“There is no technical or economic barrier to transitioning the entire world to 100 percent clean, renewable energy with a stable electric grid at low cost,” said Mark Z. Jacobson with Stanford University. This is the key finding of research completed and published in early 2018. At the heart of this study is the need to match energy supplied by …
Income Needed To Afford The Average Home Price In Every State in 2018
The housing market has not only recovered its pre-recession levels, but some observers are actually starting to worry about yet another housing bubble. Housing prices are on the rise, thanks in large part to extremely tight inventory, so it’s worth asking: are potential home buyers getting priced out of the market? The answer depends on where they live and how …
Degrees and Concentrations in Renewable Energy Programs Grow at US Universities.
The Wall Street journal reports that American universities are increasingly offering college degree programs in renewable energy technologies to meet growing industry demand for renewable energy skills. Across the U.S., universities that have long offered degrees related to the fossil-fuels industry are starting to offer degrees and concentrations in wind and solar technologies. Companies such as Tesla Inc. are seeking …
Energy efficiency now employs 2.25 million Americans
Looking for a job or smart investment? The energy efficiency field is an increasingly good bet for workers and financiers. Here’s why: new data show it employed 2.25 million Americans last year — more than the combined total of jobs to produce coal, oil, gas, and electricity (including renewables). These data are contained in the 2018 U.S. Energy & Employment …
US Wholesale Energy Prices Could Fall 25% or More If Solar and Wind Hit 50% of Generation
In a world where wind and solar resources make up 40 to 50 percent of generation, wholesale energy prices will drop by as much as $16 per megawatt-hour, according to a study released Wednesday from a group of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Modeling 2030 scenarios in which CAISO, NYISO, SPP and ERCOT reach combined wind and solar penetration …
Metal-organic frameworks allow precision filtering with less energy
Metal-organic frameworks allow precision filtering with less energy As the crisis in water supply drags on in Cape Town, sending city authorities scrambling to set up temporary desalination plants, scientists elsewhere have unveiled a new technique that could not only make seawater safe to drink but also turn it into a rich source of lithium for batteries. According to a …
HUD Expands the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program
HUD’s fiscal year 2018 appropriation made significant positive changes to RAD, which include: 1. More than doubling the cap of public housing units that can convert under RAD to 455,000 units, an increase of 240,000 units over the previous cap, and extending the application date to September 30, 2024. The unit cap increase will allow HUD to offer awards to …
Trader Joe’s Commits to Eliminating BPA-Laced Cash Register Receipt Paper
Trader Joe’s grocery chain just announced that as soon as possible it would be switching its receipt paper in all stores to one void of BPA and BPS, two known endocrine disruptors. Bisphenol A (BPA) is commonly used to make thermal paper, used for receipts and airline luggage tags, as well as linings for plastic and metal cans. Bisphenol S …
Pentagon Continues Decade-Long Effort to Prepare for Consequences of Climate Change
Nearly 50% of U.S. military installations across the globe face increased risk of numerous climate change-related threats including extreme temperature, flooding and drought, according to a Pentagon report. The report continues the Pentagon’s decades-long effort to prepare for the inevitable threat and comes as the Trump Administration has sought to discredit the science of climate change including by removing the …
Major Apartment Developer Warns of Acute Crisis Ahead
Scan the downtowns of the nation’s largest cities, and you are likely to see a staggering array of cranes. Most of them are helping to build luxury apartment buildings. In fact, multifamily construction is now at a 40-year high; the trouble is, developers are putting up the wrong kinds of buildings. The luxury market is largely overbuilt, while there is …