The Energy Department has repeatedly invoked emergency powers to stop the closure of coal plants around the U.S. and reopen oil pipelines in the West. As court challenges inch forward, utilities and energy companies are dusting off equipment that was headed for the scrap heap.Continue readingWhat’s the energy emergency? To an administration keen on fossil fuels, it may be the threat of alternatives
Category: Energy & the West
Backers say Small Modular Reactors promise safe, cheap, carbon-free energy. But as is common in nuclear power, the reality is more complicated. The small city of Kemmerer, Wyoming, is set to house the first U.S. commercial-scale SMR demonstration.Continue readingAtomic energy, out of a box? In the rural West, an experimental reactor technology inches closer to reality.
New technologies and spiking power demand are drawing attention to the Ring of Fire beneath us.Continue readingIn the shadow of wind and solar, geothermal energy gets a fresh look
What it takes to put renewable power on the West’s electrical grids.Continue readingTransmission, transmission, transmission
Amory Lovins, a physicist who co-founded RMI (formerly called Rocky Mountain Institute), is a half-time adjunct professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford and a visiting scholar at the Precourt Institute for Energy. Continue reading’Despair and complacency are equally unwarranted:’ Q&A with Amory Lovins, energy visionary
Billions in potential federal dollars have led Gov. Gavin Newsom to pause the decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant — source of one sixth of the state’s green energy.Continue readingWeighing the consequences of losing carbon-free energy in California
Decarbonizing global transportation requires building a huge quantity of batteries so fleets can convert to electric power. This will mean more mining to supply the lightweight metal lithium. So far, most lithium has come from Australia, South America, and China, but eyes are turning to deposits in the United States.Continue readingCar batteries are the goal. Lithium is the quickest way to make them. Does a global good require local sacrifice in the Southwest?
With the state committed to decarbonizing its electricity supply by 2045, Farmington’s coal-fired power plant and mine are set to shut down. Faced with the loss of their largest employer, city leaders are considering whether to get behind an uncertain carbon-capture technology, or turn to renewables and the tourist economy. Continue readingAs Plant Faces Closure, New Mexico City Weights Bet on Clean Coal Technology
The power gained by harnessing the Columbia River paved the way for industrial development and widespread farmland irrigation. But what if, instead of public utilities, that power had been sold by private firms seeking profits? Continue readingChanging Currents: Picturing a Northwest Without Cheap, Public Hydropower
California’s ambitious energy goals may lead the state toward an economy far less reliant on carbon-based fuels than ever before. But how quickly?Continue readingDecarbonizing California’s Energy Diet