IEA: Net-zero by 2050 still within reach

CLIMATE: The International Energy Agency’s latest emissions reduction roadmap suggests ​“staggering” clean energy growth could ensure global fossil fuel use peaks this decade, but countries still need to deploy clean energy more aggressively to reach net-zero by 2050. (Guardian)

ALSO: Student organizers at 50 high schools across the U.S. partner to push for a ​“Green New Deal for schools” that includes electric school buses, climate change curricula, and career pathways to green jobs. (The Hill)

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SOLAR:

• Ohio-based First Solar kept making solar panels long after other domestic manufacturers gave up and now serves as a guiding light as the Biden administration seeks to ramp up U.S. solar component production. (New York Times)
• A solar startup building high-efficiency panels awaits a federal loan as it looks to build a manufacturing facility in New Mexico. (Canary Media)
• A Minnesota tribal member who founded a solar installation company in 2017 is partnering with an industrial electrical company to create a pilot job-training program in Indigenous communities. (MPR)

NUCLEAR: U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says the Biden administration wants to build a commercial nuclear fusion facility within a decade, even as the technology remains in its early stages. (Associated Press)

OIL & GAS

• A federal judge orders the Biden administration to expand the sale of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases, rejecting a previous version that was scaled back to protect an endangered whale species. (Associated Press)
• The U.S. oil industry is taking on more and more ​“monster fracks” that each use more than 16.8 million gallons of water to extract oil and gas from a well. (New York Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Ford halts construction on a $3.5 billion Michigan electric vehicle battery plant until the company is ​“confident about our ability to competitively run the plant.” (Detroit News)

HYDROPOWER: A proposal to tear down fish-harming hydropower dams in the Northwest pits climate advocates who value the clean energy sources against tribal nations and environmentalists looking to restore the rivers. (Los Angeles Times)

WIND:

• Federal officials say offshore wind lease sales are on track to be held next year for parcels in the central Atlantic and Gulf of Maine. (Reuters)
• California researchers find wealthy, white communities are more likely to oppose wind energy projects than other communities. (CNN)

HYDROGEN:

• Critics of efforts to create a regional hydrogen hub in Appalachia raise concerns that the plan would raise electricity prices on consumers and fail to deliver promised jobs and emission reductions. (Inside Climate News)
• Oregon and Washington state leaders look to fast-track a green hydrogen industry but say water scarcity, community opposition and labor shortages could hamper efforts. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

CARBON CAPTURE: Critics worry about the implications of storing carbon underground in places like Louisiana, which already has more than two dozen underground storage sites. (Floodlight/​Louisiana Illuminator)

STORAGE: Entergy’s 100 MW solar and battery storage facility in Arkansas stands as an example of how battery storage can deliver benefits for the power grid. (States Newsroom)

BUILDINGS: An analysis finds LEED ratings that honor buildings for their sustainable designs are overlooking how flooding puts many so-called green buildings at risk. (Politico)