Utilities falling behind on cutting emissions

UTILITIES: Most large U.S. electric utilities have pledged to cut their carbon emissions 80% by 2050, but a report finds they still haven’t made adequate plans to achieve that goal, even with federal funding at their disposal. (Canary Media)

HYDROGEN:

• Four of the seven hydrogen hub proposals selected for federal funding include natural gas-produced blue hydrogen, drawing criticism from environmentalists after the Inflation Reduction Act only required one project produce blue hydrogen. (E&E News)
• New Mexico advocates urge state leaders to abandon plans to establish a hydrogen fuel production hub after its proposal was left off a list of projects garnering federal funds. (NM Political Report)

POLLUTION: A legal loophole in the Clean Air Act has let the U.S. EPA exclude pollution from ​“natural” or ​“uncontrollable” events like wildfires from official air quality records, giving the illusion that the air is cleaner than it really is in at least 70 counties. (Guardian)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: At least eight states, most of them Republican-controlled, have levied $200-plus annual fees on electric vehicle owners that critics say will delay the EV transition. (Washington Post)

PIPELINES: More than 4,200 workers hustle to complete construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline before the end of the year, but still face frequent protests and hundreds of water crossings. (Roanoke Times)

TRANSPORTATION: A Chicago-area startup develops technology to retrofit diesel engines to run on ethanol, betting that it’s a faster path to decarbonize heavy-duty trucking than waiting for electric replacements. (Energy News Network)

COAL:

• Austin, Texas, officials try to close the city’s remaining coal-fired power plant to attain decarbonization goals, but have been delayed by legal, economic, technological and market obstacles. (Texas Tribune)
• New Mexico officials vote to offer energy transition funds aimed at offsetting a coal plant closure’s impacts to proposed hydrogen production, pumped hydropower storage and coal ash recycling projects. (NM Political Report)

CLIMATE: September 2023 was the most unusually warm month NOAA and NASA scientists say they’ve seen, continuing warming trends that suggest 2023 will be the hottest year on record. (Axios)

SOLAR: Iowa solar developers are adapting projects and offering ​“good neighbor” incentives to improve relationships with landowners but still encounter insurmountable opposition in some counties. (Gazette)

OIL & GAS:

• Louisiana has plugged nearly 500 of its roughly 4,500 abandoned oil and gas wells using federal money, although new requirements to calculate methane emissions reduced may complicate the process moving forward. (Louisiana Illuminator)
• California scientists urge regulators to leave defunct offshore oil rigs intact, saying they have become part of the ocean environment and serve as refuges for sea life. (Guardian)

OFFSHORE WIND: Rhode Island requests 1.2 GW of offshore wind project proposals, the largest renewable power solicitation in the state to date. (Offshore Wind Biz)

COMMENTARY: Will your electric boat electrocute you if it sinks? Obsessively insulated batteries and several fail-safes mean the answer is not likely, a reporter finds. (Heatmap)