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A record year for solar and batteries

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According to a recent forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar panels and batteries will account for more than 80% of new power capacity installed in the U.S. this year.  The record growth of these technologies is hastening the decline of coal power in this country.

Solar power alone will account for more than half of the country’s new power capacity and most of it will be in Texas and California.

Wind power is expected to provide only 12% of new capacity this year.  Wind is facing rising costs, lengthy permitting, public backlash, and clear opposition from the Trump administration which is determined to stifle its growth.

As renewable energy grows, coal power continues to decline.  The U.S. will retire twice as much coal power this year as it did last year, closing about 5% of the country’s capacity.  Not only are older coal plants shutting down; the remaining plants are generating less power.

One of the most significant changes in technology over the last few decades has been the massive drop in the cost of clean energy.  Solar photovoltaic costs have fallen by 90% in the past decade, onshore wind by 70%, and batteries by more than 90%.  The connection between cost reduction and volume has been very strong:  costs of these technologies have fallen by around 20% every time global cumulative capacity doubles.   Over the past 40 years, solar power has transformed from one of the most expensive electricity sources to the cheapest in many countries.  That trend is likely to continue.  Setting politics aside, market forces generally are the strongest driver.

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U.S. Solar and Batteries Headed for Record Year

Photo, posted December 16, 2024, courtesy of Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Politics and plastic

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The world currently produces nearly half a billion tons of plastic each year.  This is more than twice the amount it produced 20 years ago.  Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the past 20 years.  Plastic waste is everywhere.  About eight million tons of plastic waste escapes into the ocean each year.

Environmental groups have urged nations to adopt a legally binding treaty to address the ever-growing problem of plastic pollution. The United Nations climate conference in South Korea last month took up the issue of reaching agreement on such a treaty.  At what was supposed to be the final round of talks on the topic, delegates could not bridge wide differences on what such a treaty should contain.

The main bone of contention was whether the treaty should include limits on plastic production itself.  Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait, and other oil-producing countries opposed any curbs on plastic production.   They also opposed the phase-out of harmful chemicals used in the production of plastic.

The Saudi delegation claimed that if the issue of plastic pollution is addressed, there should be no problem with producing plastics.  They said the problem is pollution itself, not plastics.  They proposed a focus on improving recycling and waste management.

Of course, preventing plastic pollution from occurring is an extremely challenging thing to do.  Delegates from countries pushing for a wide-ranging treaty – led by Rwanda – were unwilling to accept a toothless theory lacking real constraints on the plastics industry.

As the conference ended, delegates said that they would reconvene in future months to try again to produce a treaty.  No date or place has been announced.

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Nations Fail to Reach an Agreement on Plastic Pollution

Photo, posted February 4, 2023, courtesy of Ingrid Taylar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Making wind turbines safer for birds

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There are people who oppose the installation of wind turbines for a variety of reasons. It is true that wind turbines can be dangerous to birds.  Estimates are that about 250,000 birds are killed flying into wind turbines each year in the U.S.  

However, this data needs to be looked at in comparison to bird deaths from flying into electrical lines (25 million), vehicles (214 million), and building glass (at least 600 million). And even these figures pale in comparison to the more than 2 billion birds killed by domestic cats each year.

Despite these facts, it would still be great if fewer birds died from flying into wind turbines.  Researchers at Oregon State University are part of a team looking at reducing bird collision risks from wind turbines by painting a single blade of the turbine black.

Recent research in Norway found that painting a single turbine blade black reduced the number of bird collisions by nearly 72%.  Why should this work?  The hypothesis is that the black-painted blades disrupt the visual uniformity of the airspace around the turbines and makes them more noticeable to birds, which prompts avoidance behavior.

The Norwegian data is based on a relatively small sample size and the Oregon State researchers as well as others in Spain, Sweden, and South Africa are working on more rigorous and comprehensive studies.

