US renewables hit milestone in surpassing coal output

By Mariecor Agravante
Last year marked the first time renewables outpaced coal-fired electricity generation. This led to IEEFA forecasts of renewables eclipsing coal by 2021. Unexpectedly, this year’s COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated renewable energy‘s first-quarter performance in producing electricity. Hence, EIA forecasts expect electric power generated by coal “will fall by 25% in 2020.”

Interestingly, Forbes notes that “The electric power sector consistently sees its lowest coal demand in April,” owing to seasonal temperature adjustments when winter transitions into springtime. Because of the change in season, natural gas and coal generators often “schedule routine maintenance for the spring…and many coal plants spen[d] part of April offline for planned, temporary outages.” This illustrates why wind generation is typically relied upon most in springtime. As for hydropower, snowmelt often feeds rivers, thus accounting for increased electricity generation downstream each spring as well, Forbes explains.

For the rest of the story visit: https://RenewablesSurpassingCoal

Webinar: Troubleshooting and Safety Simulator for Wind Turbine Technician Education

Wind turbine technicians come from a variety of backgrounds and may have very different learning experiences. While community colleges and training programs often include a combination of classroom and lab activities, many students have limited experience working with an actual wind turbine. A virtual wind turbine simulator can help to fill that gap. This webinar will introduce a simulator being developed through the NSF ATE project “Troubleshooting and Safety Simulator for Wind Turbine Technician Education.”  The webinar will include an introduction to simulator features, a walk-through of a troubleshooting scenario, and an overview of built-in tools that allow instructors to customize and design their own scenarios for students.

Please join CREATE and John Moreland from the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation at Purdue University Northwest Friday, May 29th, at 11:00AM  PST.

To register, email Gabrielle Temple at Gabrielle.Temple@canyons.edu

Dane County project offers biogas producers a pipeline portal

Chris Hubbuch | Wisconsin State Journal

A first-of-its-kind renewable gas unloading station went into service last week at the Dane County Landfill, unloading a trailer full of methane that just days earlier was wafting from a pool of cow manure at a dairy farm in Campbellsport.

The methane, known as renewable natural gas — or biogas — hissed through a tangle of pipes connected to a natural gas pipeline, where it will eventually be burned in place of fossil fuels.

Each trailer load contains the biogas equivalent of 2,400 to 3,000 gallons of gasoline. The county has the capacity to unload about 10 trailers per day, which means at full capacity it could handle the renewable fuel equivalent of 20 million gallons of gasoline.

For the rest of the story visit: https://BiogasProducePipelinePortal

Major Minnesota electricity provider to shut coal plant, invest in wind power

Jackie Renzetti

Minnesota's second-largest electricity provider is closing its coal-fired power plant and switching to wind farms.

The Maple Grove-based Great River Energy plans to close its 1,150 megawatt (MW) Coal Creek Power Station – one of the Upper Midwest’s largest electricity plants – in North Dakota in the second half of 2022, the company announced Thursday.

The company expects two-thirds of its electricity will come from wind farms once it completes its transition, investing $1.2 billion to buy 1,100 MW from wind energy projects.

"We are building a power supply portfolio that will serve our member-owner cooperatives for decades," avid Great River CEO Saggau said.

For the rest of the story visit: https://CoaltoWind

Webinar: Charging Forward - Renewable Energy Education Amidst the COVID-19 Epidemic

Friday, May 15th at 11AM PST

Join the Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education on Friday, May 15th, to learn about the renewable energy workforce, impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, and future opportunities for those seeking careers in clean energy.  Speakers will include Ken Walz, Renewable Energy Program Director at Madison Area Technical College, James Auld, Director of External Training Initiatives at NextEra Energy, and Kevin Cooper, Dean of Advanced Technology at Indian River State College.

To Register, Email Gabrielle Temple at: Gabrielle.temple@canyons.edu

BNEF says solar and wind are now cheapest sources of new energy generation for majority of planet

Solar PV and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new-build generation for at least two-thirds of the global population. Those two-thirds live in locations that comprise 71% of gross domestic product and 85% of energy generation.

Battery storage is now the cheapest new-build technology for peaking purposes (up to two-hours of discharge duration) in gas-importing regions, like Europe, China or Japan.

The latest analysis by research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) shows that the global benchmark levelized cost of electricity, or LCOE, for onshore wind and utility-scale PV, has fallen 9% and 4% since the second half of 2019 – to $44 and $50/MWh, respectively. Meanwhile, the benchmark LCOE for battery storage has tumbled to $150/MWh, about half of what it was two years ago.

For the rest of the story visit: https://CheapestSourcesNewEnergy

Solar has record-breaking week in Germany, provides 23% of generation

By Joshua S Hill

Solar generation in Germany experienced its best week yet, accounting for 23 per cent of the country’s net electricity generation for the week starting  April 6, helping renewable power generation reach a similarly impressive 55.4 per cent share.

Data provided by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, and highlighted on Twitter by Dr. Bruno Burger, Fraunhofer ISE’s head of department New Devices and Technologies, showed the weekly share of German solar electricity generation set a new German record for weekly solar generation.

For the rest of the story visit: https://SolarRecordBreakingWeekGermany

Sustainable Careers Online Panel Discussion - May 15th

The College of the Canyons Sustainable Development Committee is hosting a free, online panel discussion Friday May 15^th from 5:00-6:30PM PST for students and community members to meet several SoCal professionals and learn how the work they do supports sustainability measures like renewable energy generation, material resource recycling, resiliency and energy efficiency.   Panelists will also discuss the educational/experience pathway they navigated to arrive at their current position.  

This free virtual event is being organized with the goal of inspiring students and community members about the diverse career paths available in sustainability and to provide information on entry points into these forward looking professions.  

RSVP to Georgia.Broughton@canyons.edu for the event ZOOM link.   

Webinar: Career Mapping A Powerful Tool

Please Join CREATE and Joseph Sarubbi  
Friday, May 1st, at 11:00AM  PST

When done right, career maps are an ideal way to showcase the breadth of employment opportunities within a given industry. They are designed for a broad audience including educators, career-advisors, jobseekers, employers, policymakers, and workforce professionals. They can describe diverse occupations across an industry, chart, possible progression between those occupations, and identify the sorts of training, skills, and credentials necessary to do them well. This webinar will describe how best to use career maps for recruitment and engaging students through guidance, advisement, and career advancement. 

To register email Gabrielle Temple at: Gabrielle.Temple@canyons.edu

Webinar: How Solar Energy Became Cheap: A Model for Low-Carbon Innovation

Friday, April 24th 12PM PST
Please Join CREATE and Author Gregory Nemet

How did solar become inexpensive?  And why did it take so long?


As a 2017 Andrew Carnegie Fellow I had the opportunity to dive deeply into these questions, drawing on new data sets, analyses, and interviewing 75 individuals in 18 countries.  The concept of National Innovation Systems provides a theoretical structure for this assessment and helps explain that PV’s success has been the result of distinct contributions mainly by the US, Japan, Germany, Australia, and China—in that sequence.  Flows of knowledge from one country to another—often embodied in equipment, and also as tacit knowledge in the heads of internationally mobile individuals—have been central to solar’s progress.  One payoff from understanding the reasons for solar’s success is that it can serve as a model for other low-carbon technologies.  I focus on direct air carbon capture and small nuclear reactors.  However other technologies would have to progress much faster than PV to be helpful for climate change.  Possible approaches for accelerating innovation include: dynamic R&D foci, codification of knowledge, public procurement, robust markets, enhancing knowledge mobility, and addressing political economy considerations.

To register email Gabrielle Temple at: gabrielle.temple@canyons.edu