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Ranked: Emissions per Capita of the Top 30 U.S. Investor-Owned Utilities

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The following content is sponsored by the National Public Utilities Council

Ranked: Emissions per Capita of the Top 30 U.S. Investor-Owned Utilities

Emissions per Capita of the Top 30 U.S. Investor-Owned Utilities

Approximately 25% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) come from electricity generation.

Subsequently, this means investor-owned utilities (IOUs) will have a crucial role to play around carbon reduction initiatives. This is particularly true for the top 30 IOUs, where almost 75% of utility customers get their electricity from.

This infographic from the National Public Utilities Council ranks the largest IOUs by emissions per capita. By accounting for the varying customer bases they serve, we get a more accurate look at their green energy practices. Here’s how they line up.

Per Capita Rankings

The emissions per capita rankings for the top 30 investor-owned utilities have large disparities from one another.

Totals range from a high of 25.8 tons of CO2 per customer annually to a low of 0.5 tons.

UtilityEmissions Per Capita (CO2 tons per year)Total Emissions (M)
TransAlta25.816.3
Vistra22.497.0
OGE Energy21.518.2
AES Corporation19.849.9
Southern Company18.077.8
Evergy14.623.6
Alliant Energy14.414.1
DTE Energy14.229.0
Berkshire Hathaway Energy14.057.2
Entergy13.840.5
WEC Energy13.522.2
Ameren12.831.6
Duke Energy12.096.6
Xcel Energy11.943.3
Dominion Energy11.037.8
Emera11.016.6
PNM Resources10.55.6
PPL Corporation10.428.7
American Electric Power9.250.9
Consumers Energy8.716.1
NRG Energy8.229.8
Florida Power and Light8.041.0
Portland (Read more...)

Green Bonds: Lasting Solutions For Climate Change

by Sponsored Content

The following content is sponsored by IFC (World Bank Group)

green bonds infographic

Green Bonds: Lasting Solutions For Climate Change

How much will it cost to combat climate change? By some estimates, a staggering $50 trillion. And while this may seem like an impossibly daunting figure, you should know there is a solution to this financing gap: green bonds.

But having only been around for a little over a decade, they are still a relatively unfamiliar investment for many.

The above infographic from IFC explores the exciting world of green bonds, which are gaining serious traction in financial markets.

Green Bonds 101

To begin, green bonds are not that different from regular bonds. Both are debt instruments or fixed income securities that pool capital from investors for a specified project or objective. But while Fortune 500 companies issue bonds to generally enhance their bottom line, green bonds differ in their commitment to eco-friendly ventures and sustainability.

Here’s a closer look at the anatomy of bonds, including green bonds:

  • Yield: The fixed coupon rate as a % of the market value of the bond price.
  • Maturity: The predetermined length of the bond.
  • Credit Rating: The rating bonds receive to determine their riskiness and quality.
  • Bond Price: The price of the bond purchase (typically starts out in $1,000 denominations).
  • Coupon: The payment on the bond usually occurs in semi-annual or quarterly installments.

Unlike bonds which have been around for centuries, dating back to the Mesopotamian times, green bonds are (Read more...)

Rare Earth Elements: Where in the World Are They?

by Nicholas LePan
This post is by Nicholas LePan from Visual Capitalist

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Rare Earth Elements Reserves

Rare Earths Elements: Where in the World Are They?

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.

Rare earth elements are a group of metals that are critical ingredients for a greener economy, and the location of the reserves for mining are increasingly important and valuable.

This infographic features data from the United States Geological Society (USGS) which reveals the countries with the largest known reserves of rare earth elements (REEs).

What are Rare Earth Metals?

REEs, also called rare earth metals or rare earth oxides, or lanthanides, are a set of 17 silvery-white soft heavy metals.

The 17 rare earth elements are: lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), scandium (Sc), and yttrium (Y).

Scandium and yttrium are not part of the lanthanide family, but end users include them because they occur in the same mineral deposits as the lanthanides and have similar chemical properties.

The term “rare earth” is a misnomer as rare earth metals are actually abundant in the Earth’s crust. However, they are rarely found in large, concentrated deposits on their own, but rather among other elements instead.

Rare Earth Elements, How Do They Work?

Most rare earth elements find their uses as (Read more...)

Antimony: A Mineral with a Critical Role in the Green Future

by Sponsored Content

The following content is sponsored by Perpetua Resources

Critical Mineral Antimony

Antimony: A Mineral with a Critical Role in the Green Future

If someone asked you to name the first mineral that came to mind, odds are, it wouldn’t be antimony.

Yet, despite its lack of fanfare, it plays a significant role in our day-to-day lives. This graphic from Perpetua Resources provides an overview of antimony’s key uses, and the critical role it plays in the movement towards clean energy, among other uses.

What even is Antimony?

Antimony is an element found in the earth’s crust. Rarely found in its native metallic form, it is primarily extracted from the sulfide mineral stibnite.

It has a variety of uses and is found in everything from household items to military-grade equipment. Because it conducts heat poorly, it’s used as a flame retardant in industrial uniforms, equipment, and even children’s clothing.

End Use% of antimony consumption in the U.S.
Flame retardant35%
Transportation and batteries29%
Chemicals16%
Ceramics and glass12%
Other8%

Its second most common use, according to USGS, is in transportation and batteries. Traditionally, antimony has been combined with lead to create a strong, corrosion-resistant metal alloy, which is particularly useful in lead-acid batteries.

However, recent innovation has found a new use for antimony—it now plays an essential role in large-scale renewable energy storage, which is critical to the clean energy movement.

Antimony’s Role in Clean Energy

Large-scale renewable energy storage has been a massive hurdle for the clean (Read more...)