Clean energy news: January 2024
Tech for Good
As Tech for Good becomes a wider field with broader applications, the related sustainable growth markets are being unlocked and discovered. New sustainable tech areas are popping up and growing rapidly where solutions are urgently needed. Tech areas that were not traditionally associated with sustainable objectives are now beginning to turn their focus toward Tech for Good. Although innovations have disrupted the financial sector, FinTech was originally not associated with purpose-driven business practices. Now it is becoming a global movement for change as part of the wider Tech for Good movement. Read more >>
Mesa Unveils Arizona’s First All-Electric North American Style Fire Truck by E-ONE
Mesa’s all-electric fire truck is officially in service. The pumper truck, stationed at Fire Station 221 in southeast Mesa, will reduce toxin exposure for firefighters as part of the Mesa Fire and Medical Department’s commitment to implementing cutting-edge health and safety practices. The truck, manufactured by E-ONE®, a subsidiary of REV Group, Inc., is the first fully electric fire North American style engine in Arizona and will support the City of Mesa’s Climate Action Plan and goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 by helping to reduce the department’s carbon footprint. Read more >>
Sedona Launches Sustainable Neighborhoods Pilot Program
The city of Sedona’s Sustainability Department invites residents from neighborhoods, homeowner associations, and neighborhood organizations to consider joining Sedona’s Sustainable Neighborhoods Pilot Program.
This unique program empowers residents who are passionate about sustainability to work with their neighbors to design and lead sustainability projects that enhance the environmental and social strength of their neighborhoods. Read more >>
SRP adding one of Arizona’s biggest windfarms north of Flagstaff
A late-November snowfall is providing a winter backdrop for a new wind farm arising north of Flagstaff that will soon generate clean energy for customers of utility Salt River Project.
The Babbitt Ranches Energy Center is being built by NextEra Energy Resources 25 miles north of the city on Babbitt Ranches private land in Coconino County. The company is investing $280 million in the project. Read more >>
Semiconductor, clean energy industries saw major wins in 2023
All eyes are on Phoenix now as major corporations make huge commitments to the market and growth perseveres on all levels in the region.
Continuing the momentum from the past few years, the Phoenix area in 2023 saw another influx of advanced manufacturers, distributors and new headquarters announced for locations across the Valley, including a steady flow of companies moving out of California and into Arizona. Read more >>
Here’s how Goodyear is leading the way when it comes rooftop solar panels
Goodyear is leading the country when it comes to solar energy, according to a new study.
According to the financial news website MarketWatch, which is a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, Goodyear currently has the most solar homes per 100,000 residents in the United States.
According to the study, most residents choose solar energy to save most on energy bills. On average they save $1,432 per year. Read more >>
SRP pursues plan to use solar, hydro energy to power thousands of Arizona homes
Tens of thousands of solar panels will go online in coming years, providing an opportunity to reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.
But it also raises the thorny question of how best to store up all of that energy at times during the day when it’s not needed, for use later on.
Arizona’s mountain and river systems provide a tantalizing possibility: convert it to hydropower. Read more >>
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $40 Million Across Arizona for Clean School Buses as Part of the Investing in America Agenda
As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting children and improving air quality, today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of three applicants in Arizona to receive $40,090,898 through EPA’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition. The awards, made possible through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, will help selectees purchase clean school buses in 25 school districts across Arizona. By accelerating the transition to low- and zero-emission vehicles, these awards will improve air quality for children and their families and advance environmental justice while boosting the economy and creating good-paying jobs. Read more >>
Arizona Becomes a Magnet for Green Projects
In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Arizona puts this theory into practice. With abundant solar and renewable energy, a rapidly growing battery and electric vehicle (EV) industry and a thriving research and development ecosystem, Arizona has become a magnet for projects promoting sustainability. Read more >>
Some southern Arizona schools steering their way to clean air — with buses
For Flowing Wells and Tucson Unified School Districts, new electric school buses will soon be rolling into town. The federal government will provide $5 billion over the next five years for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The goal is to replace older, diesel buses with electric buses in order to cut down on emissions. Read more >>
Biden awards $623M to states, local governments and tribes to build EV charging network
The Biden administration is awarding $623 million in grants to help build an electric vehicle charging network across the nation.
