Learners Live

Did you Know?
Menu

DOE Terminates 24 Clean Energy Projects

William Attardi on June 2, 2025

U. S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the termination of 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) totaling over $3.7 billion in taxpayer-funded financial assistance. After a thorough and individualized financial review of each award, DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable, and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars. Of the 24 awards cancelled, nearly 70% (16 of the 24 projects) were signed between Election Day and January 20th.  DOE Terminates 24 Clean Energy Projects – electrifiED

Why The ‘Redheaded Stepchild’ of Renewable Energy Is Poised to Rise Under Trump by Saul Elbein

William Attardi on February 14, 2025

Even as President Trump slashes support for wind and solar energy, another renewable energy source is finding unexpected favor under his second administration. In early February, newly confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright named geothermal energy, which uses underground heat to generate clean heat and electricity, as one of the prime areas for department research and development. With bipartisan political support behind its efforts and skyrocketing energy demand from data centers bolstering the potential market for its offerings, the geothermal industry is getting excited. Geothermal energy finds favor under Trump administration

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind – The last time human beings headed moonward was on the Apollo 17 flight that launched Dec. 7, 1972—before any of the Artemis II crew members were born. Today’s crew will not land on the moon—they won’t even orbit the moon. But they will whip around the lunar far side, on a shakedown mission test-flying the Orion spacecraft. This is essential preparatory work for achieving NASA’s bigger lunar goals. Next year there will be another test flight in low Earth orbit during the flight of Artemis III, followed by up to two moon landings by Artemis IV and V in 2028, and annual landings thereafter. Unlike the Apollo program, Artemis aims not just for the so-called flags-and-footprints model of short, one- to three-day stays on the moon, but for a long-term presence at a long-term moon base in the south lunar pole, where deposits of ice can provide drinkable water, breathable oxygen, and oxygen-hydrogen rocket fuel. Very much like the Apollo program, Artemis finds itself in a closely watched moon race, not with the old Soviet Union this time, but with China, which has announced its intention to have astronauts on the moon by 2030. The U.S. is not going it alone this time, however. While Apollo was an entirely American enterprise, Artemis flies under the flag of 60 countries, signatories to the Artemis Accords, an international pact whose members vow to support the peaceful exploration of space and contribute money, modules, and astronauts to the Artemis cause. Artemis II Has Launched. Here’s Everything You Need to Know