Big Lie: Wind turbines freezes Texas during massive winter storm
Frozen electricity infrastructure in Texas was due to cold weather, and bad maintenance, not wind turbines
Tag: Renewable Energy
Shell announces shift to renewable energy, peak oil production in 2019
Royal Dutch Shell is accelerating its drive to lower carbon emissions while delivering value for shareholders… supposedly
SunSpec aims to help Veterans transition to clean energy jobs
SunSpec, the leading organization developing standards in the Solar industry, has launched an initiative aiming to train folks for jobs in the distributed energy resource (DER) sphere. Thanks to the decreasing cost of renewable energy systems, DER’s installation is apparently still increasing. Thanks to Internet-of-Things technology, renewable energy systems are…
Salt River Project 1GW energy storage system replaces coal plant
A couple weeks ago the Salt River Project in Arizona announced a plan to replace a 2.25 GW Coal plant, the Navajo Generating Station, with a facility involving a large solar array (250 MW) and a large battery-based energy storage system. The storage system is sized at 1 GW and…
Microgrids could prevent power outages but some experts disagree
A few weeks ago Northern California was rocked by huge power outages which PG&E hoped would prevent wildfires ignited by tree limbs falling on power lines. At the time weather conditions included heavy wind storms, drying out an already extremely dry landscape, raising the fire danger high enough to make…
Solar and Wind power could help Romania avoid electricity blackouts
Twice this year it is reported that Romania nearly suffered a complete electrical power outage. Grid operators in Romania say the cause is that the country is that “no investments were made in the power plants”, and that therefore electrical generation capacity is not enough. The grid operators are planning…
Hydrogen refueling station in Oslo Norway explodes and burns
Today at 17:30PM Oslo time, in Oslo Norway, a hydrogen refueling station exploded at the Uno-X station at Kjørbo, on the waterfront of the E18. This is a busy public area, next to a highway, and on the waterfront near Oslo. News broke of this explosion as we were ion…
Huge (1 GWh) energy storage project announced for Utah using compressed air in salt caverns
Last week a massively huge energy storage project was announced in Utah. Details are scarce, but since the announcement included both Utah Governor Gary Herbert and US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, the companies involved were able to draw on some heavy firepower and maybe there is some government funding…
When DERs participate in wholesale electricity markets state and local authority is not trampled
Earlier this month a group of 22 US Senators co-authored a Letter saying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should preserve the ability of local electricity providers to maintain control over the electricity grid. At issue is whether Distributed Energy Resources, a.k.a. DER’s, can sell electricity to the wholesale electricity market.…
Can Bitcoin/Blockchain technology democratize the renewable energy industry?
The Blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are catching a lot of attention, and not just because of the phenomenal rise in Bitcoin’s value this year. Because each Blockchain is a “distributed ledger” where there’s a huge degree of security, thanks to an ingenious application of cryptography, many folks think…
Dept of Energy moving forward with energy storage research projects, doubling down on renewable energy
Solar power isn’t dead in the Trump Administration. Instead, the Dept of Energy announced last week that the 2020 SunShot cost reduction goals were met, and therefore the focus of the Solar Energy Technologies Office would shift to longer-term goals such as Grid Reliability and Energy Storage. “With the impressive…
Powerdown is a key, but little discussed, aspect to solving energy and climate problems
Solar- and Wind- based electricity is clean and renewable, offering a great solution for both Climate and Fossil Fuel Availability problems. But both sources are intermittent, meaning they don’t provide 24 hours a day, and therefore adopting renewable electricity in a big way requires changes in the electricity production/consumption system.…
Tesla Motors doubling Supercharger network, delivering on solar-powered-charging vision
The Tesla Model 3 is due for its production launch in a few months. While some of us are pondering our personal budget, Tesla Motors has a bigger issue on its mind. The key advantage they have over other automakers is the extensive reach of the Supercharger fast charging network.…
DOE Secretary Perry orders review of whether renewable energy erodes energy grid stability: Coal Versus Solar
In a letter to the Department of Energy, Secretary Perry describes having attended the G7 Energy Ministerial, and his reaction to discussion of “the need for an energy transition utilizing greater efficiency and fuel diversity.” That transition is necessary because the prevailing electric energy paradigm is based in fossil…
Reporting in from California’s Distributed Energy Future
The electricity grid is facing an interesting challenge: Solar and Wind energy is catching on faster than expected, forcing a rapid change change in how the grid operates. It’s extremely excellent that renewable electricity is growing so quickly, and in many places is directly cost competitive with fossil fuel electricity. The problem…
