As solar grows, how much farmland does it risk?

SOLAR: While a federal database shows around 0.02% of U.S. cropland is used for large solar projects, an analysis of four Midwest counties reveals much higher penetrations, worrying some farmers and advocates. (Reuters)

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WIND: Wind turbines only take up about 5% of the land where they’re built, meaning there’s room to co-locate farms and other facilities below them, a peer-reviewed study finds. (Washington Post)

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OIL & GAS: Advocates suggest establishing a new tax on oil and gas production in the world’s wealthiest countries, with a report finding the charge could raise $720 billion for climate mitigation by 2030. (Guardian)

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POLITICS:

• Climate advocates fear President Trump, should he win re-election, would dismantle the NOAA’s climate science work and ramp up fossil fuel permitting at the Department of Energy. (Guardian, E&E News)
• Trump’s re-election would mark another U-turn in climate policy and power plant regulations after reversals from the Obama to Trump administrations, and then from Trump to Biden. (New York Times)
• A political scientist says there’s a “zero-percent chance” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was unaware of millions of dollars of FirstEnergy contributions supporting his campaign. (Ohio Capital Journal)

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GRID: The U.S. power grid performed better during cold snaps this January than it did during winter storms over the past few years thanks to grid operators’ improvements, a report finds. (Utility Dive)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Officials with electric vehicle maker Rivian reiterate their commitment to build a factory in Georgia despite recent financial troubles and a renewed focus on its existing Illinois plant. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription)
• A $4 billion electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant taking shape in a rural Kansas town is fueling speculation about whether a nearby low-income housing community could be sold for redevelopment. (Wichita Eagle)

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GEOTHERMAL: A Texas company uses software and sensor-equipped drilling tools to install geothermal heating and cooling systems in spaces previously considered too small to house such projects. (Canary Media)

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CLEAN ENERGY:

• The IRS publishes final guidance governing how clean energy tax credits can be sold and transferred between businesses and tax-exempt organizations. (Utility Dive)
• Kentucky faces the prospect of losing an aluminum smelter project — and 1,000 jobs that go with it — to another state if it can’t access enough clean energy, even as state lawmakers go to bat to keep coal-fired power plants open. (Louisville Courier Journal)

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CLIMATE: The Southeast faces one of the most rapid sea level surges in the world, an analysis finds, combining with increasingly severe storms to create epic floods. (Washington Post)

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EFFICIENCY: Advocates laud a new Virginia law that strengthens energy efficiency standards and mandates the development of a standardized test to measure the cost effectiveness of proposed efficiency programs. (Energy News Network)

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