Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  July 15, 2023

Weekend Reads: The Ideal Net-Zero Organization; State Energy Goals Drive Generation Growth

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

Can Your Business Be An Ideal Net-Zero Organization? (Forbes) As an ardent tech advisor, "sustainable tech innovation" is something that I strongly believe in. And when it comes down to building software, establishing a net-zero company is a utopian goal for me. Considering the real impact of climate change, it is difficult for a firm to achieve net zero in one go. Therefore, reflecting on how you navigate the path to achieve net zero is crucial. One of the major driving forces behind achieving net zero is "climate tech."

State clean energy goals are ‘key driver’ for generation growth, but impact differs between regions: report (Utility Dive) Renewables portfolio standards and 100% clean electricity mandates set by states across the U.S. can be approximately correlated with that state’s total renewable energy production. However, in Texas and the Midwest, renewables growth has “far outpaced RPS needs, driven by attractive wind energy economics.” In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where growth standards are higher, the standards outpace generation growth and are a “key driver” of it.

How the Western drought has increased carbon emissions (Grist) At the turn of the 20th century, as the United States developed the West, the federal government built hundreds of hydroelectric dams on major rivers in the region. Hydropower today meets around a quarter of the region’s energy needs. But the hydroelectric fleet has taken a beating over the past 20 years as a series of droughts have battered the area. When major rivers dry up, less water flows through hydroelectric dam turbines, and dams produce less electricity as a result.

Which Has Better Climate Targets, Aviation Or Shipping? (CleanTechnica) After the past three years, pretty much everyone on Earth now knows what the UN WHO is. Fewer people know what another two UN agencies, the IMO and ICAO, are. And we should, because their roles are critical to climate action. In practice, they operate in pretty similar manners. They gather together national, industry, and relevant stakeholders, they form committees and working groups, they run workshops and conferences, and they hammer out agreements on standards.

AI is starting to predict the weather. Can it process climate change? (Climatewire) For decades, morning weather reports have relied on the same kinds of conventional models. Now, weather forecasting is poised to join the ranks of industries revolutionized by artificial intelligence. A pair of papers touts the potential of two new AI forecasting approaches, systems that could yield faster and more accurate results than traditional models, researchers say. They’re part of a new wave of AI models sweeping the meteorology community worldwide.

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