to go.  Microsoft alone emits nearly 13 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

There are multiple DAC projects in development including several in the United States being funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  The four DAC hubs being developed under the program are each supposed to have the capacity to capture at least a million metric tons of CO2 a year.

Whether DAC can make a real difference remains to be seen.

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The world’s largest carbon removal plant is here, and bigger ones are on the way

Photo credit: Climeworks

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The world’s largest energy plant

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The largest energy plant in the world is being built in India.  In an area of barren desert in western India near the Pakistani border, Adani Green Energy Limited (or AGEL) is building a sprawling solar and wind power plant that will cover more than 200 square miles.  It will be five times the size of Paris and will produce enough electricity to power 16 million homes.

The Khavda Renewable Energy Park will cost about $20 billion to build and will take about five years to complete.

The success of the plant is critical to India’s efforts to reduce pollution and meet its climate goals.  India is the world’s third-largest energy consuming country.  Even though its energy use and emissions per person are less than half the global average, its enormous population offsets that advantage and its expanding economy and ongoing modernization are driving rapid growth of energy demand.  Energy demand has doubled since 2000 and 80% is still being met by coal, oil, and solid biomass.  India uses massive amounts of coal, and, in fact, the Adani Group of companies is India’s biggest coal importer and a leading miner of the fossil fuel.   Adani represents two sides of the coin.

More than 600 million people in India will be coming into middle and upper income over the next 10 to 15 years and they will have increasing energy needs.  India is in a race to develop clean energy capacity.  If it simply follows the torturous path that China, Europe, and US all have done, the prospects for the global climate are bleak.

Building the world’s largest clean energy plant is just a first small step in the necessary direction.

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A coal billionaire is building the world’s biggest clean energy plant and it’s five times the size of Paris

Photo, posted February 25, 2010, courtesy of Bhavin Toprani via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Progress on offshore wind in New York

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New York has now conditionally awarded two offshore wind projects that will move towards operation in 2026.  The projects, totaling more than 1,700 megawatts of power, will be the largest power generation projects in New York state in more than 35 years.  It is an important milestone toward achieving the state’s goal of developing 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

Empire Wind I, located 15 miles southeast of Long Island, and Sunrise Wind, located more than 30 miles east of the eastern point of Long Island, have already completed most federal and state permitting requirements.  Empire Wind I received final approval of their Construction and Operation Plan from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in late February.

Both projects are expected to ramp up construction activity this year.  Previous awards by NYSERDA for the projects in 2019 included contract provisions for specific economic benefits to New York communities and commitments for purchasing iron and steel from American sources.   Empire Wind I is being developed by Equinor, an international energy company headquartered in Norway.  Sunrise Wind, originally a joint project by Ørsted and Eversource, is now solely being developed by Ørsted, a global energy company based in Denmark.

Following successful execution of the contracts for the two projects, NYSERDA payments under these awards will only begin once the projects have obtained all required permits and approvals, the construction has been completed, and the projects begin delivering clean energy to New York.

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New York selects Empire Wind I and Sunrise Wind offshore projects

Photo, posted June 14, 2022, courtesy of Lissa Eng / BOEM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Is the Amazon rainforest nearing a tipping point?

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The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering more than 2.5 million square miles.  More than three million species live in the rainforest, which constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s known biodiversity.  The Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity is so rich that scientists are still discovering new species all the time. 

The Amazon rainforest absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere, making it a key part of mitigating climate change.  But the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the Amazon rainforest today is 30% less than it was in the 1990s. 

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest remains a major problem. Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation, but industrial activities, such as the mining of oil and gas, copper, iron, and gold, are also to blame.

According to a new study recently published in the journal Nature, global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon.  In fact, it may be pushing the rainforest towards a partial or total collapse. 

The study, which was led by researchers from Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil and the University of Birmingham in the U.K., has identified the potential thresholds of these stressors, and highlighted how their combined effects could produce a tipping point for the Amazon rainforest. 

