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Green transit in London

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TfL – Transport for London – the operator of the transportation system in Britain’s capital city, has signed a deal with EDF Renewables to purchase electricity from a huge solar array to be erected next year in Essex.  TfL has the goal of powering 100% of its entire transit system – including its sprawling underground railway network – with renewable electricity by 2030.

The forthcoming 1,000-acre solar facility will also transform low-quality farmland by incorporating the planting of trees and hedgerows as well as setting aside some areas for natural regeneration, attracting a greater number of species of plants and animals, expanding biodiversity in the area.  Looking after nature and protecting the environment are key elements in TfL’s contracts, in keeping with its wider goals to be greener, more sustainable, and well-adapted to climate change. 

The solar facility will generate 80 gigawatt-hours annually for the transit authority, roughly enough electricity to power 29,000 homes, comprising about 20% of its total output.  Powering the entire sprawling London underground railroad network is equivalent to powering 420,000 homes.  Over the course of the 15-year contract with EDF, TfL expects to save over 30,000 tons of carbon from its operations.

TfL plans to secure 70% of its electricity use from power purchase agreements for renewable electricity from various sources with the remainder from green tariffs.  The Mayor of London has set the goal for London to be a net zero carbon city by 2030.

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London Inches Closer to Running Transit System Entirely on Renewable Power

Photo, posted March 5, 2017, courtesy of Albert Koch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Making hydrogen using bioengineering

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Hydrogen has great potential for helping society to reach net-zero emissions.  The problem is that the most economical and established production methods for hydrogen depend heavily on fossil fuels and result in roughly a dozen kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions for every kilogram of hydrogen produced.

The carbon-free way to produce hydrogen is by splitting water into its component elements.  This process generally requires the use of catalysts and lots of energy.

Researchers at the University of Oxford are developing a synthetic biology approach to the production of so-called green hydrogen.  The idea is to replace expensive, exotic metal-based catalysts with a highly-efficient, stable, and cost-effective catalyst based on genetically-engineered bacteria.

There are specific microorganisms that can naturally induce the chemical reaction that reduces protons to hydrogen by the use of hydrogenase enzymes.  While these reactions do occur naturally, they are limited to low hydrogen yields.

The Oxford researchers genetically engineered the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis by inserting a light activated electron pump called Gloeobacter rhodopsin as well as adding nanoparticles of graphene oxide and ferric sulfate.  All of this tinkering with the bacterium resulted in a ten-fold increase in hydrogen yield.

The researchers believe that their system, based entirely on biological methods rather than traditional chemical approaches, could be scaled up to produce ‘artificial leaves’ that, when exposed to sunlight, would immediately begin producing hydrogen.  The Oxford work was published last summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

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A green fuels breakthrough: bio-engineering bacteria to become ‘hydrogen nanoreactors’

Photo, posted July 27, 2016, courtesy of Blondinrikard Froberg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Big Tech and emissions

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Most of the well-known largest technology companies have established ambitious clean energy goals.  They are on record for achieving net-zero emissions for all their operations and supply chains in many cases by 2030.  As a result, they have been investing heavily in renewable energy in various ways.  Despite these lofty goals and sincere efforts, many of them are struggling to reduce emissions.  The reason is simple:  big data.

A good example is Google, which started investing in renewable energy in 2010 and since 2017 has been purchasing renewable energy on an annual basis to match the electricity consumption of its global operations. However, Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased nearly 48% since 2019.  This is primarily a result of data center energy consumption.

The expanding use of artificial intelligence technology is consuming large amounts of electricity.  For example, a single ChatGPT query uses nearly 10 times as much electrical energy as a traditional Google search.

Google is by no means unique in having this problem.  Microsoft’s carbon emissions have risen by nearly 30% since 2020.  Amazon is struggling to reach net-zero across its operations by 2040.

All of these companies are entering into large power agreements with renewable energy companies all across the country.  The AI arms race for more and more computational power is driving a race to install more and more large-scale renewable energy.   Power purchase agreements for solar power, wind power, and even geothermal power are becoming a major activity for most of the largest tech companies.

