City to spend $25M on trail, greenway and road projects
The nine planned projects stretch across the city. Each connects to existing and planned trails, bike-friendly streets, bus rapid transit lines and city landmarks.
Energy & Environment
Articles
Green energy takes hold in unlikely places with Ford project
When Ford revealed plans to spend more than $11 billion on the fledgling electric vehicle sector, the automaker chose two states where Republican leaders have criticized the push for green energy and defended fossil fuels.
EPA rule sharply limits hydrofluorocarbons, gases used as refrigerants
The HFC provision in the new law was supported by an unusual coalition that included major environmental and business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, American Chemistry Council and the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute.
Reusable packaging set to go mainstream at major grocers, restaurants
Loop, a two-year-old company that collects and sanitizes reusable containers, is partnering with Kroger, Walgreens, McDonald’s, Burger King and Tim Hortons.
Laikin’s Indy-based Novus Capital II to combine with California energy-storage firm
The arrangement values Energy Vault at $1.6 billion, a huge sum for a private company that is a relative newcomer in the burgeoning field of renewable energy.
Report: Solar could power 40% of U.S. electricity by 2035
Doing so would require massive changes in U.S. policy and billions of dollars in federal investment to modernize the nation’s electric grid, a new federal report says.
Ida: Economists foresee only modest damage to U.S. economy
Hurricane Ida is sure to take a toll on the energy, chemical and shipping industries that have major hubs along the Gulf Coast, but the extent will depend on whether refinery shutdowns are prolonged, economists suggested Sunday.
The rise and fall of a renewable energy darling
The U.S. government is suing WindStream, which shut down in 2016. It says the company owes $3.12 million in loans that the U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteed as WindStream was expanding globally.
AES Indiana sues insurers over coal-ash cleanup liability
The Indianapolis-area electric utility claims more than a dozen insurers have refused to indemnify and defend it for coal-ash environmental cleanup that could exceed $177 million at three generating plants.
GM and LG’s too-big-to-fail ties tested by $1B recall
GM last week recalled Bolt EVs for the third time in nine months because of risk their batteries could catch fire. At stake is what has looked like one of the most promising partnerships in the burgeoning world of electric vehicles.
IndyGo takes in-between step toward all-electric transit system
When IndyGo’s goal of an all-electric bus fleet by 2035 hit a major obstacle, the agency detoured, ordering 27 hybrid buses that are powered with both electricity and diesel.
Hydrogen-powered vehicles: A realistic path to clean energy?
Manufacturers of large trucks and commercial vehicles are beginning to embrace hydrogen fuel cell technologies as a way forward. So are makers of planes, trains and passenger vehicles. But without advancements, hydrogen cannot yet be considered clean energy.
Senate push for expansive electric-vehicle incentives in $3.5T budget could hit bumps
The Senate dust-up Tuesday reflects long-standing disagreements on Capitol Hill over the benefits of financial incentives to spur the transition to electric vehicles, which make up about 2% of U.S. sales.
IBJ Podcast: Climate change could scorch and soak Indiana while reshaping key industries, Purdue center says
Indiana isn’t seeing the intense heat waves and flash-flooding that other parts of the world are experiencing this summer, but models show our winters will dwindle, our summers will have many more days above 95ºF and rainfall will continue to increase.
U.S. automakers pledge huge increase in electric vehicles
Declaring the United States must “move fast” to win the world’s automaking future, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a commitment from the auto industry to produce electric vehicles for as much as half of nationwide sales by the end of the decade.
Purdue, INDOT team up to investigate next-generation vehicle charging
The project focuses on whether wireless charging could be adapted for highway use, allowing electric vehicles to refresh their batteries while they drive along specially equipped stretches of road.
Mercedes sketches out all-electric scenario by decade’s end
The company plans to invest $47 billion in battery-driven vehicles between 2022 and 2080. It says it also intends to work with partners on setting up eight factories producing battery cells.
Superfund site near Zionsville at center of $3M environmental legal fight
A trust overseeing cleanup of Superfund site north of Zionsville is suing an environmental remediation firm after tests showed contaminant levels in the target area were higher than expected. The company has filed its own suit against the trust.
Indy-based Kinetrex bought by Houston energy firm for $310 million
Kinetrex, formed by Citizens Energy in 2013 and sold to a Chicago private equity firm four years later, said it was looking for a larger partner to help it increase its presence in renewable natural gas.
City wants building owners to track utility use
A city proposal to require tracking of municipal and commercial energy use could save millions of dollars, reduce emissions by thousands of tons and cut water usage by billions of gallons in less than a decade.