ORC experts are peer-recommended authorities who have been carefully selected and rigorously screened.

They host the International Geothermal Association webpage, for convenient downloads of the IGA News by GRC members.

Steven Strong, and other solar experts answer questions about Active and Passive home solar, as was featured on NOVA

As presented on On Point, several years back, experts discuss technological advancements, roadblocks to implementation.

(Science News), -Sept. 15, 2020, For a Game Boy doppelgänger, “batteries not included” is a perk, not a problem.

The prototype handheld game console, built by researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, harvests enough energy from key smashing and sunlight to run games like Tetris and Super Mario Land.

Such a battery-free setup, presented September 15 at the virtual UbiComp conference, could one day help curb electronic waste from handheld games and other mobile devices.

(CBC News), -Sept. 15, 2020, As the Canadian government puts the finishing touches on a national hydrogen strategy designed to kickstart the budding sector, some experts say one of the vital ingredients for the industry to flourish is to build more pipelines.

While pipelines are often associated with moving oil and natural gas, they are equally important for the developing cleaner sources of fuel like hydrogen, according to Maggie Hanna, a fellow at the Energy Futures Lab.

After a 30-year career in the oilpatch as a geologist, Hanna's focus is now on technology and innovation.

(Renewable Energy World), -Sept. 14, 2020, Walmart Inc. and Schneider Electric last week announced a new collaboration that will provide increased access to renewable energy for Walmart’s U.S.-based suppliers. The initiative, called the Gigaton PPA (GPPA) Program, is designed to educate Walmart suppliers about renewable energy purchases and accelerate renewable energy adoption by participating suppliers through aggregate power purchase agreements (PPA).

While corporate renewable energy procurement is on the rise, the overall number of companies involved is still relatively low, with just over 100 unique companies participating in the U.S. renewable energy market since 2008, according to the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance Deal Tracker. Some of the challenges to accessing renewable energy experienced by smaller companies include a lack of size needed to approach the market individually, insufficient education on the specific mechanics of renewable energy transactions and guidance on how to secure renewable energy.

(Renewable Energy World), -Sept. 9, 2020, A run-of-river hydroelectric power station, photovoltaic installation and battery storage system have been combined to provide facilities in the Patagonia National Park with electricity from renewable energy sources, according to a press release from Tesvolt.

The park, an important nature conservation project, was established by the founder of North Face, Douglas Tompkins, and his wife Kristine, previously chief executive officer of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. The aim of their foundation, Tompkins Conservation, is to re-wild the region after decades of heavy overgrazing and desertification.

Patagonia National Park in Argentina and Chile encompasses over 300,000 hectares of grassland plateaus, forests, wetlands and alpine regions. It is located an enormous distance from the nearest public utility grid.

(ZME SCIENCE), -Sept. 4, 2020, Wind and solar have doubled their share of global electricity generation since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed in 2015, reaching almost 10% in the first half of the year, according to a new report.

Nevertheless, it’s still not yet enough to meet the climate targets and sustained action is needed further on.

The energy consultancy Ember looked at 48 countries that make up more than 80% of the global electricity production. Wind and solar generation rose by 14% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2019, according to the report.

(Renewable Energy World), -Sept. 3, 2020, According to data by BloombergNEF (BNEF), photovoltaics (PV) was the main new power-generating technology source in countries ranging from Australia, to India, Italy, Namibia, Uruguay and the U.S., in 2019. With a record 118 gigawatt (GW) constructed, PV topped all other technologies in new-build terms and was the most popular technology deployed in a third of nations.

Overall, 81 countries built at least 1 megawatt (MW) of solar during the last calendar year and solar accounted for nearly half of all new power generation capacity constructed worldwide.

These findings are highlighted in BNEF’s new Power Transition Trends 2020 report and online tool, which tracks detailed capacity and generation data over the past decade. Both are based on country-level data compiled by BNEF analysts directly from primary country sources, current through 2019.

power-grid.com, Aug. 26, 2020 -A well-placed battery has the potential to ease electric grid congestion, bolster resilience, and even postpone costly utility equipment upgrades.

Owners of energy storage systems are rarely compensated for all of that value, though, because most states simply haven’t calculated what it’s worth.

N.H. regulators will take a step toward fixing that problem as a new state law calls for them to study how energy storage projects might be made whole for the benefits they provide to the state’s electric grid.

Renewable Energy World, Aug. 24, 2020 -Europe has recently sailed past one of the major milestones of any major energy transformation program. London-based Ember has published a report outlining that renewables now account for a greater share of the energy mix than fossil fuels, and are now firmly the EU’s main source of electricity. In the first half of 2020, just 34% of Europe’s power came from coal, gas and oil, versus the 40% that came directly from solar, wind and hydro sources. Use of renewable energy also went up by over a tenth during that same period, and carbon dioxide emissions fell by nearly a quarter.

The UK, also exposed to the favorable weather conditions that have driven Europe’s recent successes, has much to shout about. The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), also known as Westminster’s “energy bible,” documents forensic detail on British energy use. The latest report, published towards the end of July, revealed that the UK has broken yet more records, with 37.1% of all energy generated throughout 2019 coming from renewable sources..

greener ideal, Aug. 21, 2020 -We humans have had deleterious effects on the world’s oceans. From industrial runoff to plastic waste, human activity is a major contributor to the collapse in the marine environment. These pollutants not only endanger life in the oceans but have direct impacts on human health as well.

Emerging green technologies and changing perspectives on waste and pollution are mitigating that impact, and one of the leading technologies is solar power. Here are three major ways solar power is helping the world’s oceans to recover.

CleanTechnica , Aug.15, 2020 -He describes the current state of energy as if we were on the edge of a precipice. “As this week demonstrated, either we seize the suddenly vivid possibilities for a rapid energy transformation, or we watch the world disintegrate,” Bill McKibben outlines.

He’s the founder of 350.org, a prolific environmental writer, an oft-cited spokesperson for the climate action community, and a renewable energy futurist. He’s asked us to imagine the Earth as a planet — with darkpoles and belching volcanoes and a heaving, corrosive sea, a place raked by winds and strafed by storms and scorched by heat.

And now he says we can make that planet’s reality a hospitable place for future human habitation starting today. That is, if we grasp onto pragmatics where renewables power the planet. To do so, he beckons us to develop a stronger sense of social trust, a collaboration toward the common good through energy awareness and advocacy.

Aug. 7, 2020,(OilPrice,com)-Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, has been stealing the spotlight from EVs and renewables lately. From a sort of boutique car fuel a couple of decades ago, hydrogen has evolved into one of the clean energy priorities for the future. And this future may be quite bright for it as prices for its production from renewable sources of energy are set to halve. A study commissioned by the International Council on Clean Transportation has found that the average price for a kilo of hydrogen produced through electrolysis using solar or wind power will fall by about 50 percent between 2020 and 2050 in the United States and Europe.

The stuffy examines three scenarios based on whether the electrolyzer—the installation that breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen—is connected to the grid, to a renewable electricity generator, or is grid-connected but serves as a storage facility. It also looks into three renewable power generation technologies, including utility-scale solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind.

Aug. 4, 2020,(Energy Central)-The state trailed only California in the number of houses of worship with solar installations in operation last year.

Houses of worship in Massachusetts are increasing their adoption of solar power, a trend that advocates say can both influence community attitudes toward renewable electricity and help more low-income households take advantage of the benefits of clean energy.

At least 64 houses of worship in Massachusetts had solar installations in operation last year, a 14% increase from 2017 and second only to California, according to a report from Interfaith Power and Light.

July 30, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL )-The state has more than enough renewable energy potential to meet its 50 by 2030 goal.

The New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (NM RETA) this week released findings of a study that show there are more than enough renewable energy resources for development in New Mexico to meet the Energy Transition Act’s (ETA) requirement of 50% renewable electricity for utilities and rural electric cooperatives by 2030.

The Study covered 2020 to 2032 and was researched by Virginia-based ICF Resources, in partnership with NM RETA. The study concluded there would be substantial surplus wind and solar energy and the state could export it to customers in the western United States.

July 29, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL )-Utility-scale battery storage took a major jump forward this month as Pacific Gas & Electric and Tesla began construction on a 182.5-MW lithium ion system in Monterey County, California.

