Midcontinent Independent System Operator

Renewables June 23, 2022

Grid operators’ ‘seam’ study paves way for renewable expansion

Articles Climate Change

What the latest science says about Antarctica and sea-level rise

As the Earth’s climate warms, sea levels are rising, threatening to swallow coastlines and flood low-lying cities. Scientists are working to understand how much and how quickly seas could rise in coming decades – and Antarctica is one wild card.…

Articles Biofuels

Green Fuels for Several Types of Engines

Roads and road vehicles are everywhere, but reliable grid electricity is not. So, however appealing all·electric cars may be, they aren’t for everywhere, nor for everyone. Needed now are green fuels of several types if we are to quit relying…

Articles Coal Nature & Environment

Mining companies seek to expand into Brazil’s indigenous territories

The search for new mining areas is expanding into Brazil’s indigenous territories, amid rising mineral revenues and exports, as well as incentives from Jair Bolsonaro’s government, a new report has revealed. In total, 570 mining companies and associations currently have…

Articles Climate Change

Why the Chemical Industry Is an Overlooked Climate Foe — and What to Do About It

Climate change is quickly evolving into climate catastrophe, and there’s a narrow window of time to do something about it. While the world works on solutions, there’s surprisingly little focus on the chemical industry, which accounts for roughly 7% of…

Articles Nature & Environment

Are microbes the future of recycling? It’s complicated

Since the first factories began manufacturing polyester from petroleum in the 1950s, humans have produced an estimated 9.1 billion tons of plastic. Of the waste generated from that plastic, less than a tenth of that has been recycled, researchers estimate.…

Articles Policy & Strategy

EU Energy Policy at a Crossroads

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has jeopardized the European Union’s plan for clean and secure energy. The EU’s Fit for 55 package aims to reduce emissions across the bloc by at least 55% by 2030, and most member countries have…

Articles Nature & Environment

The Original Sin of American wilderness

The Good… The Bad… And the Ugly. A good analysis of American wilderness includes all three of these categories. Wilderness is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life…

Articles Nuclear

The untapped power of nuclear fusion

Two nuclear power stations in Ukraine were among the first Russian targets. Putin’s troops attacked and seized control of the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia plants. This situation puts the energy community again in a dilemma: nuclear provides a stable energy supply…

Articles Renewables

Zhangjiakou’s next gold medal

Zhangjiakou is a medium-sized city located in northwest Hebei Province, 164km away from Beijing. The region’s biomass power generation capacity is small, around 65 MW at the end of 2021. But it has abundant wind and solar resources. Zhangjiakou receives…

Articles Policy & Strategy

Raw War

Let’s forget propaganda for a minute. Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Fact. On the same day, Putin’s army seized control of the ghost Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Not a symbolic choice – energy and resources are not irrelevant or…

The Lost Bayou: Grand Bayou

Grand Bayou, LA. At one time, it was a lively community of close-knit families, until they were forced to leave. ©2020. Garde Voir Ci magazine. Nicholls State University Department of Mass Communication.

World Rainforest Day

Rainforests cover only 2 percent of the planet’s surface area but are responsible for more than 25% of all Western medicine and house more than 50% of the world’s plant and animal species.