Biden’s Pipeline Dilemma: How to Build a Clean Energy Future While Shoring Up the Present’s Carbon-Intensive Infrastructure
After Colonial’s cyber-attack and shutdown, he can’t ignore pipelines’ problems, but environmental groups want more aggressive action.
May 14, 2021
A sign is seen at Colonial Pipeline Baltimore Delivery in Baltimore, Maryland on May 10, 2021. Credit: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
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Even as President Joe Biden worked this week to shore up support for his push to invest $2 trillion in a new energy future for the United States, his administration found itself bombarded with the harsh realities of the nation’s oil-dependent present.
Maine Public
Construction has started on Central Maine Power s corridor that is meant to carry hydroelectric power from Quebec into the New England regional grid, although the project still faces numerous legal and other challenges.
Central Maine Power first proposed building a transmission line to Canada in 2017, and four years of controversy later, there are still hurdles ahead: legal challenges at the state and federal levels, a statewide ballot item set for November, unexpected technical issues to address.
But on Thursday, a federal court lifted an injunction that barred tree-clearing in one disputed segment.
And elsewhere on the corridor, trees are being cut and cleared, and poles are rising from the brush. Some observers say the $950 million project s gathering momentum could make it unstoppable.
[co-author: Oretha A. Manu]
Hydrostor Receives Funding for Utility-Scale A-CAES Facility
On 15 April, Hydrostor announced receipt of nearly US$4 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program and Sustainable Development Technology to develop a 300-500 megawatt (MW) Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) facility. An A-CAES facility uses renewable energy or excess grid energy to compress air that is then funneled into underground caverns, displacing water and creating storage capacity. This process creates heat that is captured and stored to reheat the compressed air when energy demand exceeds supply.
This funding will subsidize design and engineering work at the new facility. The goal is to provide up to 12 hours of long-duration energy storage in Canada. Hydrostar is currently developing a 500 MW A-CAES facility in Southern California to provide on-demand peaking capacity for 12 hours of duration once it becomes operational in 2024.
Granholm: Normal service at gas pump likely by late Sunday
MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press
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1of3Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm attends the inaugural meeting of the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, in Harris ceremonial office, Thursday, May 13, 2021, on the White House complex in Washington.Jacquelyn Martin/APShow MoreShow Less
2of3Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Washington.Evan Vucci/APShow MoreShow Less
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WASHINGTON (AP) Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says the nation is “over the hump” on gas shortages following a ransomware cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline.