Ryan Pollin, ERS, for Zondits Denmark is famous for its wind resource, and the small country routinely breaks record after record for wind energy and power records. Forty-two percent of Denmark’s electricity came from wind over the entire year of 2015, with surplus power exported to its European neighbors during 16% of those days! Denmark … Read more
Energy: technology and free markets beat mandates The Hill, May 4, 2016 Bill Gates is the latest prominent thinker to suggest that it is wrong to achieve our clean energy goals with a carbon tax, or even greater government intervention in the energy marketplace. Gates believes we would be better served by focusing on the … Read more
This chart shows the United States’ mind-blowing clean energy potential Grist, March 30, 2016. Image credit: Greyerbaby The United States uses about 3.7 million gigawatt-hours of electricity each year. That’s an unfathomably huge number. But the next time someone tries to make the argument that 100 percent renewable energy is out of reach for the U.S., show them this image: … Read more
GREENING VERMONT, BUILDING A MORE RESILIENT FUTURE The Vermont Independent, March 24, 2016. Image credit: johnoghue Here in Vermont, as everywhere, the built environment has a vast impact on the natural environment, human health, and the economy. 40% of our energy consumption comes from the building sector, and buildings also hold the greatest potential for achieving … Read more
Bringing thermal energy store vessels to life Renewable Energy Focus, March 24, 2016. Image credit: Xklaim One energy storage solution that has come to the fore is Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES), which uses liquid air to create an innovative energy reserve that delivers large scale, long duration energy storage. The Government is taking the technology’s … Read more
Dreamers of the Golden Dream: Does California Have a Blueprint to Fix Global Warming? Mother Jones, March/April. Image credit: werner22brigitte [bctt tweet=”California can claim first place in just about every #renewable #energy category.”] Today, California can claim first place in just about every renewable-energy category: It is home to the nation’s largest wind farm and the … Read more
California’s Revolution in Western Energy Markets T&D World, March 9, 2016. Image credit: blickpixel The Energy Times’ recently talked with BPA Administrator Elliot Mainzer on the regional impact of bold new renewables and storage initiatives in California ahead of the landmark California Renewables Rush conference in San Francisco April 6 supported by virtually all major utilities … Read more
Jeffrey Perkins and Allison Donnelly, ERS The DOE’s definition of a microgrid is “A group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources (DER) with clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid [and can] connect and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both … Read more
THE NEW DNA OF FUTURE ENERGY MARKETS World Future Council, January 16, 2016. Image credit: Axel Schwenke Delegates from more than 130 countries and world`s leading renewable energy experts meet for the next three days to discuss the global energy transition. The annual Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has become one of the … Read more
Lisa Markowski for Zondits, January 24, 2016. Image credit: Earth Dispatch Hampshire College, a liberal arts school known for its innovative learning structure, is on to something else interesting. Its new campus center building has been designed with net zero energy (NZE) heating, cooling, water gathering, and self-sustained wastewater treatment systems that are expected to … Read more