The findings are important because the Amazon rainforest plays a vital role in the global climate system.  By identifying the most important stressors on the rainforest environment, the researchers hope they can develop a plan to keep the Amazon rainforest resilient.

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Is the Amazon forest approaching a tipping point?

Photo, posted July 2, 2017, courtesy of Anna & Michal via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The slow decline of coal

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Despite the fact that coal is the dirtiest and most climate-harmful energy source we have, the global demand for it hit a record high in 2023. The demand for coal grew by 1.4% worldwide, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency.

Coal use grew by 5% in China and 8% in India.  The two countries are the world’s largest producers and consumers of coal.  Meanwhile, coal use in the U.S. and the European Union fell by 20%.

Despite this discouraging news, the IEA forecasts that coal use will decline over the next two years.  There have been declines in coal demand a few times before, but they were driven by unusual events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Covid-19 crisis.  But the IEA says that the forthcoming decline is different.  It will be driven by the formidable and sustained expansion of clean energy technologies.

According to the IEA, global coal demand will fall by 2.3% by 2026 even in the absence of new policies to curb coal use.  Forces at play will be increased hydropower in China as it recovers from drought and puts new wind and solar projects online.  China is responsible for more than half of global coal demand, but it is also responsible for more than half of the planned renewable power projects coming online over the next three years.  Experts believe that with these forthcoming projects, Chinese emissions may have peaked in 2023.

The projected drop in coal demand is still far short of what is required for the world to avoid catastrophic warming.  Much greater efforts are needed to meet international climate targets.

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After a Record 2023, Coal Headed for Decline, Analysts Say

Photo, posted August 25, 2015, courtesy of Jeremy Buckingham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The importance of Alaska’s National Forests

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The world’s forests play a crucial role in taking carbon out of the atmosphere and mitigating the effects of climate change.  An analysis of U.S. national forests shows that two southern Alaskan forests are key to meeting climate and biodiversity goals.

The Tongass Forest in Alaska is America’s largest national forest, encompassing 16.7 million acres.  Alaska’s Chugach Forest is the country’s second largest at just under 7 million acres.  These two forests are not only the largest national forests, they are also the most intact. 

A study by researchers at the Oregon State University College of Forestry looked at 152 national forests and compared them in terms of carbon density and accumulation, total biomass carbon stocks, habitat for eagles, bears, and wolves, and landscape integrity – which is the extent of modification by human activity.  According to the study, almost 31% of all high-landscape-integrity area found in national forests is in the Tongass and Chugach forests.  The Tongass alone represents over 25%.

These forests are cool and wet.  Their carbon stocks are only minimally affected by wildfire, unlike many other forests in the lower 48 states.  Given the size and stability of the two forests, protecting them is a high priority for making it possible to meet global goals relating to climate and diversity of species.

Ecosystems remove about 30% of all the carbon dioxide humans put into the atmosphere and intact forests with high carbon density do most of that work.  Protecting Alaska’s forests is crucial.

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Southern Alaska’s national forests key to meeting climate, conservation goals, OSU study shows

Photo, posted August 4, 2014, courtesy of Jeff Canon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lakes Are Shrinking | Earth Wise

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A study by the University of Colorado Boulder has found that more than half of the world’s largest lakes have shrunk over the last three decades.  This is a very big problem because about one-quarter of the Earth’s population lives in the basin of a drying lake.  People depend on lakes for drinking water and irrigation and lakes are central to the survival of local ecosystems as well as migrating birds.  Lakes cover only about 3% of the planet, but they hold nearly 90% of the liquid surface freshwater.

The study used satellite observations from 1992 to 2020 to estimate the area and water levels of nearly 2,000 freshwater bodies.  These account for 96% of Earth’s total natural lake storage and 83% of that in man-made reservoirs.  About 53% of the world’s lakes have clearly shrunk, while only 22% have gained water.  The study estimates that about 160 trillion gallons of water has been lost over the 28-year period.  That’s about 17 times the maximum capacity of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States.

Many of the world’s most significant lakes have been shrinking. The dramatic declines in Lake Mead have been headline news for years.  The Caspian Sea, which is the world’s largest inland body of water – has long been declining.

