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How Much Land Would it Require to Get Most of Our Electricity from Wind and Solar?

Union of Concerned Scientists

NREL’s 2022 Standard Scenarios study found that these federal incentives would accelerate the deployment of wind and solar, helping to reduce US power sector carbon dioxide emissions to 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

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Realizing Maine’s Tremendous Offshore Wind Potential

Union of Concerned Scientists

NREL and DNV expect floating offshore wind costs to dip to $60 to $80/MWh by 2030 and $45 to $50/MWh by 2035. Offshore wind power has no fuel costs, so power costs are more stable and predictable over time than fossil fuel-fired power.

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Ask a Scientist: Two Dozen States Can Meet 100 Percent of Electricity Demand with Renewables by 2035

Union of Concerned Scientists

Just as important, cleaning up the power grid also lowers carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing fossil fuel use under the 100-percent RES policy cuts alliance state power plant carbon dioxide emissions by 58 percent below 2020 levels by 2040.

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Clean Hydrogen: How It’s Produced and What We Can Do with It

Law and Environment

According to the Department of Energy (“DOE”), PEM electrolyzers can operate “effectively at a range of loads with sub-second response times,” making them “particularly compatible with variable energy sources, such as sun and wind power.” Clean hydrogen could replace fossil fuels for large vehicles and vessels that make long trips.

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Good News—and Bad—about Fossil Fuel Power Plants in 2023 

Union of Concerned Scientists

In 2021 alone, the plants slated for retirement emitted more than 28,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), 32,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and 51 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), according to EIA data. GW of gas capacity set to retire, but also slightly outpacing the planned additions of wind power.

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Unraveling LA’s Hydrogen Combustion Experiment

Legal Planet

This means that, as we transition to carbon-free energy, we still need firm power, and geothermal, nuclear, and hydroelectric are either difficult to scale, expensive, or politically inexpedient. Because of this, a 30% hydrogen mix by volume delivers only a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

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Circle of Blue - Untitled Article

Circle of Blue

Hydropower generation across California and the American West has declined in this extremely dry year, meaning that electricity providers will lean more heavily on natural gas, solar, and wind power. Burning the methane-rich gas still releases carbon dioxide. But burning the biogas can reduce net emissions significantly.