CLEAN ENERGY OUTLOOK June 2021 Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser Upping the Ante With New "Beneficial Electrification" Program Utah Clean Energy is known for our work expanding the use of renewable energy, and now we're taking this work to the next level! If tomorrow we woke to an energy grid suddenly powered by 100% clean electricity, we would only eliminate 33% of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. But when we transition our homes, buildings, and transportation to be powered by that clean electricity (electrification), we up the ante with the potential to eliminate over 70% of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions! Utah Clean Energy won't settle for anything less, which is why we're launching our "Beneficial Electrification" program dedicated to maximizing the benefits of clean energy by electrifying homes, buildings, and transportation.
Heading up this ambitious new initiative is the newest member of our team, Thomas Kessinger. Read more
The Path to Net Zero Ready Building Our buildings are directly contributing to climate change and local air pollution. Energy used in our homes and buildings contributes up to 40% of U.S. energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, but it doesn’t have to be this way. There is incredible potential to help mitigate climate change and clean Utah’s air by working with the commercial real estate industry, architects, engineers, and local governments to support utility-sponsored incentives that help new buildings get on the ‘path to net zero’! Read More
Road to Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 is Narrow but Doable A recent report from the International Energy Agency, IEA, has caught global attention. The report, “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector,” lays out what it will take to achieve net-zero (CO2) emissions in the energy sector by 2050 – a must-do to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
The report gives a stark look at the work ahead, but shows that while the path to net zero is “narrow” it is achievable with the “massive deployment of all available clean energy technologies.” A few key takeaways include:
Click here for a summary of Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap (scroll down for the primary milestones)
A Modernized Energy Grid for a Renewable Powered World It’s not breaking news that we’re seeing a significant and positive shift in the energy world: coal plants are retiring faster, and new renewable energy and battery resources are being added to our energy grid at a growing pace. These trends will continue gaining momentum as more people call for meaningful climate action, and as the cost difference between clean and dirty energy continues to move in favor of renewables.
In tandem with these changes, our aging energy grid needs modernizing in order to keep up. Utah Clean Energy recently filed comments in a new proceeding before the Utah Public Service Commission focused on modernizing Utah’s energy grid to make way for a more resilient, flexible, and renewable-powered grid.
CLEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE EVENTS
CLEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE NEWS One Utah Transit Authority’s streetcar is now running solely on renewable energy.
Climate politics need Republican engagement. Conservation and stewardship of the natural environment are core Republican values, but for too long we have left these topics to others.
Climate change is rarely a main talking point at the G7 leaders' summit, but as US President Joe Biden proclaimed that "America is back at the table" on the final day of this year's meeting, by extension, so too was climate change.
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