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Climate

Vineyard Wind Has Some Explaining to Do

On the mess in Nantucket, Biden’s big decision, and electricity demand

Vineyard Wind Has Some Explaining to Do
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: A raging wildfire disrupted traffic at Turkey’s Izmir airport • The North Central Plains are on alert for severe thunderstorms • It’s about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where President Biden is self-isolating with COVID.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Climate groups ‘split’ on Biden’s 2024 decision

With reports swirling that President Biden is likely to announce his departure from the 2024 presidential race this weekend, Reuters says that climate groups are “split” on the issue. The outlet contacted eight environmental groups for their take on whether Biden should step aside. Two (the Sunrise Movement and Climate Defiance) said yes. One (the Sierra Club) said no. The others were undecided or didn’t want to comment. “Joe Biden’s inability to campaign coherently and articulate an alternative to the far right will result in lower turnout among potential Democratic voters faced with a choice between two old white men clinging to power,” said Evan Drukker-Schardl, an organizer with Climate Defiance.

2. Most of U.S. will likely be hotter than normal next month

“If you like this summer’s heat, I have some good news for you,” quipped climatologist Brian Brettschneider after seeing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s monthly temperature and precipitation outlook for August. It’s expected to be hotter than normal across the vast majority of the contiguous United States next month. That’s looking especially certain for the north-central Rockies (Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah) and the Central Applachians (West Virginia and the Carolinas). As for rain, it’ll likely be dryer than normal out West, and wetter than normal in the Southeast.


NOAA

The more immediate forecast brings some relief from stifling heat in northeastern states, but the western U.S. will bake this weekend and the Pacific Northwest could see 110 degrees by Sunday.

3. Vineyard Wind’s broken turbine mess outrages Nantucket locals

Another large chunk of the Vineyard Wind farm’s damaged turbine broke off and fell into the ocean yesterday. A blade sustained damage over the weekend and foam and fiberglass debris has been washing up on Nantucket beaches. Thursday’s incident involved “a significant part” of what remained of the blade, Vineyard Wind said in a statement. The company said the blade had settled on the ocean floor. Vineyard’s CEO Klaus Moeller found out about the new damage during a particularly tense meeting with outraged Nantucket community members, during which he tried (but failed) to reassure them the debris is not toxic.

Cleanup crews are trying to collect the debris but “current weather conditions create a difficult working environment.” Apparently this isn’t the first time a turbine manufactured by GE Verona has broken apart. There have been reports of similar incidents in the U.K., Germany, and Sweden in recent years. Vineyard Wind has halted all operations while an investigation goes ahead.

4. IEA report: Global electricity demand is soaring

Clean energy expansion needs to speed up to keep pace with the growing demand for electricity, according to a mid-year electricity update from the International Energy Agency. Key takeaways from the forecast:

  • Electricity demand will grow by 4% this year, up from 2.5% last year and the highest growth rate since 2007. Intense heat waves, economic growth, and adoption of electric appliances and vehicles are key contributors.
  • Renewables’ share of the global electricity supply mix will reach 35% next year, up from 30% in 2023.
  • Solar power is the real workhorse, projected to meet 50% of the demand growth through 2025.
  • Renewables will surpass coal next year for the first time, but coal power won’t decline just yet because of soaring demand in India (where electricity demand will surge by “a massive” 8% this year) and China (where demand will be up 6%).
  • U.S. energy demand will grow by 3%. Power sector emissions in the States are projected to grow this year, but decline next year.
  • Global electricity emissions will plateau through 2025.
  • Data centers need more reliable information regarding their electricity consumption as artificial intelligence grows.

While we’re “heading fast towards an electric future,” said Dave Jones, insight director at energy think tank Ember, “we need to be building renewables at double speed, to make power sector emissions fall as fast as they need to.”

IEA

5. U.K. jails 5 Just Stop Oil protesters

Five protesters from the climate activist group Just Stop Oil have been jailed in the U.K. for blocking a major roadway in 2022. Four of them were sentenced to four years, and one got five years. The judge in the case said they had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic.” The sentences are thought to be the longest ever given in the U.K. for non-violent protest, The Guardianreported. The program director of Greenpeace slammed the decision, saying: “We’re giving a free hand to the polluting elite robbing us of a habitable planet while jailing those who’re trying to stop them – it makes no sense.”

THE KICKER

Spending on EV charging infrastructure in the U.S. is expected to surpass $6 billion this year, which is double the investment seen in 2023.

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Economy

Trump Is Disabling the Agency That Could Fight China’s Rare Earths Embargo

The Loan Programs Office is good for more than just nuclear funding.

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

That China has a whip hand over the rare earths mining and refining industry is one of the few things Washington can agree on.

That’s why Alex Jacquez, who worked on industrial policy for Joe Biden’s National Economic Council, found it “astounding”when he read in the Washington Post this week that the White House was trying to figure out on the fly what to do about China restricting exports of rare earth metals in response to President Trump’s massive tariffs on the country’s imports.

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Q&A

You, Too, Can Protect Solar Panels Against Hail

A conversation with VDE Americas CEO Brian Grenko.

This week's interview subject.
Heatmap Illustration

This week’s Q&A is about hail. Last week, we explained how and why hail storm damage in Texas may have helped galvanize opposition to renewable energy there. So I decided to reach out to Brian Grenko, CEO of renewables engineering advisory firm VDE Americas, to talk about how developers can make sure their projects are not only resistant to hail but also prevent that sort of pushback.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

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Hotspots

The Pro-Renewables Crowd Gets Riled Up

And more of the week’s big fights around renewable energy.

The United States.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Long Island, New York – We saw the face of the resistance to the war on renewable energy in the Big Apple this week, as protestors rallied in support of offshore wind for a change.

  • Activists came together on Earth Day to protest the Trump administration’s decision to issue a stop work order on Equinor’s Empire Wind project. It’s the most notable rally for offshore wind I’ve seen since September, when wind advocates protested offshore opponents at the Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island.
  • Esther Rosario, executive director of Climate Jobs New York, told me the rally was intended to focus on the jobs that will be impacted by halting construction and that about a hundred people were at the rally – “a good half of them” union members or representing their unions.
  • “I think it’s important that the elected officials that are in both the area and at the federal level understand the humans behind what it means to issue a stop-work order,” she said.

2. Elsewhere on Long Island – The city of Glen Cove is on the verge of being the next New York City-area community with a battery storage ban, discussing this week whether to ban BESS for at least one year amid fire fears.

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