September 16, 2017

Weekend reads: Trump may replace CPP; climate change and hurricanes; China's gas, diesel ban & more

Every Saturday, we'll bring you five of the most interesting — or quirky; it is the weekend after all — energy stories from around the web that you may have missed this week. This weekend's reads: 

Trump may replace Obama's big climate rule — not just repeal it (Politico): The Trump administration is opening the door to offering its own replacement for former President Barack Obama's landmark climate regulation — rather than just erasing it altogether. A mend-it-don't-end-it approach on Obama's 2015 rule could appease power companies that say the EPA needs to impose some kind of climate regulation — even if it’s much weaker — to avoid triggering courtroom challenges that would cloud the industry in years of uncertainty. But it would run afoul of demands from some conservative activists, who have pressured EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to reject the idea that climate change is a problem requiring federal action.

How Drones Could Shape the Next Generation of Solar Power Cells (Inverse): Sam Stranks and his team at the University of Cambridge hope they're on the brink of a revolution in solar technology. For decades, silicon has been the most popular material used to make solar power cells, successfully moving solar from alternative energy into the mainstream. But it's not a perfect material: It's heavy and rigid, limiting its potential uses, not to mention it's expensive to produce. That's where Stranks hope a common mineral called perovskite can change the game for solar energy.

Climate change did not "cause" Harvey or Irma, but it's a huge part of the story (Vox): The recent Category 4 hurricanes making landfall in the US have revived the perennial discussion about the relationship between extreme storms and climate change. Despite what you might think from the dueling headlines, it's actually a fairly complicated issue — complicated not just because of the physics, but because of the politics. Here are nine things you can say about Harvey, Irma, and climate change.

Alectra Utilities CEO: 'Someone's going to cannibalize our business — it may as well be us' (Utility Dive): Canadian electricity provider Alectra Utilities is living a distributed energy reality most U.S. utilities can only dream of. Formed early this year through the merger of four municipal utilities outside of Toronto, Alectra is now the second-largest municipal utility in North America behind the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Building off the experience of its formative utilities, the company already has a large virtual power plant project for residential customers, is pushing into the commercial and industrial space and is also exploring utility-scale microgrids for critical infrastructure. 

China wants to ban gas and diesel cars (CNN Money): China is preparing to put the brakes on gasoline and diesel cars. The country, home to the world's largest auto market, is working on a plan to ban the production and sale of vehicles powered solely by fossil fuels, officials say. The Chinese government is following in the footsteps of countries like India, France, Britain and Norway, which have already announced plans to ditch gas and diesel cars in favor of cleaner vehicles in the coming years.

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