Energy storage, such as big batteries, on the power grid is generally seen as ‘green’ technology but the reality is more complicated, an analysis finds.
Now that panel costs in U.S. will go up, will reflectors make a comeback?
Joshua M. Pearce
Raising the cost of solar panels coming to the US could rekindle interest in a simple but potentially significant technology: solar reflectors.
Transportation is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases by sector. Converting the U.S. fleet to cleaner electric vehicles would likely take decades.
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
What if the world really got serious about meeting global climate goals? Doing the math on current emissions and the pace of energy transitions shows how quickly fossil fuels need to be phased out.
Coal power has long been a mainstay of the electricity system but has lost share as natural gas prices have gone down.
John Fowler
The Department of Energy’s review of the electricity grid finds natural gas, rather than renewables, has hurt coal and nuclear power. But that’s only half the story of the changes underway.
Yallourn Power Station in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria.
AAP Image/David Crosling
On Q&A, an audience member said renewable energy is ‘now cheaper than coal’. Senator Matt Canavan disagreed, saying renewables are not ‘at the moment, cheaper than coal’. Let’s look at the numbers.
As more wind turbines have been put in place, the cost of wind energy has gone down.
Dad of T&S
How fast can the US transition to clean energy and with what energy sources? Here’s why an impassioned debate among energy wonks matters to the rest of us.
Lessons from the Lone Star State: A surge in wind power on the Texas grid didn’t cause reliability problems (and brought down electricity prices) because regulators improved the efficiency of wholesale electricity markets.
Sarah Fields Photography/Shutterstock.com
Energy Secretary Rick Perry wants to know if wind and solar are compromising the reliability of the grid and hurting coal power. The answer lies in his home state of Texas.
Wind turbines require massive structures that are polluting to produce and can harm ecosystems, but these impacts compare favorably with those of fossil alternatives.
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Edgar Hertwich, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Anders Arvesen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Sangwon Suh, University of California, Santa Barbara et Thomas Gibon, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
No energy source is perfect, but solar and wind have a much lower health and environmental footprint than fossil fuels, a study finds. Biopower, though, is a mixed bag.
Domestic energy production, both fossil fuels and renewables, has surged in the past decade, yet policy priorities haven’t.
dingatx/flickr
Presidential candidates need to talk more about energy and address a tough question: what does the government do well on energy policy and what it should stay out of?
The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California is closing and the state has committed to replacing it with greenhouse-free sources of electricity.
Doc Searls
American consumers just aren’t prioritizing fuel efficiency in a time of low gasoline prices. Is there a way to reverse the trend and make progress on climate change?
The U.S. oil industry is in the doldrums, but there’s not much the next (or current) president can do about it.
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Ambuj D Sagar, The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Developing countries need technical and financial aid to begin the transition to low-carbon energy now, not just pledges to invest in energy R&D with payoffs decades from now.
‘Decarbonizing’ the energy system is above all an infrastructure problem.
m-i-k-e/flickr
Dealing with climate change will require countries to ‘decarbonize’ their energy infrastructure. The history of infrastructure suggests this could happen quickly once the transition starts.
The Supreme Court will decide a case that will have a big effect on distributed energy technology, including batteries.
Tesla
The Supreme Court hears a case that will decide whether homes and businesses can earn money from distributed energy technologies, including demand response and home battery systems.
Lots of wind blowing – often at night when there’s little demand for power.
ncbob/flickr
Smoothing out variable wind and solar is a growing problem. Instead of storing energy with batteries, utilities can adjust the power of millions of devices in buildings and homes.