Renewable Energy Archives

A friend recently made me aware of a website for a group called Project Drawdown. It’s interesting…it’s addressing the concerns of those who want to do something to fight global warming but maybe aren’t sure where to start. On a larger scale though, it’s identifying all the things we can be doing to reach that drawdown point…where greenhouse gas emissions start decreasing for a change.

In their own words, “Project Drawdown is the first effort to measure and project the collective impact of a broad range of solutions if implemented at scale. Rather than focusing on a single solution or sector of solutions, Project Drawdown has done the math on what humanity is capable of achieving with the broad range of tools already in use around the globe.”

Politicians would be wise to draw from this knowledge base to draft their own proposals for fighting climate change, if they wish to attract the interest of voters who care about this issue. The breadth of ideas here is inspiring.

Apple achieved a milestone recently, powering 100% of its operations via renewable energy! That includes all offices, data centers, and stores…and they’ve accomplished this without having to pay more for electricity, either. Next up, they’re putting pressure on their suppliers to follow suit…and with a customer as large as Apple asking, I doubt much pressure at all will be needed! It’s cool to see tech companies like Apple and Alphabet leading the charge here. Read more here.

A draft UN science report, expected to be approved this week, warns that we’re on the path toward irreversible climate change. We can still avoid that by making significant cuts to CO2 emissions, but the question is, will we? Unless you’re a Republican (sorry, but I call it like I see it), you’ve probably already accepted that the current situation is unsustainable and that immediate change is needed. What will it take? Fortunately, the answer is ‘not much’…well, apart from a decision to change (which in this political climate in the US, is no small feat!). A report from Deutsche Bank finds that rooftop solar will reach grid parity in all 50 states in the US by 2016. This means the cost will be the same or less than getting power from the electric grid (10 states have already reached grid parity). Removing the ‘cost’ argument from the debate will help a ton. What about the reality that solar power is not a 24/7 energy source? Good news there, too. Many companies have been working on energy storage systems, and they’re looking more and more promising (meaning, closer to production!). The latest is interesting…a company called Alevo has been operating out of the spotlight (sort of in stealth mode, though not like some startups)…and expects to be producing hundreds of utility-scale (read:massive) energy storage systems within a year. These 1MWh containers use lithium ferrophosphate and graphite batteries..cool tech. It’s easy to perhaps dismiss Alevo as yet another company with dreams and promises…except this one has raised a billion dollars from Swiss investors. Whoa. So they have the technology, they have the money, and they’re taking over a former Phillips Morris plant in North Carolina. This is a company to watch. Then of course you have Solar City looking to include battery storage systems with every home solar installation within 5-10 years.

So the future is bleak if we do not act…yet advances in technology along with greatly decreased costs is looking to push renewable energy to the forefront, despite the best efforts of Republicans opposing it. Now, just imagine how awesome that industry could be if it actually had broad support! Oh well. It’s a tsunami that can’t be stopped, I think…fortunately!

Is it a solar panel with integrated battery, or a battery with an integrated solar panel? No matter which way you look at it, this new technology being developed at Ohio State is pretty cool. This solar panel has a layer inside that acts as an energy storage medium. No separate charge controllers like an external battery would require. It’s just a solar panel that can continue to supply power once the sun goes down. Since it’s still in the research stage there’s no word on capacity and those details, but it’s a really neat idea that I hope takes off. Read more at ExtremeTech.

The fight has begun. Solar and ‘old energy’ are increasingly butting heads, as the old business model breaks in the face of new distributed solar generation. Old energy is fighting back with the help of governments reducing incentives for distributed solar installations and even increasing fees for grid-tied systems. It seems to be slowing down solar adaption in areas, but I think this is just a temporary blip…once energy storage drops in price, people will have a viable solution for going entirely off-grid, and then Old Energy will be faced with the same infrastructure costs, yet with fewer customers to spread that cost over. The inevitable collapse of Old Energy will be fascinating to observe…I can’t wait! Read more at Business Insider.

Category: Renewable Energy

Project Drawdown

Apple on 100% renewable energy

The possibility of irreversible climate change

Solar panel with integral battery

Old Energy vs Solar