Tag Archives: renewable energy news

EPA Updates Key Tool for Communities to Use in Turning Current and Formerly Contaminated Lands into Renewable Energy Assets

EPA News Release

EPA’s RE-Powering Mapper is an online interactive web application that allows users to visualize key information on renewable energy potential at specific contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites. Using screening criteria developed in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), EPA has pre-screened more than 130,000 sites for their renewable energy potential. Read more here.

Access the updated RE-Powering Mapper here. 
Learn more about EPA’s RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative here.

ALSO OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

The Nordex Group: leading sustainability transformation with powerful wind turbines, Energy Digital

Today, the Nordex Group has several projects underway and is nearing completion on a 95 turbine project in Kansas, a 101 turbine project in Nebraska, and a 16 turbine project in North Dakota.
AWEA Public Domain Photo: Wind Rainbow

  • Minnesota Power, Tenaska agree on wind energy purchase, The Globe
  • Black Hills Energy proposes $57 million wind farm for new energy options, Wyoming News
    The utility submitted a proposal to the Wyoming Public Service Commission on Monday seeking approval for a new Renewable Ready Service Tariff. The program would offer commercial customers local utility-scale renewable energy resources through a subscription program to fulfill up to 100 percent of their electricity needs. Participants would be able to enter into contracts with the company to purchase renewable energy for periods of five to 25 years. To facilitate this, Black Hills is requesting approval for a 40-megawatt wind energy-generating facility west of Cheyenne, known as the Corriedale Wind Energy Project.
  • The Year of the Corporate PPA, Greentech Media
  • Colorado’s Electric Car Dream: More charging stations, less smog and the warm embrace of renewable energy, The Denver Post. The state is growing more bullish on electric vehicles as it launches a plan to “electrify” more of the state’s transportation sector
  • The story behind that Amazon shareholder proposal demanding action on climate change, Fast Company. A group of employee stockholders have signed their names to a resolution, which will be voted on at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting next year. They are requesting that Amazon prepare a report describing exactly how it is planning for disruptions posed by climate change, and how it will reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. In total, 28 employees put their names on the document. It’s a first-of-its-kind stand from employees of one of the world’s most powerful companies–a group of dissenters using the leverage provided to them via their stock options. 

SHAREHOLDER ADVOCACY / CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY RESOURCES

As You Sow
Founded in 1992, As You Sow promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. Their vision is a safe, just, and sustainable world in which protecting the environment and human rights is central to corporate decision making. “Corporations are responsible for most of the pressing social and environmental problems we face today — we believe corporations must be a willing part of the solutions.”

Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Currently celebrating their 47th year, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
pioneered the use of shareholder advocacy to press companies on environmental, social, and governance issues. This coalition of over 300 global institutional investors currently represents more than $400 billion in managed assets. Leveraging their equity ownership in some of the world’s largest and most powerful companies, ICCR members regularly engage management to identify and mitigate social and environmental risks resulting from corporate operations and policies.

Proxy Preview
Proxy Preview is a collaboration between three organizations: As You Sow, Sustainable Investment Institute, and Proxy Impact to help investors align their values with their investments. Publishes Annual Guide: Proxy Preview 2018 is the 14th edition of the insider’s guide to social and environmental shareholder proposals. This free publication is the #1
resource for shareholders looking to align their values and investments. “Bible for socially progressive foundations, religious groups, pension funds, and tax-exempt organizations”
– Chicago Tribune

SocialFunds.com
Social Funds.com features over 10,000 pages of information on SRI mutual funds, community investments, corporate research, shareowner actions, and daily social investment news.

Here’s why more Wisconsin companies are adding rooftop solar energy panels

By Paul Gores, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With the just-completed installation of almost 500 solar panels that could offset more than 61 percent of the anticipated energy use of the new building, Lakeland Supply is joining a growing number of Wisconsin companies that are opting to address their power needs with solar-generated electricity.

The most current data from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin shows that between 2008 and the third quarter of 2017, the number of solar photovoltaic installations on commercial and industrial buildings in the state increased almost ninefold, to 1,030 from 118.
Read the entire article and view more photos here.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

EV GROUP BUY PROGRAMS

Group Buy Programs Have Helped Sell Over 3,000 EVs, CleanTechnica

A report on EV group buying programs was recently developed by Matt Frommer, the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project’s Transportation Program Senior Associate, in partnership with the Colorado Energy Office and Refuel Colorado. He also had assistance from Will Toor and Mike Salisbury. Image by Zach Shahan, CleanTechnica


SOLAR WINDOW NEWS

Solar Window Technologies invests $25 million in manufacturing lines and hiring, PV Magazine. SolarWindow says its product has a one-year payback, and that a 50-story building facade – 360° covered – would be equivalent to approximately 10-12 acres (1-2 MW) of ground mounted solar power. Competitor Onyx Solar also suggests a less than one-year payback on its solar window product. Onyx also put out a nice PDF which breaks down solar glass efficiency versus visibility, and then gets into the costs of installation.

