Building a cleaner power grid in Massachusetts will require new infrastructure—but deciding where that infrastructure goes requires care, clarity on the principles guiding decision-making, and concerted community engagement.
The accelerating effects of the oncoming climate disaster are creating extreme weather events that are making the essential task of rapidly decreasing fossil fuel dependence even more difficult than it would otherwise be. Keeping the lights, heat, and air conditioning reliably operating while transitioning to renewable sources of energy is Read more…
Battery systems can be used to store energy from renewable sources, like wind and solar, to be released when the electric grid needs extra power.
In case you’re just catching up, COP is an international climate meeting held each year by the United Nations. The name stands for “Conference of the Parties,” meaning those countries who have joined the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Parties to the treaty have committed to take voluntary actions to Read more…
We’re experiencing a period of conflict around the globe more intense than any we’ve seen in recent years. One reason for this? Climate change, which is now recognized as a threat multiplier to international peace and security. When people are under the stress of environmental degradation caused by the climate Read more…
Virtual power plants (VPPs) are networks of hundreds or thousands of households and businesses that agree to share the power of their thermostats, electric vehicles (EVs), appliances, batteries, and solar arrays to support the grid. When these devices are combined and coordinated, they can provide many of the same energy Read more…
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, poor and marginalized populations have borne the brunt of the toxic byproducts of industry. Low income neighborhoods are generally cheaper to build facilities in, and the people who live there have little power to object to the degradation of their environment. Often they Read more…
Carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines are essential components of carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems which are proposed to reduce atmospheric emissions of man-made CO2, a greenhouse gas. This in spite of the fact that despite extensive support, of projects that seek to commercialize carbon capture and sequestration technology, 80 percent have Read more…
Replacing peaker power plants with clean energy solutions represents one of the most important environmental justice opportunities in the country. Accelerating the retirement of polluting, fossil-fuel peaker power plants and replacing them with clean, cost-effective alternatives, such as energy storage, renewable generation, transmission, energy efficiency, and demand response brings benefits Read more…
Our energy needs can be supplied sustainably. Wind and water, heat and light from the sun, and the geothermal heat in the Earth are all energy sources that can supply our needs using technology that is available today. Most importantly, they represent our best hope in the fight against climate Read more…