Podcasts

Michigan fights off NIMBY push against clean energy — This Week in Cleantech

Michigan fights off NIMBY push against clean energy — This Week in Cleantech
In April 2023, DTE Energy announced the commissioning of Meridian Wind, a 225 MW wind farm that became the largest operating in Michigan. (Courtesy: DTE)

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features The Guardian’s Dharna Norr, who reported on an effort by Vermont leaders to force fossil fuel companies to pay for their emissions impacts.

1. Renewable Energy Wins for Now in Michigan as Local Control Measure Fails to Make Ballot — Inside Climate News

Last year, Michigan passed a law limiting the ability of local governments to block solar and wind projects. Opponents under the name “Citizens for Local Choice” responded by launching a campaign to put a referendum on the ballot that would repeal the law, but last week they ran out of time to gather enough signatures.

The organization said they will continue their campaign, working to secure placement on the 2026 ballot. Gov. Whitmer now has at least two years to convince voters that the law will help Michigan reach their clean energy goals, bring in new jobs and other economic benefits.

2. World’s biggest solar farm goes online, big enough to power a country — The Independent

The world’s largest solar project connected to China’s grid. At 5 GW it will generate as much energy as is used by a country the size of Luxembourg or Papua New Guinea. China added as much solar capacity last year as the entire world did in 2022. The International Energy Agency projects China will account for nearly 60% of new global renewable capacity between now and 2028.

3. How Electric Car Batteries Might Aid the Grid (and Win Over Drivers) — The New York Times

Ford, GM and other automakers are exploring how EV batteries can store renewable energy when it’s abundant to help utilities handle supply and demand fluctuations. EV owners would be compensated if they opt into a program that charges their batteries when power is cheap because of solar and wind generation, then sells that power back to the grid when there’s less renewable generation and prices are high. 

EV prices are higher than gas-powered vehicles because of battery costs. But these new EV battery storage incentives could save consumers enough money to make prices more comparable, driving more EV adoption. And people can use their EV batteries as backup power for their homes during an outage.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

4. How a simple fix could double the size of the U.S. electricity grid — The Washington Post

Lack of transmission is a big part of why there’s so many clean energy projects stuck waiting to connect to the grid. “Reconductoring,” or updating the existing transmission grid with new lines, could double power flow and cut the amount of new power lines we need by up to 80%. This solution can cost just half the price of building brand new transmission lines. It can also be done much faster, allowing for more renewables to connect to the grid sooner.

Just last month, the Biden administration announced the goal to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission over the next five years.

5. ‘Game-changing’: Vermont becomes first state to require big oil to pay for climate damages — The Guardian

Vermont, which incurred $1B in flood damages just last year, is the first state to charge oil companies potentially billions of dollars for climate damages caused by their CO2 pollution. State officials have until January 2026 to assess how much damage was caused to the state by the carbon pollution emitted between 1995 and 2024 and how much of that pollution different companies were responsible for.

Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.

This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.