Energy Exchange: California
Leadership, bold action needed to scale electric trucks and buses
2 years 9 months ago
A recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance highlights the urgent need for policymakers to prioritize truck electrification, which could have sweeping benefits for the climate, public health, and American jobs. The annual EV outlook includes (for the first time) a comparison of the zero-emission vehicle adoption path needed to achieve net-zero by 2050, as […]
Jason Mathers
Fleets have much to gain from NACFE’s Run on Less – Electric program
2 years 10 months ago
From regional haulers to food and beverage delivery, operators of medium- and heavy-duty fleets understand that there is an urgent need to reduce the transportation sector’s contribution to climate change and poor air quality, and the impact their vehicles have. That’s why fleets in cities from New York to Los Angeles and Quebec to Vancouver […]
Ellen Bell
Clean firm power is the key to affordable, reliable grid decarbonization in California
2 years 11 months ago
California has ambitious efforts underway to decarbonize our electric grid by 2045. The choices we make today will help determine how affordably, equitably and reliably we can get there. Renewables are an important piece of the puzzle, but we will also need something else. Renewable energy supplies can drop up to 60% between summer and […]
Michael Colvin
New bill will make it easier, cheaper to buy electric trucks and buses
3 years ago
By Michael Colvin and Lauren Navarro A new bill making its way through the California Legislature has the potential to help accelerate the much-needed transition to electric vehicles. The law, Senate Bill 372, would create state programs that help owners of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses pay for the costs of replacing their diesel-fueled […]
EDF Blogs
DOE’s SuperTruck 3 can help us reach a zero-emission future – if we have the right clean truck standards too
3 years ago
Cleaning up pollution from the U.S. trucking industry is an urgent need for the country. For the past decade, the Department of Energy’s SuperTruck Program has helped showcase solutions for a cleaner future. Now Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has announced a new generation of the DOE SuperTruck program – SuperTruck 3 – that will focus […]
Jason Mathers
Annular pressure monitoring and testing makes for safer wells
3 years ago
There are nearly a million active oil and gas wells in the United States, and if not correctly designed and maintained, they can leak harmful substances that will irreversibly pollute our land, air and water. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at data from over 100,000 wells […]
Adam Peltz
Gearing up for a zero-emission world
3 years 1 month ago
President Biden’s sweeping infrastructure package includes $174 billion for electric vehicles, an investment that will speed the transition away from polluting gas and diesel vehicles and toward cleaner forms of road transportation. The upfront cost of infrastructure is a key barrier to rapid deployment of zero-emission vehicles and the health and climate benefits that an […]
Larissa Koehler
4 things every utility, fleet and energy regulator should know about heavy-duty truck charging
3 years 1 month ago
The transition to electric heavy-duty trucks is upon us, sparked by a steady decline in battery costs, continuous improvements in electric truck and charging technology, and growing recognition of the climate and local air quality impact of diesel trucks. But even as household names like FedEx, PepsiCo and Amazon have made public pledges to electrify […]
Pamela MacDougall
What does it really mean for a gas utility to go net-zero?
3 years 1 month ago
SoCalGas – the nation’s largest gas utility recently pledged to go net-zero on their greenhouse gas emissions. At face value, this is a great move, but what does this really mean for a gas-only company that has had some major climate missteps in the past? And what are the implications for current and future SoCalGas […]
Michael Colvin
Careful accounting is critical to assessing the climate benefits of biomethane
3 years 1 month ago
By Mark Omara and Joe Rudek Multiple states are exploring the use of renewable natural gas to decarbonize their gas systems. Renewable natural gas tends to be a generic term that describes a variety of fuels, including hydrogen, synthetic gas and biogas. As we explained in an earlier blog, not all biogas (a biomethane precursor) is […]
EDF Blogs
Market certainty critical to hitting ambitious state zero-emission truck goals
3 years 2 months ago
Last year, a collection of 15 states and Washington D.C. committed to transitioning to zero-emission trucks and buses via a multi-state memorandum of understanding. This year will be a critical year for the effort, as these states begin to pinpoint the suite of policies needed to foster this transition in an equitable, maximally beneficial way. […]
Larissa Koehler
What our climate goals mean for natural gas, and what states should do about it
3 years 3 months ago
The transition to a low-carbon economy will have a big impact on the way we think about natural gas: how we produce, use and transport it. One area where this challenge is particularly acute is the state regulatory frameworks governing gas utilities across the country, and in particular, how those rules line up against the […]
Natalie Karas
New report shows truck and bus manufacturers are readying for a zero-emission future
3 years 6 months ago
The North American truck and bus market is on the cusp of a zero-emission future. There is a clear and urgent need to drive down pollution from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which contribute to climate change and cause serious harm to human health. Companies, transit agencies and other organizations that operate large fleets understand this, […]
Jason Mathers
A 100% clean transportation future requires smart electricity pricing for trucks and buses
3 years 6 months ago
By Elizabeth B. Stein and Beia Spiller Zero-emission solutions for trucks and buses have arrived. But converting fleets from fossil fuels to electricity requires more than new vehicles and chargers. It will require smart electricity pricing to ensure that new demand from these power-hungry vehicles doesn’t break the grid, and that costs remain manageable for […]
EDF Blogs
California ramps up the speedometer on the electric vehicle future
3 years 6 months ago
By Larissa Koehler and Pamela MacDougall California recently made history when it committed to making every car across the state electric, with a specific goal for electrifying all operating trucks and buses by 2045. The move — along with a number of other clean vehicle initiatives — will eliminate a huge amount of climate pollution […]
EDF Blogs
The path to zero-emission trucks and a 100% clean energy future
3 years 7 months ago
By Felice Stadler The transportation sector is at a crossroads: zero-emission trucks have the potential to cut pollution that causes climate change and harms human health. However, a transition away from diesel pollution will require strong leadership from policymakers and private sector executives alike. That opportunity was front and center last week, when EDF hosted […]
EDF Blogs
SoCalGas wants a lifeline to stay in business — suing California is not the answer.
3 years 8 months ago
Earlier this month, the largest gas utility in the country filed a lawsuit against the state of California for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Southern California Gas Company claims in its suit that the California Energy Commission has not properly considered what role natural gas can play in a clean energy future. It […]
Michael Colvin
Rolling blackouts in California prove conventional power plants need to become extinct
3 years 8 months ago
On Monday this week, I got into my electric car and the following image popped up. My car was encouraging me to shift my charging patterns. Why? California, along with large chunks of the rest of the West, is experiencing one of the worst heat storms on record. The weather pattern was abnormal, with less […]
Michael Colvin
New multi-state collaboration makes an important commitment to electric trucks and buses
3 years 9 months ago
As our nation grapples with a historic public health crisis, 15 states and the District of Columbia are showing leadership by committing to address a dangerous culprit that makes us more vulnerable to COVID-19 and climate change: diesel pollution from trucks and buses. These pollutants have significant negative consequences on air quality and health. Despite […]
Larissa Koehler
Electrifying trucks and buses is an opportunity for lasting change, one we can’t afford to miss
3 years 9 months ago
The U.S. is still struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19 and quantify the human and economic consequences of this historic tragedy. But already, leaders are contemplating how we’ll restore our economies. Will we rebuild a replica of what we had, or will we invest in ideas that will make society more resilient, healthier, cleaner […]
Jason Mathers
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