Welcome back.
We’re leading off with news about a group of activists who just won SIX(!) seats on the New England grid operator’s Consumer Liaison Group (CLG). It’s an exciting development that gives clean energy advocates a seat at the table, penetrating what has been a clubby culture dominated till now by industry players. Our featured story offers a look into the back room, and explains why a reconstituted CLG could motivate a faster, more equitable energy transition.
If that example of effective activism has you feeling revved up, take your energy to next Wednesday’s public hearing when MA Department of Environmental Protection considers the Peabody peaking power plant emissions control plan. Show up in person or online – your presence matters to the communities affected by this plant’s pollution.
Those two stories illustrate an ongoing tug-of-war, with the fossil fuel industry and utilities pulling one end of the rope to maintain the status quo of more pipelines and power plants while fogging up the field with a string of questionable solutions. They’re dug in against science, consumers, health, justice, and nature – all tugging on the other end. The act of banning gas hookups in new buildings provides a strong pull in the right direction, and a county in Maryland just became the first on the East coast to do that. More to come – keep pulling!
Unfortunately, NASA cancelled a planned satellite meant to monitor greenhouse gas pollutants over North and South America due to technical issues and cost overruns. On the bright side, other satellites are filling the gap, keeping an eye on pollutants driving climate change.
OK – here’s the good stuff. Researchers have determined that some Boston neighborhoods can reduce their “heat island” effect by simply applying white paint to the flat roofs of those iconic triple-deckers. In Nova Scotia, clean energy from ocean tides is being demonstrated with an innovative, surface-mounted turbine. And we have lots of energy efficiency news, including a new report from the International Energy Agency detailing the importance and effectiveness of heat pumps as they replace fossil furnaces and boilers in buildings. In Europe, heat pump market share is growing most rapidly in the Scandinavian countries. That fact illustrates two points: cold weather isn’t an issue, and incentives are effective.
This is a good time to take a look at the many advantages long-duration energy storage offers over much-hyped solutions like green hydrogen, which lately have been dominating policy conversations. Alan Greenshields, director of iron flow battery pioneer ESS, puts it into perspective. Meanwhile, renewables and storage are being bundled into microgrids to enhance grid resiliency for isolated communities in places like rural Vermont.
Electric school buses are another potential source of stored energy. Right now, hundreds of school districts across the US are planning to introduce 2,500 of these to their communities, thanks to $1 billion in federal funding – the largest investment so far in the effort to replace the nationwide fleet of half a million dirty yellow diesels.
We’ll close with a hat-tip to France, for passing legislation requiring all parking lots with at least 80 spaces to be covered by solar panels. From our perch here in Western Massachusetts, having watched and opposed the destruction of many acres of forest for utility-scale solar installations, we hope the French example of prioritizing existing urban landscapes for siting renewable energy resources begins to resonate here as well.
For even more environmental news, info, and events, check out the latest newsletter from our colleagues at Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)!
— The NFGiM Team
FEATURED STORY
Ratepayers Stage a Ballroom Coup
By DONALD M. KREIS, InDepthNH.org | Blog
December 1, 2022
Power to the People is a column by Donald M. Kreis, New Hampshire’s Consumer Advocate.
PEAKING POWER PLANTS
Planned Peabody Peak Generator Public Hearing Set For Next Week
A public hearing on the generator’s Carbon Dioxide Budget Emissions Control Plan will be on Dec. 7 at the Torigian Senior Center.
By Scott Souza, Patch
November 30, 2022
PIPELINES
Cheap natural gas is a thing of the past
Not investing in more pipeline capacity looks to be right choice
By Frederick Hewett, CommonWealth Magazine | Opinion
November 27, 2022
GAS BANS
East Coast’s first countywide gas ban passed in Md.
