Jan. 18, 2022, (RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD) -Utility-scale solar energy deployments are not as land intensive as they were a decade ago, thanks to improved power and energy densities. As a result, developers and others who turn to older benchmarks for solar module power and energy density will “significantly overstate” land requirements.

Jan. 4, 2021, (NY Times)-Britain’s economic and political ties to Europe may be fraying, but a growing web of undersea electrical cables binds the nation’s vital power system and its clean energy aspirations to the continent.

The longest and most powerful of these cables was recently laid across the North Sea, from a hydroelectric plant in Norway’s rugged mountains to Blyth, an industrial port in northeast England.

Jan. 2, 2022, (NY Times Climate Forward)- For a mountain that’s had its top blown off, the old Martiki coal mine is looking especially winsome these days. With its vast stretches of emerald grass dotted with hay bales and ringed with blue-tinged peaks, and the wild horses and cattle that roam there, it looks less like a shuttered strip mine and more like an ad for organic milk.

The mountain is poised for another transformation. Hundreds of acres are set to be blanketed with solar panels in the coming year, installed by locals, many of them former miners. 

Dec. 31, 2021, (Renewable Energy World)-Colorado-based Scout Clean Energy acquired the 369 MW, $400 million Blue Sky Solar project from its original developer, RES (Renewable Energy Systems). The approved development plans call for the solar facility to be located on 2,700 acres of land in Grundy County, Illinois, southwest of Chicago.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Blue Sky is among the largest solar projects approved in the PJM region and is the second Midwest solar project that Scout has added to its portfolio this year. The company said it will end 2021 with more than 12,000 MWdc under development and more than 1,200 MWdc of capacity in operation across the U.S.

Dec. 30, 2021, (Renewable Energy World)-The energy transformation is gaining momentum, and the “green revolution” is becoming a fact. For Europe, 2020 represented a historic year for renewable energy sources. In the European Union, the rate of electricity generation from renewable energy sources amounted to 38%, ahead of fossil fuels (37%), and nuclear energy (25%).

In Poland and Ukraine, key facilities on the energy map of the world were put into operation. And this is only the beginning. Plans for the coming years show that the energy ambitions of Eastern Europe are still untapped.

Dec. 30, 2021, (CleanTechnica)-The idea of a human-made device that can process solar energy to make usable fuels has been tantalizing researchers since the 1970s. There being no such thing as a free lunch, it is not so easy to engineer a device that mimics photosynthesis, which Mother Nature perfected a long time ago. Nevertheless, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab in California appear to have solved an important piece of the “artificial leaf” challenge.

Dec. 23, 2021, (Renewable Energy World)-The Arica and Victory Pass solar projects are located on federally owned land in Riverside County east of Los Angeles. Combined they could generate up to 465 MW of power and up to 400 MW of battery storage.

The Bureau’s approval allows developer Clearway Energy Group to construct, operate and maintain the two separate PV solar facilities. These are the first projects to be built within areas identified for renewable energy development as part of the bureau’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The plan is focused on more than ten million acres of public lands in seven California counties.

Dec. 21, 2021, (Bloomberg CityLab)-On Dec. 15, National Grid and the Long Island town of Hempstead announced the HyGrid Project, a program to blend zero-emission “green” hydrogen into the natural gas distribution system to heat about 800 homes.

Dec. 21, 2021, (NY Times Climate Forward)- The Biden administration said Tuesday that it had given the go-ahead to two major solar projects on federal land in the California desert, pushing forward with clean energy plans by using federal authority after Joe Manchin III, the W. Virginia senator and coal industry supporter, this week said he would not back broader climate legislation, stalling it in Congress.

Dec. 15, 2021, (ScienceNews)-This was another year of bleak climate news. Record heat waves baked the Pacific Northwest. Wildfires raged in California, Oregon, Washington and neighboring states. Tropical cyclones rapidly intensified in the Pacific Ocean. And devastating flash floods inundated Western Europe and China.

Human-caused climate change is sending the world hurtling down a road to more extreme weather events, and we’re running out of time to pump the brakes, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in August

Dec. 1, 2021, (POWER)- The vision sounds far-fetched: If a kilometer-scale satellite could be outfitted with a hybrid array of photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) panels and launched into orbit 22,400 miles above Earth, it could continuously harvest 3.4 GW of solar power and beam it down to Earth via microwave radiation for grid consumption, potentially delivering 2 GW of dispatchable and baseload power.

But according to a “whole systems” set of detailed engineering and economic feasibility studies conducted by systems, engineering, and technology-oriented Frazer-Nash Consultancy for the UK government, this concept of a typical space-based solar power (SBSP) system is both technically and economically feasible—and it can be achieved within the next 18 years.

Dec. 1, 2021, (POWER)- The power industry has been all abuzz lately about the potential role hydrogen could play in decarbonizing the energy sector. POWER was quick to notice the excitement surrounding hydrogen, and launched HydrogeNext, a conference designed to cover the full hydrogen value chain from production to distribution and end-use. The inaugural show was held in conjunction with the Experience POWER event in San Antonio, Texas, Oct. 18–21, 2021.

