requirements

Progress on offshore wind in New York

April 1, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

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

Electric Vehicle Tax Credits | Earth Wise

February 17, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As of January 1, many Americans can qualify for a tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying an electric vehicle. The credit is one of the changes enacted under last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The purpose is to encourage EV sales and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

There has been a tax credit for EVs for more than a decade, but its provisions made cars from any manufacturer ineligible as soon as that manufacturer had sold more than 200,000 cars. Notably, this eliminated the credit for purchasing cars from Tesla and General Motors. Given that electric cars are now selling in the millions, the 200,000-unit cap on the tax credit essentially made it useless as a real force to grow the industry.

The new tax credit has a somewhat complex set of requirements for determining the applicability and amount of the credit. There are price limits on eligible vehicles depending on vehicle type and there are requirements on where vehicles are manufactured, where batteries are manufactured, and where other components are made. The intent is to encourage American manufacturing of the cars and trucks to the greatest extent. There are also income limitations on buyers who want to take advantage of the credit, but those are quite large. The Department of the Treasury has online detailed information about the requirements for the credit and, of course, EV manufacturers can provide the specifics for their own vehicles.

For their part, automakers are adjusting prices, building domestic manufacturing plants and battery factories, and otherwise trying to position themselves for their customers to take advantage of the credit.

The new law also provides a smaller tax credit for the purchase of used electric vehicles.

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Electric vehicle tax credits explained: What’s new in 2023?

Treasury Releases Additional Information on Clean Vehicle Provisions of Inflation Reduction Act

Photo, posted December 9, 2022, courtesy of Choo Yut Shing via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An Arctic Bus | Earth Wise

February 17, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

People have built vehicles for all sorts of extreme environments. There are deep-sea exploration vessels and there have been lunar and Mars rovers. But one thing that hasn’t existed so far are buses to transport groups of people around in extreme conditions in the Arctic. Engineers at two Russian Universities are developing a passenger bus for riding in the Far North. The project is being funded by the Russian Federation Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the URAL Automobile Manufacturing Plant.

The requirements for the vehicle are daunting. The bus must be operable at extreme temperatures – 60 below zero Fahrenheit and lower – and have no difficulties even in challenging off-road conditions.

Current Arctic crew buses are not capable of getting through snow blockages and the all-terrain tracked vehicles that can get through them do not have sufficient passenger capacity. In addition to being able to go through snowbanks, the bus should be able to float on water for an hour.

Apart from its ability to withstand harsh Arctic conditions, the bus will also have a quarters module. This means that it will have an autonomous life-support system for passengers in case of emergency. The quarters module will be designed to sustain up to 20 people for up to 24 hours. The module might also be used to hold medical equipment, thereby enabling practitioners to reach remote settlements and treat patients.

The first tests of prototypes for the bus will be conducted in the near future. The project aims to have the new Arctic Bus design complete and ready for manufacture by the end of 2023 and it will go into production in 2024.

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“Arctic Bus” Being Readied to Be Tested in the Far North

Photo, posted April 21, 2017, courtesy of Markus Trienke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Europe’s Green Deal: Bad For The Planet? | Earth Wise

December 28, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In 2019, the European Union announced the “Green Deal,” a comprehensive program aimed at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, implementing environmentally friendly transport, increasing recycling, and expanding renewable energy.

The Green Deal involves significant changes to European agriculture. Over the next ten years, under the ambitious environmental program, at least a quarter of all agricultural areas will be farmed organically, the use of fertilizers and pesticides greatly reduced, 3 billion trees planted, 15,000 miles of rivers restored, and the population declines of pollinators reversed.

However, in a recent article published in Nature, scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology show that this Green Deal might actually be a bad deal for the planet.

The problem is that the EU is likely to basically be outsourcing environmental damage by its high imports of agricultural products.

According to the Karlsruhe study, the EU annually imports millions of tons of agricultural products, as much as 20% of its produce and much of its meat and dairy products. Quite often, these imports come from countries whose environmental laws are far less stringent than those in Europe.

The EU cannot impose environmental standards on other countries, but it can demand that goods entering the European market meet EU requirements. The study points out that Europe’s carbon footprint has to be evaluated on a global basis. If the EU is truly to become a climate-neutral continent, it must include foreign trade goals and requirements in its environmental programs. Otherwise, Europe will simply be outsourcing its environmental problems and will continue to cause damage to the planet.

