PJM down nearly 6 GW in accredited capacity over the past 10 years, horrible timing with record levels of load growth supposedly here

Getting clean energy procurement right is a key requirement for making energy-intensive carbon removal approaches (like DAC) credible. Today, Frontier has published a set of buyer principles for responsible clean energy procurement: frontierclimate.com/...

Energy transition in reverse. Responding to data centers & other new demand, NRG, GE Vernova and Keiwit construction firm team up to bring 5GW of gas-powered plants to PJM and ERCOT.

fantastic work by the Split-Ticket crew voters continue to reward perceived moderation and punish perceived ideological positions whether to the left or the right of the spectrum we have to get it through our heads that this is the case and then deal with it

"...climate goals do not exist in a vacuum. They coexist with other objectives—from GDP growth and economic development to energy security and reducing local pollution—and are complicated by rising global tensions, both East-West and North-South." Great dose of realism here on net-zero 🔌💡

The ease of the energy world's pivot at times like these really gives away how low of a priority climate is.

@tylernol4thepain.bsky.social has asked me to write a thread elaborating on some comments I had made to him about the paper via DM to further the discussion on this topic and to bring up some extra nuances that to his credit he put into the introduction of his paper:

FERC approved PJM's "surplus interconnection" proposal, which will help new energy storage, wind and solar resources share interconnection capacity with existing power plants that aren't fully using it. A significant step forward! elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/fil...

ISO New England is reviewing the Trump Administration's announcement related to tariffs on imports from Canada. Read more: isonewswire.com/2025/02/02/i...

There has been a temptation in the energy/climate academic community to blur the line between scientific work & activism. But the risk is you can become irrelevant overnight, when the zeitgeist changes. Scientists must present the facts, not have an emotional attachment to them. The public decides.

My annual decarbonization presentation is here. 200 slides, covering everything from water levels in Lake Gatún to sulfur dioxide emissions to ESG fund flows to Chinese auto exports to artificial intelligence. www.nathanielbullard.com/presentations

A big change. And if their desire is to now signal cultural alignment with Trump then it's hard to argue that big tech is going to continue their programs on climate. Will tech co's still pay a premium for 24x7 clean power? Will they still pay a premium for durable carbon removal? Why would they?

Trump has ordered the government to stop all permits for wind energy heatmap.news/sparks/wind-...

To be clear what this appears to mean: federal awards under contract usually disburse funds over time and after expenditure by the federal awardee. So, spending on ARDP, HALEU, maybe LEU, CCS, DAC, geothermal forge, domestic manufacturing grants, etc. appear paused for 90 days.

Yeah there's nothing that could go wrong with this sort of thinking

If you were to write a piece on carbon removal at the end of 2024, would it be about billionaires investing in a "gold rush"? Or about flight from a sector that has no clear and durable business model, in the face of decreasing climatetech funding and net-zero talk? www.nytimes.com/2024/12/22/c...

Big symbolic move by Japan to embrace nuclear power today 🇯🇵☢️👇 ⚠️ Its new draft energy policy removed Fukushima-era language about reducing reliance on nuclear power over the long term 📈 Plan now calls for nuclear & renewables to be utilized “to the fullest extent”

Ride-hailing apps reduce racial bias in wait times vs taxis but Black riders still face delays due to systemic geographic segregation. Policy must address these gaps. #TransportSky W/ @cdharper.bsky.social @jmichalek.bsky.social @aniruddh-mohan.bsky.social & Anna Cobb www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

From carbon removal startups to solar icons, the climate world saw a number of corporate flameouts this year. Here are some takeaways and lessons learned. Reporting by @ericwesoff.bsky.social

My 2 cents: 1- EM is not science. Does not belong in an academic department, at most a policy school. Science means you validate your theory, there's no validation in EM. 2- EM helps with decision making in the face of uncertainty, whether it's investment or policy. Has a vital place in the world.

Meta's new data center in Louisiana is driving 2.3 gigawatts of new high capacity-factor gas units, according to Entergy. Inflexible data centers will drive massive US gas expansion without smarter planning. #energysky www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

Staggering numbers here, driven by ERCOT, PJM, and Georgia Power. My guess is CCGTs are about to be sold at a level not seen since the early 2000s.

Today Treasury issued final regulations on the section 48 ITC, which provides a 30%+ credit to deploy wind, solar, storage (batteries, thermal (heat pumps say what?!), hydrogen), biogas, geothermal, hydro, etc. home.treasury.gov/news/press-r...

Several strategics in the round too! A welcome boost for DAC at a tricky time for the industry

I talked to CarbonCapture’s head of business dev and she told me the behind-the-scenes of what happened with Project Bison. No spot for DAC on the interconnection queue/grid with AI data centers on the scene: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

The debate about whether the IRA will be repealed or not misses how much IRA implementation has hinged on Treasury guidances that can be changed without a full repeal. That’s where changes are easier to make and could have big impacts on program eligibility.

New Georgia Power load forecasts just dropped. Your jaw will, too. DATA CENTERS: 31 GW MFG'ING: 1.2 GW OTHER: 1.2 GW CLEAN TECH: 1 GW

⚡Very cool new study from team at Berkeley looking at surplus interconnection opportunities for clean energy, finding 775 GW of clean energy opportunity that could be hooked up virtually overnight at cost savings. (1/x) gspp.berkeley.edu/assets/uploa...

DAC news: Microsoft and Royal Bank of Canada have agreed to buy carbon credits from Deep Sky, a Canadian project developer. CEO told me, "We need to prove that this stuff works...If that supply doesn't start showing up soon, we as a market are in big trouble.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...