Legislators and Energy Department officials recently made the case to support nuclear power on Capitol Hill. Climate change popped up repeatedly as a key reason why the government should restructure policies to make nuclear power more competitive.
Speicherung von Sonnenschein
On a side visit during a reporting assignment, I got to visit Germany's equivalent of NASA, DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, in case you were wondering).
One of the big projects researchers there are working on is storing solar thermal energy. Instead of keeping electrons on tap, holding on to heat might prove more efficient and cost-effective for solar power generation.
High Energy
Since the Obama Administration took office, the U.S. Department of Energy has grown in scale and ambition. The agency was once a backwater, but is now a major economic engine, investing in early state energy projects and companies with billions in taxpayer capital. In this article, I profiled one of the key administrators who made it happen and what it means for the fight against climate change.
Hydrogen in, water out
Several automakers in China and the United States have their sights set on battery-powered cars and trucks. For Japan, hydrogen is shaping up to be their strategic bet. Companies in the resource-strapped island nation are building up infrastructure to import and distribute hydrogen, while major car companies like Toyota are bringing to fuel cell cars to their showrooms.
Move the goalposts
Many researchers and policy makers agree that climate change is a problem, but are still debating the ultimate goal. International negotiations typically focus on keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius, but some analysts argue that this goal leaves too much wiggle room.
Instead, they argue the objective should be to race to zero carbon emissions, a goal that compels everyone to act.
Do more with less
With the Clean Power Plan on hold, the Obama Administration is pushing on other fronts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most important strategies is increasing energy efficiency, especially in retrofitting buildings with better compressors and tighter insulation. Buildings consume about 40 percent of energy in the United States and the majority of structures standing today will still be around for decades.
Conscious Decoupling
A new report from the International Energy Agency has found that global carbon emissions from energy have stayed flat while economies have grown. Some analysts take this to mean that economic growth and carbon pollution are no longer linked.
However, others note that energy is not the only source of greenhouse gases -- agriculture and transportation are major emitters -- and that low natural gas prices in the United States have displaced dirtier coal, a feat other countries cannot replicate as easily.
A coal barge on the Rhine River in Bonn, Germany