Fossil Fuels

The costs of most existing coal-fired power plants in the US are now more expensive than the total costs of wind and solar as a result of their plunging costs, according to a new study.

The BlackRock US Carbon Transition Readiness exchange-traded fund (ETF) (LCTU) launched last week. It broke records on its first trading day with $1.25 billion invested. But there’s a big problem with this ETF: It’s jam-packed with Big Oil companies.

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

• The US-hosted Leaders Summit on Climate kicks off today. Keep an eye on these three countries.
• Los Angeles City Council unanimously approves a Global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
• 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.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its annual “Global Energy Review” report, and while there is some good news about the adoption of renewables, there is also some rather alarming news about an anticipated emissions surge in 2021.

Pennsylvania’s state government will source 50% of its electricity from seven new solar energy arrays. It will go into operation on January 1, 2023.

Duke Energy Florida has announced that it will build two more new solar farms in the Sunshine State. This time, they’ll be in Citrus and Hardee counties.

The utility reported in February that it is investing an estimated $1 billion to construct or acquire a total of 700 MW of solar farms from 2018 through 2022 in Florida and will more than quadruple the amount of in-service solar on the system over the next four years.

India’s coal power has continued to decline since reaching a peak in 2018, according to an analysis by independent climate and energy think tank Ember. India’s coal-fired electricity generation fell 5% in 2020 due to significantly reduced annual electricity demand as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. It is the second consecutive year that coal power has fallen, with coal generation down 8% in 2020 compared to 2018.

Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) wants to fight Biden’s clean energy plan, despite being the No. 1 state in the US for wind power. Texas is also a rising star of solar power, not to mention the home of Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas. Yet, Abbott has issued an executive order to “protect” Texas’ energy industry from federal overreach, or in other words, President Joe Biden’s endorsement of clean energy. Or to put it another way, what Texas is already doing.

The Rockefeller Foundation, a 107-year-old philanthropy founded by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller Sr., has a $5 billion endowment. And that foundation is divesting from the oil that created its wealth — and it’s the largest US philanthropic foundation to do so.

The UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved a ban on Friday of ships’ use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters after July 1, 2024. However, since it includes exemptions and waivers — loopholes — a complete HFO ban would only come into effect in mid-2029.

Donald Trump’s administration is bulldozing through a last-minute gas and oil drilling-rights auction in Alaska’s 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Biden vowed to block oil exploration in the largest national wildlife refuge in the country.

Bob Murray, the board chairman of Murray Energy, the largest privately owned — and bankrupt — US coal operator, died on Sunday at age 80. He had announced his retirement less than a week before.

Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), the two largest US energy firms, have increased their share of campaign donations to Democrats in 2020, according to the latest filings.

Residential geothermal company Dandelion Energy yesterday announced that it’s hired a new vice president of drillings whose name is Jeremy Smith. What’s unique about Smith? The exec comes from a fossil-fuel background.

BP stated in a forecast published today that oil may have reached its peak due to the pandemic and that renewables will take the place of fossil fuels.

On January 9, Donald Trump announced there would be an overhaul of the US’ landmark environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Today, he finalized a rollback of the NEPA.

This drastically limits the ability of citizens and communities to learn about and give input on major infrastructure projects that could threaten public health and the environment.

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Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. are canceling the $8 billion, 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The natural gas pipeline was to run 600 miles from West Virginia, through Virginia, to eastern North Carolina.

Duke Energy Corp has a net zero by 2050 goal in accordance with the Paris Accords. However, the reason for killing the pipeline is not environmental; it’s because of anticipated legal delays driving up costs.

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The CDC Group, the British government’s development finance institution, will end most fossil-fuel financing abroad. It says it will invest only in companies that align with the Paris Agreement to achieve net zero by 2050.

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

• Japan’s new bullet train, with a lithium-ion battery self-propulsion system, is one of the fastest trains in the world.
• The British government’s development bank will (mostly) end fossil-fuel financing abroad.
• EV charging infrastructure alliance ChargeUp Europe gains its seventh member, eMobility software provider has·to·be.

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A new study from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published in Science Advances, provides strong evidence of the causal link between long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure — air pollution — and premature death rates. The study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date.

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