The main causes of the decline in natural lakes are climate change and human consumption.  Reservoirs face an additional major problem of sediment buildup which reduces their storage capacity and diminishes their benefits of water supply, flood control, and hydropower.

Lake loss is a big problem.

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More than half of the world’s largest lakes are drying up

Photo, posted April 10, 2018, courtesy of Ninara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Protecting The Amazon Rainforest | Earth Wise

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The Amazon rainforest absorbs one-fourth of all the carbon dioxide absorbed by the land of the Earth.  It is by far the world’s largest rainforest, bigger than the next two largest – in the Congo Basin and Indonesia – combined.  Nearly two-thirds of it is found in Brazil but the more than 2 million square miles of rainforest includes portions in 8 countries.

The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the Amazon rainforest is 30% less today than it was in the 1990s as a result of deforestation, to a great extent driven by cattle ranching as well as other agricultural activities.

In early August, the leaders of the eight countries that are home to the Amazon River basin agreed to work together to conserve the rainforest.  The agreement, called the Belém Declaration, provides a roadmap to stave off the rampant deforestation. 

The agreement provides coordination between the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela to establish law enforcement to combat illegal mining and logging as well as to pool development funds for conservation and sustainable employment.  Despite the unity portrayed at the meeting, many of the governments in South America are in a precarious position because of various economic and political struggles

Apart from its critical climate impact, the Amazon rainforest is a haven for biodiversity and further deforestation would be disastrous for tens of thousands of species and could transform it into a net emitter rather than absorber of greenhouse gases.  Some parts of the region have already reached that point.

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Amazon Countries, Led by Brazil, Sign a Rainforest Pact

Photo, posted October 17, 2016, courtesy of Yeoboya via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Chasing The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker | Earth Wise

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The ivory-billed woodpecker is or was the largest woodpecker in the United States. The last unassailable sighting of the bird was in 1944.  Since then, there have various reports of glimpses of the bird or of hearing its distinctive sounds.  But there has not been anything resembling proof that the bird still exists.

Despite this, the ivory-billed woodpecker has been legally protected under the Endangered Species Act.  There has been a proposal to end that protection and formally declare the species extinct.  Because of the controversy surrounding the bird, a final ruling on its status has been repeatedly delayed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Very recently, a peer-reviewed study in the journal Ecology and Evolution makes the case that the ivory-billed woodpecker still exists and that it is premature to declare it extinct.  The study cites visual encounters by expert observers, audio recordings, tree-damage, and rather grainy video evidence.  The authors claim that there is intermittent but repeated presence of birds that at least look and behave like ivory-billed woodpeckers.

One might ask:  why does it matter whether this bird is declared extinct or not?  The answer is that there are limited federal funds for conservation efforts, and they should be spent on saving genuinely endangered species and habitats.  The authors of the new study say that removing federal protection would be bad for any remaining ivory bills, which may be living in some swampy old-growth forests in Louisiana.  Other scientists consider conservation resources expended on the ivory-billed woodpecker to be chasing a ghost.

As is the case for several other notorious objects, one really clear photograph of an ivory-billed woodpecker could solve a long-standing mystery.

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A Vanished Bird Might Live On, or Not. The Video Is Grainy

Photo, posted October 19, 2014, courtesy of James St. John via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Seaweed On The Way | Earth Wise

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A type of seaweed called sargassum has long formed large blooms in the Atlantic Ocean.  It gets its name from the Sargasso Sea in the western Atlantic.  Since 2011, scientists have been tracking massive accumulations of the stuff each year that starts out off the coast of Africa and works its way across the Atlantic to end up in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The amount of sargassum present each year can shift depending on factors like changes in nutrients, rainfall, and wind conditions.  But since the 1980s, nitrogen content in the Atlantic has gone up by 45%.  This is likely due to human activities such as agriculture and fossil fuel production dumping materials into the rivers that feed into the ocean.

