September 14 NEC Energy News
¶ “Switching To Renewable Energy Could Save Trillions – Study” • Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12 trillion (£10.2 trillion) by 2050, according to an Oxford University study. The report said it was wrong and pessimistic to claim that moving quickly towards cleaner energy sources was expensive. [BBC]
¶ “Hurdles Ahead For Saving Michigan Nuclear Power Plant” • The governor of Michigan said she wants a nuclear power plant to reopen, but the company that bought the plant said there are many hurdles to save the facility. ClearView Energy Partners, a non-partisan research group, said the process for saving the plant is “murky at best.” [104.1 WIKY]
¶ “Could The Nation’s Coal Plant Sites Help Drive A Clean Energy Transition?” • A DOE study finds that hundreds of coal power plant sites could be converted to nuclear power plant sites. This would greatly increase the supply of dispatchable clean electricity to the grid and help reach the nation’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. [Department of Energy]
¶ “Ford Plans New Build-To-Order System To Reduce The Cost Of Electric Cars” • Reuters reports that Ford CEO Jim Farley will be in Las Vegas next week to meet with Ford dealers. His mission is to convince them the “build to order” business model is better and could help reduce the cost of delivering Ford electric cars and trucks by about $2,000. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Ethanol Burns Clean, But Creates More Emissions Than Gasoline” • Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline in cars. But there is a dispute about the carbon emissions of making ethanol from corn. Research by Reuters shows that US ethanol plants produce over twice the harmful emissions of oil refineries, per gallon of fuel production capacity. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Tesla To Build Ten to Twelve Gigafactories; Progressing Faster Than Most Expected Possible” • Tesla continues rapid expansion throughout the world, and despite two new gigafactories having opened earlier this year (in Germany and Texas), the automaker is already looking at where to build next. CEO Elon Musk has his sights set on a high target, as usual. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Americans Should Brace For Higher Natural Gas Prices, Chevron CEO says” • Prices at the pump have fallen along with the cost of a barrel of crude oil. But the CEO of Chevron, one of the world’s largest energy companies, thinks consumers in the US should be prepared for a shock when they get home heating bills this winter. [CNN]
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.