Renewable Energy

This FREE statewide event on October 2, 3 & 4 provides a unique opportunity for people to visit and talk with owners living and working with clean energy technologies.

Source: 2015 Green Energy Ohio Tour

Ohio Senator Bill Seitz recently trumpeted forthcoming recommendations of a legislative committee to put Ohio’s clean-energy laws permanently on ice.

Source: Ohio bowing to electric monopoly pressure | Policy Matters Ohio

In a U.N. address, the pope said we need to pay attention to the "right of the environment."

Source: Pope Francis warns that environmental destruction could wipe out humanity | Grist

A 15-year-old kid from Colorado just walked into the United Nations and dared a group of world leaders to do something about climate change.

Source: Meet the 15-year-old hero who just gave the U.N. some real talk about the future of his generation.

On July 9, Denmark’s wind farms generated more than enough power to meet nationwide electricity demands—with a 16% surplus of energy during the day and a whopping 40% surplus overnight.

Source: Denmark’s wind farms generated 140% of the country’s electricity needs yesterday - Quartz

NEW YORK (AP) — Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo have teamed up in a bid to widen access to clean energy.

Source: Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo campaign for clean energy - US News

From respecting science to advocating policy, here are some of the most interesting ideas from Pope Francis' leaked encyclical on the environment.

Source: These New Quotes From Pope Francis Could Change The Debate On Climate Change | ThinkProgress

Mark Z. Jacobson and colleagues show that it's technically possible for each state to replace fossil fuel energy with entirely clean, renewable energy.

Source: Stanford engineers develop state-by-state plan to convert U.S. to clean, renewable energy

BOSTON >> Attorney General Maura Healey said Monday she backs an immediate lifting of the cap on solar production in Massachusetts.

In written testimony to the chairmen of the Legislature's energy committee ahead of a hearing slated for Tuesday, Healey said public and private net metering caps have been reached in National Grid's territory, putting solar projects in 171 communities at risk as development slows.

Net metering allows electricity customers to offset their bills by receiving the retail rate for excess energy produced by solar panels.

"Increased market constraints can drive up costs, and reduce investment in the clean energy sector, to the detriment of customers, the clean-tech economy, and the Commonwealth's energy and environmental policy goals," Healey wrote in her testimony. "A limited cap increase will help avert this market boom-bust that would adversely impact 1,400 Massachusetts solar companies and place jobs at risk."

Hawaii is on its way to having the greenest grid in the nation.
The state legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk this week that moves the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) up to 100 percent by 2045 — which means that all electricity provided by the electric companies will have to come from renewable sources like solar and wind. Nationwide, electricity generation makes up about a third of all carbon emissions.
“We’ll now be the most populated set of islands in the world with an independent grid to establish a 100 percent renewable electricity goal,” State Senator Mike Gabbard (D) told ThinkProgress in an email. “Through this process of transformation we can be the model that other states and even nations follow. And we’ll achieve the biggest energy turnaround in the country, going from 90 percent dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent clean energy.”

Fossil fuels are no longer the cheapest source of energy.

While wind and solar power have made great strides in recent years, with renewables now accounting for 22% of electric energy generated, the issue that has held them back has been their transience. The sun doesn’t shine at night and the wind doesn’t blow year-round – these are the mantras of all those opposed to the progress of renewables.

Now the renewable power billionaire Elon Musk has just blown away that final defence. Last Thursday in California he introduced to the world his sleek new Powerwall – a wall-mounted energy storage unit that can hold 10 kilowatt hours of electric energy, and deliver it at an average of 2 kilowatts, all for US$3,500.

PEORIA, Ill./TEMPE, AZ – Basic human needs―including access to clean water, health care and education―rely on one critical element:  energy.  However, today, more than 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity and billions more need access to a reliable grid.  Caterpillar’s Electric Power Division is working to resolve these issues by providing a variety of advanced power solutions.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) today announced a strategic alliance to develop an integrated photovoltaic (PV) solar solution for microgrid applications. Under the agreement, First Solar will design and manufacture a pre-engineered turnkey package for use in remote microgrid applications, such as small communities and mine sites. The package will feature Cat-branded solar panels manufactured by First Solar and will include a balance of system components.

Tesla will unveil two new batteries on 30 April, one for the home and another, much larger version called a utility scale battery.

A note from the company's vice president of investor relations says the company, owned by Elon Musk, will "introduce the Tesla home battery and a very large utility scale battery...we will explain the advantages of our solutions and why past battery options were not compelling".

During the past dozen years, differing beliefs have clashed on city council and among staff and commission members in Oberlin.

The most contentious difference is over the veracity of what climate scientists have concluded and what people have been culturally instructed to believe. Oberlin has chosen to transit to a climate positive community despite on-going conflicting worldview beliefs.

In the summer of 2007, council approved by a vote of 4-3 to enter into a 50-year contract for electricity from a to-be-built coal-fired power plant. In January 2008, the newly elected council led by David Sonner voted 4-3 to withdraw from the contract. This withdrawal exempted the city from payments for the money spent before the project was canceled two years later that would have amounted to about $3,000,000 expense to the city.