Despite being mostly underground, enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) are having a moment in the sun. At its core, EGS involves drilling deep into hot, solid rock formations, artificially creating permeability by fracturing the rock, and circulating fluids to harness and produce power from the Earth’s heat. Unlike conventional geothermal, which … [continued]
General Motors is supporting a bidirectional home EV charging pilot project in California, with an eye on applying it to virtual power plants across the country.
Geothermal energy has long been the quiet workhorse of the clean energy sector—steady, reliable, and utterly unsexy compared to its flashier solar and wind counterparts. It’s also been stubbornly constrained by geography. Traditional geothermal requires naturally occurring underground reservoirs of hot water and steam, which means it’s only viable in … [continued]
Conventional geothermal electrical generation, where conditions are right, is an excellent form of renewable generation. It keeps chugging along day and night, offering firmed power with some of the highest capacity factors in the business and very low emissions per MWh. Yet, despite its many advantages, geothermal often gets left … [continued]
The deep red state of Iowa has long bucked the right-wing tide on energy policy. Despite its conservative slant on other matters, Iowa leads the US in biofuel production. It also tops all other states in percent of electricity generated by wind energy, at 59%. So, it’s no surprise to … [continued]
The agrivoltaic movement in the US has lost momentum under the Trump administration, but other countries continue to pursue the dual-use track for profitable, productive farming.
The community solar movement in the US continues to attract support from global financial stakeholders, with or without support from federal energy policy.
The UK now has an active market for grid inertia, marking a significant step toward ensuring stability in an electricity grid increasingly reliant on intermittent renewable energy sources. The first successful bidder to provide this inertia service was a notably straightforward yet effective technology: an electric motor spinning a massive … [continued]
A year or so ago, I wrote several articles about attempts to cross the United States on nothing but solar power, carried along on or in the vehicle. Since then, the slow pace and even slower release of information about these trips led to me moving on to other things … [continued]
If you’re into clean tech and sustainable living, you may already know that solar cooking is one of the easiest — and most affordable — methods of letting renewable energy do the work directly for you. There are sorts of solar ovens on the market, and it’s not very difficult … [continued]
