QUICK NEWS, December 27: State Policies And Low Costs Will Sustain The U.S. Climate Fight (Part 1); State Policies And Low Costs Will Sustain The U.S. Climate Fight (Part 2); New Energy And NatGas Are 93% of 2016 U.S. Power Growth

State Policies And Low Costs Will Sustain The U.S. Climate Fight (Part 1) States Will Lead on Climate Change in the Trump Era

Editorial Board, December 26, 2016 (NY Times)

“State governments will serve as an important bulwark against any attempt by President-elect Donald Trump to roll back the progress the United States has made in addressing climate change…Over the last decade or so, most states have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by promoting energy efficiency and renewable fuels. These trends should continue as clean energy costs continue to decline and, in some parts of the country, fall below the cost of dirtier fuels like coal…[B]etween 2000 and 2014, 33 states and the District of Columbia cut carbon emissions while expanding their economies…That list includes red states run by Republican legislatures, like Alaska, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia…It’s hard to know how Mr. Trump will change climate policy, but it is almost certain that he won’t advance it…The people he has chosen to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior — the three agencies with the greatest influence on energy policy — have either denied or expressed skepticism that human activity is causing global warming, something that virtually all scientists agree on…[But in] some states, including Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and parts of Texas, new wind turbines can generate electricity at a lower cost, without subsidies, than any other technology…” click here for more

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State Policies And Low Costs Will Sustain The U.S. Climate Fight (Part 2) States Will Lead on Climate Change in the Trump Era

Editorial Board, December 26, 2016 (NY Times)

“…[Many people expect President-elect Trump to walk away from President Obama’s commitments under the Paris climate agreement and get rid of or weaken the E.P.A.’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to lower carbon emissions from the electricity sector. He and his appointees might also try to water down fuel economy regulations for cars and trucks, and cut clean energy tax incentives and research spending…States could blunt much of that damage…California and New York plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Hawaii hopes to get all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045…[and many other states have slightly more modest goals]…Cheap natural gas, which has increasingly replaced coal as a fuel source, has had a lot to do with this progress, but so has the drop in the cost of wind and solar power — 41 percent in the case of land-based wind turbines and 64 percent for solar, between 2008 and 2015…

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…The cost of batteries has dropped by almost three-fourths…[In some states, new wind turbines] can generate electricity at a lower cost, without subsidies, than any other technology…Solar panels have not reached that point yet in the United States, but developers of big solar installations in [some] countries…have signed contracts to sell electricity for much less than conventional fossil fuel plants charge…States are also beginning to put a price on carbon emissions to increase the cost of older fuels and encourage cleaner sources of energy, which Congress has refused to do…Lawmakers, environmental groups and individuals who care about climate change ought to fight every effort to take the country backward on this issue. But it will be just as important for them to support states that are trying to advance the cause.” click here for more

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New Energy And NatGas Are 93% of 2016 U.S. Power Growth Solar, natural gas, wind make up most 2016 generation additions

December 19, 2016 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

“Electric generating facilities expect to add more than 26 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale generating capacity to the power grid during 2016. Most of these additions come from three resources: solar (9.5 GW), natural gas (8.0 GW), and wind (6.8 GW), which together make up 93% of total additions. If actual additions ultimately reflect these plans, 2016 will be the first year in which utility-scale solar additions exceed additions from any other single energy source…This level of [utility-scale solar] additions is substantially higher than the 3.1 GW of solar added in 2015 and would be more than the total solar installations for the past three years combined (9.4 GW during 2013-15)…Most capacity additions over the past 20 years have been natural gas-fired units. About 8 GW is expected to be added this year, slightly above the 7.8 GW average annual additions over the previous five years…Additions of wind capacity are expected to be slightly lower than in 2015, when 8.1 GW of wind made up by far the largest portion of 2015 capacity additions. Wind capacity additions in 2016 are expected to total 6.8 GW…Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar 2 nuclear facility in southeastern Tennessee, with a summer nameplate capacity of 1.1 GW…will be the first new nuclear reactor brought online in the United States in 20 years…” click here for more

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