Volume 13 Issue 4
February 28, 2022 – March 6, 2022
Zihan Lin ‘23 | Andrew Ji ‘25 | Wilder Crosier ‘25 | Sunay Joshi ‘24 | Riti Bhandarkar ‘23

Australia spending billions on new gas pipelines that may end up worthless stranded assets

February 22, 2022 | Royce Kurmelovs | Guardian Energy

Decarbonizing by 2050 has become a popular target in combating climate change amongst many countries. In Australia, however, the goal has become blurry as the government invests $18.6 billion (USD) on gas pipelines. The completion of this large scale project is expected to take decades, going in direct contradiction to the global push for fossil fuel divestment. When the technologically matured renewable energy network replaces scarce fossil fuels in the future, the pipelines will be rendered worthless if they are to transport natural gas.  -ZL

U.S. Offshore Wind Power Auction Nets Record $4.37 Billion

February 25, 2022 | Jennifer Hiller | The Wall Street Journal

A recent auction for offshore wind parcels in the Atlantic ended with bids totalling a record $4.37 billion. A number of companies purchased land in the auction, including a partnership between Shell and EDF Renewables. The bidding lasted 64 rounds. The White House is touting the deals as evidence of progress towards a carbon-free future. The Biden administration is aiming for offshore wind to generate 30 gigawatts of energy by 2030, even though prior to the deal, only two offshore wind farms were operating in the US. -SJ

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California’s Green-Energy Subsidies Spur a Gold Rush in Cow Manure

February 19, 2022 | Phred Dvorak | The Wall Street Journal

In California, energy companies like BP, Clean Energy, and Chevron have started to invest heavily in cow poop. Thanks to the Golden State’s incentives around renewable energy production, companies are greatly boosting their profits by producing biofuel from cow manure. Due to this “manure gold rush,” as it has been dubbed, California farmers are seeing a very large interest in their cows’ manure, and heated fights between energy corporations. While part of the allure of dairy renewable energy comes from California’s lack of tax on methane emissions from livestock, the changes are nonetheless good for the environment. These shifts in the energy sector demonstrate the power that legislature around tax-benefits and subsidies can have to change the harmful impacts corporations have on the planet. -WC

EU to urgently link electricity grid with Ukraine's

February 28, 2022 | Kate Abnett | Reuters

As the invasion of Ukraine by Russia unfolds, concerns around the EU’s power supply are rising. Russia has historically been the top provider of natural gas to EU member nations. After Ukraine disconnected its own power grid from Russia’s last week, it has asked for immediate emergency connections to the European system, a move that EU officials say will take weeks. According to the EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said after Monday’s meeting that “There was a broad agreement around the table. Based on this, we will move forward… to connect Ukraine’s electricity system as soon as possible.” Beyond providing electricity to Ukraine, the Commission also proposes to require governments to fill gas supplies to last through winters, as well as measures to expand renewable energy sources faster, in accordance with EU goals to reduce gas consumption by 25% by 2030. -AJ