by Jeff Ihnen | Feb 25, 2025 | Energy Rant
Last week, I explored the macro impacts of electrifying our heating systems and using ground source (aka geothermal) heat pump (GHP) systems rather than cold-climate air-source heat pumps (CCHPs). In a nutshell, deploying GHPs in the colder regions of the country...
by Jeff Ihnen | Feb 18, 2025 | Energy Rant
Over the many years I have taught electrification basics for the Wisconsin Public Utilities Institute’s (WPUI) Energy Utilities Basics course, I dive deeply into heat pumps and their impact on the grid. I explain the messy chart in Figure 1 like a palm reader, except...
by Jeff Ihnen | Feb 11, 2025 | Energy Rant
Last week, I described elements of Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order. It: Expands oil and gas exploration on federal lands Promotes mining and recovery of rare and exotic earth minerals for manufacturing leadership Targets federal spending on...
by Jeff Ihnen | Feb 4, 2025 | Energy Rant
President Trump’s top priorities include closing the border and restoring “energy dominance.” Readers know he ran on “drill baby, drill” and ending wind generation and electric vehicle subsidies, but what are some of the finer points? His...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 27, 2025 | Energy Rant
I was triggered a couple of weeks ago by this article in The Wall Street Journal: 2024 Was the Hottest Year. Here Are Climate Trends to Watch in 2025. I’m not debating that 2024 was the hottest year on record. My micro observation is that our winters in the Midwest...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 21, 2025 | Energy Rant
I bet you didn’t see or hear on your favorite news platform, whether it’s NPR, MSNBC, CNN, FNC, Axios, Facebook ????, the big three networks, or some dying newspaper platforms, that one of the largest lithium-ion electricity storage plants in the world caught fire and...
