A battery module built at Aquion’s plant in Pennsylvania.
A new kind of battery that stores energy from solar and wind power cheaply and cleanly has hit the market. It is by far the cheapest of a new generation of large, long-lived batteries that could make it possible to rely heavily on intermittent, renewable energy sources.
Continue reading… “Aquion Energy’s battery helps solar and wind power operate in remote locations”
Even though wind power uses up to 14 times more iron, the world wins on a switch to low-carbon energy.
A global low-carbon energy economy could actually double electricity supply by 2050, while also reducing air and water pollution, according to new research. The first ever global life-cycle assessment of clean energy sources shows that a renewable system could supply the world’s entire electricity needs by mid-century, writes Tim Radford.
Continue reading… “100% of the world’s power could be supplied by renewables by 2050”
Renewable energy shows an average price decline over the last 5 years of 78% for utility scale solar and 58% for wind.
Lazard, an asset management firm, has a fascinating new analysis of renewable and other energy prices out. There are a huge number of insights in this, from an outside analyst whose primary interest is financial.
Continue reading… “Solar and wind prices plunge below fossil fuel prices”
Inexpensive renewable sources will provide more energy than the world needs in less than 20 years.
Leading consultants were skeptical about cellular phones in the 1980’s. McKinsey & Co. noted that the handsets were heavy, batteries didn’t last long, coverage was patchy, and the cost per minute was exorbitant. It predicted that in 20 years the total market size would be about 900,000 units and advised AT&T to pull out.
Continue reading… “We are headed into an era of unlimited and free clean energy”
Wildpoldsried produces 500% more energy than it needs.
Wildpoldsried, Germany, a Bavarian village of about 2,600 residents, is leading the way in Germany’s extraordinary renewable energy transformation. The village has invested in a holistic range of renewable energy projects over the past 17 years that include 4,983 kWp of photovoltaics, five biogas facilities, 11 wind turbines and a hydropower system. As a result, the village has gone beyond energy independence – and it now produces 500% more energy than it needs and profits from sales of the surplus power back to the grid.
By the late 2020s or early 2030s renewables could be competing much more aggressively with the oil market.
Kepler Chevreux, a French investment bank, has produced a fascinating analysis that has dramatic implications for the global oil industry. The investment bank estimates that $100 billion invested in either wind energy or solar energy – and deployed as energy for light and commercial vehicles – will produce significantly more energy than that same $100 billion invested in oil.
Continue reading… “$100B invested in wind or solar will produce more energy than oil”
Solar is now the fastest growing segment in the energy business in the U.S.
The energy storage era is upon us. States like California and New York have adapted energy policies that will make it possible to economically deploy storage systems, while technology advancements have boosted performance and trimmed costs. For the first time in history it will become feasible to store electric energy.
The worldwide market for submarine electrical cables has surged over the past decade.
Eighty wind turbines are now under construction in the German North Sea. They will eventually generate enough power for some 400,000 homes. That power will travel via advanced cables buried along several miles of ocean floor, part of a growing move toward undersea transmission of electricity.
An offshore wind turbine near Rostock. Germany.
Germany’s impressive streak of renewable energy milestones continues, with renewable energy generation surging to a record portion — nearly 75 percent — of the country’s overall electricity demand by midday last Sunday. With wind and solar in particular filling such a huge portion of the country’s power demand, electricity prices actually dipped into the negative for much of the afternoon, according to Renewables International.
Continue reading… “Germany generates 74% of power needs from renewable energy”
Altaeros Energies floating wind turbine.
This floating turbine, developed by Altaeros Energies could someday travel to every remote corner of the globe. There, they could deliver electricity and Internet connectivity to people and villages living off-the-grid. (Video)
Continue reading… “Altaeros Energies floating wind turbine churns out electricity and Wi-Fi”
The wind energy industry started 2014 with a record 12GW of wind capacity under construction.
Wind power in the U.S. accounted for more than 4% of the energy on the grid last year. This is the first time this milestone has been breached. However, the distribution of wind power across states varied greatly, with some states well ahead of others.
Continue reading… “U.S. wind power accounts for 4% of energy for first time ever”
Novel energy storage materials flow from the white containers into a fuel-cell like device in the foreground, where they generate electricity.
It would be great if utilities would be able to store the power that wind farms generate at night when no one wants and then be able to use it when the demand is high during the day. But conventional battery technology is so expensive that it only makes economic sense to store a few minutes of electricity, enough to smooth out a few fluctuations from gusts of wind.
