The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced more than $43 million in selected projects Tuesday to support the development of transformational technologies essential for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions across industrial subsectors. With 16 projects selected as part of a $38 million funding opportunity on cross-sector technologies and five projects selected in partnership […]
This dam for the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project will not only block the movement of fish, but also change the way people living downstream experience the river’s flows. Parag Jyoti Saikia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The Conversation “Hey Rupam, open the door. Take this fish,” a woman yelled from outside. I was […]
The share of electricity in Great Britain generated from burning coal and gas fell to a record-low 2.4% earlier this month, Carbon Brief analysis shows. The record low was reached at lunchtime on Monday 15 April and lasted for one hour. There have been a record 75 half-hour periods in 2024 to date when fossil fuels […]
Welcome back, this week’s guest is George Buchanan, the founder and CEO of 2KB Energy Services, a company aiming to eliminate all forms of waste, while fostering environmental and social stewardship and creating professional and educational development opportunities. By Chelsea Henderson EcoRight News/ RepublicEN George is a project executive and subject-matter expert in energy and environmental solutions […]
As long-time listeners of the show know, our producer Price Atkinson and I both have mad love and respect for journalists and we realized it had been a while since we’d had one on the show. Enter state right, Emma Dumain, who covered our ED Bob Inglis when she was on the South Carolina congressional beat for the Charleston Post and […]
John Oliver exposed a mainstream audience to the ways that failed utility regulation often result in higher monthly bills, political corruption and environmental damage on Last Week Tonight, his weekly late-night show on HBO. By David Pomerantz Energy and Policy Institute John Oliver takes on monopoly utilities After explaining how monopoly utilities make money from capital expenditures and influence […]
Scientists at a laboratory in England have shattered the record for the amount of energy produced during a controlled, sustained fusion reaction. The production of 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds at the Joint European Torus – or JET – experiment in England has been called “a breakthrough” by some news outlets and caused […]
Most people now recognize the energy savings benefits of green buildings. These buildings use less water, energy and other natural resources. In some cases, they can increase biodiversity, produce their own energy and reduce the urban heat island effect. Recent research shows that green buildings can also improve the health and productivity of those who […]
Given the current climate emergency and the broader ecological breakdown that looms, there are few issues more pressing than that expressed by the single word: enough. Yet, it is possible to satisfy humanity’s universal needs fairly—and keep the world livable. By Stan Cox Yes! magazine What is enough? Put that question to any economist or politician, […]
Lately, you may have heard someone say that we have reached a “tipping point.” This year alone, with the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the sustained civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, we have witnessed dramatic shifts in our social and economic states of […]
Huge concrete data centres, permanently plugged into power plants and telephone exchanges, maintain much of online life. But the infrastructure behind internet-based cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, dogecoin and ethereum is more like a rusty travelling circus. And right now, that circus is on the road. By Peter Howson, Northumbria University, Newcastle The Conversation Bitcoin relies […]
Are there more environmentally friendly solutions that we could use instead of cash? Could cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, and payment cards be a sustainable solution, considering crypto has a considerable environmental impact? By Rossella Gangi Impakter Is Cash Environmentally Sustainable? Note-making and ATMs’ electricity consumption contributes significantly to global warming. European countries had agreed to increase […]
A new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliances shows that America’s monopoly problem is bigger than you might think. While last year’s Big Tech hearings and House antitrust report spotlighted monopoly abuses at Amazon, Google, and other tech giants, the report from ILSR makes clear that America’s monopoly problem has spread into many other sectors […]
As wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes sweep across North America, residents are bracing for the power outages that come with these extreme weather events. Strong winds can knock down electrical lines or blow dry vegetation like dead tree branches into power lines and ignite wildfires. Utilities may intentionally shut down targeted sections of power lines […]
In this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, we feature host John Farrell’s interview with Scott Hempling for ILSR’s Building Local Power podcast. Scott Hempling is an author, expert witness, lawyer, and law professor specializing in utility regulatory issues. Their discussion covers the changing ideas around natural monopolies, the consolidation of such monopolies in recent years, […]