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Michelle Lewis

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Michelle Lewis is a writer at Electrek. She has previously worked for Fast Company, The Guardian, News Deeply, Time, and others. She lives in Massachusetts.

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Connect with Michelle Lewis

EGEB: A small Canadian province is a North American electric school bus leader

clean school bus program

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Canada’s Prince Edward Island buys 35 more Lion electric school buses, reaching 47 total.
  • LG Electronics will cut emissions in its major products by 2030.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: Microsoft to buy 430MW of solar power from Ørsted in Texas

US solar panels

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Microsoft signs a power purchase agreement with Ørsted to buy solar energy in Texas.
  • Canadian solar panel maker Heliene opens a second US manufacturing site, in Florida.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: The US’s first offshore wind farm is currently offline; here’s why

Rhode Island renewables 2033

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Ørsted says Block Island is offline for summer maintenance, and rumors are flying.
  • Tampa just committed to 100% clean energy by 2035, but there’s a hitch.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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A Florida utility ditches coal, doubles its solar, and leaves out a big part of its story

Florida utility Tampa Electric Co. has announced it will retire three coal units and double its solar output within two years. That’s good news, but in an interview published last week, its CEO doesn’t mention the fact that the vast majority of its power comes from natural gas or whether it plans to transition away from the methane-producing fossil fuel.

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EGEB: Oil kingdom Saudi Arabia launches its first wind farm, the Middle East’s largest

Saudi Arabia wind farm

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm is now connected and producing clean energy.
  • Arizona may get its very first electricity provider that offers 100% clean energy.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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The IPCC climate change report – what it says and what we can do

climate

The world’s largest-ever report about climate change was published today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations group of nearly 200 leading climate scientists that looked at more than 14,000 scientific papers. It’s pretty grim – but far from hopeless. There are things we all can and must all do. As US Senator Ed Markey says, “We can’t agonize – we must organize.”

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EGEB: Petroleum use dropped a record 15% in the transport sector from 2019 to 2020

petroleum

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • From 2019 to 2020, petroleum consumption decreased in every energy-consuming sector.
  • 25 fossil fuel giants used Facebook ads to fight President Joe Biden’s clean energy plan.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: Maryland offshore wind plans make a great leap forward

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Baltimore-based US Wind announces a new offshore wind farm and other major developments.
  • Costa Rica is considering a permanent ban on fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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Here’s what the US needs to do to meet snowballing battery demand

GM Microvast

Current US battery production falls woefully short in the face of rapidly growing demand for electric vehicle and storage batteries.

The US has only a small number of domestic, large battery manufacturing factories, including Tesla’s Gigafactory that operates in partnership with Japan’s Panasonic. And just last week, KORE Power announced it will build the first lithium-ion battery factory wholly owned by a US company, in Arizona.

Both innovation and domestic battery production needs to scale quickly and efficiently, and the battery skills gap, among other things, need to be tackled in order to do that. Electrek spoke with Dr. Greg Less, technical director at the University of Michigan Battery Lab, about what the US needs to do to meet that demand.

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EGEB: Scotland’s largest whiskey producer to install 4 MW solar farm

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Drinks giant Diageo has submitted a planning application for an onsite, 4 MW solar farm in Scotland.
  • The Kitty Hawk offshore wind project off North Carolina moves another step forward.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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Finally, a new bill calls for tax credits for integrated solar roofs

Mikie Sherill (D-NJ) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) today introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives that amends the solar investment tax credit (ITC) to include integrated solar roofs. It would allow for expensing roof repairs and replacement necessary for solar installation.

Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) also introduced companion legislation in the Senate today.  

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EGEB: In 2020, 78% of new US power installations were clean energy

Iowa wind

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • The US installed a record 26 gigawatts of new clean energy in 2020, according to a new report.
  • In 2020, the number of producing US coal mines fell to the lowest number since 2008.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: Watch the TVA blow up its oldest coal-fired plant (and they want to replace it with natural gas)

DOE coal

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • The Tennessee Valley Authority implodes its oldest coal-fired power plant.
  • The UK’s Ministry of Justice installs £1.1 million of roof-mounted solar on courts and prisons.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: These new EV chargers are flat and flush with the sidewalk

flat EV chargers

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • London trials on-street EV chargers that sit flush with the sidewalk.
  • Royal Dutch Shell buys Inspire Clean Energy to grow its clean energy business.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: Clean energy was second-most prevalent US electricity source in 2020

IPCC report

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • In 2020, clean energy sources generated 21% of all US electricity.
  • A judge rules that the largest known lithium resource in the US can be excavated.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: In 2020, the US produced the lowest energy emissions in nearly 40 years

US energy emissions

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • In 2020, due to the pandemic, US energy emissions fell to the lowest level since 1983. 
  • Belfast, Maine, sees 7 megawatts of community solar launch for Central Maine Power customers.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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EGEB: A Dutch pilot project will combine solar and strip farming

Dutch solar farming

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

  • Vattenfall gets the green light to run a Dutch pilot combining solar panels and strip farming.
  • The UK currently has around 25,000 EV chargers, and will need 10 times that by 2030.
  • UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.
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