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Can Google gobble up enough renewables?

Photo, posted February 12, 2023, courtesy of Geoff Henson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Record energy transition investments

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Global investment in the energy transition – that is, the transition away from fossil fuels – increased by 17% in 2023, reaching a new high of $1.8 trillion dollars.  That number includes spending on electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure, electrification of the power grid, and various other changes to the energy system.

Electrified transport was the largest sector for spending, accounting for $634 billion dollars.  This figure includes spending on electric cars, trucks, buses, two- and three-wheeler, and commercial vehicles, as well as charging stations and other associated infrastructure.

The renewable energy sector – including wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuel power plants – accounted for $623 billion.  The third largest investment was $310 billion in power grid investments.

China spent the most of any country by a large margin, investing $676 billion. The EU, U.S., and UK combined accounted for $718 billion. 

These numbers reflect the rapid growth of clean energy across the globe and are obviously quite large.  However, the pace at which clean energy technology is growing is not fast enough to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century that most countries have set.  By many accounts, energy transition investments would need to average $4.8 trillion per year for the rest of the decade to be on track.  This is about 5.6% of the global gross domestic product that is currently about $85 trillion per year.  By comparison, the U.S. currently spends about 5.7% of its GDP on energy.

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Energy transition investments hit record $1.8 trillion in 2023

Photo, posted November 22, 2008, courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Are we really serious about eliminating fossil fuels?

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Almost all the countries around the world have pledged to take action to reduce planet-warming emissions by expanding the use of renewable energy sources and phasing out fossil fuels.  But very few countries seem to be taking the fossil fuel phase-out seriously.

Almost all the top 20 fossil-fuel producing countries plan to produce more oil, gas, and coal in 2030 than they do today.  Countries are doubling down on fossil fuel production, which will make it virtually impossible to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

Despite having an administration that takes climate issues very seriously, the United States is now the world’s biggest crude oil producer and is ramping up exports of natural gas.  Brazil, under its environmental champion President da Silva, plans to increase oil production by 63% and more than double its gas output over the next decade.  India, which has promised to expand renewable energy production, will more than double its production of coal by 2030.  Canada, which has a net-zero commitment enacted as law, will boost its oil output by 25% in the next 12 years.  Meanwhile, countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia aren’t even pretending to make the transition away from fossil fuels.

Governments and citizens around the world may be serious about the climate crisis and are taking various actions.  But the world cannot address climate change without tackling its root cause.  The overwhelming force of greed and the power wielded by the fossil fuel industry has created a dynamic that is making real progress nearly impossible as fossil fuels continue to power the world.

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Coming Soon: More Oil, Gas and Coal

Photo, posted June 22, 2020, courtesy of John Morton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The right to not buy fossil fuels

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Minnesota has been one of the most aggressive states in setting and realizing clean energy goals.  As of this year, Minnesota gets 55% of its energy from net zero carbon emission sources.  The state has goals of reaching 80% green energy by 2030, 90% by 2035, and 100% by 2040.  Recent legislation in Minnesota aims at further reducing carbon emissions and job creation in the clean energy sector.

All of this is very good news, but not for the neighboring state of North Dakota.  Minnesota getting all of its energy from clean energy sources means that it would no longer be a customer for the fossil fuel products of North Dakota.

North Dakota is known for its vast reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas and, apart from agriculture, the energy industry is the biggest moneymaker in the state.  Faced with the aggressive clean energy initiatives of its next-door neighbor, North Dakota has threatened to sue Minnesota. 

What would be the basis of such a lawsuit?  The argument would be that Minnesota’s clean energy goals would be in violation of interstate commerce laws and infringe upon North Dakota’s economic sovereignty.  The claim would be that the energy regulations in Minnesota unfairly discriminate against North Dakota’s energy products.

Minnesota, on the other hand, would defend its energy goals as a legitimate exercise of its own state sovereignty and a necessary response to the climate crisis.

