The 7 Wild Energy Technologies That Just Got a Billion-Dollar Boost

 By Edd Gent - Oct 08, 2018

It’s touch and go whether current efforts to curb carbon emissions will avert catastrophic climate change. That’s why a group of billionaires have pledged $1 billion to fund radical new energy technologies, and they’ve just announced their first seven investments.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is an investment fund that aims to shake up the energy industry. The endeavor is the brainchild of Bill Gates, but he’s managed to rope in a host of high-profile investors, including Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Jack Ma, and Michael Bloomberg.

The first two companies to be funded were revealed by Quartz back in June, and now they’ve released the names of seven more. There are others in their portfolio that don’t want to be named, so this isn’t BEV’s full roster, but here’s a rundown of the technologies that some of the world’s leading business titans think could help us avert environmental disaster.

For the rest of the story visit: https://singularityhub.com/2018/10/08/the-7-wild-energy-technologies-that-just-got-a-billion-dollar-boost/#sm.0000gs3l4at4eeecz681lctias6uy

Webinar: Energy Storage in the Clean Peak Standard

Thursday, November 8, 1-2pm ET

 

 

Clean Peak Standards (CPS) are being implemented or considered by several states, as a way to focus renewable generation at peak demand hours. Energy storage is expected to play a major role in these efforts.

 

In this webinar, Lon Huber, who has consulted with numerous state governors and energy officials on CPS, will discuss the role of storage and how some states are approaching storage in the CPS.

 

Speaker: Lon Huber, Navigant
Moderator: Todd Olinsky-Paul, Clean Energy States Alliance

 

This webinar is presented by the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) for the RPS Collaborative and for CESA's Energy Storage Working Group. 

To Register visit: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2163204858509382146

Poll: What Do People Think About Solar?

Posted by Betsy Lillian-September 25, 2018

More than three-quarters of voters across party lines want to see their electric utilities invest more in solar energy – the most favored form of electricity among those polled – and they want more action by the government to encourage the use of both large- and small-scale solar power, according to new polling on people’s attitudes about energy.

The Global Strategy Group poll, released today at Solar Power International, illustrates solar energy’s widespread appeal among voters and national support for pro-solar policies, such as net metering and renewable portfolio standards (RPS), says the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), which commissioned the poll.

For the rest of the story visit: https://solarindustrymag.com/poll-what-do-people-think-about-solar/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=LNH+09-26-2018&utm_campaign=SI+Latest+News+Headlines

Hurricane Florence crippled electricity and coal -- solar and wind were back the next day

By Irina Ivanova MoneyWatch September 25, 2018, 9:24 AM

 

Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Florence swamped North and South Carolina, thousands of residents who get power from coal-fired utilities remain without electricity.

Yet solar installations, which provide less than 5 percent of North Carolina's energy, were up and running the day after the storm, according to electricity news outlet GTM. And while half of Duke Energy's customers were without power at some point, according to CleanTechnica, the utility's solar farms sustained no damage.
 

For the rest of the story visit:  https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?tab=mj&blogID=8272818649312993520#editor/target=post;postID=2318421935415901419

Webinar: Storage Technologies - Comparison and Synergies

September 25, 2018

 12:00PM Eastern

In his award-winning technical paper at this year's HydroVision Voith's Dr. Klaus Krüger presented a comparison of li-Ion batteries and pumped storage for bulk energy storage in terms of raw material costs and CO2-Footprints. In this webinar he will give an exclusive summary of his findings expanded by an interesting outlook on how synergies between both technologies could be leveraged.

To sign up for this free webinar visit: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1208740&tp_key=10599476c2&sti=ws

California Senate Green-Lights Key Energy Storage Bill

Posted by Betsy Lillian -August 30, 2018

Today, the California Senate passed S.B.700, a bill that could result in nearly 3 GW of behind-the-meter energy storage systems at schools, farms, homes, nonprofits and businesses in California by 2026, according to the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA).

The bill was passed today with a preliminary 25-13 vote and passed on Wednesday by the Assembly with a final vote of 57-18. It now heads to the governor’s desk for his consideration, says CALSSA.

