Emily Pontecorvo

@emilypont.bsky.social

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Staff writer @heatmap.news

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I wrote about the ethanol industry's entry into carbon removal, and how it highlights key disagreements in the field about how we should define "carbon removal" in the first place. 1/2 heatmap.news/climate/what...

Carbon Removal’s Existential Questionheatmap.news It starts with ethanol.

U.S. forests are burning faster than we can replant them. A new paper found a 4 million acre backlog of burned land that remains barren. Reading about why our capacity to plant trees in the U.S. has been gutted got me thinking about the Great Tree Debate. heatmap.news/climate/refo...

One Way Forest Carbon Credits Might Come in Handyheatmap.news The U.S. is burning through forests, and replanting them is expensive.

For a piece about the 10 'Make or Break' projects of the energy transition, I checked in on how things were going for NET Power... and saw something that surprised me. Despite a grid "breakthrough" in 2021, its pilot project has not yet produced net power. heatmap.news/sparks/net-p...

Turns Out, NET Power Hasn’t Delivered Net Powerheatmap.news It’s all in the fine print.

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Here are the top 10 clean energy projects that we're keeping an eye on, including: ☀️ Intersect Power's solar farm, Easley 🔋 Cambridge Energy Storage Project 💨 SunZia Wind Read more from @emilypont.bsky.social and @zeitlin.bsky.social below.

The Make-or-Break Projects of the Energy Transitionheatmap.news Why the grid of the future might hinge on these 10 projects.

Coal is already on the way out. The real potential of the new EPA power plant rules, re: coal, is to bring about a more orderly — and potentially less painful — exit. I tried to understand where the Biden admin is and isn't helping on that front. heatmap.news/economy/bide...

Can Biden Ditch Coal Without Killing Coal Country?heatmap.news The end has been coming for a while. With the EPA’s new power plant emissions rules, though, it’s gotten a lot closer.

Nvm just needed to refresh my memory of pivot tables 😅

Please help me #energysky, why doesn't the EIA 860 plant data include what type of plant it is or how much it generated? Is it possible to get the data in this format?

It's difficult, maybe impossible, to measure or manage corporate emissions with precision. What if we focused on the point of extraction instead? This piece is about a scathing critique of life cycle analysis and the case for a "carbon takeback obligation" heatmap.news/climate/life...

What If the Most Widely Used Climate Tool Doesn’t Work?heatmap.news Life cycle analysis has some problems.

"...we model this and we model that, and we get so far away from reality that we actually can’t tell if something is positive or negative in the end." I spoke w/ scientist Stephanie Arcusa about lifecycle analysis, a problematic tool that permeates the climate economy heatmap.news/climate/life...

What If the Most Widely Used Climate Tool Doesn’t Work?heatmap.news Life cycle analysis has some problems.

There is simply not enough support for homeowners to pay for electrification or navigate the process. I wrote about an innovative plan to "aggregate demand" to drive down costs that just got $2 billion in govt. funding to get started. heatmap.news/economy/heat...

The $2 Billion Plan to Electrify American Homesheatmap.news Power Forward Communities wants you to have a heat pump.

Don't sleep on the "climate superfund" bills making their way through several state legislatures right now. I wrote about why they may have an advantage over lawsuits against big oil for climate damages, none of which have even gone to trial... heatmap.news/climate/clim...

A Climate Superfund Law Might Be Crazy Enough to Workheatmap.news Vermont is on the verge of becoming the first state to try it.

Environmental protection laws weren’t written with the prospect of altering ocean chemistry to address an existential crisis in mind. But Vesta has navigated the process to secure the 1st federal permit for an open ocean carbon removal field trial w/ olivine. My latest: heatmap.news/technology/o...

The First Open Ocean Carbon Removal Project in the U.S. Just Got a Green Lightheatmap.news And it involves dumping 9,000 tons of fancy sand off the North Carolina coast.

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What do these two images have to do with each other? Find out on this week's episode of SHIFT KEY, where @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social and @jessejenkins.bsky.social talk about Rivian's quest to survive, the future of EVs, and why everything comes back to minivans.

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Scoop: Superconductor Scientist Engaged in Research Misconduct, Probe Finds www.wsj.com/science/phys...

The Biden administration is taking the major step of finalizing new auto emissions rules today. Here's everything what we know so far about what this means for automakers, consumers, public health, and the climate. heatmap.news/electric-veh...

The EPA's Final Tailpipe Rules, Explainedheatmap.news Including what’s changed since last year.