Nov. 30, 2021, (Renewable Energy World) -Driven by strong solar and wind power growth, electrical generation by renewable energy sources (i.e., also including biomass, geothermal, hydropower) accounted for 20.45% of total U.S. production during the first three-quarters of 2021, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of new data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Nov. 27, 2021, (CleanTechnica)- Vinci Group, which specializes in construction, concessions, and energy, is responding to the climate crisis by focusing on accelerating the transformation of infrastructure, mobility, and living environments. One such project by Vinci is a new solar park along a French highway.

Nov. 27, 2021, (ZME Science)-No matter how sustainable, eco-friendly, and clean sources of energy they are, conventional solar panels require a large setup area and heavy initial investment. Due to these limitations, it’s hard to introduce them in urban areas (especially neighborhoods with lots of apartment blocks or shops). But thanks to the work of ingenious engineers at the University of Michigan, that may soon no longer be the case.

The researchers have created transparent solar panels which they claim could be used as power generating windows in our homes, buildings, and even rented apartments.

Nov. 19, 2021, (POWERGRID International)- In the last decade, electric utilities have awakened to a new world: mini-and micro-grids that can isolate themselves from the bulk power grid; skyrocketing residential solar installations; rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and chargers; and a rapidly changing climate pushing the grid to its limits. As customer-owned resources — like rooftop solar, home storage, and EV chargers — continue to see rapid growth, the grid has, and will continue to need to evolve into a more flexible and resilient entity...

Nov. 18, 2021, (Renewable Energy World)-The university is conducting the first-ever global study of how electric vehicles can support the uptake of renewable energy and improve the resiliency of power grids.

The vehicle-to-grid study has recruited Tesla owners from around the world through the analytics platform Teslascope.

Nov. 17, 2021, (Renewable Energy World)-Procuring hour-by-hour clean energy within an energy buyer's grid can lead to a greater reduction of greenhouse gas emissions than 100% clean energy matching, while driving deployment of clean firm power generation and long-duration energy storage, according to a new study.

The study from Princeton University's ZERO Lab is the first analysis of the grid impact of 24/7 carbon-free electricity procurement, which is growing in popularity among corporate and governmental energy buyers.

Nov. 12, 2021, (POWERGRID International)-According to the latest outlook from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), energy storage installations — which BNEF defines as stationary batteries used in ancillary services, energy shifting, transmission and distribution grids investment deferral, customer-sited, and other applications but does not include pumped hydro storage — will reach a cumulative 358 gigawatts/1,028 gigawatt-hours by the end of 2030, more than twenty times larger than the 17 gigawatts/34 gigawatt-hours online at the end of 2020.

This boom in stationary energy storage will require more than $262 billion of investment, BNEF estimates.

Nov. 12, 2021, (Energy Central)-Plug Power is today (Nov 12) opening its hydrogen and fuel cell gigafactory in Monroe County, New York.

Capable of producing seven million MEAs/plates, 600,000 fuel cell stacks and 500MW of electrolysers annually, the facility marks a significant step-up in the company’s production and manufacturing capabilities.

Nov. 10, 2021, (ScienceDaily)-• New modelling, on a scale ranging from individual structures through to neighborhoods and an entire city, has shown that buildings in the City of Melbourne could provide 74% of their own electricity needs if solar technology is fully integrated into roofs, walls and windows.

Nov. 9, 2021, (Energy Central)- Royal Dutch Shell and Norsk Hydro are looking into jointly producing hydrogen from renewable electricity in a push to decarbonize their own operations as well as supply heavy industry and transport customers, Hydro said on Tuesday.

"We are looking at potential locations where we both have operations and we have potential to use hydrogen in our existing facilities," Per Christian Eriksen, head of Hydro Havrand, told Reuters.

Nov. 9, 2021, (RECHARGE)-A ten-year tax credit worth up to $3 per kilogram of “clean hydrogen” was approved by the US House of Representatives on Friday as part of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Bill.

The cleaner the hydrogen produced, the higher the tax credit received by producers — a move that could make green H2 derived from renewable energy cheaper than highly polluting grey hydrogen made from unabated methane.

Nov. 8, 2021, (Treehugger)-A solar tree is a structure resembling a tree that generates solar energy using photovoltaic (PV) panels. It employs principles of biomimicry, using a natural system—in this case the form of a tree—to help solve a pressing global challenge: Replacing greenhouse gas-emitting energy sources like coal, oil, and gas with renewable energy.

Nov. 5, 2021, (reNEWS.biz)-UK developer Evolution Power has announced plans to develop an up to 165MW solar and battery storage project near Aldington in Kent, England.

The Stonestreet Green project will be connected into the national grid at the nearby Sellindge substation.

It will have a generating capacity up to 165MW and an export capacity of 99.9MW.

Nov. 4, 2021, (Energy Central)-We know that green hydrogen forms an excellent long-term energy storage. We’ve also been hearing some buzz about green hydrogen enabling power-to-power storage on a large scale by 2050. Indeed such storages would be indispensably vital if we want to build an energy system that produces net-zero carbon emissions. Green hydrogen will allow us to store energy as well as enable re-electrification in H2-capable gas turbines, engines, or fuel cells to ensure sufficient electricity in periods of low renewable energy supply, e.g., lack of wind.

Nov. 1, 2021, (Renewable Energy World)-Solar deployments in the U.S. could increase by 44% over the next decade if Congress chooses to fully fund and extend the investment tax credit, a new report finds.

