J1. Green Tech Industry & Utilities

Hydrogen hopeful announces $1.5 billion proposal to build 3D printable floating wind turbines to make low emissions fuels at hub described as "Steven Bradbury of hydrogen."

The post Hydrogen hopeful wants to build 3D printable floating wind turbines in Tasmania’s field of green dreams appeared first on Renew Economy.

More than 30 organisations urge federal government to do more in backing electric appliances, equipment and vehicles to cut costs and emissions.

The post Electrifying homes and cars can save $5,000 a year, but households confused by policy “mixed messages” appeared first on Renew Economy.

Australia needs to phase out coal, gas and oil faster than planned to meet its climate commitments, a report says, with changes in energy, transport and mining.

The post Hitting climate goals means no coal power, and no new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, report finds appeared first on Renew Economy.

Headline News:

• “From Tiny Houses To Skis: Vattenfall Is Finding Creative Uses For Retired Wind Turbines” • In time, every wind turbine built will have to come down. Dealing with waste is important. Blades, nose cones, and nacelles are banned from landfills, but Vattenfall is finding purposes for them. For example, a nacelle might be made into a tiny house. [Euronews]

Tiny house made from nacelle (Vattenfall image)

• “El Niño Brings Record Slow Atlantic Hurricane Season” • No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year and none are likely to form for at least another week, even though this is normally the peak of the season, according to the National Hurricane Center. This year set a record as the longest a season has gone without its first hurricane. [ABC News]
• “US District Court Finds JH Campbell Emergency Order Fake” • Consumers Energy, owner of the coal-burning JH Campbell plant, planned to replace it with methane and solar capacity and battery storage. This would reduce air pollution in the area along with the cost of electricity for customers. A fake emergency order stopped it. Until now. [CleanTechnica]
• “Biogas Faces A Market Reality Check As Wind And Solar Dominate Renewables” • An analysis reveals two structural challenges constraining biogas expansion: its high and stagnant costs, and feedstock limitations as a competitor for agricultural land. But over the past decade, the cost of wind and solar energy has dropped by 70% to 90%. [EIN News]
• “Anthropic CEO Says AI industry Needs To Slow Down For Safety” • Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, said the artificial-intelligence industry should slow its fast-moving development to give safety measures time to catch up. Without it, he warned, AI could be capable within six to twelve months of taking over the entire internet, for example. [ABC News]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “Five Positive Tipping Points To Save The World” • Landmark research from The Earthshot Prize and the University of Exeter revealed 51 solutions that can trigger “rapid and transformative change” to repair the planet over the next five years. Out of these 51 solutions, five priority clusters have been identified. They are called ‘Earthshots.’ [Euronews]

Wind turbine in a rainforest (César Badilla Miranda, Unsplash)

• “Rhode Island Energy Looks To Maine Onshore Wind Farm For Electricity” • After a series of failed attempts to get offshore wind power, the Rhode Island utility operator turned landward. Rhode Island Energy announced that it has tentatively agreed to buy 150 MW of electricity from an onshore wind farm planned for northern Maine. [Rhode Island Current]
• “‘Incredible Progress’: Inside The €682 Billion Drive To Turn The Mediterranean Into A Renewable Powerhouse” • An analysis estimates that the Mediterranean region has utility-scale solar and wind projects at 552 GW that have either been announced or are already under development. The analysis used data from the Global Integrated Power Tracker. [Euronews]
• “India Is Rebuilding The Case For Global Climate Finance” • Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz show India’s dependencies on oil and gas. Higher prices constrain the whole economy. The structural lesson is clear: Energy import dependence leaves India exposed not only to physical supply disruption but to long-term economic and security costs. [CleanTechnica]
• “Federal Court Rejects Trump Order Keeping Michigan Coal Plant Open” • A federal court ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it ordered a Michigan coal-fired plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had claimed to have emergency power to keep it operating. [ABC News]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

“The Department’s reading of 'emergency' invites frequent federal interventions that are unsupported by the statute and threaten the stability of the energy market,” the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit said in its ruling.

This summer’s Champlain Hudson Power Express outage highlights the importance of an independent grid operator, writes Zach Smith, senior vice president of system and resource planning at NYISO.

The decisions come “amid growing concern about the balance between rapidly increasing electricity demand and the resources available to serve that demand” in PJM territory, the Pennsylvania PUC said.

Improved preparations and interregional power transfers played key roles in avoiding planned blackouts during bitter cold in early 2026, according to the agency and grid watchdog.

