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Why Heat Pumps Are the Future, and How Your Home Could Use One

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By Hilary Howard , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Heat pumps, which both warm and cool buildings and are powered by electricity, have been touted as the answer to curbing greenhouse gas emissions produced by homes, businesses and office buildings, which are responsible for about  one-third of the emissions  in New York State. ...A heat pump moves heat. ...During warm weather, a pump works just like an air-conditioner by rerouting indoor heat outdoors. When it’s cold outside, the process is reversed: Heat from the chilly outdoor air is extracted and delivered indoors with the help of refrigerants and a compressor. ...The devices are highly efficient, which should help limit the growing burden on the grid, said Rohit T. Aggarwala, the [New York] city’s climate chief. ...In New York City, Con Ed customers have completed more than 30,000 installations since 2020. And across the state,  nearly 23,000 heat pump projects  were installed in 2022, a threefold increase from the year before.... Se
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The EV Battery of Your Dreams Is Coming

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By Christopher Mims , The Wall Street Journal.  Excerpt: In the next five years, significant upgrades to the batteries in electric vehicles should finally hit the market. In the works for decades, these changes are likely to mean that by 2030, gas vehicles will cost more than their electric equivalents; some EVs will charge as quickly as filling up at a gas station ; and super long-range EVs will make the phrase “range anxiety” seem quaint. ...a new kind of battery which will hold more than 20% more energy than the previous type, and charging speed and range will also improve by up to 30%, says a BMW spokesman. ...In theory, a [solid] lithium metal anode can hold 10 times as many lithium ions as a graphite one [ that’s in today’s lithium-ion batteries ]. All other things being equal, this means the energy density of a battery using lithium metal in place of graphite could be up to 50% higher. ... engineers aim to deliver to automakers a battery that can add 100 miles of range in just
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Explosive levels of methane have been detected near a Berkeley landfill-turned-park

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https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-04-11/explosive-levels-of-methane-detected-at-cesar-chavez-park-berkeley By Tony Briscoe , Los Angeles Times.  Excerpt: Brimming with wildlife and offering panoramic views of San Francisco Bay, César Chávez Park welcomes visitors who might never suspect this stretch of shoreline was built atop a municipal landfill. But beneath the sprawling grasslands and charming hiking trails, decomposing waste continues to generate methane gas. That’s why the city of Berkeley operates an underground system that collects this flammable gas and torches it at a large mechanical flare near the center of the park. In recent years, environmental regulators have grown increasingly concerned that this equipment has fallen into disrepair and released landfill gases. The  Bay Area Air Quality Management District  has fined Berkeley after finding explosive levels of methane leaking from at least two cracked gas collection wells in the park. Both have since been re
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An Oil Company Is Trespassing on Tribal Land in Wisconsin, Justice Dept. Says

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/climate/line-five-pipeline-amicus-brief.html By Rebecca Halleck  and  Dionne Searcey , The New York Times.  Excerpt: The Department of Justice has weighed in on a court battle over an oil and gas pipeline in Wisconsin, saying that a Canadian oil company has been willfully trespassing on tribal lands in the state for more than a decade.... 
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Ocean Heat Has Shattered Records for More Than a Year. What’s Happening?

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/climate/ocean-heat-records.html By Delger Erdenesanaa , The New York Times.  Excerpt: The ocean has now broken temperature records every day for more than a year. And so far, 2024 has continued 2023’s trend of beating previous records by wide margins.... 
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In Landmark Climate Ruling, European Court Faults Switzerland

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/world/europe/climate-human-rights.html By Isabella Kwai  and  Emma Bubola , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Europe’s top human rights court said on Tuesday that the  Swiss government had violated its citizens’ human rights  by not doing enough to stop climate change, a landmark ruling that experts said could bolster activists hoping to use human rights law to hold governments to account. In the case, which was brought by a group called KlimaSeniorinnen, or Senior Women for Climate Protection, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, said that Switzerland had failed to meet its target in reducing carbon emissions and must act to address that shortcoming.... 
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The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Here’s a Fast Solution

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/climate/electric-grid-more-power.html By Brad Plumer , The New York Times.  Excerpt: One of the biggest obstacles to expanding clean energy in the United States is a lack of power lines. Building new transmission lines can take a decade or more because of permitting delays and local opposition. But there may be a faster, cheaper solution,  according to two reports released Tuesday . Replacing existing power lines with cables made from state-of-the-art materials could roughly double the capacity of the electric grid in many parts of the country, making room for much more wind and solar power.... 
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