The report by Wood Mackenzie assesses the impact of the proposed ITC extension within the budget reconciliation package, which includes $555 billion for clean energy. The tax credit alone, however, will not be enough to reach 80% carbon-free electricity by 2030, according to the analysis.

Nov. 1, 2021, ( Yale Climate Connections)-Ten years ago, the city of Highland Park, Michigan, was struggling to pay its utility bills. So as part of a debt settlement with the city, the local utility re-possessed more than 1,000 street lights.

Residents were stunned to be left in the dark.

“The only thing that’s left remaining is the stumps of the lights with some of the wires,” says Shimekia Nichols, executive director of Soulardarity, a local nonprofit.

Dec. 8, 2021, (M.I.T. Technology Review)- There’s enough heat flowing from inside the earth to meet total global energy demand twice over. But harnessing it requires drilling deep underground and transforming that heat into a usable form of energy. That’s difficult and expensive, which is why geothermal power—sometimes called the forgotten renewable—makes up only about 0.3% of electricity generation worldwide.

Oct. 15, 2021, (CleanTechnica) -From Iceland to Alaska to France, NREL geoscientist Amanda Kolker has studied geothermal energy all around the world. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geology, Kolker went to study volcano and glacier interactions in Iceland but was quickly distracted by Iceland’s vast geothermal energy systems.

Oct. 10, 2021, (CleanTerchnica), -The US has yet to tap its vast geothermal energy resources, and a movement is finally afoot to kick the domestic industry into high gear. That includes the iconic coal and gas producing state of West Virginia. I know, right? Shocker! The Mountain State’s geothermal gold mine may come as a surprise to some, but there it is, and it could help grow a whole new job-creating field in the energy business.

June 15, 2021 (Energy Central), by John Benson -Geothermal Power, a renewable energy source that was first used to generate electricity in Larderello, Italy, in 1904, and thus is one of the oldest renewable energy sources. It has been used in my home state (California) to generate a significant amount of our electric energy since the early 1960s.

In 1985 I became heavily involved with the Geysers Geothermal Generating Field, what is now (still) is the largest in the world by several metrics.

However I have never posted a paper about Geothermal Power. I have decided to rectify this failure and write this post. As I started researching this, I found that this technology has not only been amazing in the past and present, it will be important to our efforts to overcome climate change in the future.

June 14, 2021 (Renewable Energy World) -The New York Power Authority (NYPA) announced this week that it will launch a project with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to explore the use of crushed rock thermal energy storage to provide reliable and effective energy storage in a market with significant renewable energy resources.

The project will be led by EPRI and funded by a $200,000 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant. It will investigate the feasibility of a thermal energy storage (TES) technology developed by Brenmiller Energy, an Israeli developer and manufacturer of thermal energy storage systems.

If determined to be feasible, the investigation team will pilot the technology and evaluate its ability to provide effective and economical energy storage at NYPA’s Eugene W. Zeltmann Power Project in Astoria.

June 10, 2021 (CleanTechnica)-Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for up to $14.5 million to support active field testing of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technologies and techniques within existing wells. EGS, like all geothermal resources, supplies secure, resilient renewable electricity and heating and cooling that is always-available regardless of weather, and with a small environmental footprint.

June 9, 2021 (Renewable Energy World) -Enel Green Power has published an article noting the use of 3D printing in their flagship Geyser project at Santa Barbara metallurgy labs in Cavriglia, Italy.

The idea to use 3D printing to repair essential components was spawned at a roundtable discussion organized by the project Geyser team. A group of technicians and experts from the geothermal, thermal and hydroelectric sectors gathered to discuss how to optimize the management of geothermal plants.

“It all started from our curiosity and desire to use the 3D printer that we had in-house,” says Nicoletta Mazzuca, Enel Green Power’s project manager for Geyser. “We wanted to repair parts that were going to end up in landfills because they couldn’t be fixed with conventional forging techniques.”

June 8, 2021 (Renewable Energy World), -his sets into motion Phase II of the $70.4 million contract. KenGen’s managing director and chief executive officer, Rebecca Miano, through a statement, said the works began over the last weekend in May.

“The exercise started on May 29, 2021, whereby the first hole section was drilled to 29 meters within eight hours. So far, drilling operations are running smoothly as the team moves to the next hole section. Drilling a single well takes about two months to complete. We however hope to shorten this period despite the prevailing circumstances brought about by COVID-19),” she said.

Apr. 30, 2021 (CleanTechnica) -The US geothermal energy industry has been left at the starting gate as wind and solar race ahead, but it looks like the geothermal tortoise is finally putting one foot ahead of the other. In the latest development, the iconic coal state of West Virginia just nailed down federal funding that will help West Virginia University shut down a coal-fired cogeneration plant on campus and switch to renewable energy.

Mar. 16, 2021 (CleanTechnica) -Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Iron Mountain Data Centers for its commitment to energy efficiency through DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. Since joining the program in 2016, Iron Mountain met its first energy-savings goal of 20% and has now set a new goal of improving data center power usage efficiency (PUE) by 30% over a five-year period across three data centers — or nearly 600,000 square feet of built space.