PG&E will own the facility at its substation in Moss Landing, but the design, construction and maintenance operations will be joint effort both by the San Francisco-based utility and the battery and EV manufacturing giant. Once completed, the partners say, Moss Landing will be the largest utility-owned, li-ion battery energy storage system in the world.

“Battery energy storage plays an integral role in enhancing overall electric grid efficiency and reliability, integrating renewable resources while reducing reliance on fossil fuel generation. It can serve as an alternative to more expensive, traditional wires solutions, resulting in lower overall costs for our customers,” said Fong Wan, senior vice president, Energy Policy and Procurement, PG&E.

July 27, 2020,(THE IRISH TIMES)-State company Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) plans to begin testing hydrogen as it bids to find low-carbon energy supplies.

Ireland’s natural gas reserves will run out by the middle of the decade, potentially leaving the country relying entirely on imports for the fuel that provides most of its electricity.

July 21, 2020,(INDEPENDENT) -Two major breakthroughs in solar cell technology could vastly improve the way energy is harvested from the sun.

The two studies, published in Nature Energy and Nature Photonics, will transform the efficiency and significantly reduce the cost of producing solar cells, scientists say.

The first breakthrough involves “upconverting” low energy, non-visible light into high energy light in order to generate more electricity from the same amount of sunlight.

July 20, 2020,(CleanTechnica ) -2 years ago, Arizona utility companies that supply electricity to customers went into a tizzy over a ballot initiative that would mandate them to get 50% of their electricity from renewable sources by the year 2030? Oh, the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth could be heard from sea to shining sea. It was a direct frontal assault on the American way of life. It was so dire, the utilities ponied up $40 million of their own money (actually it was their customers’ money) to defeat it.

But not any more!

Environment America, July 16, 2020 -The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) dismissed a petition Thursday from the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) that threatened crucial state net metering policies and states’ long-held jurisdiction over solar rights.

This decision comes after more than 57,000 comments from utility commissions, advocacy organizations, state officials, members of Congress and the public were submitted in opposition to the petition. In contrast, there were only 22 public comments in support of the NERA petition.

Environment America Go Solar Campaign Director Bronte Payne issued a statement in support of the decision.

July 13, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Today, Air Products, ACWA Power, and NEOM announced a new $5B green hydrogen facility that will be sited in NEOM, Saudi Arabia. The project will use 4 GW of renewable power from solar, wind and storage to produce 650 tons of carbon-free hydrogen per day using Halidor Topsoe's ammonia technology, which allows it to be transported safely using existing technology, according to the company.

Halidor said the hydrogen will be converted into 3,500 tons per day of green ammonia for transportation and then converted back into hydrogen to power buses and trucks around the world.

The planned “green ammonia loop” will be the world’s largest, on a par with the Gulf Coast Ammonia facility to be built in Texas, US, which will also use Topsoe ammonia technology.

July 7, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Sunrun and Vivint Solar announced that Sunrun will acquire Vivint in an all-stock transaction. Vivant Solar common stock will be exchanged for 0.55 shares of Sunrun common stock, representing a combined Enterprise Value of $9.2 billion based on the closing price of Sunrun’s shares on July 6, 2020.

Both companies are big players in the residential solar space, with similar business models. Essentially, they sell, install and, in some cases own and maintain, residential rooftop solar arrays and collect monthly payments for customers. Generally, these payments are lower than what the customer pays for utility electricity. The companies say they have a “shared mission to create a planet run by the sun.” Together, their combined customer base is nearly 500,000, they said in a joint press release, for a total combined solar capacity of more than 3 GW.

July 6, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward) -Dominion Energy, one of the nation’s largest utilities, in late June erected wind turbines off the Virginia coast — only the second such installation in the United States — as part of a big bet on renewable energy.

The company is also planning to build new power plants that burn natural gas.

Utilities around the country are promoting their growing use of renewable energy like hydroelectric dams, wind turbines and solar panels, which collectively provided more power than coal-fired power plants for the first time last year...

July 6, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Mini-grids could play a critical role in providing electricity to rural communities and businesses and in helping to connect the 789 million people worldwide who currently do not have access to electricity, according to a new report from the mini-grid partnership. The report was published by BloombergNEF (BNEF) and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll).

However, today the mini-grid market is nascent, despite it being the least-cost option for electricity access in many areas, the report found. The research identified 5,544 installed mini-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and small island nations, with some in Latin America. The estimated cost of electricity is $0.49-0.68/kWh for isolated solar hybrid mini-grids for larger scale “anchor” users such as agricultural pump and milling machine companies who have a much higher power demand than residential households during the daytime.

July 6, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -A new analysis of companies that seek to buy renewable electricity finds that business is becoming a powerful new ally in the U.S. political battle to stop climate change.

Driven by pressure from environmental groups and by the increasingly competitive prices of wind and solar, many companies have pledged to power their operations with clean energy. But the legal and technical complexity of U.S. electricity markets has stalled corporate progress on their clean power goals. This has prompted companies as diverse as eBay, Mars, IKEA and Walmart to push for public policies that expand the generation of renewable energy in the U.S. and make it more accessible through mandates, incentives and other regulations.

July 6, 2020,( CleanTechnica ) -Dominion Energy and Duke Energy finally cancelled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Stakeholders in the proposed new gas pipeline may be frothing and fuming now, but the activists and land owners who fought tooth and nail in court against the project have just done them a huge favor. In fact, the message to all fossil fuel stakeholders is clear: get out now while you have a chance.

That pipeline was supposed to carry gas over 600 miles from West Virginia and on into markets in Virginia and North Carolina. You can bet your bottom dollar that Dominion and Duke would have kept pouring money into the legal slugfest if they thought those markets were strong enough to support the project. Dropping it like a hot potato is a clear sign that the regional energy market has shifted, or is about to shift.

June 25, 2020,(Energy Central) -Energy storage is increasingly emerging as a complement to renewable energy. The difficulty is that there are limited ways of storing electricity: banks of batteries have a lot of issues. Hydroelectric dams are great, but they can only be build in certain locations. Pumped storage is expensive, but a good solution, unfortunately the complexities of finding the right place to build them is a constraint. See my earlier article here.

The renowned German Fraunhofer Institute based in Kassel is developing an ingenious system to use the concrete spheres on the seabed to store energy, particularly when paired with offshore wind turbines (or possibly tidal turbines in the future). Electricity generated will be used to pump air into the spheres, then when generation is needed, seawater will be let in to turn turbines and deliver power.

June 15, 2020,(reNEWS.BIZ) -Spanish energy giant Repsol is planning to build a net zero emissions synthetic fuel plant in Spain based on green hydrogen powered by renewable energy.

Repsol said €60m will initially be invested in the project and will include partners Petronor, one of Spain’s principal industrial centres, and the Energy Agency of the Basque Government.

The facility is planned to be fully operational within four years, with conceptual engineering starting this year.

June 12, 2020,(reNEWS.BIZ) -BayWa RE has completed its first solar park in Japan, the 12MW Kuwabarajo Mega Solar Number 4.

The project covers 24 hectares and is located in Izumi in the Kyushu Kagoshima Prefecture.

The construction of the solar farm, which comprises 31,248 solar panels and is located in a hilly area, took just over a year.

BayWa RE is already busy constructing its second solar farm in Isohara in the Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo.

June 11, 2020,( CleanTechnica ) -The 419 MW Mesquite Star wind farm was just completed in Fisher County, Texas, and is now providing electricity for Ecolab, Lowe’s, Intuit, and Brown University. In the case of Intuit (which you may have used to do your taxes this year), the company has now reached its 100% renewable electricity goal. As the headline notes, it has reached that goal 10 years earlier than it had committed.

The project is also providing Ecolab with 100% of its US electricity needs. The company has a goal of halving its carbon emissions by 2030 — presumably, based on 2019 levels.

June 9, 2020,(ScienceDaily) -The search for renewable energy sources, which include wind, solar, hydroelectric dams, geothermal, and biomass, has preoccupied scientists and policymakers alike, due to their enormous potential in the fight against climate change. A new Tel Aviv University study finds that water vapor in the atmosphere may serve as a potential renewable energy source in the future.

The research, led by Prof. Colin Price in collaboration with Prof. Hadas Saaroni and doctoral student Judi Lax, all of TAU's Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, is based on the discovery that electricity materializes in the interaction between water molecules and metal surfaces. It was published in Scientific Reports on May 6, 2020.