The outcome of any legal battle that may take place will have far-reaching implications for Minnesota and North Dakota as well as for other states across the country that have clean energy initiatives.

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North Dakota plans to sue Minnesota over its clean energy goals. What comes next?

Photo, posted June 8, 2019, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Methane Emissions And The Paris Agreement | Earth Wise

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The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015.  Its goal is to strengthen the global response to climate change by committing to limit the rise in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit that increase to just 1.5°C. 

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires reaching net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by or around 2050, as well as deep reductions in methane and other emissions. 

According to a new study by researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada, reductions in methane emissions are needed urgently  if we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.  The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature’s Communications Earth & Environment, suggests that global warming levels could be kept below 2°C if methane mitigation efforts are initiated globally before 2030.  However, delaying methane mitigation to the year 2040 or beyond would increase the risk of exceeding 2°C, even if net-zero carbon dioxide emissions were achieved.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in contributing to global temperature increases over the last two centuries.  However, methane is known to warm the planet 86 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

During the past 40 years, more than 60% of global methane emissions have been produced as a result of human activities, such as fossil fuel exploitation, livestock production, and waste from landfills.

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Delaying methane mitigation increases risk of breaching Paris Agreement climate goal, study finds

Photo, posted July 22, 2011, courtesy of Steven W. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cleaner And Greener Steel | Earth Wise

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Producing construction materials like concrete and steel is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.  Between 7 and 8% of emissions are due to steelmaking alone, which has been done pretty much the same way for more than a century.

Iron ore is smelted with high-carbon fuel and is turned into so-called pig iron in a blast furnace, which creates the key raw material for the steel industry.  The process uses huge amounts of energy (still often generated by burning fossil fuels) and releases carbon dioxide as a byproduct. 

The Department of Energy is sponsoring 40 projects at universities, national laboratories and companies in 21 states aimed at reducing industrial carbon pollution.  Ten of those projects are focused on decarbonizing iron and steel. These initiatives are part of the overall effort to move the nation towards a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

A team headed by Case Western Reserve University that includes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of Arizona, and steel company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has developed a promising new zero-carbon, electrochemical process for producing steel.

The process is a novel molten salt electrolysis method that is low-cost, capable of achieving high rates, and uses environmentally benign chemicals.  The process does not use carbon at all.  Using molten salts, electrochemistry can be performed at moderately high temperatures rather than the temperatures of nearly 3000 degrees Fahrenheit used for conventional steelmaking.  The goal is to enable steel production that is both economically viable at an industrial scale and that is environmentally sustainable.

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Case Western Reserve leading research to develop zero-carbon, electrochemical process to produce iron metal as part of U.S. Department of Energy effort

Photo, posted January 11, 2017, courtesy of Kevin Casey Fleming via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Liquid Fuel From Sunshine | Earth Wise

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A key goal of artificial photosynthesis research is to be able to produce a useful liquid fuel using only carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight in a single step.  Such a so-called solar fuel would produce net zero carbon emissions and would be completely renewable.

Bioethanol has long been touted as a green alternative to fossil fuels, since it is made from plants rather than petroleum.  But producing it takes up agricultural land that could be used to grow food instead and there are emissions associated with many aspects of the process by which plant mass becomes fuel.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK have developed a so-called artificial leaf that produces ethanol or propanol – usable liquid fuels – in a single step.  They developed a copper and palladium-based catalyst that allows the artificial leaf to directly produce multicarbon complex chemicals.  Earlier versions of artificial leaves could make simple chemicals, such as syngas, which would then require additional processing to turn into high-density fuels.

The new device produces liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water simply by shining sunlight on it.

At present, the artificial leaf is a proof-of-concept device that exhibits only modest efficiency.  The researchers are working to optimize the device’s light absorbers so that they can better make use of sunlight and to optimize the catalyst so that it can convert more of the sunlight into fuel.  In addition, the device needs to be scaled up so that it can produce large volumes of fuel.