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Green Deal: Good for a Climate-neutral Europe – Bad for the Planet

Photo, posted July 17, 2009, courtesy of Edmund Garman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Giant U.S. Offshore Wind Project Begins | Earth Wise

June 22, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In recent years, the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management – the agency that oversees energy projects in federal waters – has been granting leases for offshore wind projects in the waters of multiple states on the East Coast. Up until now, none of these leases have actually resulted in the deployment of any wind turbines because the process of gaining approvals, project plans, surveys, funding and other requirements is a long and tortuous one.

In late May, the first offshore wind turbine in U.S. federal waters was installed 27 miles offshore from Virginia. The 6-MW Siemens turbine is one of two turbines making up the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project. The pilot project is expected to be operational later this year. This project is the first to receive go-ahead approval by the BOEM.

The CVOW project is a development by Dominion Energy, a Virginia-based utility that operates in 20 states. Dominion’s project will eventually be a 2.64 GW mega-farm that could be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Construction of the main project is expected to begin in 2024. It will be sited in the seabed of a 112,800-acre lease area. The site is currently being surveyed to determine potential impacts to ocean and sea life.

Dominion Energy has made multiple commitments to emissions reduction and the massive offshore wind farm is an important part of its efforts to meet those commitments. The CVOW pilot project is only the second offshore wind installation in the U.S. The first, the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, is in state waters and did not require BOEM approval.

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A ‘monumental day’ for US offshore wind as first turbine is installed in federal waters

Photo, posted May 13, 2011, courtesy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar Equity for Low-Income Communities

May 30, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A couple of years ago, the number of American roofs covered with solar panels passed the one million mark and the numbers keep growing. But nearly half of U.S. households – accounting for more than 154 million people – aren’t able to host their own solar arrays because they lack suitable rooftop space, or they rent their homes. But millions more simply can’t afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars to buy or lease solar panels.

In recent years, community solar has become popular. These are projects where multiple participants own or lease shares in a mid-sized solar facility and receive credits that lower their monthly utility bills. Community solar in the U.S. has more than quadrupled just since 2016.

However, the majority of community solar subscribers to date have been businesses, universities, government agencies, and higher-earning households. These users can generally pay steep project enrollment fees or meet various financial requirements. Meanwhile, those who could benefit most from access to renewable energy and lower utility bills – low-income residents – have largely been left out.

Low-income households on average spend over 8% of their income on utility bills, about three times more than moderate- to high-income households. So, reducing electricity bills with community solar power is a big deal for them.

Given this situation, there are now a growing number of programs that make use of community solar to reduce living expenses for low-income households. In a dozen states, new programs include a variety of mandates, financial incentives, and pilot programs targeting benefits for people with low incomes. These programs will allow them to participate in both the environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy.

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Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities

Photo, posted November 27, 2012, courtesy of Oregon State University via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fast Food And Climate Change

March 1, 2019 By EarthWise 1 Comment

A coalition of global investors is urging some of the largest fast food companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The group, which has approximately $6.5 trillion under management, wants the fast food chains to reduce the carbon footprint of their meat and dairy supply chains.

The global fast food sector is reportedly worth a whopping $570 billion annually. The coalition has targeted some of the most notable contributors to that figure, including McDonald’s, KFC, Domino’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Chipotle.

According to the investors, animal agriculture is one of the world’s highest-emitting sectors without a low-carbon plan. If left unchecked, emissions from animal agriculture alone would contribute 70% of the total worldwide target for emissions in 2050 that would keep the global rise in temperature below 2C. Animal agriculture also uses an estimated 10% of annual global water flows.

In their letter to the fast food giants, the investors are calling on the companies to implement clear requirements for suppliers of animal proteins to report and reduce their greenhouse gas and freshwater impacts. They want fast food companies to publish quantitative, time bound targets for reductions, and commit to publicly disclose the progress on these targets.

Climate change is increasingly a factor for investors when evaluating market risk. This investor letter comes just weeks after the EAT-Lancet commission report was published, in which their experts suggest that a sustainable diet for the planet by 2050 will require a 90% reduction in red meat and milk consumption.

Fast food may need to slow down.

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Fast food giants under fire on climate and water usage

The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health

Photo, posted May 19, 2014, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.