(CleanTechnica)June 6, 2020, -Ready for a dollop of good news in an otherwise bleak world? A movement begun by high school students in Salt Lake City last year has culminated in the adoption of a 100% renewable energy policy by the local school board. Last week, the board voted unanimously to set a goal of transitioning the school district to 100% clean electricity by 2030 and off of fossil fuels for heating and transportation by 2040.

This effort was led by students from Salt Lake City’s three major high schools in collaboration with Utah Sierra Club and its Climate Parents program. Leading up to the school board meeting, the students obtained 800 signatures on a petition signed by students, parents, and staff asking the board to support the clean energy policy, according to a news report from the Sierra Club.

The petition listed the advantages of a clean energy policy, including saving money on energy bills, improving indoor and outdoor air quality through energy efficiency measures, and creating opportunities to improve STEM learning by exposure to on-site clean energy technologies...

June 4, 2020 (WINDPOWER Monthly) -The CEOs of the American wind, solar, hydropower and energy storage industries vowed to work together to meet this goal at their inaugural Clean Power 2020 event - held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the groups’ blueprint, wind and solar would each account for 20% of US electricity by 2030 - up from 7% and 3% respectively in 2019.

Hydropower’s share of electricity generation would rise from 7% in 2019 to 9% by 2030, while the US energy storage fleet would grow from 24GW to 105GW in this period.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the four industry associations called for a more resilient and efficient grid, carbon reductions and greater competition through fairer market rules.

Apr 29, 2020 (Renewable Energy World) -General Mills announced that it set a new goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030 as part of the RE100 global corporate initiative. Led by The Climate Group, RE100 aims to bring influential businesses together to commit to 100% renewable power.

To achieve this goal, General Mills is purchasing the renewable energy credits (RECs) created by two large-scale wind farms and using anaerobic digestion at some of its plants.

Some of the renewable energy projects currently underway include:
In North America, a 1.6-MW generator fueled by an anaerobic biodigester at its Murfreesboro plant in Tennessee.
In South America, a 335-kW biogas regeneration plant at its Paranavai Yoki location.
In Europe, a 195-kW biogas regeneration plant at its Arras France Häagen-Dazs production facility.

Apr. 28, 2020 (Renewable Energy World) -Solar PV and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new-build generation for at least 2/3 of the global population. Those people 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 leveled 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.

Apr. 27, 2020 (Energy Central) - New York State’s fiscal year 2021 State Budget included the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (the “Act”), the primary focus of which has been the new Section 94-c of the Executive Law, which overhauls the state’s large-scale renewable siting process. But renewable energy, transmission and other market participants should be aware that Section 94-c is only one of multiple significant components of the Act.

The Act also establishes a Clean Energy Resources Development and Incentive Program (the “Program”), providing the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”) newfound authority to “foster and encourage the orderly and expedient siting and development of renewable energy facilities, particularly at sites which are difficult to develop,” and get such sites “build ready” for transfer to developers. The Act further tasks the Department of Public Service (“DPS”) with conducting a major, system-wide grid study, which will feed into utility capital plans and an investment program for system upgrades.

June 3, 2020 (The Guardian) - Solar, wind and other renewable sources have toppled coal in energy generation in the United States for the first time in over 130 years, with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating a decline in coal that has profound implications for the climate crisis.

Not since wood was the main source of American energy in the 19th century has a renewable resource been used more heavily than coal, but 2019 saw a historic reversal, according to US government figures.

Coal consumption fell by 15%, down for the sixth year in a row, while renewables edged up by 1%. This meant renewables surpassed coal for the first time since at least 1885, a year when Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and America’s first skyscraper was erected in Chicago.

June 3, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Advocacy group POWERful Women, in partnership with PwC, this week published the latest ‘state of the nation’ report on gender balance in the UK energy industry.

The 2020 annual board statistics show progress in the number of women occupying board and executive board seats – now 21% and 13% – representing a noticeable shift from last year and progress towards POWERful Women’s target of 30% women occupying executive board roles by 2030.

However, the numbers show that faster progress is needed and that the number of all-male boards in the UK energy sector remains disappointing.

June 2, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) and KU Energy, alongside customers, are expanding renewable energy generation in Kentucky by adding more locally grown solar energy to the grid.

The company recently completed the second 500-kW section at its Solar Share facility in Simpsonville. With the addition of the new 1,300-panel array, participating customers are now able to use the solar energy generated from the 1-MW solar array.

The subscription-based Solar Share Program is available to the utilities’ residential, business and industrial customers who want to support solar energy for 20 cents a day.

June 2, 2020 (Energy Central)-The far-reaching implications of a global pandemic has disrupted every facet of the economy. Local markets across the nation are reeling in response to an economic downturn previously unheard of in scope and size.

Clean energy—a fast-growing industry only months ago and a significant job creator for more than a decade—is now dealing with rampant job loss, as new development activities and investments have been stifled in the wake of COVID-19.

A newly released jobs study based on The U.S. Department of Labor data analyzed by BW Research found that 594,300 jobs in clean energy have been lost since the start of the global pandemic, which amounts to a 17% decrease in clean energy employment overall. The study was sponsored by the E2, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), and E4TheFuture

June 1, 2020 - TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel’s Energy Ministry unveiled an 80 billion shekel ($22.8 billion) plan to increase the use of solar power over the next decade as the country’s population and energy demand are set to surge.

Though awash with sunlight, at the end of last year Israel was producing just 5% of its electricity from solar energy. About 64% came from natural gas and the rest from coal.

The new target, said Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, is to outpace rising demand and have solar power production grow to 30% by 2030, or about 16,000 megawatts. That is roughly the same as total energy production today.

May 30, 2020 (Energy Central)- The implementation of this project, the world’s very first industrial-scale power-to-X-to-power demonstrator with an advanced hydrogen turbine, will be launched at Smurfit Kappa PRF’s site — a company specialized in manufacturing recycled paper — in Saillat-sur-Vienne, France.

The purpose of this project is to prove that hydrogen can be produced and stored from renewable electricity and then added with up to 100% to the natural gas currently used with combined heat and power plants. For this an existing Siemens SGT-400 industrial gas turbine will be upgraded to convert stored hydrogen into electricity and thermal energy.

May 29, 2020 (Energy Central)- In 2011, the administration of NY Governor Cuomo announced the creation of a Task Force to develop a “New York Energy Highway” plan. Co-Chaired by New York Power Authority (NYPA) CEO Gil Quinones and then-Department of Environment Commissioner (DEC) Joe Martens, the project would create a “Blueprint” with three main goals: Give downstate customers access to upstate power generation by easing transmission congestion; plan for and respond to power plant retirements; and study the expansion of natural gas delivery to residences and business in New York State. Renewables were in there, too.

As part of the plan, the NYPA Board approved a program to modernize NYPA’s legacy transmission system in Western, Central, and Northern New York, and NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, issued a $250 million Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) solicitation, targeting electric generation projects that would use “clean-energy resources” to help NY diversify its overall electric energy portfolio.

May 29, 2020 (Deutsche Welle)- The plummeting cost of turning sunlight into electricity is beating forecasts by decades, speeding the transition toward a clean energy system.

Solar prices have sunk low enough to make photovoltaics the cheapest source of electricity in most of the world — undercutting fossil fuels in price even before counting costs like air pollution and climate change. Averaging about $0.05/kWh, the cost of generating solar electricity has reached lows that six years ago the International Energy Agency did not expect to come until the middle of the century.

When Jenny Chase started working on solar energy in 2006, her job title was head of "improbable technologies" — and she thought solar could only ever provide 1% of the world's electricity mix. "Now, it's already gone north of 2%," said Chase, a solar analyst at energy consultancy BloombergNEF.

May 28, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -On May 27, the U.S. treasury department issued Notice 2020-41 related to the safe harbor deadline for renewable energy projects that began construction in 2016 or 2017. Under the old rule those projects would have needed to become operational by the end of 2020 in order to claim the full 30 percent Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar projects or the full 2.5 cents per kWh Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind projects. Yesterday’s announcement gives them one more year, until the end of 2021, to begin generating power.

The announcement was made in recognition that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major supply chain disruptions, bottlenecks and work stoppages.

Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) praised the move in a statement. “Treasury’s recently released guidance granting an additional year to meet safe harbor qualifications for renewable tax credits is a welcome and important step to help the renewable sector and its workers in the face of the delays, disruptions and other challenges associated with COVID-19,” he said.

May 27, 2020 (CleanTechnica)-Amazon, once a little online bookstore, is now a corporate behemoth. As such, it needs behemoth levels of energy. The good news is that a lot more of Amazon’s energy will be coming from the sun in the coming years, as Amazon is building 5 new utility-scale solar power plants in the US, China, and Australia.

The projects together will have 615 megawatts (MW) of power capacity, which is expected to generate 1.2 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity each year. That is apparently enough electricity to power 113,000 average American homes.

The five projects include Amazon’s first renewable energy project in China, second in Australia, second and third in Ohio, and 12th in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

May 25, 2020 (Energy Central)-The European Union is set to propose a massive economic stimulus plan, complete with a 15-gigawatt renewable energy tender and auctions for green hydrogen, that will transform the European Commission’s Green Deal into the world’s greenest recovery package, according to leaked documents released last week by Bloomberg News and Euractiv.

While it may take months of negotiations to finalize, “the plan is part of the package the [European Union] executive will unveil on May 27 for the bloc’s jointly-financed response to the pandemic-induced recession,” Bloomberg reports. “The package will include a proposal for the EU’s next trillion-euro budget for the years 2021-2027 and a ‘recovery instrument’ of at least half-a-trillion euros specifically designed to cushion the economic blow from the outbreak.”

May 22, 2019 (CleanTechnica)-Perovskite news is coming thick and fast these days. Why? Because perovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce, which could lead to a dramatic decrease in the cost of solar power. They are also very light in weight compared to a conventional solar panel and are so flexible they can be rolled up and transported wherever they are needed. That flexibility also means they can be applied to the exterior of buildings that are not perfectly flat, opening up new possibilities for building-integrated photovoltaic applications.

It's not all good news.

The downside of perovskites is that they are not particularly durable. Although they have reached solar conversion rates of up to 25% in the lab, they can’t stand up very long to conditions outside the lab, which has limited their use in commercial applications.

May 21, 2019 (CleanTechnica)-The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has proposed that the town of Konark go the complete route to renewable, sustainable energy — 100% solar energy. That’s fitting since the Konark Sun Temple is located there.

The state of Odisha, where Konark is located, is no stranger to 21st century solar power. In 2015, it announced plans for a 1 gigawatt (GW) solar power plant. In 2016, Sonthalia Group unveiled plans for a 600 megawatt (MW) solar power plant, and the state announced plans for 70 MW of rooftop solar.

May 21, 2019 (Ammonia Energy Assoc.)-Eneus Energy recently announced that it intends to build a green ammonia plant in Orkney, Scotland. Eneus describes itself as a “project developer and technology integrator for green ammonia,” and this announcement marks the first public disclosure of a site from its “portfolio” of projects under development.

Orkney has been a net energy exporter since 2013, with wind, tidal, and wave energy generation far exceeding local demand; the islands have also been producing green hydrogen for some years.

(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.

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.

July 29, 2019 (Renewable Energy World)) -Last week, Corvias announced that it had entered the final phase of its geothermal installation and energy upgrades effort at the U.S. Army’s Fort Polk in West-Central Louisiana, a milestone that once complete will not only modernize the aging infrastructure but save the Army significant money and benefit military families.

Part of the U.S. Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), a program through which the Department of Defense works with the private sector to revitalize military family housing, the work includes the installation of geothermal heat pumps and ENERGY STAR electric and water saving devices. All upgrades associated with this project, which began in 2018, are slated to be completed in early 2020 and will significantly reduce the community’s carbon footprint, said Corvias.

Geothermal Social Council, Jan. 18, 2019 -Some Gisborne power bills could be about to fall by more than $300 a year, following the commissioning of a new $136m geothermal power plant.

First initiated in 2011, Eastland Group’s 25 MW geothermal power plant, Te Ahi O Maui, became operational in October last year after building started in earnest in 2017.

Now, Eastland Group chief executive Matt Todd said the Kawerau-based power plant\’s performance, combined with the group’s ongoing investment in innovative electricity retailer Flick Electric Co, meant Eastland Group and Flick Electric had been able to announce a new electricity product for Tairawhiti: FIXIE by Flick.

Geothermal Social Council, Jan. 15, 2019 -The power plant is owned and operated by Zorlu Energy, a major Turkish contractor, investor and industrial holding company. Kizildere-3, Turkey’s largest geothermal power plant, is one of the world’s only triple-flash plus combined-cycle configuration geothermal plants — an arrangement that combines two well-known types of technology to increase efficiency. With the addition of this 165 MW geothermal plant to Turkey’s generation fleet, the country can further reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Aljzeera, Dec. 8, 2018 -Geothermal power comprises about 43% of Kenya’s electricity supply, even as millions of Kenyans still depend on trees to make charcoal.

As climate talks proceed in Poland at the ongoing COP24 summit, the East African nation’s efforts are an example to the world’s big emitters.

(CleanTechnica), -Sept. 21, 2020, The thought that a Tesla produces more CO2 than a Mercedes C-Class with a diesel engine is laughable, but that was the conclusion of a misleading and misguided study published in 2019 in Germany and covered even on engineering and tech news sites. Not only is this clearly incorrect on the surface; it has been proven false by a recent study explaining that electric vehicles last longer than initially expected and are much greener than fossil-fueled cars.

“A Tesla Model 3 currently emits 65% less CO2 than a Mercedes C-Class,” Auke Hoekstra, co-author of the study, said.

In this study, conducted by researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the researchers discovered that electric vehicle batteries last much longer than originally thought. Also, unlike what some believe, the production of the battery leads to significantly less CO2 than simplistic studies like the one referenced at the top have assumed — all of the CO2 emissions of an EV are less than half of that of ICE cars.

(CleanTechnica), -Sept. 20, 2020, There are 480,000 school buses in America, making them the largest fleet of commercial vehicles in the nation. By comparison, there are just 96,000 public transit buses, 35,000 intra-city buses, 7,400 airplanes, and 1,200 railway passenger cars. Now imagine all those school buses were electrics, equipped with batteries of about 150 kWh, and they all could be connected to the electrical grid using V2G technology. Consider that all those buses are only in service for a few hours a day, leaving their batteries available to supply electricity to the grid the majority of the day. Holy education, Batman! We now have the mother of all virtual power plants!

Nuvve Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, has partnered with Blue Bird, America’s largest school bus supplier, to bring electric school buses equipped with its vehicle to grid technology to school systems across America.

(CleanTechnica), -Sept. 15, 2020, With home/rooftop solar, a growing number of EV drivers are doing most of their driving on home-generated solar power. Solar panels mounted on vehicles themselves, on the other hand, have been the subject of well-deserved skepticism. But is this skepticism still well deserved in 2020?.

While directly powering a vehicle’s electric motor with on-vehicle panels is still pretty far out of the question (outside of very impractical experimental cars), using relatively low-power solar cells to charge a battery shows a lot more promise. Universities and companies with fairly deep pockets have been experimenting with battery-solar vehicles for decades, with some fairly good progress recently.

(Renewable Energy World), -Sept. 14, 2020, The largest electric vehicle infrastructure project in Minnesota’s history is getting underway as installations begin for a network of 22 fast-charging stations along major state highways.

The fast chargers can fully charge an electric vehicle in 30 to 40 minutes, substantially faster than the more common Level 2 chargers. They’re being installed by ZEF Energy as part of a state effort to build out a fast-charging network outside of the Twin Cities metro area, where a robust network already exists.

The $1.7 million initiative used money from the state’s share of the Volkswagen emissions cheating settlement, which is being managed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

(POWERGRID International), -Aug. 28, 2020,According to data released last month by the China Electric Charging Infrastructure Promotion, as of the end of July 2020, members of the Alliance reported that 566,000 public charging stations had been installed and put into service across the country, among which 326,000 are AC, 240,000 are DC, while 488 come equipped with both AC and DC capabilities.

From August 2019 to July 2020, the number of new public charging stations installed per month averaged just about 10,000 units.

