Mar 9, 2023, 9 am CT
Register here.
Join NETL for a discussion with a point source carbon capture expert and learn about the regional economic and workforce development opportunities this technology is expected to generate.
The webinar will begin with comments from Anthony Armaly, coordinator of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative, followed by a presentation by Ron Munson, technology manager, Point Source Carbon Capture, and an economic and workforce development roundtable discussion.
EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative is providing a series of three webinars for tribal drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater (water sector) utility owners and operators, as well as other water sector stakeholders. These webinars focus on building resilience to the impacts of climate change, identifying adaptation strategies, and tribal utility infrastructure financing. All classes are held from noon-2 pm CT.
Visit https://www.ihs.gov/ehsc/classes/ and search for CRWU in the class list to register.
Mar 9, 2023, noon CT
Register here.
Through the Buildings Upgrade Prize (Buildings UP), DOE is offering more than $22 million in cash prizes and technical assistance to teams across America with winning ideas to accelerate widespread, equitable energy-efficiency and building electrification upgrades.
Community-based organizations, state governments, local governments, Indian tribes, building owners, utilities, nonprofit organizations, energy-efficiency program implementers, and other organizations are encouraged to team up and apply, with submissions currently being accepted. Up to 50 Application Support Prizes of $5,000 and 10 hours of technical assistance are available to help new and under-resourced team complete applications. Prizes will be awarded on a rolling basis.
Mar 7, 2023, 10 am CT
Register here.
Electrifying fossil fuel powered processes is a key decarbonization strategy for manufacturers. Electrification has the potential to provide other benefits too, such as higher energy efficiency, reduced maintenance costs, and even product quality improvements. Learn from Better Plants partners about the benefits and challenges in implementing electrified systems in your facilities.
Mar 15, 2023, 2 pm CT
Register here.
The west and other parts of the US have experienced significant forest fires in recent years. These fires have been devastating to infrastructure, yet there is limited knowledge of the human health impacts of smoke emissions — both short term and long term. EPA is using its expertise in air quality research to fill the gaps in scientific information and to develop tools to prevent and reduce the impact of smoke from wildfires and controlled or prescribed burns.
EPA will offer an update on Wildland Fire Research to Protect Health and the Environment. Research includes wildfire impacts on human health and ecosystems, a comparative assessment of air quality and public health impacts from prescribed fire and wildfire smoke (CAIF), air sensors for smoke monitoring applications, an EPA air sensor loan program (WSMART), resources on indoor air filtration during smoke events (Wildfire-ASPIRE), and communication strategies to enhance local readiness for wildfires (Smoke Ready Communities).
In the City of Chicago and its outlying areas, Cicero has some of the highest levels of particulate matter pollution, which can seriously affect human health.
In August 2022, Microsoft installed one of its air sensors in Cicero and its pollution readings can be found here.
Muckrock wants to hear from you about your experiences with air pollution in Cicero. They are also looking for volunteers who are interested in having a free air quality sensor installed outside their home or business.
Read the full story at Energy News Network.
A settlement between environmental groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could for the first time impose regulations on hundreds of coal ash sites nationwide that are not covered by 2015 federal coal ash rules.
The development stems from a 2022 lawsuit naming sites in Indiana and Illinois and accusing the EPA of failing to regularly review its rules for so-called “legacy” or “historic” coal ash sites — landfills and dumps that were inactive before federal coal ash rules took effect in 2015. The EPA is now enforcing those 2015 rules but still ignoring older sites not covered by the rules.
A Feb. 3 consent decree has made environmentalists hopeful the legacy “loophole” may soon close, forcing utilities to reckon with countless tons of coal ash deposited at hundreds of sites before the 2015 rules took effect.
Read the full story in the Iowa Capitol Dispatch.
A bill that would require carbon dioxide pipeline companies to get voluntary easements for at least 90% of their routes — among other new requirements — was approved 12-7 by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and will be eligible for consideration beyond this week.
Read the full story in the Washington Post.
The West’s new climate is exacerbating housing inequality in the quintessentially blue state of California.
Read the full story from RMI.
Satellites are growing in prominence as an important tool in addressing the climate crisis by spotting global emissions. There are already dozens of greenhouse gas-detecting satellites in orbit today, and both public and private institutions have announced plans to launch more in the future. Additionally, at COP27, the UN announced a new high-tech, satellite-based global methane detection initiative — The Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) — which will leverage satellite data to alert governments, companies, and operators about large methane sources to foster rapid mitigation.
As satellite constellations expand — along with the data and insights they provide — so does the nuance in how they are used. To match the right tool with the right job, it’s important to understand what each satellite is designed to do, and how their data can help decision makers meet diverse but interrelated climate goals and objectives.
For this reason, RMI’s new report and Satellite Point source Emissions Completeness Tool (SPECT) aim to help users understand and assess satellite “completeness” as it relates to identifying and tracking super-emitters of methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 85 times more potent than CO2 on a 20-year time frame. Here, we unpack the definition, context, and importance of satellite completeness as a new and powerful tool in the push to slash climate pollution.
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