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CES 101: How a National Clean Energy Standard Can Advance Climate Action John Rogers/UCS John Rogers, Senior energy analyst | May 13, 2021, 4:18 pm EDT This post is a part of a series on Despite important progress in recent years, the power sector in the US is still a major source of emissions both the air pollution that hurts public health and the heat-trapping emissions that cause climate change. The power sector is also important because electrification is an essential tool for getting off fossil fuels in other sectors of the economy transportation and heating, for example (think electric vehicles and heat pumps). ....
Illinois To See Significant Public Health Benefits in a 100% Carbon-Free Future Tom Shockey/Flickr Jessica Collingsworth, Energy policy analyst | May 12, 2021, 12:40 pm EDT Special thanks to Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health Programs at , for contributing to this post and the development of the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW) Analysis. In Illinois, the economic competitiveness of our aging and inefficient coal-fired power plants is in decline. Coal’s share of in-state generation dropped to 27% of generation in 2019. Last month, Vistra announced plans to retire the Joppa Power Plant by September 1, 2022, three years earlier than previously expected. These types of decisions not only make sense from an economic standpoint, but there are also health benefits realized as well since burning less fossil fuel for energy means healthier air for all of us to breathe. The ....
Ask a Scientist: What Can We Do to Help Displaced Coal Workers? Elliott Negin, senior writer | May 10, 2021, 11:15 am EDT This post is a part of a series on Despite the Trump administration’s attempts to preserve the coal industry, mining jobs hit a record low during his term. There were nearly 90,000 people working in the industry in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In January, there were 42,400. That’s not a surprise. Over the last decade, demand for coal has dropped precipitously, largely due to the availability of cheap natural gas, the dramatic drop in the cost of renewables, and flat demand for electricity. In 2010, coal-fired power plants generated 50 percent of US electricity. Last year, coal plants were responsible for only about 20 percent. The Biden administration’s goals for cutting carbon emissions will no doubt further acceler ....
How FERC Transmission Reform Can End the Delay of a Cleaner Future Training with simulated electrical fire at the Center for Naval Engineering Firefighting School. Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans/US Navy How FERC Transmission Reform Can End the Delay of a Cleaner Future Mike Jacobs, Senior energy analyst | May 7, 2021, 2:58 pm EDT Transmission is to electricity what roads and highways are to cars and trucks. Some local roads (or driveways) are built by private interests to access new real estate development, while most every major highway, bridge or mountain tunnel is built by a regional public agency. The way we plan and pay for our electric transmission follows this logic, until you look at how assumptions about future traffic are dramatically different for the new users, imposing crushing cost burdens on new renewable energy development. The transmission assumptions ....
Carl Wycoff/Flickr Joseph Daniel, Senior Energy Analyst | May 6, 2021, 11:32 am EDT About five years ago, when UCS looked at the economics of coal plants, we found that about 40 percent of coal plants were more expensive than cleaner alternatives. Almost every year since our report has come out, a new study has come out and come to a similar conclusion with one notable difference: The amount of coal that is uneconomic seems to always be increasing. And the latest study has found that the number has reached 80 percent! What is even more fascinating is that the numbers are starting to paint a very clear picture: that transitioning away from coal and towards clean energy could save customers money today. ....