VINEYARD WIND said it will begin construction of the nation’s first commercial-scale wind farm as soon as Thursday now that nine banks have agreed to put up $2.3 billion in financing for the project. Lars Pedersen, the CEO of Vineyard Wind, said he was pleased that the project is finally moving into the construction phase, […]
Plugging In
Posted inEnvironment
A 2d lawsuit in works against Vineyard Wind
A GROUP REPRESENTING  US fishing interests  is suing to block the federal government’s approval of Vineyard Wind, becoming the second organization to file a legal challenge to the nation’s first commercial offshore wind project. The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing industry associations and companies, signaled on Monday its intent to sue the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Key breakthrough in fusion energy production
A CAMBRIDGE STARTUP working with officials at MIT said on Wednesday that it has achieved a major breakthrough in fusion technology that could begin revolutionizing the way energy is produced around the planet as early as 2030. Fusion produces energy the same way the sun does, by combining atoms under enormous heat. The allure of […]
Posted inEnvironment
Ida renews calls for decentralizing grid
HURRICANE IDA delivered a knockout punch to the power grid in New Orleans on Sunday, plunging the city into darkness and renewing a long-running national debate about the best way to deliver electricity at a time in history when severe storms and weather are becoming more commonplace. Storms like Ida illustrate the vulnerability of a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Is it Cape Wind all over again?
TWO NANTUCKET RESIDENTS, backed by a network of think tanks and beachfront property owners along the East Coast, set in motion what appears to be a Cape Wind strategy for derailing the nation’s first industrial-size offshore wind farm and others that are lining up behind it. Vallorie Oliver, a home designer on Nantucket, filed a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Clean Energy Center offers help on Brayton Point
THE MASSACHUSETTS Clean Energy Center is putting up some grant money to help the town of Somerset build consensus around the development of offshore wind at Brayton Point, but the funding is not exactly the assistance the municipality was seeking from the Baker administration. Somerset is struggling to figure out what to do with Brayton […]
Posted inOpinion
Taking a new approach to solar grid connections
IT’S CLEAR that our current electric grid interconnection model is unsustainable if Massachusetts is to build the amount of renewable energy that will be required for the coming years and decades. The Commonwealth’s efforts to formalize new standards for interconnection are a laudable first step, but there is much at stake. There are currently over […]
Posted inOpinion
Lessons from early days of EV charging
ELECTRIC VEHICLES are crucial to reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change. That’s why governors from coast to coast have announced that they will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, and why automakers from GM to Ford to Nissan have announced countless new EVs coming to the market in the next five […]
Posted inEnvironment, Race/Racism
Proposed biomass limits restrict new plants in 90 percent of state
MONTHS AFTER THE Baker administration pulled the plug on plans for a controversial new biomass plant in Springfield, state environmental officials proposed new regulations that would drastically limit where biomass plants can be located. The rules promulgated by the Department of Energy Resources in April say new biomass plants located in or within five miles […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Emissions pact opponents predict fuel shortages by 2023
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE OPPONENTS OF THE regional effort to wring carbon emission reductions from cars, trucks and other forms of transportation predicted Thursday that Massachusetts residents could face fuel shortages as soon as 2025 unless the state can dramatically scale up the transition to electric vehicles. The claims, however, were quickly discounted by the […]