A Texas startup’s big energy idea: storing electricity underground The Guardian, August 25, 2016 In a field in Central Texas, Aaron Mandell and his crew are running pumping equipment to bring a former oil and gas well back to life. But they’re not trying to extract black gold. Instead, they are developing a way to … Read more
Renewables surged past coal in 2015 to become world’s biggest source of electricity: IEA CNBC, October 25, 2016 Renewable energy moved past coal in 2015 to become the biggest source of global electricity capacity, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. Last year “marked a turning point for renewables” the body said, with clean … Read more
Hundreds Of Cities Have Cost-Effective Opportunities To Boost Renewable Energy Use Clean Technica, October 20, 2016 A new report estimating energy usage in 3,649 cities has found that, while there is no one-size-fits-all solution, every city nevertheless has massive potential to cost-effectively increase the use of renewable energy at a local level. Published on the … Read more
Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits In a small, coastal Maine town near the border of Canada, a group called the Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has been testing undersea turbines to generate power from the large tidal flows characteristic of the area. The units, which resemble vertical wind turbines, are undergoing testing to further refine … Read more
Germany had so much renewable energy on Sunday that it had to pay people to use electricity QZ, May 10, 2016 On Sunday, May 8, Germany hit a new high in renewable energy generation. Thanks to a sunny and windy day, at one point around 1pm the country’s solar, wind, hydro and biomass plants were … Read more
USDA to Help 821 Rural Small Businesses Boost Renewable Energy Use, Save on Energy Costs USDA, July 11, 2016 [bctt tweet=”USDA is providing $43.2 million in loan guarantees and $11.6 million in grants through REAP.” username=”ZonditsEE”] [mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”18″ bg_color=”#1e73be” txt_color=”#ffffff”]Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced funding for 821 projects across the nation that … Read more
Ryan Pollin, ERS, for Zondits It was only days ago that we were telling you about how well Europe has been handling their carbon emissions reductions. Well, North America wasn’t far behind with a headline of its own. This week at the Three Amigos Summit, the leaders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico announced … Read more
California Goes Nuclear Free As Diablo Canyon Closes In Favor Of Renewables Cleantechnica, June 22, 2016 California, the world’s sixth largest economy, has announced it will go nuclear free as it replaces the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors with renewable energy. Californian utility PG&E announced a Joint Proposal with labor and leading environmental organizations this week that … Read more
Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits The Obama Administration showed its support for renewable energy, energy storage, and microgrids last Thursday, June 16, 2016, by hosting a Summit on Scaling Renewable Energy and Storage with Smart Markets. Both state and private sectors were represented at the Summit, and investment commitments totaling approximately $1 billion were made. The … Read more
German electricity transmission CEO: ‘80% renewables is no problem’ Euractiv, June 8, 2016 When it comes to Germany’s switch to renewables, the speed at which it is happening is often said to be too fast. Is that right? We see ourselves as the Energiewende‘s guinea pigs. Our network in the north-east covers about a third … Read more