Maryland Aims to Become Offshore Wind Energy Giant! Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Solar Appreciation Day 2023!

MARYLAND AIMS TO BECOME OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY GIANT!

A coalition of environmentalists, labor unions, civil rights and consumer groups gathered earlier this week at the Maryland State House to support a measure to expand that state’s commitment to offshore wind as part of the state’s efforts to address climate change.Senate Bill SB0781 aims to modernize the electricity grid to transmit offshore wind energy from the ocean to land. Lawmakers hope the legislation will enable the state to benefit in part from nearly $370 billion set aside in the federal Inflation Reduction Act over 10 years to incentivize electric vehicles and jump-start renewable energy such as solar and wind power nationwide.

“With the federal dollars flowing, investment tax credit for the development of offshore wind, I think this piece of legislation ties in nicely,” Sen. Brian Feldman, a Montgomery County Democrat who chairs the Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee, told journalists recently. “The timing is excellent to take us to the next level on offshore wind.”

Groups including environmental organizations such as the Maryland League of Conservation Voters joined NAACP-Maryland and labor unions, including United Steelworkers and IBEW Local 24 to express support for the legislation.  

DEEPER DIVE: SB0781, AP, IRA Guidebook

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT MADISON’S NELSON INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Because you listen to The Climate Daily you know The world is changing at a rate and scale unprecedented in human history. Because you listen to us here, you know part of our charge is to help all of us figure out how we can meet humanity’s needs in just and innovative ways while protecting the environment on which life depends. 

For people who want to figure things out from an academic point of view, we found the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies to be off the chain. The institute was established in 1970 and renamed in 2002 for former Wisconsin governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson. Nelson is the author of landmark environmental legislation. Oh and also the founder of Earth Day. Why does the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies matter to us? Its four interdisciplinary research centers:

• One, The Center for Climatic Research explores the past, present and future of the Earth’s climate system and is a world leader in studies of climate history, ocean-atmosphere-biosphere interactions, and future climate at local, regional and global scales.

• Two, The Center for Culture, History and Environment investigates environmental and cultural change in the full sweep of human history and explores how this knowledge can inform our relationship with the environment today and in the future.

• The Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment examines connections between natural resources, technology, policy, human health, and security in the rapidly changing global environment.

• The Center for Ecology and the Environment fosters research, instruction, and outreach among ecologists at UW and beyond

DEEPER DIVE: Nelson Institute, Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day

SOLAR APPRECIATION DAY 2023!

Worldwide, on the second Friday in March, people celebrate Solar Appreciation Day. We at The Climate Daily are taking this opportunity to share the major benefits of sun power.

• The source of solar energy—the sun—is nearly limitless and can be accessed anywhere on earth at one time or another. According to the US Dept. of Energy, it would take around 10 million acres of land—or only 0.4% of the area of the United States—to allow enough space for solar photovoltaics (PV) to supply all of our nation’s electricity.  

• Silicon solar cells can withstand the test of time. In 1954, Bell Laboratories built the first silicon solar cell—the template for nearly all of the solar PV technologies in use today.

• Solar can help restart the grid if it goes down. Typically, a signal from a spinning turbine—like that from a coal or natural gas plant—is required to “set the beat” of the grid. Now, DOE research is support advanced solar system that can take the lead, restarting the grid if no spinning turbine is available.

• Solar has been one of the top three new sources of generation added to the grid in the last seven years. In fact, solar provides 30% of the new electricity produced in the United States in 2019, up from just 4% in 2010.

• Solar is an economic engine—about 250,000 people work in the U.S. solar industry these days and there are more than 10,000 solar businesses around the country.

• Solar panels are a manufactured product that take significantly less energy to fabricate than they produce over their lifetime. In other words, It’s carbon-low electricity. After a panel is initially produced, it can generate electricity for 20 years without emitting carbon dioxide.

Six reasons why Solar Appreciation Day matters to us.

DEEPER DIVE: DOE, SDIA, EVCC Sustainability