Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  May 28, 2022

Weekend Reads: Auto Giants Call for EV Battery Development; Harnessing Solar Power from Space

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

Digital solutions can reduce global emissions by up to 20%. Here’s how (World Economic Forum) The impacts of climate change are growing more pressing by the day, but commitments for 2030 are projected to reduce emissions by only 7.5%. We need a 55% reduction by 2030 to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement on track. Filling this gap will require rewiring high-emitting sectors around efficiency, circularity, and sustainability. Digital technology can help accelerate this transformation.

Industry heavyweights unite in U.S. battery push (Axios) Auto giants are joining with battery companies, EV startups and lithium producers in a new coalition seeking stronger federal support for building a large U.S. battery supply chain. Driving the news: The Coalition for American Battery Independence (CABI) launches Tuesday. Members include General Motors, Ford, Panasonic, Tesla, Form Energy, Albemarle, Proterra and the Zero Emission Transportation Association. The group, run via the lobbying firm Boundary Stone Partners, targets batteries for electric vehicles and storage. The goal: cohesive support for everything from raw materials processing and refining to component manufacturing to making battery packs.

Solar Power from Space: A Solution to Net Zero? (Via Satellite) The world’s energy consumption is increasing and will continue to grow. According to a report by the University of Oxford, current global energy consumption is more than 160 billion megawatt hours per year, of which solar energy today contributes only 0.58 billion megawatt hours. Despite increases investment in renewable energy solutions, more than 80 percent of global energy is fueled by hydrocarbons. Solar energy today generates less than 0.4 percent.

Climate-related disclosure annually costs companies $677,000 on average (Utility Dive) Companies annually pay on average $677,000 for reporting on the risks from climate change, according to results of a study released as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pushes forward with a proposal to require detailed climate-related disclosures. The study includes two cost categories excluded in SEC calculations and so exceeds the agency’s average annual cost estimate of $530,000. Absent the two categories, the average annual cost for a company is $533,000, according to SustainAbility Institute at ERM, which conducted the study.

Countries Are Redeveloping Farms That Could Be Cutting Carbon (Bloomberg) Countries are redeveloping abandoned croplands at a rate that is jeopardizing the land’s contributions to reducing CO₂, according to a report published today in the journal Science Advances. The new study, drawn from analysis of satellite imagery dating back to the 1980s, should help policymakers better evaluate how their land-use practices help or inhibit efforts to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and restore ecosystems.

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