Mar. 7, 2021 (CleanTechnica) -The geothermal energy industry has never realized its true potential in the US, despite the seemingly magical promise of nonstop, 24/7 renewable energy sitting just below the surface of the Earth. However, it seems like things are finally starting to gel. No, for real!

For the inside scoop on the prospects for a geothermal revolution CleanTechnica sought out Nneka Uzoh, the director of energy innovation at the climate-tech accelerator Elemental Excelerator.

Mar. 3, 2021 (Renewable Energy World) -Renewable energy businesses can be promising investments for larger companies looking to improve their carbon footprints. Sometimes, what some might assume to be the least likely investors will pour funds into renewables. That’s the case with Eavor Technologies’ most recent round of fundraising.

Oil giants BP and Chevron were among the chief investors in the $40 million funding round for the Canada-based geothermal startup.

Feb. 24, 2021 (CleanTechnica) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that its Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) Initiative at the University of Utah has selected 17 projects to receive up to $46 million in funding for cutting-edge, domestic, and carbon-free geothermal projects with potential to supply power to homes in the United States.

(NBC News), Jan. 4, 2021, -Ecotricity is to buy the electricity generated by Geothermal Engineering's United Downs Demonstration Project in Cornwall under a power purchase agreement (PPA), the first time that geothermal electricity will be produced and sold in the UK.

The PPA follows the latest round of successful testing at the deep geothermal site, Geothermal Engineering said.

Under the terms of the deal, Ecotricity will receive a minimum of 3MW of baseload electricity.

(Energy Central), Dec. 14, 2020 -The Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia announced the publication of a draft decree that promotes the use and exploitation of clean energy from geothermal energy.

Below we will observe the main aspects of the draft which is available for consultation and comment:

Legal entities that acquire the Geothermal Registry prepared and required by the MME will be able to carry out the activity of exploiting geothermal resources; this person will be called the Developer. This Register is independent of each activity, that is, a Register will be required for the exploration activity and another Register for the exploitation activity.

(CleanTechnica), Sept. 19, 2020 - That means the electricity it provides is dispatchable whenever it is needed regardless of how windy or sunny it is. Deep Earth Energy Production (DEEP) is a Canadian company that wants to use the hot water located beneath the Deadwood Formation in Saskatchewan to produce geothermal energy. The temperature of the brine sequestered beneath the surface averages 122º C.

Engineering reports indicate the Deadwood Formation aquifer is capable of supporting multiple geothermal generating facilities but first a plan has to be created to collect the groundwater, bring it to the surface, use it to generate electricity, then inject it back underground to be reheated. The process uses advanced drilling techniques developed by the fracking industry.

DEEP says it has completed a preliminary subsurface design that optimizes the well spacing and configuration to produce 20 MW of geothermal power using ten horizontal wells — 6 producers and 4 injectors.

(Renewable Energy World), by Jay Dauenhauer -Sept. 4, 2020, I don’t mean to pick favorites, but geothermal is definitely near the top. It is renewable, base-load, and potentially abundant.

The problem is that we have only been accessing geothermal energy where there is naturally occurring underground water and geology to allow it to pass.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems artificially add water and fractures to the geology to create far more geothermal potential.

July 19, 2020,(CleanTechnica ) -Scientists at the KIT Energy Center at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology say there is enough lithium dissolved in the groundwater extracted by German geothermal heating and electricity installations to meet the needs of most if not all of the battery manufacturers in the country.

“As far as we know, there can be up to 200 milligrams per liter,” says geoscientist Dr. Jens Grimmer of the Institute of Applied Geosciences at KIT. “If we consistently use this potential, we could cover a considerable part of the demand in Germany.”

The implications are enormous.

Sep. 24, 2020 (AENewsa)- Nevada is poised to lead in producing energy from geothermal heat sources in the entire US. Presently playing second fiddle to California, the day is not far off when it will overtake California in converting geothermal heat into electricity.

Nevada is experiencing a rush of developers who have already companies producing power or with projects under development. Projects by people like Enel Green Power and Nevada Geothermal Power are fast putting the state on the road. Veterans and newbie’s vie with each other to start production.

May 1, 2020 (Renewable Energy World) - The University of Utah and Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) announced FORGE Solicitation 2020-1.

This is the first formal call for research proposals on enhanced geothermal system technologies from the FORGE program. Up to 18 awards are anticipated for up to a total of $46,000,000 and each award has a maximum period of performance of three years.

The topic areas for technology testing and evaluations, their maximum potential funding and potential number of awards can be viewed in the article.

Apr. 24, 2020 (Energy Central) - There is a virtually limitless supply of energy right beneath us: geothermal heat. The Earth’s core holds heat that radiates out to the subsurface. This heat can be harnessed for a variety of uses including electricity generation, heating and cooling of buildings, and other industrial and hybrid applications. Geothermal energy is clean, safe, and renewable. Because geothermal electricity is reliable, always-on energy, it is an excellent match for a grid replete with intermittent renewables like wind and solar energy.

Geothermal technologies have been employed for over one hundred years. But while wind and solar energy have grown rapidly over the past few decades, geothermal has struggled to scale up beyond niche applications. Geothermal energy’s relatively slow growth can be attributed to a combination of unmet technical challenges and policy barriers, and an inability to fully leverage state and federal renewable energy policies that have boosted wind and solar energy’s growth.