In July 2020, the total charging power of all stations across China had reached some 670 million kWh, representing a year on year increase of 52.4 percent. The figure rose by 70 million kWh or 11.6 per cent from the prior month.

ZME SCIENCE, Aug. 18, 2020 -Vehicle electrification across the US could prevent hundreds to thousands of premature deaths annually, while also reducing CO2 emissions by hundreds of millions of tons. Taken together, these effects would prevent substantial economic damages, according to a new study.

Researchers from Northwestern University combined climate modeling with public health data to assess the impact electric vehicles (EV) can have on US lives and the economy. If EVs replace 25% of combustion-engine cars, the country would save $17 billion annually by avoiding damages from air pollution and climate change.

CleanTechnica , Aug. 15, 2020 -CrossWater is an autonomous, electrically-powered floating horizontal elevator designed to traverse bodies of water safely and comfortably. Imagine if people in New Jersey didn’t need to cross the George Washington Bridge or use the Lincoln Tunnel to get to Manhattan every day. Instead, they could go down to the banks of the Hudson River and be whisked across in a matter of minutes. Pair the CrossWater with bicycle sharing on both sides of the river and millions of trips by car could be eliminated every year.

Aug. 11, 2020,(CleanTechnica)-A new electric trolley began operating in Estes Park, Colorado in July, with a second on the way in 2021.

Motiv Power Systems, based in California, provided the all-electric chassis and collaborated with Wisconsin-based Hometown Trolley, the company that designed and constructed the body. Estes Park is a little over 60 miles northwest of Denver and is near the eastern entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. This small town has a population of about 6,300, but the national park has several million visitors annually. Motiv’s Chairman and CEO, Matt O’Leary, answered some questions about the trolley for CleanTechnica.

Aug. 10, 2020,(CleanTechnica)-For those of who tend to think of Nikola as being pretty much a joke, it may be time to rethink that position. Construction of the company’s first factory is proceeding apace in Arizona, where it expects to produce 35,000 heavy duty electric trucks a year.

And it announced on August 10 that it has signed an agreement with Phoenix-based Republic Services for 2,500 zero emissions all electric refuse trucks, with the possibility of 2,500 more at a later time. Republic is the second largest refuse hauler in the United States.

Aug. 4, 2020,(CleanTechnica)-General Motors? CEO Mary Barra announced July 31 that her company is partnering with EVgo?, the largest EV charging network in the US, to add 2,700 fast chargers in 40 cities across America over the next 5 years. They will install the new charging stations at grocery stores, retail outlets, entertainment centers and other high-traffic areas. These are places where people typically spend 15 to 30 minutes, GM said, allowing them time to charge their vehicles while they run their errands.

The new EVgo fast charging stations will be available to customers starting early next year and will be located in highly visible areas. All drivers will be welcome, not just those who own GM electric vehicles. Most locations will be able to charge at least four vehicles simultaneously.

Aug. 4, 2020,(Energy Central)-Sandy Munro has done ultra-detailed teardowns and reverse-engineering of Telsa cars. He describes how the thermal management used in the Tesla Model Y is vastly superior to other carmakers.

This enables Tesla to have superior range. CEO Rahul Sonnad of Tesloop is using Telsa cars to take passengers to Las Vegas. They have been driven over 750,000 miles. Sandy thinks that battery day news will likely reveal new battery technology. This could be the Maxwell drycell technology or something solid-state. Elon said Tesla is open to supply software (autopilot), powertrain and batteries to other automakers.

Aug. 3, 2020,(Sarasota Herald Tribune)-Sarasota’s most famous test pilot is on a mission to reduce, and maybe eliminate, fossil fuels from air travel.

And 48-year-old Miguel Iturmendi, best known for his record-setting work with the world’s fastest and highest-flying glider, is confident the revolution will begin in his lifetime.

“There are other electrical airplanes, but none of them go into the stratosphere, and none of them recharge their batteries while they fly,” he says from inside a hangar at Payerne Air Base in western Switzerland. “And none of them come back with more power, with more juice, than when they left the ground.

July 29, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL )-Electric vehicle sales have grown exponentially in recent years, accompanied by dropping prices. However, adoption of EVs remains limited by their higher sticker price relative to comparable gas vehicles, even though overall cost of ownership for EVs is lower.

EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles are likely to reach sticker price parity sometime in the next decade. The timing hinges on one crucial factor: battery cost. An EV’s battery pack accounts for about a quarter of total vehicle cost, making it the most important factor in the sales price.

Battery pack prices have been falling fast. A typical EV battery pack stores 10-100 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. For example, the Mitsubishi i-MIEV has a battery capacity of 16 kWh and a range of 62 miles, and the Tesla model S has a battery capacity of 100 kWh and a range of 400 miles. In 2010, the price of an EV battery pack was over $1,000 per kWh. That fell to $150 per kWh in 2019. The challenge for the automotive industry is figuring out how to drive the cost down further.

July 20, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL)-Late last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a package of major clean transportation initiatives, including a “Make Ready” order approved by the New York State Public Service Commission to advance New York’s commitment to accelerate its transition to cleaner mobility.

After decades of work removing carbon from the power (electricity) sector, the transportation sector is now responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. New York has a plan to decarbonize transportation, which includes a target of reducing emissions 85% by 2050. The state was also part of the recently announced MOU with 14 other states and DC to work on making all sales of new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles zero emission vehicles by 2050 in partnership with NASCUM.

See also the article below this one.

July 15, 2020,(POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL)-This week, 15 states and the District of Columbia announced a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU), committing to advance and accelerate the market for electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including large pickup trucks and vans, delivery trucks, box trucks, school and transit buses and long-haul delivery trucks (big-rigs). The goal is to ensure that 100% of all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales be zero emission vehicles by 2050 with an interim target of 30% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.

States signing the MOU are California, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

July 1, 2020,(Renewable Energy World) -Transportation accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. oil consumption and 28% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it a prime target for technological improvements that can reduce emissions and combat climate change. Electrification of the transportation sector represents one of the highest impact strategies to help achieve that goal.

Demand is rapidly growing for electrics due to long-term cost savings, tax incentives, declining battery costs, and environmental awareness. In 2020, it is anticipated that 2.7% of global passenger vehicle sales will be for EVs. That percentage is expected to grow rapidly – to 10% in 2025, 28 % in 2030 and more than half of all vehicle sales in 2040. In that year, more than 30% of passenger vehicles on the road worldwide will be electric. Even stronger gains are expected in electric buses, delivery vans and trucks, mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles.

June 17, 2020,(University of Birmingham) -The UK’s first hydrogen-powered train (HydroFLEX) is moving closer to commercial operation after the University of Birmingham has been awarded new funding by the Department for Transport.

The grant, worth £400,000, is part of InnovateUK’s First of a Kind (FOAK) Program. It will enable the HydroFLEX development team at the University of Birmingham and industry partners Porterbrook to develop the detailed final production design and testing of the HydroFLEX train

June 12, 2020,( CleanTechnica ) -Ellen, Denmark’s first all-electric ferry, entered revenue service in September last year. The electric ferry trial was supported by the Horizon 2020 program funded by the European Union, so of course the backers wanted to know if Ellen met all the program criteria. The results are now in and the answer is a resounding yes. After 10 months in service, the electric ferry has met or exceeded all expectations. In addition, it has proven that electric propulsion costs less than diesel power.

An electric ferry is a lot like an electric car. It costs a little more in the beginning but pays for itself with reduced fuel and maintenance costs over its lifetime. Reduced carbon emissions are a welcome bonus as well.

June 8, 2020,(ScienceDaily) -Washington State University researchers have made a key advance in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that could make the highly energy-efficient and low-polluting technology a more viable alternative to gasoline combustion engines for powering cars.

Led by PhD graduate Qusay Bkour and Professor Su Ha in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, the researchers have developed a unique and inexpensive nanoparticle catalyst that allows the fuel cell to convert logistic liquid fuels such as gasoline to electricity without stalling out during the electrochemical process.

The research, featured in the journal, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, could result in highly efficient gasoline-powered cars that produce low carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.

June 6, 2020,(CleanTechnica) -It’s long been the case that one of the top challenges to electrification of transport has been lack of models. Consumers like diversity, so the market needs to offer diversity. This is also true in less consumer-focused markets, for a different mixture of reasons. The good news out of the US and Canada is that the number of available and announced zero-emission truck, bus, and off-road equipment models is expected to increase 78% in 2020 — comparing the end of 2020 to the end of 2019.