All that being said, it is an important step towards people being able to do what plants have been doing for millions of years.

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Driving on sunshine: clean, usable liquid fuels made from solar power

Photo, posted March 23, 2015, courtesy of Astro via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Removing Carbon Dioxide Won’t Get the Job Done | Earth Wise

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Limiting global warming to no more than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is a crucial goal for humankind.  Countries, companies, and other organizations around the world have committed to achieving ‘net zero’ emissions.  This is distinct from zero emissions in that it includes removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to offset the amounts we are putting into it.  Carbon dioxide removal is increasingly touted as the way to achieve emission goals.  But it is a realistic strategy?  According to a recent paper by a leading climate scientist in the journal Nature, the answer in the short term is decidedly no.

In 2022, the world emitted 45 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Last year’s bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked $3.5 billion for developing four direct air capture hubs in the US.  Each of these is expected to eventually be able to extract a little over a million tons of CO2 from the air each year. These hubs combined would therefore remove about 52 minutes’ worth of the year’s emissions over the course of the year. 

The bottom line is that unless we drastically reduce emissions, all the carbon dioxide removal strategies combined will scarcely make a dent in the problem.

We will never be able to eliminate all sources of emissions, particularly from certain industries, and carbon dioxide removal will be a very important technology to address those emissions, but in the big picture, it is essential that the world decarbonizes as much as possible and as soon as possible.

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Carbon dioxide removal is not a current climate solution — we need to change the narrative

Photo, posted January 19, 2009, courtesy of Wladimir Labeikovsky via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon Capture Booming | Earth Wise

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For the world to reach a state of net-zero emissions, it is going to require more than the ongoing transition to renewable energy sources.  There will also need to be efforts to capture the emissions from sources that can’t easily eliminate their pollution.  These include steel mills, cement plants, and other industrial sites.  At least for the foreseeable future,  a number of essential industries have no other viable path to deep decarbonization, and carbon capture and storage projects are the only promising strategy on hand.

Companies use CCS to filter emissions from fossil fuel power plants and industrial facilities and then bury the captured carbon underground, often in deep caverns.

Over the past 12 months, the pipeline for carbon capture and storage projects has grown by 44%.  This year, firms have announced 61 new CCS projects, bringing the total number of commercial projects in the global pipeline to 196, which includes about 30 that are already in operation.  Another 11 are under construction, and 153 are in development.

When all of these projects are completed, they will have the capacity to capture a total of about 270 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.  Estimates are that there need to be 1,400 million tons locked away each year to reach zero-emissions.  So, the existing project pipeline constitutes about 20% of what is ultimately needed.

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act boosts tax incentives for carbon capture.  Analysts believe this could multiply U.S. deployment of the technology more than 10-fold.  Globally, it is expected that CCS will continue its rapid growth as countries ramp up investments in the technology.

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Carbon Capture Projects See Meteoric Growth in 2022

Photo, posted August 22, 2022, courtesy of Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California Climate Legislation | Earth Wise

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At the end of its summer session, California’s state legislature passed five climate-related bills including ones that it had been unable to pass in previous sessions.  Taking all of these actions puts California in the position of blazing a trail for the country and the rest of world in taking aggressive action on climate issues.

One bill confirmed California’s goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2045.  Another bill added interim-term targets to go along with the state’s goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2045.  It sets a target of 90% by 2030 and 95% by 2040.  That bill mandates that California state agencies use 100% clean energy by 2035, which is a decade earlier than the previous requirement.

A third bill requires the California Air Resources Board to determine steps and regulations for carbon-capture and storage projects at pollution hotspots like oil refineries.

A fourth bill requires the state to set goals for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through natural means such as tree planting.

The California state budget includes a record-breaking $54 billion to be spent on climate programs over the next five years, including $6.1 billion toward electric vehicles, $14.8 billion towards public transit projects, more than $8 billion for electric grid stabilization, $2.7 billion towards preventing wildfires, and $2.8 billion towards managing drought.