According to recent observations, the mass of seaweed now heading for Florida and other coastlines throughout the Gulf of Mexico may be the largest on record.  The giant blob of sargassum spans more than 5,000 miles in extent.  It is moving west and will pass through the Caribbean and up into the Gulf during the summer.  The seaweed is expected to become prevalent on beaches in Florida around July.

The seaweed provides food and protection for fishes, mammals, marine birds, crabs, sea turtles, and more.  But unfortunately, when sargassum hits the beaches, it piles up in mounds that can be difficult to walk through and eventually emits a gas that smells like rotten eggs.

Tourist destinations in the Caribbean region have their work cut out for them to remove seaweed that can pile up several feet deep.  For example, in Barbados, locals were using 1,600 dump trucks a day to clean their beaches.  Caribbean and Florida resorts spend millions of dollars each year to remove sargassum seaweed.

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A 5,000-mile-wide blob of seaweed is headed for Florida, threatening tourism across the Caribbean

Photo, posted February 24, 2020, courtesy of Bernard Dupont via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Pulling Carbon Dioxide Out Of Seawater | Earth Wise

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The world’s largest sink for carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is the ocean.  The world’s oceans soak up 30-40% of all the gas produced by human activities.  Dissolving carbon dioxide in water produces carbonic acid.   This is the reason that oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, which is causing serious damage to ocean ecosystems.

There are many efforts underway aimed at directly removing carbon dioxide from the air as a way to mitigate the effects of ongoing emissions.  But another possibility is to remove CO2 directly from ocean water.  Existing methods for doing it involve the use of expensive membranes and complex chemicals. The economics of such methods are quite unfavorable.

Recently, a team of researchers at MIT has identified what they claim is a truly efficient and inexpensive removal mechanism. It involves a reversible process based on membrane-free electrochemical cells.  Electrodes in the cells release protons that are introduced to seawater which drive the release of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water. The carbon dioxide can be collected and the processed water ends up being alkaline.

Running this process at a site that is already collecting seawater – such as at a desalination plant – would be an effective way to collect carbon dioxide as well as help mitigate ocean acidification.

Once the carbon dioxide is removed from the water, it still needs to be disposed of, just as is the case for other carbon removal processes.  It could be turned into useful chemicals or it could be stored in underground caverns.  But this approach is fairly unique in that the carbon dioxide has already been captured by the ocean.  The issue remains what to do with it.

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How to pull carbon dioxide out of seawater

Photo, posted January 19, 2016, courtesy of Judy Dean via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fuel From Wind And Water | Earth Wise

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Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe and it can be used as a fuel to run cars, trains, and even airplanes.  Using it produces no harmful emissions.  However, to date, the way it is economically produced is not clean and green.  It is made from natural gas and leaves behind lots of carbon dioxide.

Around the world there are many projects working on so-called green hydrogen.  Producing hydrogen by splitting water into its component elements is called electrolysis and produces only oxygen as a waste product.  The problem with electrolysis is that it takes prodigious amounts of energy and therefore is very expensive.

A new project taking place in north Texas hopes to create the country’s first large-scale producer of green hydrogen.  The project is building a 900-megawatt wind farm along with a 500-megawatt solar farm.  The 1.4 gigawatts of total production capacity is more energy than the city of Austin consumes.  That energy will be used to produce 200,000 kilograms of hydrogen a day.

This project is among the largest proposed green hydrogen projects in the U.S.   There are green hydrogen proposals in Europe, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East that range from 10 GW to 67 GW. 

The Texas project, being developed in partnership by Air Products and AES, has been enabled by government support from the Inflation Reduction Act.    

There are a few thousand hydrogen-powered cars, boats, and trains but without substantial, cost-effective hydrogen infrastructure, the market is very limited.   Subsidizing the development of the necessary infrastructure is essential if there is any real chance to create the long-imagined hydrogen economy.

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Texas Project Will Use Wind to Make Fuel Out of Water

Photo, posted June 5, 2005, courtesy of City Transport Info via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate A Winner In The Elections | Earth Wise

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The dominant issues in midterm elections in November were the economy and abortion rights, but at the same time there were also ballot initiatives in various cities and states across the country related to climate.  What some describe as the ‘silent surprise’ of the election was that these initiatives generally passed and, in some cases, by large majorities.

