The Southwest has an enormous opportunity to accelerate the shift from fossil to clean power. Tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act make clean energy projects more feasible than ever. The Energy Community Tax Credit Bonus aims to revitalize the economies of coal-powered communities by providing a 10 percent bonus on top of Production Tax Credits and Investment Tax Credits for clean energy projects.
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The energy transition could offer broad economic benefits for the European Union—such as increased energy reliability, economic growth, and job creation—for example, by developing supply chains for renewables such as solar-photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing. In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, a successful transition would strengthen the region’s energy security by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and energy imports.
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The EU has committed to a legally binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 under the landmark European Climate Law. So, all sectors of the economy must deliver. Electric trucks are an indispensable part of decarbonizing road-freight transport (yes, also when looking at the complete life cycle). To bring that technology to the market, the European Commission has proposed a major update to EU’s CO2 regulation for trucks and buses: Almost all new trucks and coaches must cut their CO2 emissions by 90% in 2040, and 100% of city buses must be zero-emissions in 2030.
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Global new investment in renewable energy skyrocketed to $358 billion in the first six months of 2023, a 22% rise compared to the start of last year and an all-time high for any six-month period. Of this total, $335 billion was for project deployment through both asset finance and small-scale solar. This was 14% greater than in the first six months of 2022 and reflects the continuing acceleration of the energy transition as renewable energy scales up.
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As MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) plans new transmission lines for a future that will include a surge of renewable energy, it is critical for the grid operator of the U.S. Midwest not to miss its window for investing in a state-of-the-art grid. When it comes to expanding and updating the power grid, planners can balk at the big investments needed for big improvements. But we cannot afford to aim low and just keep building more of the same lower-voltage transmission lines that currently crisscross MISO’s footprint.
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The Chinese national government and several local governments have encouraged battery–swapping technology since 2020 and the share of swap-capable vehicles in China’s electric truck sales has been increasing. In 2022, 49.5% of the electric trucks sold in China were swap capable. These swap-capable electric trucks are mainly used for short-haul applications at ports, mining sites, and in urban logistics.
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In the first half of 2023, renewable energy (RE) met slightly more than half of Germany’s electricity consumption. This is a remarkable result, mainly achieved thanks to energy efficiency and savings. After phasing out nuclear power on April 15, 2023, Germany replaced a part of its domestic uncompetitive fossil-based electricity generation with imports, mainly RE-based electricity. By 2030, 80% of Germany’s electricity consumption should come from RE, and by 2035 the country’s power sector should be fully decarbonized.
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Nobody could imagine that the load-shedding would resurface in Bangladesh with a vengeance just months after the declaration of 100 per cent electricity access in March 2022. While the ongoing sufferings are due to an energy and power crunch, renewable energy can help Bangladesh manage the situation better in the foreseeable future. But for this, government support is indispensable to expanding renewable energy in Bangladesh.
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REITs are currently sitting on an embedded asset, their rooftops, parking lots, and garages. Morgan Stanley, in a recently published report identifying the market opportunity for REITs solar development, estimated they control roughly 38.5 billion sq. ft. of solar-appropriate surface area. These spaces are estimated to be capable of generating over 25 percent of all the electricity used in commercial buildings in the United States (roughly 320 GW), or approximately 10 percent of total US electricity sales.
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Unlike other tenders and auctions so far, companies will pay just 10% of the total fee upfront and spread the remainder over 20 years after commissioning for this tender. This shifts the upfront cost to US$750 million for BP and US$645 million for TTE, or around US$0.2m/MW. That’s not a big increment to capex. The ongoing fee will be US$75-100k/MW. Additionally, the German market has some of the strongest offtake potential in Europe.
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With the IRA providing the certainty developers need, the pipeline for renewables projects in the US is looking robust and healthy. As a result, investment in solar and onshore wind in North America is booming, the US utility-scale solar market will add 437 gigawatts (GW) by 2032, while an average 20 GW of wind power should be added annually over the same period. At the same time, the energy storage market is expanding rapidly, with installations expected to reach almost 75 gigawatts (GW) by 2027.
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In Germany and France, the two largest passenger car markets in Europe by new sales, the market for BEVs is evolving rapidly with new registrations reaching 18% and 13%, respectively, in 2022. But low-cost BEV models are still rare compared to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Both countries have already made important efforts with a variety of tax and purchase incentives designed to make BEVs more affordable in general. But what policies exist to support people dependent on a car who have lower incomes?
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Europe’s Green Deal is prompting industries to examine their processes and supply chains to better understand where their CO2 emissions happen and how to shrink the overall footprint. Technology is a key driver in this exercise, helping businesses collect the data they need, not just from their own operations, but also from those of their entire supply chain. Businesses need data to know their steps take them in the right direction.
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With respect to women’s presence at the top management level, solar PV fares better than wind. About 17 per cent of the solar segment’s senior management roles are held by women, compared to just 8 per cent in the case of wind power. Both these shares are quite small compared to 31 per cent of the women present in senior management positions in the global economy, which again reflects a tremendous scope for improvement in this space.
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The US solar industry’s growth trajectory is incredibly strong. Within just a few short years, the industry will be regularly installing 40-50 gigawatts (GW) of capacity according to our latest outlooks. This is quite the feat when you consider the most the industry has installed to date was 25 GW in 2021. Over the next decade, annual average growth will be 11%. And the installed base of projects will multiply nearly five times – from 150 GW installed today to nearly 700 GW installed by 2033.
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For well over one hundred years, the internal combustion engine has reigned supreme over our roads. For one small but significant transport sector, the humble city bus, its reign has neared its end. The most recent quarterly sales data for buses this year shows that the share of diesel-only vehicles sold has dipped below its majority stake, giving way to battery electric to take a leading role. This marks the first time that a zero-emission technology has become dominant in a road transport sector in Europe.
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Assuming US manufacturers are able to offer domestically manufactured modules and cells at more competitive prices than are currently being offered, the guidance should result in increased US cell manufacturing capacity over the next two or three years. However, if modules with US-made cells are 4-5 c/W higher than imported modules, the upside from the domestic content adder is lower than the savings from using imported modules.
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How to make renewable heating in rural homes affordable? There has been plenty of debate on how to choose the best form of renewable energy since the National Energy Administration issued a notice in 2021 ordering that renewables be preferred where appropriate. Setting aside the costs of changing the heat source, centralised district heating systems can have considerable cost advantages in built-up areas.
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The number of people connected to electricity has risen dramatically since 2000 in Central and South Asia from 60% to 96% in 2020. Despite this positive trend, the region is unlikely to reach energy access targets by 2030. Other indicators, such as the share of renewables in the overall energy mix, are moving in the wrong direction, particularly in low-income economies, as UNESCAP data shows.
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In an effort to sharpen their part of the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub (WISHH) bid and enhance their prospects of being selected as a DOE hydrogen hub, Colorado’s legislature passed a bill at the tail end of the recent session to layer state hydrogen incentives on top of the lucrative federal incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.
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