Coalition for Community Solar Access Launches Online Portal for Community Solar Jobs

News Release 


The Coalition for Community Solar Access, a national coalition of businesses and non-profits working to expand community solar, has launched a new Community Solar Job Portal. The portal features a wide variety of job openings from companies across the country and provides job seekers a single destination to find job opportunities in the fastest growing sector within the solar industry.

“Community solar is a high growth industry with lots of opportunity,” said CCSA Executive Director Jeffrey Cramer. “As the industry unlocks more gigawatts of community solar capacity in more states, companies are increasingly looking to hire smart, talented, and motivated people. We built this job portal to help companies find talent and to serve as a resource for those interested in landing a career in a fast-growing sector that positively impacts the community.”
Read more here.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

FEATURED SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRY NEWS

What Changed In The Solar Energy Industry In September & October?

Also by CleanTechnica: What Changed In The EV Industry In September & October?

Jared Polis wants Colorado 100 percent powered by renewable energy, but talk is easier than the walk

By Mark Jaffe, Special to the Colorado Sun

Denver wants to do it, as do Fort Collins, Pueblo and Breckenridge. Aspen has already done it, and Colorado Gov.-elect Jared Polis wants the whole state to do it by 2040: run on 100 percent renewable energy. There is even a push by incoming congressional Democrats, led by U.S. Rep.-elect Alexandria Casio-Cortez, of New York, to set a national 100 percent renewable energy goal as part of a “Green New Deal.” U.S. Rep.-elect Joe Neguse, who will take Polis’ seat in the House, has signed on to the plan.  Read more here.

Xcel Energy Photo: Wind turbines in Limon, Colorado.

MORE NEWS FROM COLORADO & OTHER STATES

COST OF SOLAR POWER


ENERGY CONSERVATION

Deck the halls with energy savings

Wilbert: Wyoming’s future depends on moving away from coal

Casper Star Tribune Guest Opinion, by Connie Wilbert, a Laramie resident and the director of Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter

It’s time to transition our economy away from a coal industry in permanent decline and make sure that workers have a path forward as market forces move the world away from coal power. Why is it so important that state leaders make transition a priority? In recent weeks we’ve seen numerous examples of what happens when coal executives are left in charge.
Read more here.

Related

NEBRASKA EV NEWS
Preparing for the future of electric cars, KOLN, Lincoln

100% RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS
Does your city want to go 100% Renewable Energy? Here’s how you can fund that, Red, Green, and Blue

ALSO OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

Smart Solar: 8 Surprising Uses of Solar Energy in 2018

Walmart to install solar panels on 19 of its stores in Illinois, including Belleville

By Terri Maddox, Belleville News-Democrat

The move was prompted by the state’s new Adjustable Block Program, which provides incentives for commercial and residential rooftop solar projects, as well as community solar farms. The company already has solar systems at about 350 of its 5,000 sites in the United States, including Walmart and Sam’s Club stores. Read more here.

Photo Credit: Walmart

Illinois’ impending solar energy boom, Minnesota Public Radio. The state of Illinois is about to see a 2,000 percent increase in solar energy projects by 2025 due to a new state law. The boom will likely create thousands of new jobs. 

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

SOLAR ENERGY & DOE FUNDING

Solar Energy Beats Coal On Critical Infrastructure Resilience, Says DOE, CleanTechnica. In addition to grid integration, the agency continues to support research that helps keep the cost of solar cells down, down, and downer (check out the latest perovskite research, for example). Its funding umbrella also covers ongoing support for solar energy adoption by rural electric co-ops as well as tribal lands and cities and towns. Helping to grow the PV industry workforce is another area of focus.

MICROGRIDS

CORPORATE RENEWABLE ENERGY BUYERS

Big tech companies are becoming the top buyers of green energy to meet data needs: BNEF, Utility Dive. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) data shows the tech industry has signed deals for 10.4 GW of renewables and tech-related corporate purchasing has already set records this year. Google has become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world, as it tries to eliminate all emissions from its footprint, but other big names like Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, are also investing heavily. Google Image.

