In an “exclusive”, Reuters reports that “India plans to stop building new coal-fired power plants, apart from those already in the pipeline, by removing a key clause from the final draft of its National Electricity Policy (NEP), in a major boost to fight climate change, sources said”. The newswire adds that “the draft, if approved by the federal cabinet chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, would make China the only major economy open to fresh requests to add significant new coal-fired capacity”. It quotes a “government source” saying: “After months of deliberations, we have arrived at a conclusion that we would not need new coal additions apart from the ones already in the pipeline.” The Reuters article continues: “The new policy, if approved, would not impact the 28.2GW [gigawatts] of coal-based power in various stages of construction, the sources said…The draft, India’s first attempt at revising its electricity policy enacted in 2005, also proposes delaying the retirement of old coal-fired plants until energy storage for renewable power becomes financially viable, the sources said.”

Meanwhile, in contrast, Bloomberg covers a new report by the Indian power ministry’s Central Electricity Authority. The outlet says: “Coal will remain India’s largest source of electricity generation by 2030 and additional new plants will be required, even as the nation adds record clean energy installations to hit climate targets…’Availability of affordable and reliable electricity is a key factor in sustainable growth of the country,’ Ghanshyam Prasad, the authority’s chairperson, said in a report. Coal will account for about 54% of electricity generation in 2030 and as much as 46GW of additional capacity will be required alongside new renewables, the authority said in the report published Thursday. The fossil fuel currently accounts for almost three-quarters of generation and mines are striving to dig out material at a record pace to avoid shortages that caused blackouts in recent summers. Installations of solar, wind, hydro, biomass and nuclear plants will reach more than 500GW by 2030, an almost tripling of current levels, and account for 64% of the country’s generation capacity.”

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California recently announced that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted on its Advanced Clean Fleets rule, and the vote to finalize it was unanimous. The new rule will essentially ban the sale of all diesel-powered medium- and heavy-duty fleet vehicles beginning in 2036. At that time, all new sales and registrations will need to be zero-emission vehicles.

California continues to push the envelope when it comes to rules and regulations to help the environment. It was recently announced that the state has a new goal to ban all new gas passenger car sales starting in 2035.

The state's previous target for banning the sales of diesel trucks was set at 2040, so now it's even more aggressive. California's Governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to move the state to 100% zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. That said, banning diesel truck sales sooner may make it a bit easier to reach his goal.

It's important to note that, just like California's gas car ban target, there are many very specific rules related to such legislation, and it's all very complicated. There will certainly be wiggle room and loopholes. However, to be very clear, none of these are actual, official "bans," and they're not going to take away peoples' cars or companies' diesel trucks or other equipment.

Instead, to work toward the larger goal of transitioning an entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles, there arguably has to come a point when the production and sale of new gas-powered vehicles comes to an end. Eventually, the older gas-powered vehicles will be replaced by a zero-emission vehicles, thus slowly making the transition happen.

According to Electrek, California's diesel truck ban won't just suddenly take effect in 2036. Rather, there are steps along the way. By 2024, 50% of state and local government agency vehicle purchases will have to be zero-emission vehicles. This number bumps up to 100% by 2027.

With the new rules in place, California estimates that about half of all semi-trucks on its highways with by zero-emission by 2035. By 2042, California puts this figure at 70%. If all goes as planned, the state should hit 100% by 2045.

This new legislation in California is the strictest of its kind across the globe, and the first to aim to ban diesel trucks. We can only hope the world is watching and others will follow suit. Let us know your thoughts on this in the comment section below.

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US power utility AES has announced a long-term strategy to exit completely from coal by the end of 2025 and triple its renewables portfolio by 2027.

AES will add 25–30GW of solar, wind and energy storage across its power generation portfolio.

The company has set an annualised growth target for adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of between 6% and 8% between 2023 and 2027, from a base of its reaffirmed 2023 guidance of $1.65–1.75.