Headline News:

• “Vestas Reaches New Turbine Heights” • Vestas claims that a new EnVentus 7.2-MW machine installed in Winnberg, Germany, has the highest hub height ever for an onshore turbine at 199 meters (653 feet). The prototype project also has a Firmengruppe Max Bögle concrete hybrid tower. A second turbine is planned for installation next year. [reNews]

Vestas wind turbine (Vestas image)

• “Spanish Zinc-Air Battery Design Boosts Capacity And Power By 80%” • Researchers at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona developed an architecture for zinc-air batteries that can boost their power output by up to 80% without altering their core chemistry. This opens up a new avenue for designing more efficient, higher-performance batteries. [Euronews]
• “US Solar In 11-GW Q2 Surge” • The US solar industry added 11.4 GW of new electricity generating capacity in Q2 2026, a 45% year-over-year increase and a 43% increase from Q1. The Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie said that utility-scale solar led the Q2 surge with 9.6-GW installed, up 61% year-over-year. [reNews]
• “UK Households Face Higher Energy Bills Unless Aging Grid Is Upgraded, Report Warns” • Failure to accelerate updates to the UK’s aging power grid to handle rising renewable generation could cost consumers billions of pounds by 2030, the official spending watchdog has warned. Up to £70 billion in investment is required for upgrades. [Yahoo News UK]
• “MN Power Ordered To Continue Investigating Alternatives To New Gas Plant” • The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rejected a request by Minnesota Power to build a costly new gas plant to meet future energy demand and ordered the electric utility to continue investigating alternatives that would maintain grid reliability. [CleanTechnica]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

The SHARE program is a proof of concept for privately-funded distributed energy capacity and could eventually expand to include commercial, industrial and utility-scale resources, Pacific Gas & Electric said.

As storm behavior changes, grid planning frameworks need to keep pace with evolving risk profiles, write Michael Levy and Sarah Pearl of management consulting firm Baringa.

Commissioner Darcie Houck suggested taking “a closer look at the correlation between utility performance and compensation.” The plan has not been comprehensively updated since 2007. 

Data centers and a manufacturing expansion will drive U.S. electricity use 2% higher this year and next, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

Headline News:

• “Drones Hold Secret To Producing More Rain, Engineers Say” • Amid perpetual drought, population growth, and trillions of gallons of water used in desert agriculture, much of the West is in desperate need of more rain and snow. A team of engineers at California tech company Rainmaker say they believe drones could be part of a solution. [ABC News]

Preparing a drone for rain making (Rainmaker image)

• “August 2026 Tied For The World’s Hottest Month On Record, According To Copernicus” • August was the hottest month on record, tied with July 2023, according to data published by the European climate observatory Copernicus. The global average air temperature was 1.65°C higher than it was in 1850–1900, the pre-industrial reference period. [Euronews]
• “European Gas Prices Keep Climbing The As IEA Calls For Emergency Reserves” • Europe’s benchmark wholesale gas price, the front-month Dutch TTF contract, traded above €79/MWh, its highest level since early 2023. PFighting between the US and Iran has intensified concerns about LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. [Euronews]
• “Denmark Can Produce 140% Of Its Electricity Demand From Wind Power” • US President Trump may have a peevish vendetta against wind turbines, but the rest of the world’s nations enjoy bumper crops of clean kilowatts from the sky and turn them into export revenues. When windpower provided Denmark with 140% of its needs, the excess was exported. [CleanTechnica]
• “Irish Summer Solar Generation Jumps 58%” • Solar electricity generation in Ireland increased 58% in June, July, and August of 2026 compared with the same three months in 2025. Production reached 692 GWh. EirGrid said solar contributed 7.7% of the country’s electricity fuel mix in August, after achieving 9.4% in July and 8.2% in June. [reNews]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Industrial expansion, data centres, population growth and electrification are putting new pressure on a system already facing affordability, reliability and infrastructure challenges. Much of the public conversation focuses on how much new...

TORONTO — “Build Canada Strong” is a central mantra of the federal government’s plans to bolster Canada’s economy in a rapidly changing world, with new housing and infrastructure key to Canada’s nation-building efforts. But all this construction poses a problem: the production of building materials can be a huge source of emissions. 

Thankfully, there are solutions that can reduce this downside, at little or no extra cost—while also supporting Canadian industry, as a new report, Build Canada Clean, from Clean Energy Canada reveals.

The report, which features case studies from across the country—from apartment buildings to roads to wastewater facilities—finds that lower-carbon construction materials can generally be procured at no or marginal cost increases, while simple design changes can further minimize cost and emissions. One case study of an apartment building in Quebec, for example, found that design changes and lower-carbon materials could cut construction emissions by 30% while reducing overall construction costs by 12%.

What’s more, Canadian manufacturers are already producing many of the lower-carbon alternatives required, such as steel produced in electric arc furnaces, concrete that uses industrial byproducts to replace cement, and reclaimed asphalt. Supporting this kind of construction presents a unique opportunity for Canada to build its market at a time when our key trade partners, like the EU, are actively seeking cleaner products.

