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Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard Passes Initial Senate Committee

March 10, 2023 in News & Press, Transportation & Fuels Author: Darren Goode

If enacted, legislation would be strongest statewide clean transportation standard in the nation and first in the Midwest

March 10, 2023, MINNEAPOLIS—The bicameral Clean Transportation Standard Act received initial approval in the Minnesota Legislature with passage March 9 out of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee.

The bill from Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Scott Dibble (DFL) and Representative Jeff Brand (DFL) is now referred to the Minnesota Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee. Continue reading »

Diverse Coalition Announces Support for Statewide Minnesota Clean Transportation Standard That Would Be Strongest in the Nation

March 9, 2023 in News & Press, Transportation & Fuels Author: Darren Goode

The Minnesota state capitol building at sunset

Automakers, EV, biofuel, and environmental advocates back bicameral legislation with mandatory carbon reduction targets for all Minnesota-supplied fuels

March 9, 2023, MINNEAPOLIS—A diverse coalition representing automakers, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and charging providers, biofuel producers, and clean energy and conservation advocates is endorsing new bicameral legislation that would implement a clean transportation standard statewide in Minnesota. If enacted, the legislation would establish the strongest such state standard in the nation. Continue reading »

Updates on the Clean Vehicle Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act

February 27, 2023 in Transportation & Fuels Author: M. Moaz Uddin

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the US Department of the Treasury released additional information on the clean vehicle provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act on March 31, 2023. The information provides further clarity to consumers and businesses on the New Clean Vehicle Credit, the Previously-Owned Clean Vehicle Credit, and the Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles Credit. Continue reading »

Get Involved in GPI’s Newly Launched Carbon Action Alliance

February 23, 2023 in Carbon Management Authors: Bridget Callaghan, Emma Thomley

Carbon Action Alliance meeting

The growing interest in carbon management—carbon capture, removal, use, transport, and storage—among industry, labor, communities, and the federal government means we have new opportunities to take action on economywide decarbonization—and there’s no time to wait. The Great Plains Institute’s carbon management team launched the Carbon Action Alliance (Action Alliance) in late 2022 to meet this moment of opportunity and urgency. Continue reading »

Navigating Renewable Energy Siting in the Midwest

February 22, 2023 in Communities, Renewable Energy Author: Rachel Percy
Two farmers working in a field with solar panels

Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL

The Renewable Energy Siting Campaign, a new partnership between the Great Plains Institute (GPI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with funding provided by Crown Family Philanthropies, will engage diverse stakeholders to identify “win-win” synergies that push clean energy development forward across the Midwest while preserving community values, protecting natural resources, and benefiting agricultural systems. Continue reading »

Federally Funded Study Outlines Best Practices for Managing Solar Farm Stormwater Runoff

February 15, 2023 in News & Press, Renewable Energy Author: Darren Goode
Field of sunflowers with solar panels
First analysis to detail unique characteristics of solar development that improve water quality

FEBRUARY 15, 2023, MINNEAPOLIS—Stormwater management practices, permitting, and regulations at solar sites often do not account for the unique characteristics of large-scale solar installations, a new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded study has found. Continue reading »

Carbon Dioxide Transport 101

February 14, 2023 in Carbon Management, Reports & Whitepapers Author: Emma Thomley

As companies across the United States (US) start using carbon capture or direct air capture to reduce the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, we need to plan how we’re going to transport the CO2 to sites for secure geologic storage or utilization. While the US has over 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines already, we’ll need to expand this infrastructure to use or store captured CO2 and meet our midcentury climate goals. Continue reading »

Road Map: 1,104 New Fast-Charging EV Stations Needed for US Network

February 1, 2023 in News & Press, Reports & Whitepapers, Transportation & Fuels Author: Darren Goode

Closeup of red pins on a paper map

Only 10 percent of existing fast-charging stations meet federal funding requirements 

FEBRUARY 1, 2023, MINNEAPOLIS—The US needs at least 1,104 additional new fast-charging electric vehicle (EV) stations as part of a nationwide network able to support seamless long-distance EV travel. That’s more than double the charging stations that currently meet minimum federal funding requirements, according to a new road map and analysis from Carbon Solutions and the Great Plains Institute (GPI). Continue reading »

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