In Texas, total global warming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the state’s power sector have decreased over 17 years, according to a joint report released this week.
The report said the 19% decline came even as the state increased its power generation capacity by 32% over the same period.
The Environmental American Research and Policy Center, Frontier Group, and the U.S. PIRG Educational Fund contributed to the analysis.
Texas leads the nation in wind power generation and ranks second behind California in solar energy production. However, the report says that while progress has been made in reducing emissions from the power sector, emissions from other sectors have increased.
“Emissions from industry and transportation are unfortunately increasing, but thanks to the growth of clean solar and wind energy, emissions from electricity generation are increasing,” said Ian Seeman, a city government advocate at the Texas Center for Environmental Research and Policy. “This has been offset by a decline in volumes.”
If you look at it nationwide
Overall, the U.S. has reduced overall greenhouse gas emissions by 15% and per capita emissions by 25%, the report said.
Emissions trends vary by state, and some say the next federal government’s leadership on climate change will be tough, especially given the White House’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. , the report suggests states need to step up efforts.
At the local level, work has already begun to decommission or rebuild existing coal-fired power plants. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the electric power sector.
CPS Energy’s JK Spruce coal-fired power plant, listed as one of the top 50 worst polluters in the United States in 2022, is expected to close by 2028.
In San Antonio, the transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Bexar County, according to air quality experts at the Alamo Regional Council of Governments (AACOG).
Emissions reduction efforts are next expected to target the transportation sector, which is considered the biggest polluter in half of the 50 states, according to the report.
Ways to reduce catastrophic environmental pollution include supporting more electric vehicles and encouraging the adoption of intermodal transportation infrastructure.
But a power source that is not considered renewable is receiving a lot of attention for its usefulness, especially in powering a growing field of technology: data centers, which are numerous in the United States.
Nuclear power in the age of artificial intelligence
Nuclear energy is gaining attention in the technology world as it seeks to solve problems posed by artificial intelligence (AI)’s obsession with power.
Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have all signed deals to procure nuclear energy to power their data centers and support their high-performance computing needs.
The surge in electricity could spur a nuclear renaissance, said Davide Castelbecchi, senior reporter for the journal Nature.
Castelbecki said the process of building a power plant often involves complex steps. Perhaps this is one reason why Microsoft is turning to existing nuclear infrastructure, especially the one where the global nuclear meltdown occurred in the United States.
In late September, Microsoft was awarded a contract to bring the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania back online.
Microsoft said the partnership is part of reaching its 2030 carbon-negative goals, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Additionally, on Tuesday, the Biden administration announced efforts to further triple nuclear power generation capacity. Construction of new reactors, renovation of existing facilities and restarting of plants is expected to be completed by 2050, Bloomberg reports.
The nuclear industry appears to have linked outgoing President Joe Biden with President-elect Donald Trump, who has voiced support for power sources as the answer to data centers, according to a report from Bloomberg.
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