Look out Putin — Ukrainian woman invents ‘solar for balconies’ to wean Europe off Russian gas | TechCrunch

Much has been made of how European countries are, on the one hand, supporting Ukraine in its fight against the heinous and illegal invasion by Russia but at the same time remaining heavily dependent on Russian energy sources. WeDoSolar, launched … Continue reading

The US may have an unexpected green energy source: abandoned oil and gas wells  – Vox

The US is spending millions to explore a surprising source of untapped power. What’s old is new again That’s exactly what the agency’s pilot program, called Wells of Opportunity: ReAmplify, aims to do, awarding a total of $8.4 million to … Continue reading

Texas Will Get Billions for Environmental Projects from $1.2T Infrastructure Bill, from Clean Water to EV Charging to Public Transit » Dallas Innovates

$550 billion in new infrastructure spending is coming to projects nationwide—and a big slice is bound for Texas. From new electric buses to rail projects to improved power infrastructure to lead water service line removal and more, Texas’ environment may … Continue reading

Jigar Shah’s big idea for getting rooftop solar and… | Canary Media

How the DOE could marshal its loan guarantees to decarbonize the grid and boost energy equity in one fell swoop. Can a government program created to back industrial-scale energy infrastructure help get efficient smart appliances and solar-battery systems into the … Continue reading

Why did renewables become so cheap so fast? And what can we do to use this global opportunity for green growth? – Our World in Data

For the world to transition to low-carbon electricity, energy from these sources needs to be cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels dominate the global power supply because until very recently electricity from fossil fuels was far cheaper than … Continue reading

Solar Panel Recycling in 2019: How it Works

October 16, 2020 Update: America’s Largest Solar Panel-Maker Leads the World in Panel Recycling–Recovering 95% of Materials Solar panel recycling is important for the future of solar. Solar panels have a lifetime of about 30 years. With the increasing number … Continue reading

San Antonio to Combat ‘Climate Emergency’ with New Action Plan

One of America’s highest Latino-populated cities now has a strategy to address the climate crisis. Earlier this month, the San Antonio (64% Latino) City Council passed Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) by a 10-1 vote. It outlines objectives that … Continue reading

Fee-dividend climate plan right balance

How to solve the political paradox of climate change? While most Americans accept that man-made climate change is real, they are divided about what to do in response to it and how urgently to take action. Recent polling from the … Continue reading

Vast subsidies keeping the fossil fuel industry afloat should be put to better use

Capitalism has often been identified as the underlying cause of the climate crisis. A leading voice on the subject is Naomi Klein, one of the climate movements most influential thinkers, whose seminal book on climate change was subtitled Capitalism vs. … Continue reading

New Solar + Battery Price Crushes Fossil Fuels, Buries Nuclear

Los Angeles Power and Water officials have struck a deal on the largest and cheapest solar + battery-storage project in the world, at prices that leave fossil fuels in the dust and may relegate nuclear power to the dustbin. Later … Continue reading

Energy storage hits the fast track, doubling year-over-year installations

Fueled by increased interest in grid service applications like time-of-use (TOU) shifting, self-consumption and backup power, the U.S. market for energy storage doubled in 2018 and is expected to double again by the end of the year. Of the 777 … Continue reading

Where Batteries are Replacing Power Plants

A curious thing recently happened in Southern California. One of the largest utilities in the country scrapped a proposal to build a new peaker plant, opting instead to build a battery system that could store excess electricity from solar and … Continue reading

Book-Sized Solar Panels Could Power a Whole Home in New Breakthrough

Scientists have developed a pioneering new technique that could generate enough electricity to power an entire home – all by using solar panels that are much smaller than current models.

A team of experts from the University of Exeter has discovered an innovative way for generating photovoltaic (PV) energy – or ways in which to convert light into power.

The new technique relies on ‘funneling’ the sun’s energy more efficiently directly into power cells, such as solar panels or batteries.

While current solar cells are able to convert around 20% of the energy received from the sun, the new technique has the potential to convert around 60% of it by funneling the energy more efficiently.

Continue reading

Power-Hungry Texas Oil Drillers Get a Little Help From Solar

Texas, home to the world’s largest oil reserve and America’s biggest source of coal-fired power, is on the verge of a clean-energy boom. Wind already supplies about 15 percent of Texas’s electricity, and now developers are about to quadruple the … Continue reading

The military is cutting its dangerous dependence on diesel – with solar power and microgrids

The US Army is not particularly shy about adopting the latest high-tech gadgets, and renewable energy is a case in point. Despite all the fossil friendly rhetoric emanating from the White House, the Army is still pursuing microgrids with renewable … Continue reading

Norway’s $1tn wealth fund to divest from oil and gas exploration

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which manages $1tn (£770bn) of Norway’s assets, is to dump investments in firms that explore for oil and gas, but will still hold stakes in firms such as BP and Shell that have renewable … Continue reading

An Open Letter To Be the Change and Lead the Change

Whale blubber and buggy whips were once fine industries, but progress moved us away. And today we know the days are over of a false choice between environmental protection and economic growth. Since when did the simple concept of leaving … Continue reading

Progress and Sustainability Are Intertwined

History shows whale blubber and buggy whips were once fine industries but progress moved us to better things. And through progress today we know the days are well over of a false choice between environmental protection and economic growth. Similarly, … Continue reading