This week, the Trump Administration recently announced that we will be Opening Up America Again, and each Governor is in charge of their own state and how they would like to proceed. The anticipated stimulus checks rolled out this week and people had mixed feelings about them. Feelings that weren’t mixed – those who were saddened by the cancellation of the longtime San Diego event – Comic Con. While these headlines and more kept us informed all week, we put together some of our favorites that you may not have seen. They are of course in the energy sector, and if you missed last week’s top 5 energy stories you can find them right here.
5The EPA released the latest numbers on emissions – spoiler alert – we saw reductions!
As with any typical study, variations in a given amount of time will happen; however, the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent inventory on the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are showing long term reductions. This is great news for our environmental goals. Here is the news release, direct from the EPA.
4Royal Dutch Shell announced their net-zero emission goals, amid two crises.
Across the U.S. we are facing both a pandemic and an economic crisis, but that is not stopping Shell from reaching its climate goal. In fact, the company went so far as to increase those goals this week saying that they are aiming to cut the carbon emissions 30 percent by 2035 and 65 percent by 2050. This is a big increase from their last goal which aimed for 20 and 50 percent, respectively. The Financial Times digs into those numbers here.
3After the U.S. government opened up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, they are contemplating on another outlet for the current oil surplus.
Existing federal law already allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to set aside up to one billion barrels for emergencies. However, the Administration is considering asking oil producers to leave some of the production in the ground to help alleviate the stress of the glut following the latest OPEC+ meeting. Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance) drills into the details here.
2While we stay perfectly warm or cool in our homes like Goldilocks, behind the scenes thousands of workers are still performing yearly shutdowns and turnarounds.
At one of the largest power plants in the country, thousands of workers have had to come together in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic to refuel one of Arizona’s nuclear reactors that provides power to almost four million people in the Southwest. This effort signifies the challenges to the energy industry to meet the public’s power needs while also ensuring the safety of its employees. WIRED gives all the details on How to Refuel a Nuclear Power Plant during a Pandemic.
1The renewable energy sector was seeing a steady increase in development, sadly just like the traditional energy sector, the coronavirus is contributing to job cuts.
Reportedly, renewable industry employees lost more than 106,000 jobs last month. This number is projected to rise as we watch the spread of COVID-19 wreak havoc on the entirety of our economy. Utility Dive divulges more on this story here.