California has been dealing with ongoing drought and numerous wildfires and is highly motivated to take decisive action in dealing with the climate crisis.  California’s environmental initiatives often result in comparable actions taken by other states.

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California Passes Massive Climate Legislation Package

Photo, posted March 16, 2019, courtesy of Raymond Shobe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Green Steel | Earth Wise

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The Inflation Reduction Act provides $369 billion in investments to ramp up renewable energy generation and manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, energy storage, and electric vehicles. 

Every megawatt of solar power deployed requires 35 to 45 tons of steel.  Every megawatt of wind power uses 120 to 180 tons of steel.   Estimates are that it will take 1.7 billion tons of steel just to build all the wind turbines needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

This is a big problem because steel production accounts for roughly 10% of global carbon emissions and is one of the most carbon-intensive industries in the world.

Making steel is a complex and age-old process that hasn’t changed much over time.  Green steel is steel made with little or no carbon emissions.  There are a few ways to do it.  One is called the direct reduced iron method that uses green hydrogen instead of fossil fuel gas to produce iron and then a renewable-powered electric arc furnace to make the steel. 

Molten Oxide Electrolysis is an alternative green steel approach that doesn’t depend on having a green hydrogen infrastructure.  It uses electrolysis, powered by renewable energy, to separate the bonds of iron ore and produce liquid metal while releasing only oxygen in the process.

Green steel solutions rely on the availability of renewable energy, but the ultimate success of renewable energy will depend on the success of green steel.  The U.S. steel industry will leverage about $6 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act to make progress on it.

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Building tomorrow’s clean energy systems on green steel

Photo, posted October 30, 2008, courtesy of Paul Bica via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon Capture: Solution Or Band-Aid? | Earth Wise

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The idea of capturing the CO2 emissions from industry and locking them up is nothing new.  It’s been going on for decades in some places.  Norway’s state-owned oil company Equinor has been holing away a million tons of CO2 a year for a long time.  But overall, CCS – carbon capture and storage – has had very limited use.  As of last year, there were only about 30 large-scale projects in operation around the world, capturing only 0.1% of global emissions.

There is now growing interest in CCS and many new projects are underway.  A combination of rising carbon prices in Europe, tax breaks for CCS in the US, national net-zero targets, and the increasing need to ramp down global emissions are all driving rising CCS activities. 

While recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change still claim that it is possible to remain below 2 degrees Celsius of warming without using carbon capture, there is growing belief that it may be necessary given the present pace of the transition away from fossil fuels.

Two industries that together produce about 14% of global CO2 emissions are cement and steel.  These are both industries for which it is difficult to eliminate emissions regardless of the energy sources used. CCS may be the best approach to reducing their emissions.

But there is considerable pushback against CCS.  The concern is that CCS is primarily a way to delay decarbonization.  It encourages various industries to continue to use fossil fuels instead of shifting away from them.  Nonetheless, CCS no doubt has its place as part of the solution to climate change.

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Solution or Band-Aid? Carbon Capture Projects Are Moving Ahead

Photo, posted June 5, 2022, courtesy of Mark Dixon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Solar-Powered Target Store | Earth Wise

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Many companies have made sustainability commitments of various types. Environmental organizations have urged big-box and grocery stores to install solar panels on their rooftops and parking lots thereby reducing their energy usage and expanding the country’s supply of renewable energy.  These places occupy large areas and therefore are capable of supporting large solar arrays.

According to a report by two environmental advocacy groups, rooftop solar panels on retail stores could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 8 million U.S. homes.

Target Stores are one of the retailers that has been making an effort to be a greener company.  Target has installed solar panels on about 25% of its approximately 1,900 stores.  The Target store in Vista, California, about 40 miles north of San Diego, is the company’s most sustainable store.  It already had solar panels on its rooftop, powering a portion of the store.

