California's Energy Transition
GEIDCO hopes the Asia Super Grid will become the first piece in a global energy puzzle. The State Grid Corporation of China, one of the chief backers of GEIDCO, predicts that every country will have its own super grid by 2030, and that the global energy "internet" will be completed by 2050 and powered by 80 percent clean energy.
Although a handful of storage technologies are getting a big boost from that effort, there is little doubt that roughly 75 percent of the state’s energy storage needs in the coming decades will be met by pumped storage hydro, the traditional—and still the most economical—storage solution.
Now in its second year, the U.S. Energy Storage Summit will bring together utilities, financiers, regulators, technology innovators, and storage practitioners for two full days of data-intensive presentations, analyst-led panel sessions with industry leaders, and extensive, high-level networking.
Even with the dissolution of the [Clean Power Plan], the number of coal-fired generators is still expected to be reduced by about one-third through 2030, or by about 60 gigawatts of capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The Klimaschutz 2050 plan envisions a carbon-neutral Germany by 2050, a longstanding target. But for the first time, it gets specific. The plan details how much each sector of the economy will reduce emissions to meet the intermediate goal of a 55 percent carbon reduction in the next 15 years. In previous climate plans, there were no goals for transportation and agriculture, but now all major polluters will have to pull their weight, German officials said.
PGE’s 2016 Integrated Resource Plan calls for a mix of new energy-efficiency measures, providing ways to reduce demand for power, and acquiring new energy supplies, such as natural gas and renewable energy, among other strategies.
The country, notorious for its dangerous levels of pollution, invested more than the US ($44.1bn), the UK ($22.2bn) and Japan ($36.2bn), put together, the United Nations Environment Programme’s annual report on global trends in renewable energy found.
If California’s electric grid were connected to neighboring states, for example, the state could export its excess renewable energy when the sun is shining there, and buy wind from Wyoming when it isn’t. This, again, would make wind and solar go farther.Link: These policy solutions can help unleash the full potential of renewable energy
It could happen sooner, but that would require Trump to really embrace the kind of transformation of the energy sector called for by the Paris Accord on climate change–promoting renewables, encouraging energy efficiency, and migrating the transport sector to electric motors. That’s kind of awkward, given that Trump has pledged to pull out of the accord and revive the coal industry instead.
H. S. Udaykumar, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Iowa, explains the challenge like this: “First, the cooker should operate in the early morning and late evening when the sun is not at peak. They should be able to cook indoors, sitting down. They cook for two hours each time. The stove top temperature should be about 200C, with heat delivered at approximately 1 KW to the cook surface.Link: 10 Solar Cookers That Work at Night
What’s more, unlike the abstractions involved in climate, clean energy is real, tangible, and — perhaps most important of all — commercially viable. There are many things that divide Americans, but they are generally united on the benefits of making money.
It's now clear that Dooley was on to something. Solar energy can allow a family to transform their home into a self-sufficient power plant with the addition of a few panels on the roof. This appeals to conservative ideals of self-reliance, free from interference from Big Government or even Big Corporations.Link: The 'green' Tea Party fights for a more environmentally friendly GOP
With new technological developments and greater demand, the costs will only continue to go down, which creates an economic incentive for the use of these technologies. This holds true even in places where coal is cheap and plentiful, like Texas. In Michigan, coal-fired plants are closing, mainly because they have outlived their useful lives and are expensive to run. They are not being replaced by other coal plants, but by natural gas and renewables. The economic case for renewables will keep the market for it healthy and vibrant no matter what the new administration does.
Under the current system, it can take up to 18 months to two years to permit a renewable energy project on federal lands. The new rule, finalized on Thursday, could cut that time in half in the areas designated as most suitable for development
The model looks at the world in 2030 separated into 145 regions, showing how the energy can be distributed across the planet to meet demand at any hour of the day, all year long, as well showing from which renewable source it comes from.
“Fort Hood, the Army’s largest installation, will be an enduring installation for training soldiers in the years to come, and we are investing in that,” he added, explaining that energy derived from the solar farm will be about 15 megawatts. Combined with about 50 megawatts from the wind farm, the energy available will be about 65 megawatts, or almost half of Fort Hood’s daily need.
Wind turbines are given generous subsidies in the US, as the world’s biggest per-capita polluter attempts to reduce its carbon output. However, Mr Trump’s aggressively pro-business, anti-government stance puts any government assistance under threat.
Mankins and others estimate the total cost for developing, building, launching and assembling all the components of a space-based solar power plant is on the order of $4 to $5 billion—a fraction of the $28 billion price tag on China’s Three Gorges Dam. Mankins estimates a working scale model with full-sized components could be had for $100 million. By comparison, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s recently completed Watts Bar nuclear plant took 43 years to build, from start to stuttering finish, and cost $4.7 billion all told.
Floorboards might not be the first form of renewable energy that springs to mind, but they could soon be taking their place alongside solar and wind power – because scientists have figured out a way to produce electricity from wood pulp.
When complete, the panels on the poles are expected to provide half of the 80 megawatts of electricity generated by the utility's overall $515 million solar investment — enough to power 6,500 homes.
The German revolution has come from the grass roots: Individual citizens and energy genossenschaften—local citizens associations—have made half the investment in renewables. ... German politicians sometimes compare the energiewende to the Apollo moon landing. But that feat took less than a decade, and most Americans just watched it on TV. The energiewende will take much longer and will involve every single German—more than 1.5 million of them, nearly 2 percent of the population, are selling electricity to the grid right now.
Between 2005 and 2015, coal-fired generation declined more than 80 percent in New England and New York, and more coal plants are scheduled to close. Meanwhile, solar power in New York State has grown 750 percent in the past five years.
By the early 1900's, a third of all the automobiles on the planet were electric
Moore told Silicon Prairie News that the system worked so well in Omaha over the summer that its biggest problem was just "keeping the tires inflated,