Governments are key to ensuring we seize this opportunity. They are big builders and by requiring lower-carbon materials and design—an approach known as “Buy Clean”—they can create a strong demand signal. The federal government has already taken some steps to reduce carbon in its building projects, and has also recently introduced a “Buy Canadian” approach. Expanded Buy Clean policies sitting alongside Buy Canadian ones would allow us to support domestic producers while also incentivizing our industries to become more climate-competitive in a global trade environment increasingly prioritizing or requiring cleaner materials.

Beyond “Buy Clean,” some simple regulatory changes can make a big difference, as the report elaborates. There are many different codes and standards for infrastructure construction across the country, some of which needlessly restrict the use of lower-carbon materials or design practices. Where flexibility does exist to use more recycled or other lower-carbon materials, it isn’t always made use of—something that could be addressed with better procurement guidance.

As we build more projects, we have the opportunity to avoid locking in huge amounts of damaging emissions—all while cutting costs for developers and taxpayers alike. So while we “Build Canada Strong,” let’s also “Build Canada Clean.”

KEY FACTS

• The construction sector contributed over 8% of Canada’s total emissions in 2018. And that was at less than a third of the housing starts Canada actually needs. 
• For efficient, electrified buildings, the emissions associated with material production and construction, known as “embodied carbon,” usually accounts for a larger portion of lifecycle carbon emissions than those from operation, like heating and cooling.
• The global low-carbon construction materials market is expected to be worth US$579 billion in 2032, with trade partners, including the EU, increasingly looking for clean materials. 
• Through nine roadway case studies, we show that lifetime emissions reductions of between 17% and 31% could be achieved while reducing the per-metre cost of the roads by up to 16%. 
• A study of an apartment building in Quebec found that making just two changes to the building design and replacing materials with lower-carbon equivalents would reduce embodied emissions by 30% while reducing overall construction costs by 12%.
• Choosing lower-carbon material options for water infrastructure can reduce the emissions of stormwater and wastewater infrastructure with marginal cost impacts.

RESOURCES

Report | Build Canada Clean

The post Amid Canada’s massive housing and infrastructure build-out, a few changes can limit climate impact at little or no cost: report appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

VICTORIA — Evan Pivnick, associate director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada, released a statement in response to BC Hydro’s release of its new energy efficiency strategy, Power Smart 2.0:

“BC Hydro has a strong history of using energy conservation to reduce electricity use in B.C. as well as prepare for the growing demands for electrification. However, while this new plan makes meaningful investments and continues in this tradition, it falls short of fully harnessing the opportunities that household technologies have to save families—and BC Hydro—money.

“A recent study from Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors found that distributed energy resources (electric technologies that can generate or store energy or control demand) could meet more than 10% of B.C.’s total peak electricity demand by 2040, saving ratepayers money by avoiding more expensive infrastructure build-outs while improving grid reliability. 

“As such, it’s good to see support for consumers to adopt clean solutions, from energy-efficient appliances to battery storage, that help realize this potential. But this is only a first step. B.C needs to follow the lead of other jurisdictions across North America that are going much further in advancing changes to their electricity systems and standing up new programs that can help households save on their energy bills.

“Beyond energy-efficient appliances, new technologies have unlocked much greater opportunities to save, like managed EV charging, smart panels, controllable water heaters, and household batteries that work in harmony with the grid. The new plan lays out a vision for using these technologies, but more should be done to encourage British Columbians to make the switch. The Dunsky study found that greater financial incentives, like rebates, and other ambitious installation programs, were key to realizing the full potential of distributed energy resources for reducing both household bills and costs to the utility. 

“What’s more, heat pumps will be vital to reducing power demand, offering the ability to displace power-hungry baseboard heating and air conditioning. With another hot summer around the corner, the provincial government should introduce regulations that ensure new permanent air conditioning systems are heat pumps. Our analysis shows that a province-wide switch to heat pumps could save a cumulative $675 million in annual energy bills: that translates to average savings of approximately $170 a year for those currently using natural gas with A/C.

“Already, B.C. has some of the lowest electricity rates in North America, making the switch to EVs and household electrification especially enticing for British Columbians. And while today represents a positive step, at a moment when the cost of living is top of mind for most families, there is much more we could be doing to lower electricity bills across the province—while simultaneously building a smarter, more cost-efficient electricity system.” 

The post Response: New BC Hydro plan maintains key programs, but the province and utility are leaving larger household savings on the table appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has won deserved praise for standing firm against the Trump administration’s threats and imposition of tariffs. But political credit is only as good as the strategy that follows, and Canada now faces a genuine opportunity to do something more ambitious than weather the storm.

