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illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on CNN or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: Minnesota's Sherco coal plant, a major polluter, is set to retire in five years
• However, its connection to the grid will be repurposed to power one of the largest solar projects in the U.S., bypassing years of bureaucratic delays to integrate renewable energy
🔭 The context: Reusing existing grid infrastructure from retiring coal plants could dramatically speed up clean energy projects across the U.S.
• This method taps into grid connections that would otherwise take years to establish, offering a way to avoid bottlenecks in renewable energy distribution
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Transitioning from coal to solar reduces emissions and helps accelerate the shift to a cleaner energy grid, crucial for tackling climate change
• Minnesota’s project supports the state's goal of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2040
⏭️ What's next: The success of Sherco's solar project could lead other fossil fuel plants to follow suit, potentially doubling the U.S.'s renewable energy capacity by 2032 through similar initiatives
💬 One quote: “This should be one of the main strategies that we adopt going forward... we don’t want to just throw them away,” said Umed Paliwal, UC Berkeley senior scientist
📈 One stat: The Sherco plant emitted 10.5 million tons of CO2 in 2022, equivalent to over 2 million cars
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