But now it has installed massive carports topped with solar panels high above its parking lot.  With these panels, this Target can now produce enough renewable energy to power the entire store, from its refrigeration to its heating and air conditioning. Adding in some of the other energy-saving features of the store, Target expects to produce 10% more energy than the store needs, which it will return to the local power grid.  This is Target’s first net-zero energy store.

Target is not the only big retailer going solar.   Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Walmart all have been installing solar panels on some of their rooftops.  Even some restaurants are trying to reach sustainability goals with solar panels.  This is a trend that hopefully will continue to grow.

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Target looks to massive solar panels in a California parking lot as a green model to power its stores

Photo, posted June 30, 2014, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Record Levels Of Deforestation In The Amazon | Earth Wise

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The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering more than 2.5 million square miles.  It’s home to 10% of all known species in the world.  The Amazon rainforest’s biodiversity is so rich that scientists are still discovering new plant and animal species today.  

The Amazon rainforest absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere, making it a key part of mitigating climate change.  The vast rainforest acts as what’s known as a carbon sink.  Simply put, a carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases.  But as trees in the Amazon disappear, so does the ability of the rainforest to absorb carbon dioxide.

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest remains a major problem.  According to satellite data from the Brazilian government, the number of trees cut down in the Brazilian Amazon in January far exceeded deforestation figures for the same month last year.  Approximately 166 square miles of land was deforested in January alone, which is five times greater than what was lost in January, 2021.

Cattle ranching – both for beef and for leather – remains the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.  Trees in the Amazon are also cut down for their wood, as well as to clear the land in order to grow food crops, such as soy, sugar, and oil palm. 

Many companies have pledged to achieve “net zero” deforestation in their supply chains over the years, but most have not lived up to the commitment. 

Deforestation is not only a major driver of climate change, but it’s also the leading cause of species extinction.  Preserving the Amazon rainforest is vital. 

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Amazon deforestation: Record high destruction of trees in January

Greenpeace calls on fast food giants to take a stand against Bolsonaro’s Amazon destruction

Hundreds of Companies Promised to Help Save Forests. Did They?

Photo, posted July 14, 2018, courtesy of Alexander Gerst via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Five States Stepping Up On Clean Energy | Earth Wise

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While Congress continues to face partisan gridlock on climate issues, many states have moved forward with climate action.

In 2021, five states – Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, North Carolina, and Rhode Island – passed laws requiring a shift to 100% carbon-free electricity or net-zero emissions.  Washington State passed a law that helps to implement its strong 2019 and 2020 climate and clean energy laws.  Washington’s new legislation establishes a carbon trading program that will help the state to meet its goals of economy-wide emission cuts and 100% carbon-free electricity.

Several other states made progress on climate and clean energy by taking targeted actions not quite as aggressive as 100% laws, but significant, nonetheless.

The five states that entered the so-called 100% club joined with the six states that had earlier passed such legislation.  Those are California, Hawaii, New Mexico, New York, Virginia, and Washington.  Both Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. are also members of the club.

The past year may well be the biggest year yet for significant clean energy legislation.  Some of the states that finally passed laws had been gearing up for it for years.  This is particularly true of Massachusetts and Illinois.

Actions by individual states are not an antidote to inaction by the federal government, but they help.  At this point, about one-third of the country’s population lives in states that have laws requiring a transition to 100% carbon-free electricity, 100% renewable electricity, or net-zero emissions. 

All of this activity began in 2015, when Hawaii passed its renewable energy law.

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Inside Clean Energy: Here Are 5 States that Took Leaps on Clean Energy Policy in 2021

Photo, posted August 12, 2021, courtesy of Glacier NPS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Reducing Emissions From Shipping And Aviation | Earth Wise

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The global marine shipping and aviation industries are each responsible for about 3% of greenhouse gas emissions.  These are relatively small numbers, but as other industries decarbonize, the contributions from shipping and aviation will loom larger and larger.

In October, both of these industries made commitments to reach net zero emissions by 2050.  How can they do it?  We don’t really have the details of the technologies to be used, and neither do these industries.  But there are ideas being considered.