The hope is that this rather simple strategy could make windfarms safer for birds.  Unfortunately, this approach is not likely to be very effective with bats, which rely more on auditory cues rather than visual cues.

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Scientists studying impact of painting wind turbine blade black to reduce bird collisions

Photo, posted May 21, 2024, courtesy of Roy Harryman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Research on solar geoengineering

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Ideas for potential technologies that could artificially cool the planet as a countermeasure against global warming have been considered radical and dangerous for a long time.  But as climate change continues to become increasingly apparent, ideas like solar geoengineering are gaining increasing attention.

Most environmental organizations are at best skeptical about such ideas and oppose them.  Their opposition is in part based on the assertion that there are no quick fixes for climate change and that not addressing its root causes is a dangerous path to take.  But an even greater concern is that intentionally manipulating global temperatures is likely to have a host of unintended consequences that could prove disastrous.

One of the world’s largest environmental organizations, the Environmental Defense Fund, has decided to fund research into solar geoengineering.  The EDF cautions that is in not in favor of deploying such technology.  Its position is that the discussion about ways to cool the planet is not going away and cannot be ignored.  The lack of proper research can promote unfounded optimism about such technology  So, they are going to fund research that can provide information based on solid, well-formulated science.

A major focus will be what other effects technologies like cloud brightening and injecting aerosols into the atmosphere might have apart from providing cooling. 

The EDF’s own position is that deliberate climate interventions present serious ecological, moral, and geopolitical concerns.  However, they believe that policymakers need to be informed by the most accurate information possible.

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Environmental Group to Study Effects of Artificially Cooling Earth

Photo, posted February 3, 2008, courtesy of Camilla Cannarsa via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore wind in Massachusetts

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On January 2nd, the first large offshore wind farm in New England started producing electricity when its first turbine came online.  The Vineyard Wind project, located off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, will by the end of the year have a total of 62 turbines with a capacity of 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

Power finally flowing from Vineyard Wind is an important milestone for an industry that has struggled to get going.  It is the second utility-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. to begin generating electricity.  The South Fork Wind project off the coast of New York began producing power in December.  That project will eventually produce 132 megawatts of electric power.

The offshore wind industry in the U.S. has faced some difficulties in recent times.  A combination of rising costs, high interest rates, supply chain delays, and incidents of local opposition have created headwinds.  Developers for several large planned windfarms in the northeast have terminated contracts because of inflation and high interest rates.  The second phase of Empire Wind, located southeast of Long Island, has been at least temporarily shelved awaiting more favorable contract terms.

To fight climate change, many Eastern states are hoping to install dozens of large wind farms in the Atlantic that can generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases.  But as a result of the recent project cancellations, analysts are now projecting that U.S. offshore wind capacity in 2030 will likely be about a third less than previously predicted.

So far, the United States remains far behind Europe, which has already installed more than 32,000 megawatts of wind capacity in its waters.

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Massachusetts Switches On Its First Large Offshore Wind Farm

Photo, posted August 31, 2022, courtesy of Nina Ali via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Banning Neonicotinoid Pesticides | Earth Wise

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New York’s Birds and Bees Protection Act contains a targeted restriction on neonicotinoid pesticides. These widely-used insecticides are absorbed by plants and can be present in pollen and nectar, making them toxic to bees and other pollinators.

Among the largest applications of neonics (as they are called) has been in the form of coatings on crop seeds, such as corn and soybeans.  In 2019, Canada’s Quebec province strongly limited neonic use to protect pollinators and the environment.  The chemical industry vigorously protested the regulations and claimed that the restrictions would cause the collapse of the grain sector in Quebec.

Seed suppliers began supplying uncoated seeds in 2019 and now there is scarcely any use of coated seeds in the province.  Monitoring of over 1,000 agricultural sites has shown that there have been no crop failures related to the pesticide restrictions.  In fact, use of the neonics had no economic benefits. 

