Abandoned wells could become geothermal hot spots

GEOTHERMAL: A Department of Energy program explores repurposing old oil and gas wells to extract geothermal energy, with one pilot program using wells to heat an Oklahoma school. (Vox)

CLIMATE:
• Climate and environmental justice advocates say the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacks the staff and funding it needs to accomplish President Biden’s ambitious climate goals. (E&E News)
• The Biden administration plans to highlight its clean energy accomplishments and provide an update on its efforts to fight HFC emissions this week ahead of Earth Day. (The Hill)
• U.S. insurance companies operating in California invested more than $536 billion in fossil fuel interests in 2019 even as they paid damages for climate change-exacerbated weather events, a report finds. (E&E News)
• As the Gulf of Maine warms faster than much of the rest of the ocean, some Maine fishing industry workers turn to kelp farming to both make a profit and sequester carbon. (Fast Company)

NUCLEAR: Utilities and startups seek support from lawmakers and regulators as they look to build small modular nuclear reactors in or near former coal-fired power plants. (Wall Street Journal)

SOLAR:
• Solar advocates say a ​“program-killing” monthly fee proposed for participants in a Dominion Energy shared solar program would prevent Virginia apartment residents from receiving financial benefits of solar power. (Energy News Network)
• New Mexico officials say a federal probe of Asian solar imports is prompting delays and cancellations of utility-scale and residential projects. (Albuquerque Journal)

BUILDINGS: A 60-story skyscraper planned for New York City is set to be the metropolis’ largest completely electric building. (CNN)

MINING: A report finds most U.S. cobalt, lithium and nickel deposits are located within 35 miles of tribal reservations. (E&E News, subscription)

TRANSPORTATION:
• The Department of Energy makes its first advanced vehicle technology loan in a decade, providing $107 million to a Louisiana facility producing a critical electric vehicle battery material. (Canary Media)
• New Hampshire regulators will allow utilities to temporarily but heavily discount their electric vehicle charging demand rates to encourage further charging infrastructure construction. (PV Magazine)
• A Colorado airport fuels commercial and private jets with fat-derived biofuel blended with traditional jet kerosene, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. (Colorado Sun)

OIL & GAS:
• Democrats from oil and gas-reliant New Mexico advise the Biden administration not to pit fossil fuels against renewable energy if the party hopes to retain power. (Politico)
• The U.S. Supreme Court rejects pipeline operator Spire’s appeal of a lower court ruling that could eventually close a St. Louis-area natural gas pipeline as federal regulators reconsider the project. (Associated Press)
• National Grid wants to meet Massachusetts’ decarbonization goals mainly by switching to renewable natural gas, but a clean energy advocacy group calls that plan ​“a false solution” to the climate crisis. (WBUR)