By David Iaconangelo, E&E News
November 30, 2022
UTILITIES
Gas utilities look to hydrogen, renewables integration while facing ‘existential threat’ of decarbonization
By Robert Walton, Utility Dive
November 15, 2022
Massachusetts Utilities Hope Hydrogen and Biomethane Can Keep the State Cooking, and Heating, With Gas
State regulators are allowing [utilities] to plan how to decarbonize the power they supply, but environmentalists say the industry is presenting false solutions to lock in natural gas as a fuel source for decades.
By Jon Lamson, Inside Climate News
November 18, 2022
QUESTIONABLE SOLUTIONS
Study touting hydrogen — a technology favored by gas firms — was funded by gas interests, e-mails show
By Sabrina Shankman, Boston Globe
November 17, 2022
CLIMATE
NASA cancels greenhouse gas monitoring satellite due to cost
By Seth Borenstein, AP, in The Washington Post
November 29, 2022
Africa’s ‘Fossil Fallacy’ Will Devastate Climate, Wreck Communities, Report Says
By Christopher Bonasia, The Energy Mix
November 14, 2022
» Read the report
GREENING THE ECONOMY
What’s the quickest way to cool off a block of triple-deckers? Research says: paint the roofs white
By Barbara Moran, WBUR
November 10, 2022
CLEAN ENERGY
Who Will Win the Race to Generate Electricity From Ocean Tides?
The Bay of Fundy, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, has one of the world’s most powerful tides. Now, engineers and scientists hope to finally turn it into a clean energy source.
By Ian Austen, New York Times
November 14, 2022
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Heat pumps are the ‘central technology’ for low-carbon heating, concludes IEA
Heat pumps will provide one-fifth of the world’s heating needs by the end of the decade if nations follow through on their plans, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
By Josh Gabbatiss, CarbonBrief.org
December 2, 2022
» Read the IEA report
Montpelier leaders hope home energy reports will educate and inspire buyers
An ordinance that took effect July 1 requires home sellers to provide a report summarizing energy costs and opportunities for saving. City officials and real estate agents report few hiccups so far as most sellers are complying.
By Lisa Prevost, Energy News Network
November 15, 2022
Is Mass Save capable of phasing out natural gas?
By Larry Chretien, Green Energy Consumers Alliance | Blog Post
November 07, 2022
Beyond Mass Save: Legislators and advocates say it’s time for a change
By Sabrina Shankman, Boston Globe
November 6, 2022
LONG-DURATION ENERGY STORAGE
‘Long-duration energy storage can be deployed faster and more cheaply than green hydrogen’
H2 has grabbed plenty of attention, but policymakers need to understand the crucial role of LDES in the energy transition, says sector veteran Alan Greenshields
By Andrew Lee, Recharge
October 27, 2022
MODERNIZING THE GRID
Solar-powered microgrids add climate resilience in rural Vermont communities
Green Mountain Power’s new “resiliency zone” initiative is using outage and other data to pinpoint places in need of local grid upgrades. Its first projects consist of microgrids that will power remote villages during outages.
By Lisa Prevost, Energy News Network
November 30, 2022
SITING IMPACTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES
France to require all large parking lots to be covered by solar panels
The move could generate enough energy to power over 8 million homes.
By Alex Lawson, Grist
November 14, 2022
CLEAN TRANSPORTATION
Schools scramble to prepare for $1B in federal money for electric buses
From small rural districts to statewide fleets, schools are figuring out how to put to use the biggest electric school bus investment in U.S. history.
By Jeff St. John, Canary Media
November 28, 2022
FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY
Saudi Arabia has a new green agenda. Cutting oil production isn’t part of it.
The petrostate pitched a plan to cut carbon at COP27. And it’s covered in oil.
By Lylla Younes, Grist
November 18, 2022
Colombia Leads a New Latin American Left Into the Climate Fight
The country’s first leftist president says oil is his economy’s worst addiction. Phasing it out would be a global first for a major oil producer.
By Max Bearak, New York Times
November 15, 2022
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