Shell announces shift to renewable energy, peak oil production in 2019
Royal Dutch Shell is accelerating its drive to lower carbon emissions while delivering value for shareholders… supposedly
SunSpec aims to help Veterans transition to clean energy jobs
SunSpec, the leading organization developing standards in the Solar industry, has launched an initiative aiming to train folks for jobs in the distributed energy resource (DER) sphere. Thanks to the decreasing cost of renewable energy systems, DER’s installation is apparently still increasing. Thanks to Internet-of-Things technology, renewable energy systems are…
Salt River Project 1GW energy storage system replaces coal plant
A couple weeks ago the Salt River Project in Arizona announced a plan to replace a 2.25 GW Coal plant, the Navajo Generating Station, with a facility involving a large solar array (250 MW) and a large battery-based energy storage system. The storage system is sized at 1 GW and…
Microgrids could prevent power outages but some experts disagree
A few weeks ago Northern California was rocked by huge power outages which PG&E hoped would prevent wildfires ignited by tree limbs falling on power lines. At the time weather conditions included heavy wind storms, drying out an already extremely dry landscape, raising the fire danger high enough to make…
Solar and Wind power could help Romania avoid electricity blackouts
Twice this year it is reported that Romania nearly suffered a complete electrical power outage. Grid operators in Romania say the cause is that the country is that “no investments were made in the power plants”, and that therefore electrical generation capacity is not enough. The grid operators are planning…
Hydrogen refueling station in Oslo Norway explodes and burns
Today at 17:30PM Oslo time, in Oslo Norway, a hydrogen refueling station exploded at the Uno-X station at Kjørbo, on the waterfront of the E18. This is a busy public area, next to a highway, and on the waterfront near Oslo. News broke of this explosion as we were ion…
Huge (1 GWh) energy storage project announced for Utah using compressed air in salt caverns
Last week a massively huge energy storage project was announced in Utah. Details are scarce, but since the announcement included both Utah Governor Gary Herbert and US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, the companies involved were able to draw on some heavy firepower and maybe there is some government funding…
When DERs participate in wholesale electricity markets state and local authority is not trampled
Earlier this month a group of 22 US Senators co-authored a Letter saying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should preserve the ability of local electricity providers to maintain control over the electricity grid. At issue is whether Distributed Energy Resources, a.k.a. DER’s, can sell electricity to the wholesale electricity market.…
Can Bitcoin/Blockchain technology democratize the renewable energy industry?
The Blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are catching a lot of attention, and not just because of the phenomenal rise in Bitcoin’s value this year. Because each Blockchain is a “distributed ledger” where there’s a huge degree of security, thanks to an ingenious application of cryptography, many folks think…
Dept of Energy moving forward with energy storage research projects, doubling down on renewable energy
Solar power isn’t dead in the Trump Administration. Instead, the Dept of Energy announced last week that the 2020 SunShot cost reduction goals were met, and therefore the focus of the Solar Energy Technologies Office would shift to longer-term goals such as Grid Reliability and Energy Storage. “With the impressive…
Powerdown is a key, but little discussed, aspect to solving energy and climate problems
Solar- and Wind- based electricity is clean and renewable, offering a great solution for both Climate and Fossil Fuel Availability problems. But both sources are intermittent, meaning they don’t provide 24 hours a day, and therefore adopting renewable electricity in a big way requires changes in the electricity production/consumption system.…
Tesla Motors doubling Supercharger network, delivering on solar-powered-charging vision
The Tesla Model 3 is due for its production launch in a few months. While some of us are pondering our personal budget, Tesla Motors has a bigger issue on its mind. The key advantage they have over other automakers is the extensive reach of the Supercharger fast charging network.…
DOE Secretary Perry orders review of whether renewable energy erodes energy grid stability: Coal Versus Solar
In a letter to the Department of Energy, Secretary Perry describes having attended the G7 Energy Ministerial, and his reaction to discussion of “the need for an energy transition utilizing greater efficiency and fuel diversity.” That transition is necessary because the prevailing electric energy paradigm is based in fossil…
Reporting in from California’s Distributed Energy Future
The electricity grid is facing an interesting challenge: Solar and Wind energy is catching on faster than expected, forcing a rapid change change in how the grid operates. It’s extremely excellent that renewable electricity is growing so quickly, and in many places is directly cost competitive with fossil fuel electricity. The problem…