Dec. 13, 2019  (InvestorIdeas)- The UK's geothermal potential has been known for decades. While high cost and fears over its connection to seismic activity have historically made investors wary, a new push for the resource is on the horizon.

GlobalData's power technology writer Scarlett Evans says: "BGS researchers joined geologists from across the country in a report published in Petroleum Geoscience, which urges energy providers to turn their focus to this untapped resource, labelling geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage as ‘critical' to moving the UK towards its target.

"Previous geothermal projects have failed to get off the ground due to financial issues, yet reasons to pursue the resource remain as strong as ever. Dependent on a more consistent source than that of solar or wind, geothermal plants operate more than 90% of the time and use far less land per MW than other renewables. As the BGS report says, with 99.9% of the planet at a temperature greater than 100°C, geothermal is a renewable resource with great potential."

Aug. 13, 2019 (inhabitat)) -The Polish city of Lublin will soon be home to an environmentally friendly bus station that not only offers a new and attractive public space, but also combats urban air pollution. Designed by Polish architectural firm Tremend, the Integrated Intermodal Metropolitan Station in Lublin will be built near the train station and aims to revitalize the area around the railway station. The contemporary design, combined with its environmental focus and green features, earned the project a spot on World Architecture Festival’s World Building of the Year shortlist.

Aug. 9, 2019 (Renewable Energy World) -South Australian energy storage company 1414 Degrees and Stone & Wood Brewing Company have agreed to undertake a feasibility study for the integration of 1414 Degrees’ electrically charged Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS-IND).

If it goes ahead, the 10MWh system will be installed at the brewer’s Murwillumbah brewery in northern New South Wales.

Stone & Wood is actively scoping innovative and more sustainable energy solutions and 1414 Degrees’ says its TESS-IND can provide reliable heat sourced from renewables on the grid.

October, 2017, (THE VERGE)The wings of a butterfly have inspired a new type of solar cell that can harvest light twice as efficiently as before and could one day improve our solar panels.

Solar panels are usually made of thick solar cells, and are positioned at an angle to get the most amount of light from the sun as it moves throughout the day. Thin film solar cells, which can be only nanometers thick, have a lot of potential.

June 18, 2021 (Scientific American) -Restrictions on land use for greenfield solar projects, roof orientation, and inherent technical advantages, may prove floating solar, or floatovoltaic to be a viable energy alternative.

When it comes to large-scale solar projects, the most common alternatives to rooftop solar panel systems include ground mounts or solar canopies. There’s a newer alternative that’s making quite the splash in the solar industry: floating solar.

Floatovoltaic is defined as solar panels arrayed to float on the top of a lake or reservoir, placed on a buoyant sub-structure, and anchored with a measure of flexible movement. The technology is relatively-new starting in 2008 with China, Japan, and the U.K. as the early adopters.

-Studio Solarix makes coloured solar panels and facade systems by doing this we can make buildings more sustainable, both in new construction and redevelopment. To this end, it designs, researches and develops aesthetic, sustainable and energy-generating facade elements.

It originated from a joint ambition of Reinier Bosch (product designer, artist) and Marloes van Heteren (architect). With a great deal of substantive knowledge, they are the initiators of Solarix in the market of architecture, product development, design and sustainability; a beautiful facade panel that provides energy to people.

July 27, 2021 (CleanTechnica) -A hydrogen fuel cell is an electrochemical power generator that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, with water and heat as by-products. Simply put, hydrogen fuel cells form energy that can be used to power anything from commercial vehicles to drones.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology offers the advantages of a clean and reliable alternative energy source to customers in a growing number of applications – electric vehicles, including forklifts, delivery vans, drones, and cars – primary and backup power for a variety of commercial, industrial, and residential buildings; and more futuristic-sounding applications like air taxis.

Visit our Alternative Energy Transport section, filled with photos and information on the latest technology.

Warning: Your'e Going to want one.

1. Is your location’s climate suitable for solar?

2. Is your home suitable for solar panels?

3. Do you have access to solar financial incentives?

4. How much do you pay for electricity?

5. Have you found a solar installer?

Chris Lord’s FREE Site Lease vs. Buy Modeling Calculator allows users to compare a lease rate against a potential purchase of a solar PV site where the lease rate (including escalator) is known.

Mar. 31, 2021(INHABITATs), -France keeps making green headlines lately… the Eiffel Tower’s wind turbines, the tree-shaped wind turbines being installed in Paris, and now an exciting new law that is sure to have a huge environmental impact in urban centers.

Every new commercial building in France must meet a new building requirement; the roof must be at least partially covered in either solar panels or plants.

Environmental activists had originally called for all for all rooftops to be 100% green, but the Government limited the scope of the law to include commercial buildings only. In an effort to make it less onerous for businesses, the rooftops will also only have to be partially green.

(AE News), Apr. 13, 2020 -German Architect Andre Broessel believes he has a solution that can “squeeze more juice out of the sun”, even during the night hours and in low-light regions. His company Rawlemon has created a spherical sun power generator prototype called the beta.ray. His technology will combine spherical geometry principles with a dual axis tracking system, allowing twice the yield of a conventional solar panel in a much smaller surface area. The futuristic design is fully rotational and is suitable for inclined surfaces, walls of buildings, and anywhere with access to the sky. It can even be used as an electric car charging station.

