Clean Energy News Roundup (Grid-free Brewing, Solar Window Coating, Slate & Thermal Roofs, UK Energy Shakeup…)
Is it possible to run a brewery without a grid connection? Do solar window coatings make sense? How does an augmented cogeneration system reduce electric costs? Do slate roofs and solar thermal go together? What in the heck is going on with the UK’s energy and climate change department? Is the CPP un-American? We’ve got the scoop on all of these in today’s clean energy news roundup.
[CleanTechnica isn’t the only Important Media site to cover clean energy news, and if you’re looking for more stories on solar, wind, and other renewable energy, we’ve got them at sites such as Solar Love, CleanTechies, and Planetsave.]
Renewable energy is good for what ales you:
There are no poles or electrical wires going to Harvey Lake southwest of Fredericton in New Brunswick, yet that’s where Randy and Denise Rowe have decided to open the province’s newest brewery. Appropriately enough, they call it Off Grid Ales.
What’s NEXT for windows?
NEXT Energy Technologies has developed a scalable solar window coating that allows commercial glass products to produce clean energy from the sun. The product pays for itself in a year and provides clean energy for up to 30 years.
It’s the slatest thing in solar thermal:
In the Thermoslate system, slate roof tiles are integrated with thermal cells where heat is collected. The end product supplies hot water which can be used for various domestic purposes, including solar water heating.
Talkin’ ’bout my cogeneration:
Typical cogeneration systems can produce combustion efficiencies of as high as 75% (compared to 35% to 45% for a combined-cycle gas turbine plant). By combining a typical cogeneration unit with Thermal Energy’s FLU-ACE technology efficiencies can now be pushed as high as 95%.
Caution, the new UK government May not be so green:
Under the new government of UK Prime Minister Theresa May, major changes involving the energy and climate change departments have taken place today. The two departments have been disbanded. The UK’s energy policy will now be decided by a new department headed up by former communities minister Greg Clark, now appointed secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.
There’s no politics like partisan politics:
“It’s draining the lifeblood out of our businesses. Between the Clean Power Plan, the Waters of the U.S., and others that you folks have gotten. The hundreds of billions of dollars that you guys are sucking out of our economy every year that could be going toward job creation.” Concluding a prolonged rant against the Clean Power Plan, [Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH)] stated, “I think it’s absurd, I think it’s irresponsible. Quite frankly, Ms. McCabe, I think it’s un-American.”
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