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The U.S. added nearly 50% more clean energy capacity last year than in 2023, according to a new report from energy data company Cleanview. Most of the 48.2 gigawatts of new capacity came in the form of batteries and solar, with solar additions rising by 65%, mostly in southern states like Texas and Florida. As for battery storage, four states (California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada) accounted for 70% of new capacity. Meanwhile, wind power missed out on growth, with capacity additions dropping by nearly a quarter year-over-year. The report says solar growth will likely slow down in 2025, battery storage could grow by nearly 70%, and wind capacity could grow by 80% if all planned projects manage to reach completion. One interesting tidbit is that Indiana is emerging as a solar hot spot. It ranks third on the list of states with the most solar additions planned for 2025, below Texas and California, but above Arizona. Of course, a lot will depend on the Trump administration.
Cleanview
Global air traffic rose by 10% to an all-time high last year, according to recent data from the International Air Transport Association. This means more aviation pollution. Air travel already accounts for 2.5% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, and has contributed an estimated 4% to global warming. As Ben Elgin at Bloombergnoted, the rise in air travel comes as airlines fail to adopt “sustainable” aviation fuel at meaningful levels, with SAF accounting for a paltry 0.3% of commercial jet fuel production in 2024. “SAF volumes are increasing, but disappointingly slowly,” the IATA said in December. “Governments are sending mixed signals to oil companies which continue to receive subsidies for their exploration and production of fossil oil and gas.” Airlines are relying on SAF to curb their emissions, with many pledging to consume 10% SAF by 2030. But “even if airlines can somehow replace 10% of their fuel with lower-emitting alternatives by the end of the decade, those climate benefits would be wiped out by the industry’s expected growth,” wrote Elgin. Yesterday the Trump administration released a $782 million loan for a plant in Montana to turn waste fats into biofuel. The loan was originally finalized under the Biden administration.
The CEO of Ford Motor yesterday warned that the company could be forced to lay off workers if President Trump raises tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and guts Biden-era legislation that supported electric vehicle production. “A 25% tariff across the Mexico and Canadian border will blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen,” Jim Farley said at a conference. He added that ending loans and subsidies for EV manufacturing projects would also put many Ford jobs at risk. The New York Times noted that his comments “offered a rare example of a corporate executive calling into question Mr. Trump’s policies or statements.”
Sales of electric vehicles were up 18% in January compared to the same time in 2024, but growth is slowing, according to research firm Rho Motion. Last month, 1.3 million EVs were sold worldwide. That’s down 35% from December’s numbers, and marks the third month in a row of slowing growth. China’s sales were down last month because of the Chinese New Year. Meanwhile, sales were up in Europe as new emissions standards came into effect. And in the U.S. and Canada, sales rose 22%. Rho Motion expects more than 20 million EVs will be sold this year.
$160 million – The amount raised in a Series B funding round by Chestnut Carbon. The startup focuses on planting trees and vegetation, and improving forest management practices to better remove carbon from the atmosphere. Chestnut will use this latest funding to build out afforestation projects — that is, planting trees in areas where, at least in modern times, forests have not existed.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the nature of the Trump administration’s actions on funding for a Montana biofuels plant.
Rivian is making its electric commercial van available to all business customers that want to electrify their fleets. Up until now the vans have been available only for Amazon, but the EV maker said yesterday that exclusive partnership has ended. The vans come in two sizes: the smaller RCV 500 (available for $79,900) and the larger RCV 700 (for $83,900). Both are eligible for the $7,500 tax credit. “This will be one of Rivian’s greatest tests yet,” said Mack Hogan at InsideEVs. “If it can prove to business owners that it can build robust, dependable vans that can be serviced in the field, it should have no issue winning retail customers’ trust when it launches the R2 and R3.”
Rivian
New York State is giving $60 million to EV infrastructure startup Revel to build 267 DC fast chargers across NYC by 2027. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the loan, which comes from the NY Green Bank, on Monday, saying “it is critical that we continue to build electric vehicle infrastructure to ease the shift to EV ownership for more New Yorkers, especially those in urban areas.” The chargers will be spread across nine sites, five of which will be completed within the next year. Those include 44 chargers near LaGuardia Airport, 24 chargers near JFK Airport, as well as sites in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. The public chargers will be open 24/7. This marks the first EV charging infrastructure loan from the NYGB.
The fallout continues from last month’s fire at the world’s largest battery storage plant in California. Four people who live near the site of the blaze are suing Vistra Energy, which owns the Moss Landing Power Plant, and a handful of other energy companies for insufficient safety measures. Public awareness about the possible health hazards of the fire are also growing, with The New York Timesreporting on several studies that have detected toxic levels of heavy metals in soil samples surrounding the facility, and spotlighting complaints from local residents who say they have experienced headaches, sore throats, nosebleeds, and other symptoms in the weeks following the disaster. The fire raises questions about the safety of large battery storage facilities, which store excess energy to be deployed on-demand and are seen as essential to decarbonizing the grid. The International Energy Agency has said that “grid-scale batteries are projected to account for the majority of storage growth world wide.”
India, the world’s third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, does not plan to submit new targets for limiting those emissions, Bloombergreported. Under the Paris Agreement, nations are required every five years to submit new climate plans – known as nationally determined contributions – that outline emissions reduction goals and strategies for hitting those goals. But India apparently plans to focus its NDC on climate change adaptation measures. Yesterday was the official deadline for all Paris Agreement parties to submit their updated NDCs, but most countries are running behind.
Deforestation levels in Colombia in 2024 rose slightly from 2023, but were still the third lowest in 23 years.
Editor’s note: This article originally misstated the location of the Moss Landing battery fire. It’s been corrected. We regret the error.