For both ships and planes, the solution for short-distance trips can be electrification.  Electric planes are in the works for short distances.  Battery-powered container ships are also under development.  But the electrification of longer international and intercontinental routes for both industries is very difficult.  The size and weight of batteries needed for long hauls are major challenges to overcome.

The low-carbon solution slowly being deployed in aviation is sustainable aviation fuel made from renewable sources. Longer term, green hydrogen fuel for planes may be a solution.  For shipping, hydrogen may play an even larger role.  As in the other potential uses for hydrogen, the essential requirement is to be able to produce hydrogen in a way that does not emit greenhouse gases.

There are multiple ways to move towards the decarbonization of both aviation and shipping.  Which will turn out to be the most practical and successful is not yet known.  What is essential is for both industries to follow through on their commitments to research, develop, and deploy zero-carbon solutions.  They appear to have embraced the vision for the future.  Now comes the hard work of achieving that vision.

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Shipping & Aviation Plan To Go Net Zero. How?

Photo, posted August 8, 2014, courtesy of Tomas Del Coro via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Greenhouse Gas Removal And Net Zero | Earth Wise

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Reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions can slow the progress of global warming but only reaching and sustaining net zero global emissions can halt the progress of climate change.

The move to renewable power and the use of electric transport are substantial and essential ways to reduce emissions.  But even if these transitions take place on a rapid timescale, they will not eliminate all emissions.  Many industrial activities and, especially, agriculture will continue to contribute substantial greenhouse gas emissions.   There are efforts to reduce the contributions of these things, but there are no zero-emission substitutes for most of them.

As a result, actually removing CO2 from the atmosphere once it is there is essential to achieve net zero emissions.  If greenhouse gas removal can be scaled up sufficiently, it opens the option of going “net negative”, which would be the ideal way to mitigate and, better still, reverse the effects of climate change.

There are multiple approaches to carbon dioxide removal.  Some are natural, involving ways of capturing and storing carbon in trees, biochar, and peatlands.  Others are technological.  An example is the system that has just gone into operation in Iceland that uses fans, chemicals, and heat to capture CO2 and then mineralize it in volcanic rock.   Another is a system being tested in the UK that captures CO2 from growing biomass and pipes it to storage under the North Sea.

Much of the attention on carbon capture technology is aimed at trapping the emissions from fossil fuel power plants, but the need to remove carbon dioxide that has entered the atmosphere in other ways is ultimately far greater.

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CO2 removal is essential to achieving net zero

Photo, posted August 17, 2013, courtesy of Joshua Mayer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Path To Net Zero | Earth Wise

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Reaching net zero emissions is both feasible and affordable, according to researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of San Francisco, and consulting firm Evolved Energy Research.   The researchers created a detailed model of the entire U.S. energy and industrial system to produce the first detailed, peer-reviewed study of how to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The study analyzed multiple feasible technology pathways based on very different assumptions of remaining fossil fuel use, land use, consumer adoption, nuclear energy, and biofuel use.  What they had in common was increasing energy efficiency, transitioning to electric technologies, utilizing clean electricity (especially wind and solar power), and deploying small amounts of carbon capture technology.

The decarbonization of the U.S. energy system is an infrastructure transformation.  Getting to net zero by 2050 means adding many gigawatts of wind and solar power plants, new transmission lines, a fleet of electric cars and light trucks, millions of heat pumps to replace conventional furnaces and water heaters, and more energy-efficient buildings.

The various pathways studied have net costs between 0.2% and 1.2% of GDP, which is as little as $1 per person per day.  The cost variations come from various tradeoffs such as the amount of land given to solar and wind farms as well as the amount of new transmission infrastructure required. 

A key result of the study is that the actions required over the next 10 years are similar among all the pathways.   We need to increase the use of renewable energy and make sure that all new infrastructure, such as cars and buildings are low carbon.

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Getting to Net Zero – and Even Net Negative – is Surprisingly Feasible, and Affordable

Photo, posted July 12, 2010, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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