The resulting program established by the bill would be on par with the highly successful program California set in motion with the Million Solar Roofs Initiative back in 2006, the association notes.

For the rest of the story visit: 

Tunxis Community College Offers Energy Management Program

Ali Jackman, ERS for Zondits, September 6, 2018

Zondits recently sat down with Eric Gribin, Program Coordinator of the Energy Management Program at Tunxis Community College, to discuss how their program is shaping the clean energy workforce of the future. The Associate of Applied Science Degree in Energy Management is a unique two-year workforce training program that prepares students for rewarding careers in the “clean energy” sector.

What was the inspiration to start the Energy Management Program?
In 2009, five Connecticut community colleges were awarded a SOAR (Sustainable Operations, Alternative and Renewable Energy Initiative) grant. Norwalk Community College hired me to develop the BEST (Building Efficiency & Sustainable Technology) 1-year certificate program. We focused on sustainable building, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. During my first semester at NCC, I discovered a unique 2-year degree program at Lane Community College in Eugene, OR, that focuses on energy analysis for commercial buildings. I knew that a program like this needed to exist near New York, Boston, Hartford, etc. So I decided to work to develop a commercial building energy degree program here in Connecticut.

For the rest of the story visit: http://zondits.com/article/16039/a-zondits-interview-tunxis-community-college-offers-energy-management-program

 

The $3 Billion Plan to Turn Hoover Dam Into a Giant Battery

By Ivan Penn.

Hoover Dam helped transform the American West, harnessing the force of the Colorado River — along with millions of cubic feet of concrete and tens of millions of pounds of steel — to power millions of homes and businesses. It was one of the great engineering feats of the 20th century.

Now it is the focus of a distinctly 21st-century challenge: turning the dam into a vast reservoir of excess electricity, fed by the solar farms and wind turbines that represent the power sources of the future.

For the rest of the story visit: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/24/business/energy-environment/hoover-dam-renewable-energy.html

Webinar: California’s Pioneering Policies for New Homes: Greater Efficiency with Required Solar Energy

Tuesday, September 11, 2018, 1-2:15pm ET

 

 

In May, California became the first state to require new homes to include solar power. Unsurprisingly, the announcement of this path-breaking decision has been met with considerable interest and curiosity. This webinar will put the requirement into context by describing the California Energy Commission’s efforts over time to improve the energy efficiency of new homes by strengthening building codes and encouraging the installation of solar energy systems, which laid the groundwork for the recent solar requirement. The webinar will explain the requirement, how it will be implemented, and how other states might adopt similar policies. The webinar will also discuss California’s attempt to adopt a carbon metric in future cycles of the state’s building energy efficiency standards and the implications for buildings in the state. There will be opportunity for audience questions.

 

For a brief infographic describing California’s new residential building energy efficiency standards, see http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/2019standards/documents/2018_Title_24_2019_Residential_Standards.pdf

Presenters:

• Maziar Shirakh, Technical Lead for Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Building Energy Efficiency Standards, California Energy Commission

• Danny Tam, Mechanical Engineer, California Energy Commission

To Register visit: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1101477947186448386

Declining Battery Storage Costs Raise Questions About The Role Of Natural Gas

July 17, 2018
Author: Seth Mullendore, Clean Energy Group | Project: Resilient Power Project

Evidence is building in support of battery storage as a serious challenger to the perceived dominance of natural gas in our current and future energy system. Batteries are beginning to complete head-to-head with natural gas peaker plants, and they’re starting to win.

Peaker plants are designed to fire up whenever electricity demand rises above the level that baseload fossil plants, nuclear, and renewables can satisfy – think hot summer days when air conditioners are turned up full blast or cold winter nights when heating demand skyrockets. There are more than 1,000 peakers currently in operation across the U.S. Most of these are powered by natural gas, and many of them are located in communities already burdened by poor air quality and public health issues.

For the rest of the story visit: https://www.cleanegroup.org/declining-battery-storage-costs-raise-questions-about-the-role-of-natural-gas/