Naysayers warned that even more harmful pesticides or other farming practices would be used instead.  But that hasn’t happened either. Some farmers switched to much safer insecticides and others abandoned insecticide treatments altogether.

New York has faced similar opposition by farmers and chemical manufacturers to the Birds and Bees Protection Act and all of the same arguments that have been proven to be invalid in Quebec are being made in New York.  Most major environmental advocates in the state support the measures embodied in the legislation.  As usual, it boils down to a battle between economic interests and the health of the environment.

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Québec’s experience with pesticide ban offers a glimpse of what New York can expect

Photo, posted August 29, 2013, courtesy of the United Soybean Board / the Soybean Checkoff via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

More Offshore Wind Proposed For New Jersey | Earth Wise

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There have been three offshore wind projects previously approved by utility regulators in New Jersey.  New Jersey is vying to become an East Coast leader in the fast-growing offshore wind industry and now developers have proposed four new projects off the New Jersey Shore.

Two of the projects would be located far out to sea where they would not be visible at all from the shore.  One of them, called Community Offshore Wind, would be built 37 miles offshore from Long Beach Island.  It aims to generate enough electricity to power 500,000 homes.

A second project, called Leading Light Wind, would be located 40 miles off Long Beach Island and would consist of up to 100 turbines that would generate enough electricity to power 1 million homes.

The two companies that are building the already-approved Atlantic Shores Wind Farm have submitted a bid for a new project located 10 to 20 miles offshore.  In addition, a fourth application to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has also been submitted, but there is yet no public information about it.

Existing offshore projects have drawn intense opposition from homeowners in part because they are close enough to the Atlantic City and Ocean City shorelines to be seen by beachgoers, albeit as tiny objects on the horizon.  The new proposed projects located far offshore would not have this problem.

The new projects can take advantage of existing federal tax credits, but the bidders say they will not seek the tax breaks from New Jersey that the earlier project received as they have also been the subject of legal challenges by opponents of offshore wind.

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4 new offshore wind power projects proposed for New Jersey Shore; 2 would be far out to sea

Photo, posted March 25, 2016, courtesy of TEIA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Nantucket Residents Still Fighting Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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Offshore wind in the US has had to fight to exist for a long time.  The Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Cape Cod was envisioned over 20 years ago as a 1.5-gigawatt wind farm.  Years of legal battles and other controversies saw the project start and stop multiple times with only minimal actual construction.  Primary opposition came from residents who considered the turbines far off on the distant horizon to be an eyesore and threat to their property values.  Eventually, the project was terminated in 2017.

Since then, offshore wind has gained substantial support in the US and multiple projects are either ongoing or in the permitting process.  The 800 MW Vineyard Wind project is on track to be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the US, with plans to eventually generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

Once again, Nantucket residents are fighting against an offshore wind farm.  Once again, they are making arguments that are not really what concerns them, in this case, saying that the wind turbines are a threat to the survival of endangered North Atlantic right whales.

A federal judge has recently rejected a lawsuit brought by the group Nantucket Residents Against Turbines that sought to stop the project.  The judge found that the group failed to show that either the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management or the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act in its 2021 rulings on the impact of the proposed wind farm on the whales.

Undoubtedly there will be additional challenges from the group, possibly based on entirely different complaints.  It’s tough to build offshore wind in Massachusetts.

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Judge rejects lawsuit by Nantucket residents to block offshore wind farm

Photo, posted November 21, 2016, courtesy of Adrian Scottow via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar Canopies | Earth Wise

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There are plenty of solar panels on residential rooftops but there are also increasing numbers of arrays of them on croplands, arid lands, and grasslands. Large solar arrays are mostly built in open spaces like these rather than in developed areas.  The reason is that it is cheaper to build on undeveloped land than on rooftops or construct covered parking lots.

However, building on undeveloped land is not necessarily the smartest idea.   Undeveloped land is a dwindling resource that is needed for many different things:  growing food, sheltering wildlife, storing and purifying water, preventing erosion, and sequestering carbon. 

