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Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.$22.5 Million in Projects Awarded for Clean Buses, Infrastructure
Federal Transit Administration, via Sustainable City Network.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration announced the latest project selections for the Low and No-Emission Vehicle Deployment Program, known as Low-No. Seven transit providers in five states will receive a share of $22.5 million toward transit buses and related facilities that utilize battery-electric, fuel cell, and other innovative technologies to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and improve operating efficiency.
"This Administration is committed to investing in an economy powered by clean transportation," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "The Department of Transportation is proud to build on the successful Low-No program to put more American-made, energy-efficient buses into service across America."
FTA awarded the FY 2015 funds after a highly-competitive review process that prioritized transit agencies and bus manufacturers with strong records in building, deploying, and operating clean buses and infrastructure. The Low-No program helps advance President Obama’s vision for a 21st Century Clean Transportation System and the Department’s Beyond Traffic framework for investing in a strong and sustainable transportation network that will meet the needs of our nation in the years ahead.
Governor Announces $150 Million for Renewable Energy Projects
By New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, via Sustainable City Network.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Governor Andrew Cuomo announced $150 million in funding to support large-scale renewable energy projects across the state. This funding will facilitate public-private partnerships to advance the Governor’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy and ensure the state meets its goal of generating 50 percent of its electricity from carbon-free renewable energy projects by 2030.
"This state is a national leader in combatting climate change and with this investment, we are taking our unprecedented efforts one more step toward a cleaner and greener New York," said Governor Cuomo. "This funding will advance large-scale energy projects, continue build a clean energy economy, and generate opportunity for New Yorkers for generations to come."
Natural gas vehicles market to be driven by increasing utilization of eco-friendly vehicular fuels
By Transparency Market Research.
Transparency Market Research presents a research report on the global natural gas vehicles market for the 2015-2023 period. The report, titled “Natural Gas Vehicles Market – Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 – 2023,” analyzes the various facets of sustainability of natural gas vehicular fuels in the long run. The report presents development trends and technological advancements that will have a bearing on this market during the forecast period.
That dependence on fossil fuels and crude oil for energy needs is not environmentally sustainable is well recognized. As such, the need to use clean, inexpensive, and natural fuels available in abundance is the need of the times. Natural gas is a clean substitute for conventional fuels such as diesel or gasoline and is also eco-friendly and low in cost. Compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) are produced from natural gas and offer several economic, environmental, and policy benefits over other fossil fuels.
EPA says broad language of Clean Air Act justifies Clean Power Plan
By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.
Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has filed a final brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that signals the end of legal briefing for the case, defending the Clean Power Plan by pointing to the broad language Congress used in the Clean Air Act, Argus reports.
- EPA's filing marks the end of the briefing stage of the case. Oral arguments will be heard June 2; the court is working on an expedited basis, after the U.S. Supreme Court delayed implementation of the rule.
- According to the EPA, the Clean Air Act requires the agency to implement the "best system of emission reduction;" lawyers have focused on the word "system" to mean a broad range of measures across the industry.
Carbon Fee Debate Goes Mainstream in Washington State
By John Upton, Climate Central.
As governments worldwide begin imposing fees on pollution to try to protect the climate, a debate over dueling approaches — one that has long been restricted to conferences and academia — is becoming prominent in Washington state.
Washington voters will decide in November whether to introduce a carbon tax on fossil fuels and electricity from coal and natural gas, with the goal of slowing global warming while reducing taxes on sales and manufacturing and keeping total tax revenue flat overall.
If Initiative 732 passes, the Evergreen State would buck a national trend in which other states have been adopting a different system for carbon pricing — that of cap-and-trade, in which pollution levels are capped and allowances to release pollution are sold and traded.
Ethanol groups criticize US climate plan for excluding biofuels
By Erin Voegele, Ethanol Producer Magazine.
On April 22 a ceremony was held at United Nations headquarters in New York to coincide with Earth Day during which several nations, including the U.S., signed the Paris Agreement that aims to limit global temperatures rise to below 2 degrees Celsius. Leaders in the U.S. ethanol sector have criticized the U.S. for not include biofuels in its plan.
According to information published by the Renewable Fuels Association, the agreement will enter into force when at least 55 countries collectively representing at least 55 percent of global emissions sign on in support of the agreement.
Leading up to the Paris Agreement, countries submitted individual plans, known as Intended National Determined Contributions, which outline how they plan to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. While 37 countries have included biofuels in their INDCs, the U.S. has not.
Extending Ohio's Freeze on Renewable Energy Standards Will be Met With Opposition
By Peter Krause, Cleveland.com.
You can bet that the debate over Senate Bill 320 will be hearty, if not contentious. The bill, introduced Monday by Ohio State Sen. Bill Seitz, a Republican from Cincinnati, calls for extending the freeze on the renewable-energy requirements imposed on the state's investor-owned utilities. It would also freeze energy-efficiency mandates.
Green-minded advocates and those who see the development of renewable energy as a way to create jobs are dismayed. They believe Ohio is heading backward. Seitz, on the other hand, doesn't buy all the talk about jobs and said he believes renewable energy is overpriced.
Energy Bill Faces Tight Calendar, Partisan Divide in the House
By Rich Heidorn, Jr., RTO Insider.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed its first major energy bill in almost a decade Thursday but faces a tight calendar to reach agreement with the House, where Republicans approved their own measure with little Democratic support.
Cantwell (left) and Murkowski
The Senate’s Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 passed 85-12, with support of all but a handful of Republicans. The House’s North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act cleared 249-170 in December with support from only three Democrats.
President Obama has threatened to veto the House bill but expressed support for most of the Senate provisions.
Methane Emissions Definitely Either Going Up or Down
By Jack Fitzpatrick, Morning Consult.
As the Obama administration aims to cut methane emissions, environmentalists and natural gas industry leaders are at odds over who’s to blame for the emissions, how much can be cut, and which agencies should regulate them.
But a focal point of the debate is still unclear: How much methane is being emitted from natural gas systems, and is it more or less than in previous years?
The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2016 greenhouse gas inventory report, released earlier this month, indicated that methane emissions from natural gas systems were significantly higher than in previous reports, even when measuring emissions for the same year. Emissions estimates for 2013 were reported at 6,295 kilotons in the 2015 report and then at 7,023 kilotons in the 2016 report, an 11.6 percent increase for the same year.
EPA defends scope of CO2 standards
By Argus Media.
Congress gave the US Environmental Protection Agency significant flexibility in determining how best to reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector, government lawyers said.
The section of the Clean Air Act used to issue the Clean Power Plan for existing power plants grants the agency the ability to look beyond what can be done at individual facilities in determining the "best system of emission reduction," EPA lawyers said in a 22 April court filling. The word system in particular means the agency can look at a "broad scope" of potential measures, such as "generation shifting," or moving to less carbon-intensive electricity sources, EPA said.
"This broad statutory language shows that Congress was directing EPA to consider a wide range of measures to reduce emissions from sources," the agency said.
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