Finance, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  May 22, 2021

Weekend Reads: The Model T of EVs; Incorporating RE into the Budding Cannabis Industry

It's the weekend! Kick back and catch up with these must-read articles from around the web.

Funding is a key barrier to cities' climate plan progress: report (Utility Dive) About 43% of global cities lack a plan for adapting to climate change issues, yet 93% say their people and infrastructure are at risk from climate change, according to a report from nonprofit CDP that assembled self-reported environmental data from 800 cities worldwide. In the U.S., where 169 cities reported data, 40% do not have a climate adaptation plan. Funding is one key obstacle, with 25% of reporting cities saying budgetary constraints are a main barrier to their making progress on climate adaptation measures.

What If New York Stopped Knocking Down Buildings? (New York Magazine) Imagine a stadium that has outlived its useful life. The game has changed, fans have moved away, and it’s getting ever more expensive to keep the place in good repair. Fifteen centuries ago in Rome, the only option was to walk away, leaving the Colosseum to shopkeepers, hucksters, and the plunderers who recycled its trove of stone. In 21st-century America, the more common answer is to turn an obsolete structure into a cloud of concrete dust, perhaps in order to put up a new one or just for more acres of wasteful parking. Buildings come down and go up every day, but that ordinary, slow-motion dance of razing and reconstruction comes at an enormous price, because every demolition is an assault on the environment.

Ford’s Electric F-150 Pickup Aims to Be the Model T of E.V.s (The New York Times) Ford Motor has opened a major new front in the battle to dominate the fast-growing electric vehicle market, and it’s banking on one of the world’s most powerful business franchises. In a splashy presentation Wednesday night in Dearborn, Mich., the automaker unveiled an electric version of its popular F-150 pickup truck called the Lightning. Ford’s F-Series trucks, including the F-150, make up the top-selling vehicle line in the United States, and typically generate about $42 billion a year in revenue, according to a study commissioned by Ford — or more than twice what McDonald’s brought in last year.

Solar power is a boon for Maine farmers (Bangor Daily News) Farmers have always used the sun to grow things. At our farm in West Paris, my family has used the sun to grow food for ourselves and for the animals we raise — cattle, sheep, goats, oxen and draft horses, to name a few. The sun has helped us feed and support three generations of Whitmans on this land, and, in a few months, it will help us feed the fourth generation when our grandson is born. And as we get ready to welcome this next generation, our farm is using the sun in a whole new way to help provide for our family. We’ve converted about 10 acres of pasture to host a community solar power array that will provide clean, renewable power to our neighbors in the area.

Cannabis and Renewable Energy in New York: Delving into the Weeds of a Budding Industry (JD Supra) New York’s recent legalization of recreational marijuana for adult use has set off a flurry of entrepreneurial activity as businesses seek to establish a foothold in the State’s new and lucrative market. Renewable energy, energy storage and other technologies can help growers not only minimize their electricity bills – a substantial operation expense for the typical indoor farm – but also give them a leg up in the State’s licensing process. This blog post outlines the energy challenges posed by the nascent cannabis industry, as well as cost-effective opportunities that businesses can seize and that energy and efficiency resource providers can offer. These measures can make cannabis operations more economically competitive, environmentally friendly, and potentially improve their license applications.

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