Eskom, a South African electric company, is having some serious issues. Arrests have been made over fraud involving millions of dollars. The BBC reports that Eskom has been dealing with mismanagement and corruption scandals that have led to its current serious financial issues. Last week, South Africa experienced the largest power outage in over a decade.
Solar One is an organization that I’ve experienced first hand. An active force in clean urban transition, in particular aiding low-income households, it deserves support. Both organizations I met with in NYC — Solar One and WE ACT — had individuals reflecting the relaxed as well as energetic personalities necessary to make something work, really work.
Rolling blackouts in Northern California have drivers of electric cars worried, but the crisis will affect everyone unless we figure out how to address it effectively. Tesla is installing Powerpacks at all Superchargers in the area as one adaptation solution.
Originally published on RenewEconomy. Not everyone was going without power in the middle of the South Australia blackout on Wednesday. Those in off the grid remote areas, or simply off the grid in the big city, had everything working just fine. “Well, it is nice to find out there’s a … [continued]
Originally published on the ECOreport. On any given day, half a million North Americans go through a blackout that lasts 2 to 4 hours. The US economy loses $150 billion a year through these incidents. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the average Western European loses minutes, rather than hours, … [continued]
March 2011—when the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami devastated four reactors and endangered two others at Fukushima 1—forced a radical rethinking of Japan’s energy picture that continues today with a Japan feed-in tariff program. In the latest round, the utilities are pushing back against the feed-in tariffs and the fruitful development … [continued]
Many of us have experienced the growing frustration of a blackout (or a brownout, depending on your international location). It’s very much a first-world problem, as many in the world live their entire lives with only a few hours of electricity a week — if any at all. The western … [continued]
By John J. Licata It’s the middle of August and the heart of the 2013 hurricane season is quickly approaching. Instead of feeling confident that sustainable power solutions can keep our lights on, fears of power outages are actually beginning to grow despite a lower forecast for hurricanes provided recently by Colorado … [continued]
Here’s an interesting look at an issue that can cause a lot of chaos. Notably, the increasing use and development of microgrids, which are a perfect fit with decentralized energy sources such as wind and solar, is one key solution to blackouts, as is the development of “smarter” grids. … [continued]
General Motors (GM) and ABB have successfully converted used Chevy Volt batteries into a modular microgrid energy storage system that can support distributed generation and provide emergency back-up power. […]
