Energy
Transitioning to a world powered by renewable energy is key to tackling climate change. Here you can find the latest good news related to our clean energy transition, covering wind, solar, green hydrogen, hydropower, and more.
Germany successfully turns intermittent renewable power into a reliable flow
As the cost of solar panels keeps dropping and the market picks up, supported in some places by government mandates such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards in 29 states, incorporating intermittent power flow from renewables emerges as a major issue for grid operators. Until batteries come online Read More...
Ireland’s energy storage plant to boost grid's reliance on wind and solar up to 75%
Wind and solar energy has a main flaw: it is unpredictable. It is controlled by the sun and the wind—which have little consideration for the fluctuations of power demand based on predictable human activity. The promise of energy storage has been all the rage of late, including Tesla’s much Read More...
Trend towards consumers’ energy self-sufficiency is about to disrupt the utility model
Technology advances and declining costs for both rooftop solar and energy storage are the conditions for the perfect storm that will soon make utilities obsolete, according to the new report by the Rocky Mountain Institute, an influential energy policy think tank. “New customers will find Read More...
Germany’s Solar Village produces four times the energy it consumes
Global investment in solar energy has been soaring while the cost of solar has been tumbling, yet we barely have scratched the surface of what’s possible. A German development of 52 homes and some commercial buildings that was built over the past decade near Freiburg, currently generated four Read More...
Global investment in renewable energy grew 17% last year
Developing countries led the trend with a 36% surge at $131.3 billion, followed by China with $83.3 billion, according to a new study by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance. Solar and wind still dominate the field, although geothermal enjoyed Read More...
Electricity-generating speed bumps can power traffic lights on India's streets
Turning heavy traffic in Indian cities into a renewable source of energy to power traffic lights and street lights: that's what eight engineering students in the state of Ahmedabad have done. They came up with small speed bumps that can generate electricity through electro-spinning wheels. They Read More...
Competitive rates lead Texas city to commit to 100% renewables
Georgetown, a community of about 50,000 people some 25 miles north of Austin, Texas, has created quite a shockwave with the announcement that it will soon be powered by 100% renewable energy. The city utility company, which acts as a local monopoly, finalized a deal with giant solar energy company Read More...
In San Diego, electric cars tested as power storage units to improve renewable energy's reliability
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) launched a 10-month program to test the integration of electrical vehicles (EV) in its power grid in order to improve efficiencies. With 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles forecast on the roads of California by 2025, according to the state’s Zero-Emission Read More...
California uses more solar than all other states combined
California now sources close to 30% of its power from renewables. Last year, solar alone jumped for 1.9% to 5% of the Golden State’s total generation. With just 23 megawatts short of cracking the 10 gigawatts barrier, California has more installed solar capacity than all other states Read More...
Sweden imports garbage for power, helps Europe dispose of its waste
The world-leading nation in garbage-fueled energy is now importing garbage to feed the network of district-power plants that provide electricity for more than half of Swedish households. Sweden has reduced its landfill-bound garbage to less than 1% of the waste it produces, after burning 52% of it Read More...