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Reply to

Lissa Harris

here, in case I haven’t already inflicted it on you personally, is my account of how my 5 mini-split heat pumps did last winter in a long minus-15F cold snap I’ve had them 2 winters, they cut my heat bill by more than 60%, and my house is warmer now www.empireofdirt.wtf/i-switched-t...

I switched to heat pumps. Then the polar vortex hit.www.empireofdirt.wtf How do heat pumps hold up in the most brutal cold snaps? Here’s what I learned from last Friday's subzero weather.

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this study validates the hell out of stuff I’ve been talking and writing about the past couple years! -heat pumps are BIG climate action -almost every house will cut emissions, even on dirty grids -it’s hard to get the $ to pencil out for nat gas houses bc upfront cost -cost of tech needs to ⬇️

The National Renewable Energy Lab dropped an incredibly detailed study on the costs, benefits, and challenges of deploying heat pumps in the U.S. @emilypont.bsky.social has the five key takeaways:

Where Heat Pumps Win — And Where They Loseheatmap.news Five findings from an extremely thorough study by the National Renewable Energy Lab.

Happy 1-yr birthday 🎂to @heatmap.news! Also, happy bday to me! 🎈 I love this job and am so excited for all we have in store. If you read our stuff but haven’t bought a sub, today is a great day to do so. (Code ANNIVERSARY gets you 25% off an annual!) heatmap.news/st/subscript...

Heatmap Newsheatmap.news Heatmap is focused on the biggest story of our time: climate change.

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New piece out today --> Where Electric Vehicles Are (and Aren’t) Taking Off Across the U.S www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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"There’s a joke among scientists that there are so many methane-detecting satellites in space that they are reducing global warming." Why do we keep launching methane satellites? Let @emilypont.bsky.social explain:

Why Are There So Many Methane Satellites?heatmap.news Over a dozen methane satellites are now circling the Earth — and more are on the way.

EPA delays regs for gas power plants, some enviros claim victory, others claim tragedy, meanwhile, industry claims victory too. What’s going on? 📥 [email protected]

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There are some growing concerns over the sustainability of the carbon removal sector mailchi.mp/technologyre...

The coming carbon removal bubblemailchi.mp

Putting the question of consequential co2 aside, putting “depends where you live, roof size, etc” aside, has any study attempted to do some kind of consumer-level rough estimate of how much an average household could reduce their carbon footprint by going solar? Like compared to other actions?

I am looking for studies that estimate how much an individual homeowner might reduce their emissions by installing rooftop solar. Ideally in the U.S., ideally published in the last 5-10 years. #energysky, #greensky, 🔌💡 help me out!

“The biggest expense in drilling is time it takes to drill. The easiest way to reduce drilling costs is to drill faster," [email protected]. Check out Matt Zeitlin's latest on Fervo Energy's race to drive cost declines in geothermal at the rate of solar heatmap.news/economy/ferv...

Is Geothermal About to Become the Solar of the 2020s?heatmap.news The startup Fervo Energy is learning how to bring down costs — fast.

My latest, on the promise and gamble of WattCarbon, a company trying to fix the hornet's nest that is clean energy procurement, and fund the deployment of more distributed energy resources along the way. heatmap.news/economy/watt...

A Market for 24/7 Clean Power Might Look Something Like Thisheatmap.news Data — lots of data.

The Air Quality Index is changing. Here’s what you need to know! heatmap.news/sparks/air-q...

Why You May Soon Be Getting More Air Quality Alertsheatmap.news The Air Quality Index just got stricter.

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More than 2/3rds of Americans living along the coast support offshore wind construction in the waters near where they live, finds a new poll. @emilypont.bsky.social @heatmap.news reports: heatmap.news/climate/amer... 🔌💡

Very excited to dig into this one

Mining is the weak point where climate alliances will often fray. For @technologyreview.com's first “Big Story,” I explored how the fundamental tension between emissions goals & environmental concerns is unfolding in a tiny Minnesota town, as a battle brews over a proposed nickel mine.

This town’s mining battle reveals the contentious path to a cleaner futurewww.technologyreview.com The world needs to dig up far more minerals to meet climate goals. But mining poses environmental dangers that are bitterly dividing communities.

Berkeley researchers have identified big issues in the accounting underpinning yet another type of carbon offset — projects that distribute clean cookstoves. They told me this carbon finance is desperately needed, but it must be based on sound science. heatmap.news/climate/offs...

Carbon Offsets From Clean Cookstoves Are Kind of Bogus, Tooheatmap.news A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, breaks down the issues, while also stirring up a controversy of its own.