“By the end of 2020, there will be 169 different zero-emission (ZE) medium- and heavy-duty vehicle models in commercial production compared to 95 models in 2019,” CALSTART reports.

June 6, 2020,(CleanTechnica) -Tesla Giga Berlin, like a seed sprouting, now has steel, dust, and concrete. These three items may not seem like much, but these are the tendrils of a new seed of success planted in Germany, one that is taking root.

This buildout is probably more comparable to GF1 and will likely take shape in a very similar fashion. If I recall, GF1 excavated their footings, which is handy as you don’t need to form them if the soil is competent enough not to slough, but it looks like a lot of sand here, so no such luck.

This person thinks that the buildout process is more comparable to Gigafactory 1’s in Nevada than Gigafactory 3’s in Shanghai, China. It will likely be similarly shaped, he or she assumes.

June 1, 2020 (CleanTechnica-Story by Jesper Berggreen) - A couple of months ago I introduced you to a UK company that converts classic cars to electric propulsion. The company, named eDub Services, was founded by a young man named Kit Lacey, and since my piece on his business, he and I have been in conversation about this fascinating field of entrepreneurship. I have an old Volvo 240 in my garage that one day will need an electric drivetrain for sure, so getting acquainted with someone like Kit is a good bet.

I talked to Kit about the concrete and chronological information on his rebuilds and how we could make it accessible for all of us curious about how such projects can be carried out. This series is the result, in Kit Lacey’s own words. So let’s begin at the beginning:

May 28, 2020 (CleanTechnica)- The city of Cracow in Poland has decided to order 50 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses to help clean up its air and do its part (some of it) to stop global heating.

More specifically, the transit operator MPK placed the order, which will add the new 50 to an existing 28 Solaris electric buses. This makes it one of the top cities outside of China for electric bus procurement. No city outside of China has ordered this many electric buses.

The order also included 50 electric bus charging stations, and everything should be delivered by the end of the year. The cost of the order is reportedly $41.18 million (US Dollars).

May 25, 2020 (CleanTechnica)-Lordstown Motors is using the manufacturing delay caused by the coronavirus to reconfigure the Lordstown assembly plant it bought from General Motors last year to build its Endurance electric pickups trucks. It expects to manufacture 30 pre-production trucks before the end of this year.

CEO Steve Burns, who previously founded Workhorse, says he expects to build 20,000 electric trucks in 2021 and will hire 600 workers to make that possible, but that is just the tip of his ambitions. The Lordstown factory could build 400,000 cars a year at its peak, but Burns tells the Detroit Free Press that because electric vehicles have many fewer parts and components, it should be possible to build 600,000 electric trucks and SUVs there a year.

May 21, 2019 (CleanTechnica)-Rad Power Bikes is launching a new and improved version of the much loved RadWagon e-bike that starts off with a switch from 26? to 22? rims and tires. These smaller diameter, wider tires bring the immediate benefit of a lower center of gravity to the bike, making it more stable when hauling heavier loads.

“We went back to the drawing board and looked at all the ways we could improve our beloved electric cargo bike, keeping our customers’ feedback and requests at the forefront of our minds the entire time,” said Mike Radenbaugh, Rad Power Bikes’ Founder and CEO. “The result is a next-level people and cargo hauler that’s essentially a brand new cargo bike. With a patent-pending frame design, custom tires, and more adjustability than ever before, the RadWagon 4 is the raddest car replacing bike we’ve ever created.”

May 18, 2020,(TESMANIAN) -A few months ago, Tesla began working on creating its own battery for cars in the secret project Roadrunner which goal is goal is to mass-produce a new battery cell that will be more energy-intensive and cheaper.

Tesla enthusiast, JPR007/Twitter, offers a closer look at this. In his article, he concludes that Tesla is not only working on new chemical processes in cells and improvements in coating processes, but they are also working on new cell designs with different physical sizes and new drainage paths for the flow of electric currents.

He writes that we should expect to see new processes for assembling those cell connections into electrical paths outside of the cells, and possibly radical changes in module and battery pack design.

Tesla tries to achieve its goal in various ways, both through acquisitions of Maxwell and Hibar, and through internal developments like laser welding and heat pump capabilities.

May 15, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -With an $800-plus billion electric vehicle market looming over the horizon by 2027, the idea of charging your zero emission car on-the-go with a solar rooftop is trotting along not far behind. The key challenge is coming up with a system light enough, and efficient enough, to make the whole exercise in direct solar-powered mobility worthwhile.

Two companies that claim to have the solar EV roof all figured out are Royal DSM and Lightyear. Lightyear’s signature Lightyear One electric vehicle is set to launch next year with five square meters of built-in solar cells covering the roof and hood.

With that much juice, Lightyear estimates that its solar roof can provide an average of 70-90% of a car’s annual mileage.

May 15, 2020 (CleanTechnica) - Kyiv, Ukraine-based Delfast pushed e-bikes to the limit with its Top 2.0 and is now extending its lineup with a new model designed to meet the needs of law enforcement. The new Delfast TopCop e-bike was recently shipped off to the Brevard Police Department in North Carolina to give law enforcement officers there a chance to learn about, experience, and trial the TopCop in real world applications.

From the sound of things, early testing is going well and the department already sees many benefits of upgrading their officers to the platform. They started things off with a round of training given by two early adopter police officers. The training resulted in a lot of interest from officers across the department to put the TopCop e-bike into use in day to day enforcement work.

May 7, 2020 (CleanTechnica) - First up in the airborne electricity area is a newly unveiled family of low carbon aircraft called Cassio, from the startup VoltAero. The plan is to introduce Cassio in 4-, 6-, and 10-seat variations that meet EASA CS23 certification in the single-engine, general aviation category. However, there is a lot more going on under the hood than “single” would suggest.

Here’s the rundown from VoltAero:
“Cassio utilizes VoltAero’s hybrid-electric power module in an aft fuselage “pusher” configuration, integrating a cluster of electric motors with a high-performance internal combustion engine that serves as the range extender.”

Apr. 22, 2020 (CleanTechnica) - In response to a Twitter inquiry, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently declared that the upcoming Cybertruck will “even float for a while.”

The Cybertruck has been envisioned as an off-road heavyweight vehicle pushed to its limits. Its ability to “float” like Musk stated in this tweet was related to wading through water, such as when an off-road vehicle would want to cross streams.

Back in 2016, Musk also tweeted about another Tesla model that might be able to float. “We *def* don’t recommended this, but Model S floats well enough to turn it into a boat for short periods of time. Thrust via wheel rotation.”

Apr. 8, 2020 (greener ideal) -The Future of Green Motoring

This focus on sustainability appeared to be a consistent concern across age groups as regardless of age the respondents spoke of the relative importance of sustainability and health attributes.

Apr. 12, 2020 (Hydrogen Fuel News) -Switch Maritime awarded a contract to All American Marine (AAM) to build the first US hydrogen fuel cell vessel, which will be a ferry operating in the California Bay Area. This project has now taken its first step toward construction by securing a shipyard.

The ferry will be a nearly 70 foot, zero-emission, 84-passenger aluminum electric-drive ferry.

The hydrogen fuel cell vessel construction project is called the Water-Go-Round, which will also be the name of the ferry. It already started at the Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard located in Alameda, California. That said, it is now being transferred to AAM. Once the ferry is launched, the Water-Go-Round will be the first H2 ferry in the U.S and will be the first commercial fuel cell ferry in the world.

Apr. 6, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -With all the grim global COVID-19 news, empty grocery stores shelves, lack of N95 masks in many parts of the country, and toilet paper hoarding, it seemed appropriate to mention some future fun and happier moments that undoubtedly will occur after we get past the current pandemic. Getting out on the water at a lake or ocean is certainly an enjoyable time for many people. Being able to do so on a motorized surfboard sounds even better.

Based in Sweden, Awake makes electric surfboards that can achieve a top speed of 30 knots and provide rides for up to 45 minutes per charge. Named the RAVIK and RAVIK S, the boards can be charged in about 80 minutes and batteries can be swapped quickly between sessions for riding continuity. Brand Manager Gustav Kjellberg answered some questions for CleanTechnica about surfing electric style.

