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The UK’s 10-point Green Industrial Revolution Plan

By Thomas Reilly & Graham Vinter

November 19, 2020

With the UK due to host the COP 26 climate summit in a year’s time, the UK Government is keen to set out its credentials as a global ‘green‘ leader and demonstrate not only that it can make good on its election promise to level up (with much of the promised Green Industrial Revolution investment being focused in old industrial heartlands in the North of England), but that it intends to seize the coronavirus pandemic…

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Covington Experts Discuss Decarbonization Strategies in the EU and US at a Leading Global Sustainable Technology Conference

By Lindsay Brewer

November 3, 2020

In October 2020, Covington public policy experts Sebastian Vos and Gary Guzy were invited to the 2020 CleanEquity Monaco sustainable technology conference to discuss the policy outlook in the EU and US, and likely impacts on efforts to decarbonize carbon-intensive sectors of the economy. The event was presented globally on EarthX TV. Covington’s London-based emerging companies, corporate partner Simon Amies introduced the panel discussion and Washington-based environmental and public policy associate Lindsay Brewer moderated.…

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FERC Proposes QF Status for Some Fuel Cell Facilities

By Bud Earley

October 23, 2020

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) that would allow certain Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) systems to be certified as Qualifying Facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) and thus receive regulatory benefits meant, in part, to encourage the innovation and development of cogeneration facilities. The proposal applies to SOFC systems that use heat and steam to convert natural gas to hydrogen, which then…

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The Role of Carbon Capture and Storage in California’s Net-Zero Future

By Kevin Poloncarz & Donald Ristow

October 22, 2020

Earlier today, the Energy Futures Initiative and Stanford University released a new joint report that provides policymakers in California with an action plan for realizing the significant decarbonization opportunities presented by use of carbon, capture and storage (CCS) technology within the state. The results of the study add to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that CCS is a viable and important near-term option for California in meeting its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in…

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EPA Warns UV Light Companies About Coronavirus Claims

By Thomas Brugato

October 13, 2020

EPA recently released a compliance advisory addressing UV lights that make claims to mitigate the novel coronavirus (or other viruses or bacteria), which the agency regulates as pesticidal devices under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). While the advisory largely reiterates past guidance relating to pesticidal devices, which this blog previously discussed, it does underscore that EPA is particularly focused on UV lights, and contains three important cautions for companies making claims…

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FERC Takes Close Look at Carbon Pricing

By Mark Perlis

October 8, 2020

Recently, the three sitting Commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) convened thirty industry experts at a virtual Technical Conference on state adoption of carbon pricing and its implementation in organized, wholesale electricity markets managed by regional transmission organizations (RTOs) or independent system operators (ISOs). Public interest was high, with more than 2,000 computers across the country logged on to the discussion, which stretched over nine hours. Although no carbon pricing measures have been…

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FERC Opens Electricity Markets to Distributed Resource Aggregators

By Bud Earley

September 22, 2020

The FERC approved a final rule that will enable distributed energy resource (DER) aggregators to compete in organized wholesale electricity markets. DERs are located on the distribution system or behind the customer meter and include electric storage resources, intermittent generation, distributed generation, demand response, energy efficiency, thermal storage, and electric vehicles and their charging equipment. Aggregators will now be able to aggregate multiple small DERs as a single resource to compete in the markets, smoothing…

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UK: new “world-leading” deforestation and ecosystem supply chain law

By Daniel Feldman, Sinéad Oryszczuk, Hannah Edmonds-Camara, Atli Stannard, Paul Mertenskötter & Summreen Mahween

September 17, 2020

The UK Government recently announced that it is developing legislation that would make it illegal for large businesses operating in the UK to use certain commodities that have not been produced in line with local laws, and require in-scope companies to conduct due diligence to ensure that their supply chains are free from illegal deforestation and ecosystem change. A failure to comply could result in significant fines (the precise levels of fines are yet to…

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EPA Issues Emergency Approval for First-Ever Residual Antiviral Product

By Thomas Brugato & Brandon Rattiner

August 25, 2020

For the first time ever, EPA has approved a pesticide making residual antiviral claims under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The approval may be a significant boon in the fight against COVID-19, but it also raises several key questions about EPA’s broader approach to combatting the novel coronavirus.…

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Electric Storage May Be Treated as Transmission

By Bud Earley

August 13, 2020

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved tariff terms for a Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) to treat electric storage resources as transmission facilities under certain circumstances. Previously, FERC approved only one case-specific proposal to treat storage as transmission. Treatment as a transmission facility provides additional deployment opportunities for storage resources and allows cost recovery through cost-of service transmission rates instead of relying entirely on energy market revenues. Commissioner James Danly, however, dissented from the tariff…

Inside Energy & Environment

Developments in law and policy of energy, commodities and environment

Blog Authors

The UK’s 10-point Green Industrial Revolution Plan

Covington Experts Discuss Decarbonization Strategies in the EU and US at a Leading Global Sustainable Technology Conference

FERC Proposes QF Status for Some Fuel Cell Facilities

The Role of Carbon Capture and Storage in California’s Net-Zero Future

EPA Warns UV Light Companies About Coronavirus Claims

FERC Takes Close Look at Carbon Pricing

FERC Opens Electricity Markets to Distributed Resource Aggregators

UK: new “world-leading” deforestation and ecosystem supply chain law

EPA Issues Emergency Approval for First-Ever Residual Antiviral Product

Electric Storage May Be Treated as Transmission

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