Carney’s approach has sparked a broader conversation among the world’s ‘middle powers’ – countries with significant economies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the U.K. that share a commitment to rules-based trade but sit outside the U.S.-China superpower axis. These are countries that are actively looking for a different economic path forward, one that doesn’t simply mirror the nationalism coming out of Washington and Beijing.

Keep reading this post, co-authored by Ryan Mulholland and Ollie Sheldrick, in Policy Options.

The post A Canada-led clean trade pact would show that middle powers mean business appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.

TORONTO — Rachel Doran, executive director at Clean Energy Canada, made the following statement in response to the Implementation Agreement for the Canada-Alberta MOU:

“The long-awaited agreement between the federal government and Alberta was promised to strengthen Canada’s competitiveness and the effectiveness of key climate policies—but is, in reality, a step backward. This is true not only when it comes to reducing climate-change-causing emissions from big industry, but also on the aspiration laid out yesterday to double Canada’s electricity grid as the economic backbone of our future.

“Indeed, the federal government’s goal of a net-zero grid by 2050 may be fundamentally at odds with the details in this MOU. Alberta, once the Canadian capital of renewable investment, has not made any concrete commitments to unleash its once-booming free market. It has, conversely, secured a commitment that natural gas generation will be expanded and is likewise not dropping its legal challenge against Canada’s Clean Electricity Regulations. Furthermore, the federal government’s suggestion that the regulations will be ‘in abeyance’ until after all court cases have been finalized—a process that may take years—will create significant investment uncertainty. 

“Alberta policy changes have already undermined tens of billions in renewable energy investments in the province. Despite leading the country in wind, solar, and energy storage deployment early this decade, private investment in renewables has fallen by nearly 99% since 2023 due to changes introduced by Premier Smith’s government. 

“On the Clean Electricity Regulations, Alberta has agreed only to negotiate an equivalency agreement if courts uphold the policy’s constitutionality. If Alberta does not negotiate in good faith and the agreement has no teeth to prevent future debate, the result could be a provincial race to the bottom, leaving Canada’s vision of a competitive, unified electricity grid back where it started: fragmented and increasingly failing to realize its potential.

“And while the government’s press release and implementation agreement suggest that Alberta will make changes to its Restructured Energy Market to facilitate more investment in renewables, the MOU makes a far weaker commitment: that changes will only be considered if warranted.

“None of this adds up to meeting the vision laid out by the federal government only yesterday to double Canada’s relatively clean electricity grid as a way to electrify industry and Canadian homes: an essential play both for the future of our economy and household affordability.

“The agreement similarly falls short in delivering on effective industrial carbon pricing, which modelling by the Canadian Climate Institute found to be doing the most heavy lifting toward our climate targets. While changes to Canada’s industrial carbon pricing system were meant to strengthen the actual impact of the policy, if not the optics of it, the dials here are turned too low to result in the better outcome that was promised. 

“The agreement makes an attempt to ensure the real carbon price that companies pay comes closer to the so-called ‘headline price,’ and yes, setting a carbon price floor is a good idea, as is signing contracts for difference to ensure governments stick to their promises for an effective carbon price. But when it comes to the actual numbers needed to empower these changes, the agreement offers too little, too late. 

“An industrial carbon price serves as an incentive for companies to invest in cleaner methods of production. If increasing this price to meaningful levels is pushed down the road, then so will be any related investments. Industrial carbon pricing is tied to over 70 major projects worth more than $57 billion. And this does not just affect Alberta. By striking this deal with one province, the federal government has potentially opened the floodgates for a lowering of ambition across all provincial industrial carbon pricing systems, affecting the incentives for steel mills in Ontario, potash mines in Saskatchewan, and cement plants in B.C.

“Canada is falling out of step with key trading partners in the transition to a global clean energy economy. Whereas the agreement aims for an effective carbon price of $130 by 2040, the European Union carbon price is close to that amount already today. And while the agreement sets tightening rates of 2% or lower, the EU has set rates of over 4% every year. 

“The EU knows where it needs to go, launching a comprehensive set of new measures—including electricity tax cuts and investments in renewables—that cement clean energy as the path to energy security. EV sales are unsurprisingly skyrocketing globally, including here in Canada: March EV sales were up 75% year-over-year. 

“More than 40 countries are currently rationing energy, and it’s no wonder. As International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol put it, ‘the damage is done…. There will be a significant boost to renewables and nuclear power and a further shift towards a more electrified future,’ adding that ‘this will cut into the main markets for oil.’

“In other words, the same forces driving up oil prices today are destroying the fossil fuel demand of tomorrow. This government has suggested that it’s making certain short-term concessions while keeping its eye firmly on building for the future. But the reality is that, once again, Alberta is making promises while the federal government is making commitments. Canadians need policies that strike a better balance.”

The post Response: Lopsided MOU undermines yesterday’s clean electricity strategy appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.