Apr. 6, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -According to Armor, ASCA weighs only about 450 grams per square meter. To put that in perspective, it is about 30 times lighter than other technologies. A piece the size of a sheet of paper weighs only 30 grams — about the same as 6 sheets of paper the same size.

There are lots of clever people in the world and some of them work for Armor, a thin-film solar company located in France. One of its products is called ASCA, which uses semi conductor compounds based on organic polymers printed on flexible films. The flexibility means ASCA thin-film solar products can be mounted on curved surfaces, something traditional solar panels cannot do. In tests, it can be rolled and unrolled 50,000 with no loss of performance.

Apr. 3, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -Last month, Lucid Motors quietly took a pre-production Lucid Air electric sedan on a 400-mile (643 km) drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The run was part range test, part proof of concept, and part PR mission, and went off without a hitch. Then, once the Lucid crew made it to LA?

They charged up, and drove back.

Regardless of where you stood on Lucid’s chances of making it to production a few years ago, the company seems to be batting 1.000 since opening its California Headquarters and receiving a billion-dollar cash infusion from Saudi Arabian investors back in 2018. The fact that its massive Arizona production line is still on schedule as well is just icing on Lucid’s competency cake.

Mar. 26, 2020 (greener ideal) - There are many problems that the automotive industry causes for the environment. Gasoline and diesel release carbon dioxide emissions, cause harmful petroleum leaks and even implement disruptive mining practices.

Today, many eco-conscious drivers and scientists are looking for ways to power their cars with cleaner and alternative sources of energy.

Some of the most popular alternative energy sources include biodiesel and electricity. However, it’s the more uncommon ones that hold the most promise.

A rise in popularity of electric powered vehicles makes electric and battery-powered cars a front-runner, however there are many power sources still out there to research and test out in the future. From the energy sources that are well-known like electricity and solar, to some that you’ve never even heard of, like tequila and coffee grounds, we put together a list of promising and interesting potential power sources being implemented or researched to power our future on the road.

Mar. 26, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -The Norwegian auto market continues to electrify more and more, with a whopping 68% of new vehicle sales being plug-in vehicle sales in February. Unsurprisingly, in a market that plugged into the EV revolution, many EV enthusiasts are not keen on calling plug-in hybrids “electric vehicles,” but plug-in hybrids still offer a significant improvement compared to plugless vehicles.

As Max Holland wrote earlier this month, fully electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 50% of new vehicle sales in the country. In this piece, based on EV Volumes data, I’ll dive into the model breakdown. For more on the fuel shift, check out Max’s piece.

Mar. 26, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -A popular meme for those opposed to electric cars — that would be Charles Koch and his army of subservient minions — is that electric cars have higher carbon emissions than conventional cars.

You see it all the time in supposedly ethical publications — a story planted by the anti-EV crowd suggesting that when you add up all the emissions associated with manufacturing an electric car, especially the battery, and include the emissions created to generate the electricity needed to charge it over its lifetime, the total is greater than it would be for a similar vehicle powered by a gasoline or diesel engine.

You only need to have the IQ of your typical head of iceburg lettuce to know that’s a lie, but urban legends die hard...

Mar. 18, 2020 (ENN Network) - An EU project is now underway to investigate the possibilities of hybrid-electric aircraft. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology are part of the project and will develop innovative heat management concepts and support aircraft design.

Few people today doubt that the Earth's atmosphere is affected by carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. The largest sources of emissions come from agriculture, industry and transport. Transport accounts for 25% of global emissions and aviation account for about 3%.

“A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is a major key for aviation to continue to contribute to the development of society and the mobility of people. It requires innovative thinking and ambitious research that goes far beyond small improvements. The goal of this project is to find out if hybrid-electric flying can be a solution to the problem”, says Carlos Xisto, associate professor in the Division of Fluid Dynamics at the Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences.

Mar. 14, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -Volkswagen issued a press release this week focusing on the upcoming launch of its ID.3 electric car. It confirms that deliveries of its ID.3 First Edition models will begin this summer and adds this interesting twist. The company says virtually all of those cars — 30,000 of them — will be delivered simultaneously. “The objective is to deliver the 30,000 pre-booked ID.3 vehicles in the 1st Edition to customers throughout Europe at almost the same time,” the company says.

There have been rumors suggesting Volkswagen is having major problems with the software installed in the first cars, which started rolling off the assembly line last November. The press release refers to that issue in oblique terms. “During production, the current software version will initially be transferred to the vehicle. Over subsequent months, the digital functions will be regularly updated.” The suggestion is, “Don’t worry, people, We’ve got this covered.”

Mar. 10, 2020 (POWERGRID INTERNATIONAL) - Vermont utility, Green Mountain Power (GMP), announced yesterday the launch of a program to expand fast charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) in Vermont in an effort to combat the state’s largest source of carbon emissions: transportation.

The program’s goal is to incorporate fast charging into parts of the state without it and encourage fast charging development along interstates and other busy roadways. The GMP program estimates that it will result in around 20 new charging stations, doubling the current 17 available.

Businesses, communities, and other organizations interested in installing a fast charger for public use can apply to GMP’s pilot program, which offers $40,000 towards the electrical interconnection of a fast charger at 20 different locations.

Mar. 3, 2020 (REUTERS) -The century-old Amsterdam canal boat Gerarda Johanna looks like a classic with wood paneling, but beneath its floorboards lies a high-tech underbelly: rows of lithium ion batteries, 66 in all, with an electric drive train powering its propeller.

The boat is part of a push by Amsterdam’s new Green Party mayor to ban diesel engines from the center’s ancient canals by 2025, helping the city’s efforts to combat climate change.

The transition among commercial vessels is well underway, with 75% of the 550 on the city’s water qualifying as emissions free, according to city spokesman Wouter Keuning.

Mar. 3, 2020 (Green Car Congress) —Highland Electric Transportation has selected Thomas Built Buses Inc.’s Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus powered by Proterra electric vehicle technologyand the Proterra 60kW charging system for deployment with the Beverly Public Schools, in Beverly, Massachusetts.

The project represents the first all-electric school bus in Beverly and the first Thomas Built all-electric school bus in New England.

In January 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced the availability of VW Settlement Trust-funded open grant programs aimed at reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide and greenhouse gas across Massachusetts, while supporting electrification of the state’s transportation network.

Feb. 12, 2020 (Yale Climate Connections)— More and more people are buying electric vehicles. But some still hesitate because they worry the car will run out of power in the middle of a drive.

Sam Jaffe is with Cairn ERA, a research firm that specializes in energy storage. He says electric vehicle batteries are improving every year.

“When the Nissan Leaf first came out it was 100 miles range,” he says.

The new S-Plus model can go roughly twice as far, and higher-end cars can travel even farther.

Feb. 7, 2020 (Oregon Public Broadcasting)— As electric cars grow in popularity and visibility, experts say a revolution is coming in a place most people overlook: corporate and municipal fleets.

The scooter company Lime is the latest firm to announce that it plans to completely remove gas- and diesel-powered vehicles from its fleet and power its new electric work vehicles with renewable energy.

Jan. 30, 2020 (CleanTecnica)—Electric vehicles in, gasmobiles and CNG vehicles on the way out. That’s the takeaway from the keynote speech delivered at the Washington Auto Show earlier this month by Undersecretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. He gave nice shoutout to the US natural gas industry but concentrated on production and sales opportunities in the export market, not the domestic transportation sector. As for petroleum fuels, they got barely so much as a whisper.

Menezes delivered his EV-friendly speech on January 23, and he used the platform to take a veiled but stinging slap at the cost of fossil-based transportation.

“Today, transportation is the second highest expense for American households, after housing itself, and it requires nearly 30% of the energy we use as a country,” he said midway through the speech.

Jan. 30, 2020 (inhabitat)—Native of Porto, Portugal, designer João Leão was becoming more and more concerned about the abundance of plastic waste he saw clogging up his city’s beautiful coastline. Inspired to act on the issue, the ambitious designer decided to find a way to clean the ocean by using that waste to create an innovative product. As a result, Leão created the PET MINI — an electric skateboard made completely out of plastic waste.

Founder of the design studio Maker Island, Leão has made a career out of creating innovative and collaborative designs that are geared toward addressing local problems on a global scale. But with his latest invention, Leão is trying to address an issue close to his heart — Porto’s plastic waste.

