Solar, storage on federal land could require less study

OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Department of Energy proposes easing environmental reviews for some energy storage, solar and transmission projects on federal property, including those on or next to already disturbed land. (Utility Dive)

EMISSIONS: The proliferation of AI-powered smart technology is bound to spike energy demand, potentially matching all of Ireland’s energy use and driving up carbon emissions, a study finds. (Verge)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• U.S. electric vehicle sales are up nearly 50% so far this year compared to last, and are on pace to easily pass 1 million in annual sales for the first time ever. (Canary Media)
• Ann Arbor becomes the first Michigan city to mount electric vehicle chargers on utility poles to increase public access. (WDIV)

STORAGE:

• A California project tests using old electric vehicle batteries to store solar power — a recycling solution that could reduce the need for mining more materials. (Grist)
• Dominion Energy and Virginia State University test a 1.5 MW metal-hydrogen battery that can discharge power for up to 10 hours as a backup power source. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

SOLAR:

• California regulators vote to slash compensation for new rooftop solar at multimeter properties, potentially making it uneconomic for rental property owners, farms and schools. (Canary Media)
• Detroit neighborhood activists are divided over the city’s plan to build ground-mounted solar projects across vacant and blighted properties. (Planet Detroit/​Energy News Network)

OIL & GAS: A panel of federal judges strikes down a key air permit for a liquified natural gas export facility now under construction in Texas, saying regulators allowed improperly high emissions limits. (Inside Climate News)

CARBON CAPTURE: The U.S. Energy Department awards $444 million for carbon storage research and development projects across the country. (news release)

GRID: Supply chain disruptions, inflation and an expanded route more than double the price of a proposed Minnesota transmission project to $1.14 billion. (Star Tribune)

BUILDINGS: Boston’s newest skyscraper is also the world’s largest Passive House-certified office building, yet the facility still runs on natural gas and isn’t the city’s largest carbon-neutral structure. (Boston Globe)

COAL:

• Kentucky regulators approve a utility’s plan to close two coal-fired units but defer retirement of two larger ones, largely because of a new state law making it harder to retire fossil fuel-fired power. (Louisville Public Media)
• Wyoming officials say new stipulations and red tape hamper them from receiving federal funds to clean up abandoned coal mines. (Casper Star-Tribune)

LITHIUM: A federal judge dismisses tribal nations’ motion to block the proposed Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, saying the plaintiffs did not prove it is on the site of an 1865 massacre. (KNPR)

COMMENTARY: A California columnist explores ways to make residential solar more equitable, but says slashing incentives before alternative solutions are implemented is ​“inexcusable” in an era of climate calamity. (Los Angeles Times)