Putting solar panels on parking lots has the appeal that they are abundant, close to electricity customers, and are on land that already has been stripped of much of its biological value.

Putting a solar canopy over a parking lot can produce large amounts of electricity and has the added benefit that it would provide shade for cars.  For example, a typical Walmart supercenter might have a five-acre parking lot, which is enough to support a 3-megawatt solar array.  If Walmart put solar canopies on all of its 3,500+ super centers, it would provide 11 gigawatts of solar power – as much as a dozen large coal-fired power plants.

Solar canopies are still pretty uncommon, but some examples are ones at four DC Metro rail stations, one at JFK Airport, and a large one at the Rutgers University Piscataway campus.

Building parking lot solar canopies is much more expensive than putting solar arrays on open space, but they do eventually pay for themselves. Despite active opposition by utility and fossil fuel interests, solar canopies may eventually be a common sight.

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Why Putting Solar Canopies on Parking Lots Is a Smart Green Move

Photo, posted January 10, 2020, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Green Light For Commercial-Scale Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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The Biden administration has given final approval to a project it hopes will usher in a new era of wind energy in the United States.  The greenlight was announced by the Department of the Interior on May 11.

The Vineyard Wind project intends to install up to 84 huge wind turbines about 12 nautical miles off the cost of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.  In total, Vineyard Wind could generate 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 400,000 homes.  The construction project will create about 3,600 jobs.  The $2.8 billion project is a joint venture of the energy firms Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

The idea of a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast was conceived 20 years ago but ran into repeated setbacks, delays, and well-funded opposition from waterfront property owners concerned about what will ultimately be the barely discernable sight of tiny blips on the distant horizon.  The Trump administration moved to cancel the permitting process for Vineyard Wind, but the Biden administration revived the project in March as part of its greater efforts to tackle climate change.

Electricity generated by Vineyard Wind will travel via cables buried six feet below the ocean floor to Cape Cod, where they will connect to a substation and feed into the New England grid.  The project is expected to begin delivering wind-powered electricity in 2023.

The Biden administration says that it intends to fast-track permits for other wind projects off the Atlantic Coast and that it will offer $3 billion in federal loan guarantees for offshore wind projects and invest in upgrades to ports across the United States to support wind turbine construction.

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Biden Administration Approves Nation’s First Major Offshore Wind Farm

Photo, posted February 8, 2007, courtesy of mmatsuura via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Is U.S. Offshore Wind Finally Happening? | Earth Wise

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Offshore wind capacity has been growing rapidly in recent years, especially in Europe and China.  Globally, there is now more than 30 GW of offshore wind and industry experts predict that there will be well over 200 GW of installed capacity by 2030.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has only two small pilot projects, one with five turbines off Rhode Island and another with two turbines off Virginia.  But after many years of battles with determined opponents, false starts, regulatory struggles, and other hurdles, the U.S. offshore wind industry appears to be poised to take off.

A combination of significant commitments by power companies to purchase offshore wind power, strong support by the Biden administration, and billions of dollars in investments is creating the new-found momentum.

New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland have collectively committed to buying 30 GW of offshore electricity by 2035.  (That’s enough to power roughly 20 million homes).

Among the first major offshore installations to be completed in the next few years in the U.S. will be Vineyard Wind, 15 miles off of Martha’s Vineyard, another wind farm 60 miles east of New York’s Montauk Point, a third fifteen miles off Atlantic City, New Jersey, and a fourth off the Virginia Coast.

Offshore wind projects will create nearly 40,000 jobs just in the New York-New Jersey area over the next ten years.  There is still some opposition from elements of the commercial fishing industry and from some coastal residents.  However, with state and federal governments committed to reducing carbon emissions and rapidly reducing regulatory barriers, and with the price of offshore wind continuing to get lower and lower, most observers agree that the U.S. offshore wind industry is finally on the verge of really getting going.

