$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
Category Archives: Smart Grid/Networked Grid
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
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
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
Great article at The Rivard Report on the excellent steps toward building smarter more efficient electric and water grids! Is it time to look at how SAWS and CPS can partner to install water pipes that generate electricity? Portland did … Continue reading
The San Antonio chapters of the Citizens Climate Lobby, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance held a panel discussion on June 9, 2018 about how fossil fuel dependence affects national security — and how the military … Continue reading
Renewable energy might be clean, but it's not always reliable if the Sun ducks behind clouds or the wind slacks off. To counter that variability, the grid will need to combine a range of different sources, such as solar, wind, … Continue reading
The country’s energy mix is under scrutiny. A report commissioned by Energy Secretary Rick Perry acknowledges that low natural gas prices—not renewables—are behind the recent closure of coal energy plants, and that the grid has managed to withstand the increasing … Continue reading
The program offers just one example of the continuing efforts at the local level to rethink a largely carbon-based power system. The initiatives are driven by financial advantages as well as environmental ones. Green Mountain’s chief executive, Mary Powell, sees … Continue reading
San Antonio is the state's leader in solar energy capacity, according to a recent report assessing local "smart" policies across America. Within the last decade, growth in the solar energy industry has brought numerous businesses and new initiatives to San … Continue reading
Starting yesterday, the 2017 eLab Accelerator teams has convened at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah to accelerate their initiatives with the support of nationally renowned expert faculty and eLab’s specially trained facilitators. At Accelerator and beyond, projects from across … Continue reading
More than a year ago, RMI announced it would focus on community-scale solar. Now, as we enable power purchase agreements (PPAs) at prices 40 percent below median bids, we are seeing increasing interest in community-scale solar, and we are expanding … Continue reading
Now, here’s a surprise. Wind power has been growing at a rapid clip, but it looks like solar is sneaking up from behind with a Negasonic Teenage Warhead-scale weapon in hand: it’s cheaper. In fact, according to data studied by … Continue reading
SAN ANTONIO — Right now professors and students at UTSA are conducting tests on a special battery that could help the nation when it comes to storing renewable energy. It's still early in the testing phase as a team of … Continue reading
It’s becoming a somewhat redundant story: Solar prices are continuing to fall, and utilities are developing more and more of the resource, especially on the utility-scale side of things. This is a fact highlighted by recent reports from the Lawrence … Continue reading
From Solid Conference 2015: From “ecosystem” strategies to the war on terror, from the copyright wars to the subprime lending industry, it seems like everyone wants to build an Internet of Treacherous Things whose primary loyalty is to someone other … Continue reading
One potential way to combat ongoing climate change, eliminate air pollution mortality, create jobs and stabilize energy prices involves converting the world's entire energy infrastructure to run on clean, renewable energy.This is a daunting challenge. But now, in a new … Continue reading
A pollution-free revolution is coming While the U.S. pats itself on the back for the riches flowing from fracking wells, an upheaval in clean energy is quietly loosening the oil industry's grip on the automotive industry. Presentations by analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance … Continue reading
A team at IBM recently developed what they call a High Concentration Photo Voltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system that is capable of concentrating the power of 2,000 suns, they are even claiming to be able to concentrate energy safely up to … Continue reading
Lucid Energyportlands-new-pipes, a Portland-based energy company, has come up with a brilliant idea to harness electricity from the water that flows through a city’s pipes. Small turbines are installed into the pipes which send the energy collected from the flowing … Continue reading