“It all started with two problems, the plastic waste I was seeing being gathered on the beaches of my hometown, Porto, and the increasing commute times due to the high increase of people on the city and poor public and personal transportation infrastructures,” Leão explained.

Jan. 15, 2020 (CleanTecnica)- Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie says in its latest report that Volkswagen is on pace to be the largest manufacturer of electric cars by the end of this decade. It is currently in 10th place globally. The company says it expects to produce 22 million battery electric vehicles by 2028.

But Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Ram Chandrasekaran tells GreenTech Media that to reach that goal, Volkswagen will need to capture 53% of the global market for electric cars between now and 2028. “The company would also need to secure 57% of all EV battery pack production, something that would prove to be extremely challenging,” he says.

He thinks it is more realistic to expect Volkswagen to produce about 14 to 16 million EVs in the coming decade. Even those reduced numbers would represent 27% to 39% of the global market and make VW top dog in the electric car world.

Jan. 14, 2020 (Renewable Energy World)- This week the New Jersey Legislature passed legislation aimed at electrifying the state’s transportation sector to help the US state meet its climate goals of 100% clean energy by 2050.

Electric vehicles buyers can receive up to $5,000 in cash-on-the-hood rebates. The installation of 1,400 additional chargers, 400 of which will be DC fast chargers to complete a statewide fast-charging network. Incentivizes hotels, apartments, condos, and townhouses to add chargers, with a goal of 30% of New Jersey shared living units having access to EV chargers and 50% of hotels.

Sets goals for increasing electric vehicle usage across the state, with at least 2 million of all light-duty vehicles (cars, minivans, SUVs, pick-up trucks) on New Jersey roads to be electric by 2035 and 85% of vehicles sold or leased in New Jersey to be electric by 2040. Requires NJ Transit to phase in electric bus purchases and to buy only zero-emission buses after 2032.

Jan. 2, 2020 (Solar Thermal Magazine)-Maybe you want to finally feel like you are doing your part to zero out the global CO2 emissions coming from transportation.

Plugging into renewable energy sources outweighs the cost and short driving oranges for consumers intending to buy electric vehicles, according to a new study.

In a newly published study titled Consumer Purchase Intentions For Electric Vehicles,Queensland University of Technology Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Kenan Degirmenci, from QUT Business School, said environmental performance – or being green – was more important than price or range confidence for electric vehicle consumers.

Is green more important than price and range? Dr Degirmenci found environmental performance was in fact an even stronger predictor of purchase intention over price and range confidence.

Dec. 31, 2019 (InvestorIdeas.com)-IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr David Wyatt has recently published a report update "Electric Truck 2020-2030", focusing on electrification in the medium and heavy-duty truck markets, providing a comprehensive set of market forecasts.

Along with the rest of the automotive sector, the medium and heavy-duty truck market is evolving. Governments around the world, recognizing the potentially catastrophic repercussions of unfettered climate change and witnessing the detrimental impact on human health from vehicle exhaust pollutant emissions in urban environments, are taking decisive action, that will, in the coming decades, drive vehicle manufacturers to zero on-road exhaust emission powertrain solutions. Consequently, the days of the fossil fuel-powered combustion engine are numbered.

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.

July 24, 2019,(Scientific American) - EWPG Holding AB is a Swedish company, founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2011, that has developed a patented, smart and cost-efficient technology for turning ocean and sea waves into green electricity. Eco Wave Power is the only wave energy company in the world, to own and operate a wave energy array, which is connected to the grid in accordance with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

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.

April, 2017 (Curbed.com)-From bike shares to newly redesigned electric bikes, there are more options than ever for biking in American cities. Bike companies are also working to change the industry, specifically through the use of “power-boosting technology.”

Pedal-addicts might remember when the prototype of the bright red Copenhagen Wheel was released by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lab in 2009. The company Superpedestrian—which launched in 2013—just debuted a new version of the product to consumers after years of intense anticipation and improvements.

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 over 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.

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.

Mar. 24, 2018 -With all the talk of hyper-performance electric vehicles (EV) and other ‘unobtainium’ cars, we’re happy to report a refreshing story that should appease those unhappy with electric vehicle (EV) affordability. How about a 3D-printed EV for $7,500? And the best part is that you won’t have to wait for it very long.

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.

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 - 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.

Dec. 15, 2017 - 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.

May 13, 2019, -A new floating solar farm in Albania crossed the CleanTechnica radar last month, and going by the comment thread it appears that not everyone in the whole entire world thinks that waterborne solar panels are such a great idea. On the other hand, the skeptics are being overruled by some heavy hitters in the renewable energy industry.

Among those in the latter category is Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, CEO of Norway’s Statkraft. He sat down with CleanTechnica last week to provide his insights on renewable energy in general and floating solar in particular.

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.

June 8, 2020,(Outsider Club) -The electric car revolution is in full swing. Countries all over the world are curbing emissions. Consumers are trying to stretch their miles per gallon and geopolitical concerns over oil never seem to go away.

Gas guzzlers are on the way out...

But while Tesla is getting the lion’s share of the media attention, there is another fuel that is a far better bet for investors.

t’s a new kind of vehicle that could transform the way we travel. It doesn’t involve lithium or batteries or rare earths. It doesn’t involve solar, wind, water, biofuels, or any other form of renewable energy you’ve heard of.

And best of all, it doesn’t involve oil, coal, or any other fossil fuel, and 100% emissions free...

We're talking about hydrogen fuel cells.

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.

Apr. 11, 2017 - Can you imagine a world in which you could spray on your power source and place it wherever you’d like? Maybe on the windows of your home or on the roof of your car. Perhaps on the sides of your tall business building.

Well, solar technology companies are working on a way to literally spray on solar cells to any convenient surface, which will harness power from the sun and eliminate dependence on wasteful energy. To boot, this futuristic option may be more affordable than the solar panels being created in Silicon Valley today.

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.

Aug. 2, 2018 (nocamels)-Autonomous vehicles, electrification, connected cars and shared transport are the megatrends now remaking the auto industry. Offshoots of these four main forces include ways to detect sleepy drivers, infotainment solutions, digital cockpits, intelligent transport systems, vehicle cybersecurity, and satellite navigation technologies.

The Israeli companies in the car arena address all these needs as well as future ones.

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.

Jan. 29, 2020, CleanTechnica -When Hyundai and KIA announced last week that they were jointly investing $100 million in UK startup Arrival, they probably knew something we didn’t know — until now. UPS has signed a deal with Arrival to buy 10,000 of its electric delivery vans between now and 2024 and to possibly purchase another 10,000 after that.

The vans will be placed in service in the UK, Europe, and North America. UPS has also invested an undisclosed amount in the company.

PBS.org, Mar.15, 2019

1832-39 Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invents the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.

1835: American Thomas Davenport is credited with building the first practical electric vehicle -- a small locomotive.

1859: French physicist Gaston Planté invents the rechargeable lead-acid storage battery. In 1881, his countryman Camille Faure will improve the storage battery's ability to supply current and invent the basic lead-acid battery used in automobiles.

For the rest of the history, click now

Jan. 2, 2019 Arcadia Power -Despite a number of alarming climate change headlines, 2018 had many big wins for renewable energy. The proliferation of solar and wind power went beyond almost all previous predictions, a record number of states, communities, and companies have joined the renewable energy 100 pledge, and many more.

Here’s a small collection of some of our favorite renewable energy headlines and milestones from the past year. Sneak preview: the future is bright.

March 12, 2017 - The Netherlands is covered with bike paths, connecting more or less every destination a person might wish to go to and greatly increasing the convenience of cycling as a sustainable mode of transport.

In the densely populated country, where space is scarce, a consortium of companies and research labs called SolaRoad is endeavoring to make those cycle lanes reduce carbon emissions in yet another way: by having them to generate solar electricity.

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. 7, 2017 - The first Wattway solar road pilot in America has popped up in rural west Georgia. The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, named for sustainable manufacturing pioneer Ray Anderson, is testing renewable technologies along an 18-mile stretch of road, and recently installed 538 square feet of Colas‘ Wattway solar road system near the border between Georgia and Alabama.

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.

Nov. 25, 2019  (Environment Florida) —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.