by Kavya Balaraman, Utility Dive Highlights: The towns of Angwin, Calistoga, Placerville, and Grass Valley are part of PG&E’s effort to build a network of “resilience zones” and temporary microgrids in portions of its service territory that are especially vulnerable to fire-related outages. PG&E deployed 23 MW of temporary generation from fossil fuel power (diesel) … Read more
Highlights: As of January 1, 2020, new houses in California are required to install rooftop solar. “One utility, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, has asked regulators to approve a plan that says builders in its territory can comply with the solar mandate by subscribing to the utility’s community solar programs instead of putting solar on every … Read more
by Carolyn Fortuna, Clean Technica, January 20, 2020 Highlights: The littlest state in the US has set the biggest goals for renewable energy. Democratic governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island signed an executive order this month calling for an end to fossil fuel dependence in Rhode Island by 2030 The governor outlined her goal of … Read more
by Damian Carrington, The Guardian, January 22, 2020 Highlights: The report highlights that every person’s ecological footprint equates to 13 tonnes of materials per year Half of the 100.6 billion tonnes of material consumed in 2017 were sand, clay, gravel, and cement Only 8.6% of the material consumed is recycled and this percentage is falling … Read more
by Carly Cassella, Science Alert, January 21, 2020 Highlights: According to data from more than 20,000 weather stations and Antarctic research stations, 2019 was the second-hottest year ever recorded, beaten only by 2016 The earth has continually warmed since the 1960’s Since 1750, the global annual mean CO2 level has gone up by 46 percent Rapid … Read more
by Alyssa Danigelis, Environmental Leader, January 20, 2020 Highlights: The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is providing sustainable aviation fuel for its arriving business jets Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has an 80% smaller carbon footprint compared to normal aviation fuel The use of the SAF is meant to demonstrate that the fuel is available, … Read more
by Matthew Goldberg, Abel Gustafson, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Edward Maibach, and Anthony Leiserowitz, Climate Change Communications, January 16, 2020 Highlights: A study was performed to collect data on Americans’ belief in global warming ‘Nearly six in ten (58%) Americans are now either “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about global warming From 2014 to 2019, the proportion … Read more
by Tracey Tully, The New York Times Highlights: A New Jersey democrat has introduced legislation that requires new building projects to account for climate resiliency and mitigating environmental impacts such as GHG emissions in order to receive government approval The state is currently experiencing sinking, accelerated sea-level rise, and flooding along its 130-mile coastline The … Read more
From melting ice caps to dying forests and thawing permafrost, the risk of ‘abrupt and irreversible changes’ is much higher than thought just a few years ago “We must admit that we have underestimated the risks of unleashing irreversible changes, where the planet self-amplifies global warming,” said Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate … Read more
New Washington Post series on Climate Solutions (Read more here) The deliberate choice to “live small,” Purup Nohr said, is one way people can be kinder to the planet than their parents might have been. Copenhagen is trying to become the first carbon-neutral capital by 2025 — a full 25 years before Washington and other … Read more