OF POTENTIAL INTEREST TO DO-IT-YOURSELFERS

Off Grid Solar, by Joseph P. O’Connor 

Off Grid Solar is a pocket guide and quick reference for anyone looking to build a solar system with the free sunshine available to us all. “The limitations to widespread solar are not centered on the cost, the efficiency, or the need for advancements in technology. The limitations are solely due to the lack of widespread knowledge on the subject.”

WRISE Opens New Doors for Women in Solar and Wind

Kristen Graf, Executive Director of WRISE, says more women in the field is key. Published in the November/December edition of Sierra Magazine.

Growing up, I was a math and science nerd who loved being outdoors. I had great teachers who encouraged me to explore engineering as a path for doing environmental work, and I got excited about renewable energy as a technological solution to climate change. So I went to Cornell to get an engineering degree.

Once there, I was stunned by how few women were in the engineering program. In high school, there were tons of women in my calculus and science classes, and I just assumed that would continue through college. I got involved with the Society of Women Engineers, and promoting women in science and technology became a side passion of mine.

Click here to read more and to watch a brief video, Faces of Clean Energy.
Website: Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE)

ALSO OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

CORPORATE NEWS

SOLAR SUNROOFS 

Hyundai & Kia To Begin Offering Solar Sunroofs After 2019, CleanTechnica. Many people have dreamt of combining solar power with electric cars. German startup company Sono is actually doing it with its Sion solar-powered car, but few other companies have gone down that road. Now Hyundai and Kia say they will make solar sunroofs available on some models after 2019.


NEW SONNEN COMMUNITY 

 

Sonnen targets utility contract for Arizona aggregated storage project, Utility Dive. The company aims to equip 2,900 homes with solar panels and a battery to provide peak demand during evenings.

 


MORE ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

SRP, NREL to study residential battery storage use, American Public Power Association

Storage installations will likely grow to about 3,900 MW a year in 2023, up from close to 400 MW this year, according to the Energy Storage Association and Wood Mackenzie forecast.

How Battery Energy Storage Changes the Game

Microgrid Knowledge


In this edition of Industry Perspectives, Schneider Electric’s Andy Haun offers insight on how battery energy storage has the potential to change the energy landscape.

Photo: Andy Haun, senior vice president and chief technology officer, microgrids, Schneider Electric

 

MORE ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

How Dispatchable Wind Is Becoming a Reality in the US, Greentech Media. Analysis from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables’ new report, The Potential Wind-Plus-Storage Roadmap, introduces new policies from select states.

Photo: AWEA Public Domain Images


CONSUMER REPORTS SURVEY

Most Americans in Coal-Reliant States Prefer Renewables, CBS News, Posted on Real Clean Energy. A large majority of Americans in coal-heavy states favor increasing renewable energy use. Most would also be willing to buy solar panels for their own use, and a plurality would be willing to pay an additional $5 a month to get energy from fully renewable sources, according to a survey from Consumer Reports


100% RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS

100% renewables city won $1 million to capture and store solar energy. Here’s what happens next: The city of Georgetown is going one step farther to become energy-independent. After winning a $1 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies U.S. Mayors Challenge city officials said they plan to lease rooftop space on homes to install solar panels as well as additional space to install storage batteries that will allow the city to collect and store solar-generated energy.

OF POTENTIAL INTEREST TO GREEN BUILDERS

 

6 green certifications contractors should know about,
Smart Cities Dive

 


AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE

Utilities and the smart city: Building better communities
Not your father’s energy efficiency: Utility programs adapt to the modern customer

More Articles: Public Power Magazine

 

GREEN BONDS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Clean Energy Deal Tracker: Novartis and J.M. Smucker join the buyers’ club

By Heather Clancy, GreenBizClick infographic to enlarge it.

[Corporate] buyers already have procured more clean energy in 2018 than for both 2016 and 2017 combined. And the year is far from over. [J.M. Smucker deal in Nebraska]: After roughly a year of evaluation and negotiations, the 120-year-old company behind brands such as Smucker’s jam, Crisco vegetable shortening and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in August announced it had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 60 MWs of the 230-MW Plum Creek Wind Project in Wayne County, Nebraska. When the project starts generating power in 2020, it will offset about 50 percent of Smucker’s electricity usage. The developer behind the deal is Lincoln Clean Energy (now part of Orsted), which developed about 2 GW of wind power during 2017.
Read more here.