The most significant of these ballot measures was in New York, where two-thirds  of voters passed the largest environmental bond measure in state history.  The measure funds up to $4.2 billion for environmental improvement projects including increasing flood resiliency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, electrifying school buses, and creating more green and open spaces.

The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act provides up to $1.5 billion for projects aimed at climate change mitigation.  Another $1.1 billion is targeted for flood risk reduction and waterway restoration.  $650 million goes for water quality and infrastructure improvement. 

Rhode Island voters passed a green bonds act that will allow the state to invest in climate resiliency at the municipal level, as well as local recreation, open space protection, brownfields remediation, and forest and habitat restoration. 

Other climate-related ballot measures passed in Boulder, Colorado and in El Paso, Texas.  There were however a few climate measures that lost.  Proposition 30 in California that would have taxed very high-income residents to encourage sale of electric vehicles failed.  So did Arizona Proposition 310, which would have increased sales taxes by 0.1% to fund fire districts.

But overall, it was a good election for the climate.

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Voters pass historic climate initiatives in ‘silent surprise’ of US midterms

Photo, posted September 24, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Hybrid Renewable Energy Plants | Earth Wise

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Hybrid renewable energy systems combine multiple renewable energy and/or energy storage technologies into a single plant.  The goal is to reduce costs and increase energy output relative to separate systems taking advantage of common infrastructure and the ability of one renewable energy source having appreciable output while a second one might not at a particular time.

Recently, the largest hybrid renewable power plant in the United States was completed in rural Oregon.  The Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility combines a wind farm, a solar array, and battery storage.

Plants that include just solar power and energy storage are also called hybrid plants, but the Wheatridge Facility is special because it includes wind power.  The facility comprises a 200-megawatt wind farm, a 50-megawatt solar array, and a 30-megawatt battery system capable of providing power for four hours.  The combined system can provide for the electricity needs of about 100,000 homes.

There are about 140 projects in the United States that combine solar and storage.  There are 14 that combine solar and wind.  There are only four plants – with the completion of Wheatridge – that have wind, solar, and storage.  

Wind and solar energy are generally complementary technologies.  Wind is usually strongest at night while solar, of course, is a daytime source of energy.  Solar and wind plants don’t need to be close together to take advantage of this, but hybrid projects benefit from needing only one grid connection and one lease for land.

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A Clean Energy Trifecta: Wind, Solar and Storage in the Same Project

Photo, posted December 27, 2015, courtesy of Gerry Machen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Great Salt Lake Is Disappearing | Earth Wise

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Utah’s Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere.  According to data from the US Geological Survey, the surface water elevation of the Great Salt Lake has fallen to the lowest level since records began in the mid-1800s.  The average elevation is now 4,190 feet above sea level.   With this drop in water level, the surface area of the lake is little more than half of its historical size.  The lower water level has exposed about 700 square miles of previously submerged lakebed.

The lake now contains about a quarter of the volume of water that it did at its high point in 1987.  The precipitous drop in water is a result of water usage from the lake coupled with climate change-fueled drought.   Increased water demand is due to the rapidly growing population of metropolitan Salt Lake City.  Utah’s population is projected to increase by almost 50% by 2060.

The Great Salt Lake goes though seasonal cycles of water loss and replenishment.  Rain and snow generally refill its level.  However, because of the ongoing megadrought in the West, water evaporation and depletion continue to exceed the amount of water entering the lake.  The water levels are expected to further decrease until fall or early winter, when incoming water is expected to equal or exceed evaporation.

The decline of the Great Salt Lake is a serious threat to the economy, ecology, and people of northern Utah.  The lake generates snowpack, is a refuge for hundreds of migratory birds and other wildlife and generates millions of dollars in the economy through mineral extraction and tourism.

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Utah’s Great Salt Lake is disappearing

Photo, posted October 6, 2020, courtesy of Julie Girard via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)