EnviroPolitics Blog

Despite federal support, solar-panel manufacturing not a sure thing

By Paul Gerke, Renewable Energy World

A domestic solar supply chain has been slowly strengthening in the U.S. on a steady diet of Section 45 Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credits (courtesy of the ever-nutritious Inflation Reduction Act), but the viability of solar cell manufacturing in the United States is still up in the air.

Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger dampened recent progress today after announcing the cancellation of a planned 2 GW facility at a former Intel semiconductor site in Colorado.

“The planned construction of a solar cell production facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, is no longer financially viable for the company due to recent developments,” read part of a statement released by Meyer Burger. “The project will therefore be discontinued.”

Meyer Burger said it would delay releasing its latest financial results until the end of September or later, as management draws up a program for “comprehensive restructuring and cost-cutting.” In March, the company announced the closure of a plant in Freiberg, Germany. The plan (for now) will be to utilize Meyer Burger’s production facility in Thalheim, Germany as the company’s primary maker of solar cells.

Meyer Burger will continue to operate its 1,400 MW module assembly facility in Goodyear, Arizona, which started production earlier this year, but will pump the brakes on expanding that site, noting the facility is capable of supporting 2 GW or more in the future.

“Under the current market conditions, these [German] solar cells are the most economical option for supplying the module production in Goodyear,” noted the press release.

Meyer Burger isn’t the only company that has changed course on constructing a stateside solar facility. In February, CubicPV’s Board of Directors axed plans for a 10 GW wafer factory blaming “market dynamics,” construction costs, and a “collapse in wafer pricing.”

Read the full story here

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Back to school with Rutgers enviro-ed courses

Environmental Insurance: A Risk Mitigating Tool, Realtime Discussion & Considerations

NEW CLASS! This half-day course will explore key concepts of environmental insurance and how to leverage it as a powerful tool for risk mitigation.

Date: October 22, 2024

Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT

Location: Online

Environmental Insurance: A Risk Mitigating Tool, Realtime Discussion & Considerations

Utilizing Incentives: Developing a Brownfields Site

NEW CLASS! Learn how to leverage tax credit programs in NJ, NY, and MA to enhance the financial viability of brownfield redevelopment projects.

Date: November 7, 2024

Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm EST

Location: Online, Live, Instructor-led

Utilizing Incentives: Developing a Brownfields Site

Glacial Deposits of New Jersey

Explore the geology of NJ’s glacial aquifers in this course, which covers glacial sediment, stratigraphy, hydrogeologic behavior, well yields, and more.

Date: September 10, 2024

Time: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm EDT

Location: Online

Glacial Deposits of New Jersey

Regulatory Training in Underground Storage Tanks

Get the regulatory information you need to stay current with New Jersey’s UST requirements and avoid potential penalty liability.

Date: September 12, 2024

Time: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Location: Douglass Campus Center, 100 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Regulatory Training in Underground Storage Tanks

ArcGIS: Introduction

Learn the essential concepts of GIS and how to map in ArcGIS Pro during this 12-hour online evening course.

Date: November 5, 12, 19, and December 3, 2024

Time: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST

Location: Online

ArcGIS: Introduction

Lake Management

Learn how to investigate and diagnose water quality issues, as well as implement restoration measures, to increase the lake’s resiliency, aesthetics, and habitat quality.

Date: November 13-15, 2024

Time: 8:30 am – 1:00 pm EST

Location: Online

Lake Management

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Your Guide to Superfund Law (CERCLA) and Its Impact

Scarinci Hollenbeck Attorney Daniel McKillop breaks it down the Superfund Law

Read the full article story here

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Historic nuclear ship could be sold, moved from Baltimore

*The N.S. Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, was built in the late 1950s. It was deactivated in 1971 and is now docked Pier 13 of the Canton Marine Terminal. (Jerry Jackson/Staff)*

By Jonathan M. Pitts, Baltimore Sun, August 25, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

You, too, might be able to own a 596-foot-long, nuclear-powered floating time capsule that has been visited by a million and a half people, features a ballroom, bar and swimming pool, and once was a star attraction on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show.

The Nuclear Ship (N.S.) Savannah — the first nuclear-powered ship ever built explicitly for peacetime purposes — has been moored in a quiet corner of the Canton Marine Terminal in Baltimore since 2008.

Constructed at the height of the Cold War as part of a government program aimed at demonstrating the nondestructive uses of nuclear power, the sleek 21,800-ton vessel achieved just that for nearly a decade, logging nearly half a million nautical miles and visiting 45 countries.

But the Savannah’s life in Baltimore could soon be coming to an end. The agency that owns and operates it — the U.S. Maritime Administration, or MARAD, a division of the federal transportation department — is nearing the end of the lengthy and complicated process of nuclear decommissioning, or removing enough vestiges of its nuclear capabilities to satisfy the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Erhard W. Koehler, senior technical advisor for the Savannah, says that doesn’t mean some otherwise bored billionaire can write a check and have it towed home for his or her own amusement.

But it does mean MARAD has made it known that it’s willing to donate the formerly nuclear-driven merchant ship to a science or history museum as a potential educational enterprise, to a state or municipality as a historic attraction, or to another entity for commercial or other use.

Read the full story here

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Veteran NJ Congressman Bill Pascrell dies at 87

North Jersey Democrats face impending deadline to agree on a successor

By Joey Fox and David Wildstein, NJ Spotlight, August 21 2024 11:48 am

William J. Pascrell, Jr., a beloved, old-school New Jersey politician who spent 28 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a scrappy, impassioned advocate for his constituents, a proud liberal, a beacon of integrity, a ferocious advocate of tax fairness, and a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump and Ticketmaster, died today after a month-long illness. He was 87.

A former high school history teacher who could spend hours talking about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – and frequently did – Pascrell had a genuine love of democracy, delighted in finding ways for government to help the people, and steadfastly supported organized labor. Perhaps the only things he loved more than politics were his family, baseball, and the city where he lived his entire life, Paterson.

“As our United States Representative, Bill fought to his last breath to return to the job he cherished and to the people he loved,” Pascrell’s family said in a short statement on social media. “Bill lived his entire life in Paterson and had an unwavering love for the city he grew up in and served. He is now at peace after a lifetime devoted to our great nation America.”

A self-proclaimed late bloomer, the U.S. Army veteran and grandson of Italian immigrants was 50 when first elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in 1987, 53 when he became mayor of Paterson in 1990, and 59 when he narrowly defeated freshman Rep. Bill Martini (R-Clifton) in 1996. He was the second-oldest member of the House, and would have become the oldest had he been re-elected this year.

During his nearly three decades as a congressman, Pascrell led a successful mission to designate Paterson’s Great Falls as a component of the National Park System, sponsored the Alternatives to Opioids section of the 2018 Emergency Department Act to fight the epidemic, sponsored the Bring Jobs Home Act to boost the creation of domestic jobs, and was the lead sponsor of a bill to bring the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT) back.

Read the full story here

Related news:
Pascrell represented north Jersey, fighting for fire safety (NJ Spotlight)
Democrats face close deadline to replace Pascrell on the ballot (NJ Spotlight)