With the passage of the Energy Transition Act in both houses of New Mexico’s legislature, the state is poised to join California and Hawaii in setting a mandate to fully decarbonize its electricity system by 2045. If any further evidence were needed that the headline grabbing Green New Deal policy package – targeting full decarbonization of U.S. electricity – will be accomplished at state before federal level, New Mexico has supplied it. On Tuesday, the New Mexico House passed SB 489 (bill text) mandating the state move to 100% zero carbon electricity by 2045, the same target as set in California. The 43-22 vote in the House came after the Energy Transition Act passed the New Mexico Senate on March 6.
PV Magazine 14th March 2019 read more »
Dave Elliott: A new study by the Energy Watch Group in Berlin and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland outlines a “technically feasible and economically viable energy pathway for Europe, in which the energy sector (comprising power, heat, transport, and desalination) can reach 100% renewable energy and zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050”. The report, launched on the sidelines of the COP climate summit in Poland last December, claimed that the transition could be achieved using existing renewable energy technologies: “The energy transition is not a question of technical feasibility or economic viability, but one of political will.” What’s more, it would create at least one million more jobs in energy and be more cost-effective than the present fossil fuel-based system.
Physics World 13th March 2019 read more »
