Energy Efficiency, Finance, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  July 22, 2023

Weekend Reads: The IRA One Year In; Labor Crunch Threatens Clean Energy

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

One year in, the Inflation Reduction Act is working — kind of (Grist)  It’s been nearly a year since Democratic lawmakers pushed the first new climate spending legislation in more than a decade over the congressional finish line. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, includes $369 billion in clean energy tax credits and funding for climate and energy programs, money that is already trickling into the economy as federal agencies begin to distribute it.  The Biden administration said the bill will help deliver on the president’s pledge to cut the United States’ emissions in half by 2030, and independent analyses estimated that it would help slash domestic emissions by 43 to 48 percent below 2005 levels by 2035. 

Column: Southern Europe's heatwave fires up solar output (Reuters)  Europe's enduring heat wave is pushing solar electricity output to new highs across the continent, with the combination of newly installed solar capacity along with bright, sunny skies helping break generation records across several countries. Electricity generation from solar sources in Europe had already climbed by nearly 11% over the first half of the year from the same period in 2022 to a record 129.2 terawatt hours, according to Ember. 

Labor crunch will threaten clean energy expansion in Massachusetts, report says (WBUR)  Massachusetts's lofty mid-century climate goals hinge upon the state's ability to convince residents and businesses to make the switch from fossil fuels to cleaner electric power, but success will also require tens of thousands of people to take new jobs in the clean energy sector. A new workforce needs assessment released Wednesday from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center found that the state's clean energy workforce will need to grow by an additional 29,700 full-time equivalent workers in order for Massachusetts to meet its target of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. 

Number Of EV Charging Points In USA Nearly Doubled In 3 Years (CleanTechnica)  Whether it was 10 years ago or yesterday, the discussion of electric vehicle adoption always quickly turns to “But what about the charging stations?” Of course, EV owners know that most charging is done at home, and if you have workplace charging, that can also cover nearly all of a person’s charging needs. What people are often thinking about are public charging stations to help you along on a road trip or public charging stations for people who don’t have home or workplace charging.

Moon-made solar station could transmit power from space to Earth (TNW)  The European Space Agency (ESA) has been exploring an innovative solution to help us meet our climate targets: transmitting solar power from space to Earth — also known as space-based solar power (SBSP). Harnessing the sun’s power from above our planet comes with two main advantages: access to higher energy intensity and the lack of weather-dependence, a major problem of terrestrial solutions. To test the feasibility of SBSP, the ESA has partnered up with the European tech industry to work on the Solaris project. 

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