Previously Posted News Release: The J. M. Smucker Company Announces Renewable Energy Agreement

MORE CORPORATE NEWS

Walmart Rooftop Solar Project

CORPORATE BUYER’S GUIDES


Corporate Buyer’s Guide to Wind Energy
U.S. Renewable Energy Map: A Guide for Corporate Buyers

 

MORE TRANSITION NEWS

  • NIPSCO submits blueprint for shift from coal to renewables, Kokomo Perspective
    NIPSCO President Violet Sistovaris said the decision to retire the four coal-fired generators at Schahfer by 2023 and one at Michigan City by 2028 was a result of the utility’s investigation of the most cost-effective, reliable and environmentally sustainable means to deliver power to its customers.
  • North Carolina’s climate plan could bring 25 gigawatts of solar (or more), PV Magazine
    Executive Order No. 80, which barely makes it to four pages, calls for the creation of a “Clean Energy Plan” . . . [Solar] is poised to play the biggest role in meeting the state’s aggressive new goal, for a number of reasons.
  • New England moves to open the market for battery storage, PV Magazine
    As utilities discover more and more how energy storage can solve many of the problems that they have been facing, there is more and more pressure to change market rules to allow for greater use of batteries and other new technologies. The biggest move in this regard has been the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) landmark Order 841, which required that grid operators open wholesale markets to the participation of energy storage.

OF POTENTIAL INTEREST TO SOLAR SYSTEM OWNERS


7 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Solar Energy System
Mother Earth News Contributor

Photo: Dageforde Net-Positive Energy Home (See Solar Examples)

 

FEATURED RENEWABLE ENERGY PILOT PROGRAM

Archdiocese of New York launches renewable energy pilot program, News Release Posted by PV Magazine. Today, the Energy Department of the Archdiocese of New York along with five parishes joined Con Edison Solutions, one of America’s leading energy services companies, and students from Blessed Sacrament School to launch a renewable energy pilot program. As part of the initiative, five parishes, including Blessed Sacrament, St. Clare, and St. Patrick on Staten Island and St. Ann and St. Anthony in Yonkers have installed rooftop solar arrays which will collectively generate approximately 700,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity through 1,717 solar panels. Photos from today’s event can be found here.

GREEN TRANSPORTATION

B-cycle bike-share program nearly doubles number of Omaha locations, Omaha World-Herald. Heartland B-cycle on Wednesday announced the locations and installation dates of 34 new bike-share stations around the Omaha metro area. Heartland B-cycle is Omaha’s first large-scale municipal bike-sharing system. Since 2015, it has been working to expand its current network of 35 B-stations to at least six more neighborhoods, granting more people easy access to the blue bikes.

5 Ways To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Travel, Earth 911
Whether traveling by train, plane, ship, or automobile, getting from one place to another produces carbon emissions. In fact, the transportation sector accounted for the largest portion — 28 percent — of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. Here are some strategies to help you lower your emissions while getting from point A to point B.

Cities collectively buying renewables: “LA led way to leveraging EV RFPs, more cities follow with renewables”

By Robert Walton, Utility Dive

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced in June plans to partner with other cities to explore collective purchasing of renewable energy in order to bring down costs and incentivize more development. So far on board are cities including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Portland and Orlando. The RFI aggregates the 20 cities’ combined 5,700 GWh of annual municipal loads said Adam Jacobs, Boston’s energy manager in the webinar hosted by the American Council on Renewable Energy.

Read more here.

Photo Credit: Depositphotos

Related

MORE AGGREGATION NEWS

Photo by SunEdison: San Diego Canopies

  • San Diego to form world’s largest Community Choice Aggregation, PV Magazine
    The announcement comes as a part of Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer’s ambitious 100% by 2035 renewable energy mandate for the city. CCAs happen when local governments, either municipalities or counties, form an entity to procure electricity for their communities. In the Golden State they have allowed communities to procure renewable energy even more rapidly than the statewide 60% by 2030 mandate. 
  • Businesses Unite To Drive Uptake of Renewable Energy In Australia, The Climate Group
    RE100 has gone Down Under, demonstrating the potential for corporate sourcing of renewables to help shift the energy market in Australia away from polluting coal. This week saw the first Australian meeting of RE100 – the global corporate leadership initiative on renewable electricity led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP.

MORE NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Photo Credit: Google

CLEAN ENERGY JOBS

1.8 Million Clean Energy Workers Employed In Top 50 American Metro Areas

ADDITIONAL CLEAN TECHNICA INTERVIEW

Google’s Renewable Energy Leadership (#CleanTechnica Interview)