GHG Emissions, Regulation, Finance, Sourcing Renewables  -  January 4, 2020

Weekend reads: The trick to passing clean energy policy; the world's first hydrogen-powered superyacht

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

Is This The Beginning Of The End For Fossil Fuels? (OilPrice.com) The eventual death of oil and thermal coal won’t come from environmentalists, or even directly from renewable energy--it will come when big banks decide to stop financing it, rendering it ‘unbankable’. That’s exactly what Goldman Sachs has just done, in a first for a major finance institution. As of last week, Goldman Sachs is the first big U.S. bank to rule out financing new oil exploration or drilling in the Arctic, as well as new thermal coal mines anywhere in the world.

This one weird trick can help any state or city pass clean energy policy (Vox) Federal climate politics in the US remains as gridlocked as ever, but the past few years have seen a remarkable flourishing of climate and clean energy policy at the subnational level, in states and cities across the country. This has given rise to all sorts of deep analysis — about the potential and limitations of states as laboratories of democracy, about the role of cities in the 21st century, about the ability of subnational actors to offset federal inaction — but, oddly, the simplest lesson of all often goes unstated.

C-PACE financing brings solar to repurposed properties (Solar Power World) What do a former Phillips Milk of Magnesia factory, an unused warehouse and an outdated engineering plant in Southern Connecticut have in common? All three properties were given a new lease on life thanks to a savvy developer, a solar company and a unique clean energy financing tool.

California Will Enforce The Energy-Efficient Lightbulb Rule Trump Wants To Reverse (NPR) California can now begin enforcing new minimum standards for light bulb efficiency, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. It's the latest split between the state and the Trump administration, which has moved to reverse the same standards on a national level. The judge rejected a petition for a temporary block by two industry groups, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and the American Lighting Association. The ALA says it's "conferring with counsel on next steps."

Scientists: Total Transition to Clean Energy Possible by 2050 (Futurism) Scientists figured out a way to completely transition 143 countries to clean energy sources by 2050. The aggressive plan could cut global power demand by more than half within 30 years using mostly existing technology, according to ScienceAlert — a crucial step toward preventing the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

World's First Hydrogen-Powered Superyacht is Here and It Is a Beauty (Interesting Engineering) The world's first hydrogen-powered superyacht was unveiled last week at the Monaco Yacht Show and it made quite an impression. The model of the 367-foot yacht was the pinnacle of luxury and sophistication. The miniature model was presented by a Dutch firm called Sinot Yacht & Architecture Design. The ship called Aqua would run on liquid hydrogen and fuel-cell technology with water being its only emission.

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