Inside Clean Energy
When Will We Hit Peak Fossil Fuels? Maybe We Already Have
The global energy transition has reached a pivot point in which fossil fuels have likely peaked in their use for producing electricity and are about to enter a period of decline. This is the idea at the heart of a new report from RMI, a nonprofit that does research and advocacy about the transition. The […]
Read MoreFour Big Things to Expect in Clean Energy in 2023
In 2023, the country’s first super-size offshore wind farms will come online, or at least get close to it. U.S. sales of electric vehicles will continue to accelerate, likely hitting 1 million units per year for the first time. And, state lawmakers in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota are poised to pass climate and clean […]
Read MoreFinally, Some Good Climate News: The Biggest Wins in Clean Energy in 2022
You can forgive people who work on U.S. energy policy for being tired this month. They have just sprinted, and sometimes slogged, through an extraordinary year of action and progress at the federal, state and local levels. “It’s been a big one, for sure,” said Autumn Proudlove, associate director for policy and markets at the […]
Read MoreCar Companies Are Now Bundling EVs With Home Solar Panels. Are Customers Going to Buy?
It makes sense that someone buying an electric vehicle would also want to buy a charging system and get it installed. But how about solar panels, and home battery storage? Automakers are increasingly wanting to sell all of these products. Hyundai recently announced the rollout of Hyundai Home, a service to help the company’s customers […]
Read MoreRooftop Solar Is Becoming More Accessible to People with Lower Incomes, But Not Fast Enough
Last year, the median U.S. household with rooftop solar had an income of $110,000, which is nearly double the $63,000 median for all households. The difference shows that the benefits of solar continue to disproportionately go to wealthier households. But the gap has been shrinking. The numbers come from the latest edition of a long-term […]
Read MoreWhy the Feared Wave of Solar Panel Waste May Be Smaller and Arrive Later Than We Expected
“Don’t panic,” said Heather Mirletz at the Colorado School of Mines, lead author of a recent paper that challenges several assumptions about what could happen when today’s generation of solar panels near retirement age. She has some encouraging news for anyone deeply concerned, or even mildly agitated, about how the world is going to deal […]
Read MoreOnce Cheap, Wind and Solar Prices Are Up 34%. What’s the Outlook?
Early last year, I thought the increase in wind and solar power prices was a blip. After all, one of the constants in my decade-plus covering energy was that wind and solar prices were in a near-perpetual state of decline. Not anymore. The trend is unmistakable. Prices are rising—by a lot. But the good news […]
Read MoreHow a New ‘Battery Data Genome’ Project Will Use Vast Amounts of Information to Build Better EVs
How much does an electric vehicle’s battery performance change in hot weather? How about cold? If someone drives aggressively in an EV, how does that affect the battery life? How much do variations in battery materials make a difference in how an EV performs in various conditions? Researchers and manufacturers have partial answers to these […]
Read MoreA Clean Energy Trifecta: Wind, Solar and Storage in the Same Project
Elected officials and energy company executives gathered last week in rural Oregon to mark the completion of Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility, a project that combines a wind farm, solar array and battery storage. This is the fourth and the largest project in the United States to combine those three renewable energy resources on the same […]
Read More