(The Guardian), Dec. 8, 2020 -The race is on to find a steady source of lithium, a key component in rechargeable electric car batteries. But while the EU focuses on emissions, the lithium gold rush threatens environmental damage on an industrial scale

(greener ideal), Oct. 19, 2017 -After solar power, solar water heating is often the next step that homeowners take to make their home more sustainable.

A solar water heating system works by converting sunlight into heat using a solar thermal collector. This heat is then used to heat water in homes and swimming pools.

If you plan to install a solar water heating system in your home, make sure to include domestic hot water as well. There’s little point in installing a solar water heating system if you can’t benefit from domestic hot water which is a necessity all year round.

Jan. 31, 2020,(SAGE journals) -Over recent years, few areas of international development research have seen as much transformation as those relating to energy access and low carbon transitions. Ghana, amongst other African economies, has seen an increase in energy demand surpassing the supply of energy in the last decade. The incorporation of the incorporation of renewable energy into the mix is, therefore, seen as a significant role in addressing the energy needs by replacing conventional fuels with clean and reliable domestic electricity with the advantage of local economic opportunities.

The country has adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG); SDG goal 7 targets ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services. This target presents a formidable challenge to Ghana because the country still relies mainly on non-renewable energy sources. The country has a huge potential for renewable energy that remains underexploited. This study, therefore, seeks to assess the current renewable energy resource situation, examine the trend in Ghana’s energy consumption and undertake a comprehensive review and critical evaluation of Ghana’s renewable energy drive and policies.

April 1, 2020 (AENews)-Since 2011, French Company Ciel & Terre has been developing large-scale floating solar solutions. Their innovative Hydrelio Floating PV system allows standard PV panels to be installed on large bodies of water such as: drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals, remediation and tailing ponds, and hydro electric dam reservoirs. This simple and affordable alternative to ground-mounted systems is particularly suitable for water-intensive industries who cannot afford to waste either land or water.

The main float is constructed of high-density thermoplastic (HDPE) and is set at a 12 degree angle to support a standard 60 Cell PV solar module. A secondary non-slip HDPE float is then used to link the main floats together and provide a platform for maintenance and added buoyancy as illustrated when you click on the link to the story.

Dec. 16, 2019  (ScienceDaily)- Artificial Intelligence may be just the thing to accelerate spray-on solar cell technology, which could revolutionize how consumers use energy.

It's a stunning example of how 3D printing is not only a viable and affordable construction method of the future but also a revolutionary system that can help reduce plastic waste.

A research team at the University of Central Florida used Machine Learning, aka Artificial Intelligence to optimize the materials used to make perovskite solar cells (PSC). The Organic-Inorganic halide perovskites material used in PSC converts photovoltaic power into consumable energy.

Sept. 18, 2019 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)-In 2018, about 4,178 billion kilowatthours (kWh) (or 4.18 trillion kWh) of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the United States.1 About 63% of this electricity generation was from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases). About 20% was from nuclear energy, and about 17% was from renewable energy sources. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that an additional 30 billion kWh of electricity generation was from small-scale solar photovoltaic systems in 2018

Bright Hub -One of the most beneficial ways of increasing the efficiency of a wind turbine is to modify the design of the turbine blades. Although there are already many types of blade designs already in the market, only a few designs have turned out to be useful.

Whalepower, a Canadian company that uses bio-mimicry, a concept of adapting the designs of nature into developing mechanical machine, has changed the design of the conventional turbine blades from flat smooth blades to a ridged design similar to that of whale fins. The blades of whale power turbine features a series of ridges just like the tubercles or bumps found on the humpback whale fins.

Apr. 4, 2019 (Power Technology) —How are modern stadiums using renewables as a source of energy and which are the best stadiums for renewable energy in the world?

Sports stadiums require a huge amount of power, in particular on match-days when lighting, air-conditioning and video screens all electricity, along with a vast multitude of other energy-intensive demands. Even when not in use, stadiums and other sporting arenas need large amounts of power for maintenance.

The possibilities for incorporating renewable energy technology into stadiums and the surrounding areas provide a huge opportunity for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This can include placing solar panels on roofs and on the roads leading towards the arenas.

In the U.S. several landfills have already been converted into solar farms. The project also provides the opportunity to convert an unusable land and turn it into something that can become the asset of the community.

Water is a finite resource, as water wars in California can attest. Reducing our water footprint is essential to conserving this life-giving substance.

Solar Thermal Magazine Feb.10, 2019 -You would think that a state that refers to itself as the sunshine state would be rushing to install solar power technology. I mean with all that sunshine ( not to mention wind, wave and tidal energy) available why buy electricity from out of state.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), already a self proclaimed leader in solar energy, has announced a groundbreaking “30-by-30” plan to install more than 30 million solar panels by 2030 and make the state of Florida a world leader in the production of solar energy.

Jan. 7, 2020 (Arcadia Blog) -One of the most popular clean energy sources in North America, solar power, has skyrocketed in use in the U.S. over the last decade. Current estimates show that the volume of solar energy generated across installations nationally is enough to power 12-million American homes, and that number is only expected to grow.

They’re limited to generating energy during the day — but function less efficiently the cloudier it is outside, collecting an estimated 10 to 25 percent of their typical output on cloudy days.