This growth is expected to come from the renewables’ contribution and from investments in the rate base at the company’s utilities strategic business unit. This growth is expected to be partially offset by lower contributions from the energy infrastructure SBU as the company intends to exit from coal by the end of 2025.

AES also plans to invest to deliver annual rate base growth of 10% at its utilities in the US.

AES president and CEO Andrés Gluski stated: “AES is uniquely positioned to create value for our shareholders in the once-in-a-lifetime energy transition we are currently living through. Through 2027, we expect to nearly triple our renewables capacity by adding 25–30GW of solar, wind and energy storage to our portfolio, while simultaneously delivering annual rate base growth of 10% at our US utilities.

“Our diversified portfolio will support and enable this growth as we advance our transformation by fully exiting coal by year-end 2025.”

AES executive vice-president and chief financial officer Steve Coughlin stated: “With our new strategic business units, we have aligned our management and operations of our businesses to execute on our long-term strategy, and this structure now better reflects the focused company that AES is today.”

For 2023, the company projected an adjusted EBITDA guidance of between $2.6bn and $2.9bn. This growth is expected to come from new renewable projects coming online, along with prior-year one-time expenses at its US utilities.

However, it could be hit by lower margins from its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business due to the normalisation of LNG prices and the roll-off of gas supply contracts and lower coal margins.

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Loblaw unveiled a carbon-free energy deal on Thursday that will shift the company’s operations in Alberta to be powered entirely by renewable sources, including wind, sun, and water. This change extends to the company’s supermarkets, drugstores, offices, and distribution centers in the region.

This program will eliminate the carbon emissions associated with the company’s electricity purchases in Alberta, while cutting its nationwide enterprise operating emissions by 17 percent, according to the company.

As a result of the deal, the company is closer to its goal of using carbon-free electricity to power over 280 locations, including subsidiaries like Real Canadian Superstore, Shoppers Drug Mart, No Frills, Real Canadian Liquor Store, its Independent, and Wholesale Club stores, as well as the company’s offices and distribution centers. This energy purchase will provide over 300,000 megawatt hours of carbon-free energy every year and save the equivalent of up to 180,000 metric tons of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.

"Loblaw has been actively reducing its carbon emissions for over a decade, consistently exceeding its own ambitious targets. Last year, when we raised those targets to become net zero by 2040, we knew we would need some breakthrough innovation to reach our goal,” said Galen G. Weston, chairman and president of Loblaw Companies Limited, in a statement. “This project delivers that by turning our highest carbon-emitting energy market into our lowest, in one single step.”

By coupling the three renewable energy methods into a shared electrical grid, the program solves a renewable energy problem where one source may not provide enough energy due to external factors: when solar panels fail to provide electricity at night, the power can be supplemented with the energy from wind turbines and the pumped-hydro energy storage station.

Loblaw is making this purchase from TC Energy, an experienced, long-time North American energy company.

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The US Port of Long Beach has released plans for a floating wind facility conceived to help California and the nation reach renewable energy targets in the coming decades.

Known as Pier Wind, the facility would support the manufacture and assembly of offshore wind turbines standing as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

It would be the largest facility at any US seaport specifically designed to accommodate the assembly of offshore wind turbines, the port said.

Port of Long Beach executive director Mario Cordero said: "Imagine fully assembled wind turbines capable of generating 20MW of energy towed by sea from the Port of Long Beach to offshore wind farms in Central and Northern California.

"As society transitions to clean energy, our harbor is ideally located for such an enterprise – with calm seas behind a federal breakwater, one of the deepest and widest channels in the US, direct access to the open ocean and no air height restrictions.

"No other location has the space to achieve the economies of scale needed to drive down the cost of energy for these huge turbines."

The Pier Wind project could help California meet goal of producing 25GW of offshore wind power by 2045, and contribute toward lowering the national cost of offshore wind power by 70% by 2035.

The facility would span up to 400 acres of newly built land located southwest of the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge within the Harbor District.