Grants being announced Thursday will fund 47 EV charging stations and related projects in 22 states and Puerto Rico, including 7,500 EV charging ports, officials said.
“America led the arrival of the automotive era, and now we have a chance to lead the world in the EV revolution — securing jobs, savings and benefits for Americans in the process,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The new funding “will help ensure that EV chargers are accessible, reliable and convenient for American drivers, while creating jobs in charger manufacturing, installation and maintenance for American workers.” Read more >>
Tucson elementary schools are localizing climate change with hopeful environmental education
Students at Manzo Elementary share their lunch space with Mr. Manzo, the tortoise who roams around his habitat and occasionally visits students on the grass. When it’s time for recess, they run to the playground across from the agrivoltaics plot where shishito peppers and mangoes are growing under towering solar panels.
The students at this K-5 school, many from low-income families, are learning about climate science and sustainability using their gardens — and they’re becoming stewards of their own environment. Read more >>
Nearly $12M going to Mesa for installation of dozens of electric vehicle charging ports
Mesa is getting a federal grant of nearly $12 million to support the expansion of its electric vehicle charging network, U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton announced Monday.
The funding will be used to install 48 electric vehicle charging ports, charging docks for e-scooters and e-bikes, and solar canopies for electricity generation at the stations, the East Valley Democrat said.
“Arizona is already a nationwide hub for EV manufacturing. Now, thanks to these funds for our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re helping communities like Mesa bring their EV charging networks online,” Stanton said in a press release. Read more >>
Arizona’s Clean Energy Scorecard
Honeywell Aerospace recently hosted a roundtable event — “Powering Arizona: Maximizing Historic Federal Investment for a Clean Economy” — at its Advanced Air Mobility Lab in Phoenix. With representatives from Honeywell, Microsoft, Lucid Motors, KORE Power and other major employers in the state, along with Blaise Caudill, energy policy advisor at the Governor’s Office of Resiliency, it provided an opportunity for public- and private-sector leaders to discuss their plans to leverage federal clean energy legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 to maximize clean energy investment in Arizona to benefit our economy and the climate. Read more >>
‘One of the biggest of its kind’ power storage plant being built in Phoenix for $500M
A North Carolina company broke ground Jan. 18 on a large battery-storage facility in Phoenix that will accumulate power during the morning and early afternoon, then release it during peak-demand hours for utility APS and its customers.
Strata Clean Energy said it’s investing roughly $500 million in the Scatter Wash complex near Happy Valley Road and Seventh Avenue. The site will feature 312 batteries, each the size of a large storage container. Read more >>
SRP offering 2 free shade trees for qualifying Valley residents
Some Valley residents will soon get the chance to receive two free tree saplings to plant for shade as officials work on ways to ward off heat, increase energy savings and improve air quality.
The upcoming Shade Tree workshops, presented by Salt River Project, are intended to help cool off housing costs, while not using a lot of water, by offering a variety of trees well-suited for the desert: palo verde, native mesquite, lilac chaste, thornless mesquite, desert willow and the willow acacia. Read more >>
Arizona investing millions in ‘first of its kind’ training for TSMC and clean energy jobs
Arizona’s semiconductor industry is expanding rapidly, so chipmakers, government agencies and even nonprofit groups are hustling to build training programs to meet the industry’s need for skilled workers.
White House officials were visiting Phoenix Jan. 25 to promote several new and ongoing efforts with workforce development in mind. These include a new $5 million private-sector commitment for an apprenticeship program, a $5 million nonprofit pledge for worker-support services and new partnerships involving community colleges, unions and other groups. Read more >>