But recent research from Soochow University in Suzhou, China, stands to change this. In 2018, a research team from the Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials crafted a solar cell that simultaneously generates electricity from sunlight and rainfall — allowing solar panels to continue to collect energy at full capacity during storms and subsequently expanding the duration of time at which a panel can function in any given day. Unlike typical solar panels, these panels would continue working on cloudy days and crucially, could even work at night.

January, 2019 Arcadia Power Blog -The fight against climate change is a fight for everyone, from individuals to businesses, national and local governments.

Among many leaders driving change towards a 100% renewable energy future, find these 156 major global companies—each of whom have pledged to go 100% renewable in the near future.

Look for your trusted bank, service, or a favorite brand, and see when and how each of them are working to meet their goals. Click to read on.

Around the world, cities, states, countries, and companies (and people just like you!) are making the switch to clean, renewable energy to help confront climate change – and because it just makes good economic sense.

Renewable energy is both a clean alternative to the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis and an engine for job creation. What’s not to love? But like any new technology, as it starts to take hold, there are bound to be questions.

While it’s hard to miss a massive solar array or a field full of wind turbines, so much of the action with geothermal energy happens out-of-sight that it tends to not generate as much love as its buzzier brothers in the renewable energy landscape.

And that’s too bad, because geothermal energy is pretty awesome. It takes the natural functions of the Earth and puts them to great use heating homes, creating electricity, and helping to propel the global shift from the dirty fossil fuels driving climate change to renewables.

May 11, 2018 -California has faced its fair share of challenges due the climate crisis. But now it’s fighting back with a powerful weapon: renewable energy.

More than that, the Golden State is proving that we can start a renewable energy revolution right now.

With the White House stepping out of the climate fight, California has stepped up in a big way, leading a coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia suing to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from weakening fuel efficiency standards.

Renewable energy is energy generated from ongoing natural processes like wind or sunlight that are not depleted when used. Unlike fossil fuels, these types of energy are theoretically unlimited. In contrast, fossil fuels like oil and gas are finite resources formed in the earth ove hundreds of millions of years from the remains of plants and animals.

Importantly, and unlike fossil fuels, renewable energy is clean and doesn’t release carbon pollution into the atmosphere (which drives climate change). Burning fossil fuels does.

Nov. 9, 2021, (Washington Post)-Ocean boosters like to compare the kinetic energy stored in the sea to a ginormous oil reserve that’s never going to run dry.

It doesn’t matter if the sun shines or the wind blows. The tides turn. You can set your watch to them. The trick is how to generate cost-effective, renewable electricity from that limitless, ceaseless motion. They’re working on the problem here on Scotland’s Orkney Islands.

Mar. 20, 2018 -Months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is still struggling to become fully energized. A number of grassroots efforts think solar energy can speed the recovery and prevent a total blackout when the next storm hits.

Feb. 27, 2018 -Are you passionate about green energy and protecting our planet? Are you looking for a career you can be proud of that offers possibilities we aren’t even aware of yet? Look no further than the renewable energy industry.

You could be working in wind or solar power in no time with the right education and tools to get you set on this exciting path. Here are some of the best degrees to pursue and the career choices that may come your way.

Here’s a quick primer on what a hydrogen fuel cell is…
Simply put, it’s an electromagnetic cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (for our purposes, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (oxygen) into electricity through a chemical reaction.

Arcadia's Solar Energy Is available to both renters & homeowners - without solar panels. Get renewable energy at home without switching providers or installing any equipment •easy to use dashboard •wind sources •experts on hand.

July, 2020 (NREL)-A floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) system is an emerging technology in which a solar photovoltaic (PV) system is placed directly on top of a body of water, as opposed to on land or on building rooftops. An NREL blog post from Jan. 24, 2017 discussed FPV and was based on forward-thinking state energy offices inquiring about the technology through NREL’s state technical assistance programs. The blog post introduced the technology and discussed the benefits of FPVs, as well as different examples of pilot FPVs in the United States.

Jan. 21, 2018 - A team of talented scientists from Stanford University situated in Stanford, in Silicon Valley, 20 miles (approximately 30 Km) out of San Jose, California, USA have successfully displayed the usage of nanotechnology. The method to manufacture crystalline silicon (c-Si) thin-film solar cells which are being claimed to be more efficient at capturing solar energy.

Jan. 2, 2018 - From Clean Technica : Not too long ago, the mention of hydrogen, or concentrating solar power, or both at the same time, would be met by a roll of the eye from alternative energy insiders. Hydrogen is an abundant and clean-burning fuel, but the primary source of hydrogen is natural gas. Concentrating solar power has a built-in energy storage element, but it is more complicated and expensive than other solar technologies. Et cetera, et cetera, and so on and so forth.

From Natiional Geographic: There are many benefits to using renewable energy resources, but what is it exactly? From solar to wind, find out more about alternative energy, the fastest-growing source of energy in the world, and how we can use it to combat climate change

Dec. 15, 2017 - From Renewable Energy World: It is easier to believe in the future of solar today than it was decades ago. This article honors eight of the women who believed and persevered and pioneered the PV industry of today and without who it might be a very different industry indeed.

