Exxon unsure about carbon capture, despite lobbying for subsidies

CARBON CAPTURE: Documents show ExxonMobil lobbied aggressively for federal carbon capture subsidies — which stand to reap billions of dollars for the company — despite internal doubts about whether the technology will make a meaningful impact on emissions. (The Guardian)

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‍ALSO: A California company cancels plans to build one of the world’s largest direct-air carbon capture facilities in Wyoming, citing intense competition from data centers for clean energy to power the facility. (Cowboy State Daily)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• While U.S. automakers are walking back aggressive electric vehicle targets despite growing sales, the reasons behind the miscalculations are complex. (Canary Media)
• In some countries outside the U.S., electric vehicles are traveling more miles than internal combustion cars, with EVs already making up 87% of taxi and rideshare vehicles in China. (Bloomberg)
• A new report says the global market for lithium-ion batteries will be oversupplied through 2028, in part due to lower-than-anticipated demand from U.S. automakers. (Utility Dive)

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OIL & GAS: The Biden administration grants its first gas export permit following a court ruling that blocked its efforts to delay the process. (The Hill)

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POLITICS: An energy market expert refutes former President Trump’s claim that he could cut energy prices in half during his first year in office. (NBC News)

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BATTERIES: A battery plant in a Pittsburgh suburb that has taken advantage of or is eligible for billions in public funds has created poor working conditions and has fired union-supporting workers, according to some employees. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

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EFFICIENCY: Some affordable housing developers embrace Passive House building standards that make homes highly energy-efficient with only slightly higher upfront costs. (Energy News Network)

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WIND: Vineyard Wind’s broken turbine blade, misinformation campaigns and a lack of forthrightness from offshore wind developers is causing a “public relations nightmare” for the industry. (Rhode Island Current)

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SOLAR:

• Wyoming’s Supreme Court rejects a utility’s plan to compensate rooftop solar at a wholesale rather than retail rate and hands a victory to households and businesses with distributed generation. (WyoFile)
• A 485 MW Virginia solar farm is running smoothly with 12 full-time employees, several dozen contractors and a herd of sheep to clear vegetation despite community concern when it was first proposed in 2018. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)

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POLLUTION: A federal court rejects a new EPA rule tightening emissions standards for industrial boilers, saying the agency went too far in classifying facilities built before the rule was proposed as “new” pollution sources. (Reuters)

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COMMENTARY: A climate advocate explains why his organization is opposing a bipartisan energy permitting bill, saying the legislation’s provisions advancing fossil fuels make the price “simply too high.” (Union of Concerned Scientists)

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