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On U.S. East Coast, Has Offshore Wind’s Moment Finally Arrived?

Photo, posted August 9, 2016, courtesy of Lars Plougmann via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Removing Dams Restores Ecosystems

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In many parts of the country, dams that sometimes date back as much as 100 years are being removed and are giving way to the revival of migratory fish and their river ecosystems.  Since 1912, more than 1,600 dams have been removed in the U.S., but the pace of dam removal has greatly picked up in recent years.  2017 and 2018 were the highest years ever with 91 and 99 dams removed, respectively.

When dams are removed, the response from migratory fish can be almost immediate.  A large dam removal project on the Penobscot River in Maine in 2012 opened up 1,000 miles of habitat with a quick return of shad and alewives, followed by salmon.

In 2022, four large dams across the Klamath River will be removed.  The dams, which are located at the California and Oregon border, were facing an expensive re-licensing process and, because of their age, could no longer be run at a profit.

Re-licensing the dams along the Klamath was going to cost as much as $400 million.  On the other hand, uncapping the Klamath River has tremendous commercial and tourism potential.  Two states, tribal nations, and other stakeholders have all seen the virtues of restoring the landscape to its original form.

Opposition to dam removal is typically driven by aesthetics or recreational preferences.  But dam economics are getting increasingly worse.  Now that electricity can be produced far more cheaply with wind and solar power, many American dams have become artifacts of an older manufacturing era.  Meanwhile, rural towns near decommissioned dams are likely to now have more robust fishing industries.

In rivers big and small, migratory fish and river ecosystems surge back to life as old energy structures are taken down.

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Take Down That Dam: River Ecosystems Bounce Back As Removals Soar

Photo, posted June 11, 2016, courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New York Offshore Wind

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New York has passed ambitious legislation to reduce the carbon emissions that cause climate change, but the state needs to start taking action to make those reductions possible.  One such action it has taken is an agreement that will enable the construction of two large offshore wind projects.

The projects are to be built off the coast of Long Island.  One will be 14 miles south of Jones Beach and the other 30 miles north of Montauk.  The wind farms will be built by a division of Equinor, a major Danish energy company, and a joint venture between Orsted, another Danish company, and Eversource Energy, an American firm.

The two New York wind farms are expected to be operational within the next five years and have the capacity to produce 1,700 megawatts of electricity.  That is about 20% of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s overall goal for offshore wind.

Wind farms are a major energy source in the United States, now providing about 7% of the country’s electricity.  That compares with only 2% in 2010. But nearly all American wind turbines are on land.  There is only one small offshore wind farm in the US off the coast of Rhode Island.  Things are very different in Europe.  For example, Britain expects to get 10% of its electricity from offshore wind next year, which is up from less than 1% in 2010.

Developers of offshore wind farms have struggled to gain a foothold in the US.  Some projects have foundered because of cost issues, but others have faced opposition from politicians and coastal-property owners.  But assuming the New York wind projects clear permitting and environmental hurdles, offshore wind may finally be on the move in the US.

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New York Awards Offshore Wind Contracts in Bid to Reduce Emissions

Photo, posted May 22, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Electric Buses On The Rise

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Electric buses are replacing conventional diesel-fueled buses at an accelerating rate that is outpacing the adoption of battery-powered cars.  According to forecasts by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, by 2030 some 28% of car sales will be electric vehicles while 84% of new buses will be electric buses.  So far, some 12 years away, the actual adoption of electric buses is outpacing this optimistic projection.

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A Climate-Friendlier Coolant

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Recently, negotiators from more than 170 countries reached a legally binding accord in Kigali, Rwanda to cut the use of hydroflurocarbons, or HFCs, which are chemical coolants used in air conditioners and refrigerators.  HFCs are just a small percentage of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but they are supercharged greenhouse gases that have 1,000 times the heat-trapping potency of carbon dioxide.

[Read more…] about A Climate-Friendlier Coolant

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