Each woman has in her own way championed the cause of climate change as well as the cause of the solar industry and has worked tirelessly educating, conducting research and deploying solar technologies to ensure the future of the industry.

July 6, 2020,(4C Offshore) -Transmission System Operator (TSO) 50Hertz has launched an economic and climate initiative for the grid area the company is responsible for: the eastern German states as well as the city states of Berlin and Hamburg. With the slogan “From 60 to 100 by 2032: for an economy with prospects”, 50Hertz has set itself the specific goal of getting the electricity demand in its grid area covered – and securely integrated – with 100 percent renewable energies by 2032. In 2019, the annual average share of renewables attained about 60%.

0Hertz stated it will align its entire corporate strategy with this new objective and use all its know-how to that end in the scope of its statutory duty to operate the grid securely and reliably. This involves new approaches to system operation, a consistent digitization of the integration of an increasingly volatile electricity supply as well as the participation in innovative models of sector coupling to generate heat and produce hydrogen from “green” power.

From Wageningen University: Experiments have proven that plants can serve as a source of clean and renewable energy.

As part of the European project PlantPower, researchers are studying whether this technology is suitable for large-scale applications.They are also examining the technical feasibility and the economic profitability.

Scientists all over the world are looking for alternatives to fossil fuels. Plant materials are already used as an energy source through bio-fermentation. Now it appears that living plants can also contribute to energy production. In a plant microbial fuel cell, living plants work together with micro-organisms to create electricity.

This results in clean and renewable energy, while the plant remains alive. The first practical tests have been very promising. In projects supported by the EU and Agentschap NL (an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs), European and Dutch institutes, universities, and businesses are cooperating to gain more knowledge about this technology and its applications.

Nov. 25, 2019  (Environment Florida) —Clean energy is sweeping across America and is poised for more dramatic growth in the coming years.

Wind turbines and solar panels were novelties ten years ago; today, they are everyday parts of America’s energy landscape. As recently as 2010, energy-saving LED light bulbs cost $40 apiece; today, they cost a few dollars at the hardware store. Just a few years ago, electric vehicles seemed a far-off solution to decarbonize our transportation system; now, they have broken through to the mass market.

Virtually every day, there are new developments that increase our ability to produce renewable energy, apply renewable energy more widely and flexibly to meet a wide range of energy needs, and reduce our overall energy use — developments that enable us to envision an economy powered entirely with clean, renewable energy.

Sept. 1, 2019 (Union of Concerned Scientists)-Innovative programs around the country now make it possible for all environmentally conscious energy consumers to support renewable energy directly by participating in the "green" power market. The willingness to pay for the benefits of increasing our renewable energy supplies can be tapped within any market structure and by any size or type of energy consumer.

Forbes Magazie, Jan. 14, 2019  - Two recent developments in the world of fusion power are giving scientists and policymakers newfound optimism for the elusive ‘holy grail’ of energy technologies. The first is a discovery by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) which uses radio frequency (RF) technology to greatly reduce so-called ‘plasma disruption’ – the leading challenge to achieving a sustained, net energy gain fusion reaction. This is a key element in making fusion a feasible source of electricity.

Environment Florida, May 31, 2019  - Solar power is expanding rapidly. The United States now has over 60 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed — enough to power nearly one in every 11 homes in America. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have invested in solar energy and millions more are ready to join them.

America’s major cities have played a key role in the clean energy revolution and stand to reap tremendous benefits from solar energy. As population centers, they are major sources of electricity demand and, with millions of rooftops suitable for solar panels, they have the potential to be major sources of clean energy production as well.

View a chart showing all of the reported projects in North and Central America that have 100% renewable energy goals, including some you would not have expected.

Feb. 14, 2017 - Here is a vision of the future in a warming world without fossil fuels.

No switching on the air conditioning because your roof re-radiates the sun’s heat back into space.

You don’t have to worry that the current from solar energy will turn off at night, because the same sunlight that powered the refrigerator has also turned two greenhouse gases into hydrocarbon fuel that serves as battery back-up.

The new Solar Farmhouse contains everything the quintessential home possesses -- the quaint front porch, the white wood siding, the gabled roof, and the simple lines -- updated with a slew of net-zero features, including a passive solar design, air-tight building envelope, and open plan.

In 2017 renewable energy represented 17.5 % of energy consumed in the EU, on a path to the 2020 target of 20 %.

The share of energy from renewable sources used in transport activities reached 7.6 % in 2017.

These stats will be updated in Feb. 2020. Stay tuned.

Gardens by the Bay will be Singapore's largest garden project and is central to their continued development of Marina Bay.

There are various incentives being offered. The article explains it in detail.

The world needs widely available reliable, affordable, carbon-free energy. New tools are needed to power the world.

Bill Gates, George Soros and others are behind this.

Affordable, lightweight, and versatile, batteries made of porous materials could soon transform energy storage.

Feb. 10, 2017 -From The Greener Ideal: Here is an inconvenient truth that advocates of alternative energy sources are reluctant to admit – traditional solar panels can be a bit of an eyesore.

Especially in a residential setting, bulky solar panels may detract from the aesthetic of any house, no matter how much the owner tries to convince you otherwise.

Think about the streets in your neighborhood, and ask yourself how many of the homes actually have visible solar panels, and you will quickly realize that they are not very popular.