Mark Z. Jacobson from Stanford University has explained why investments in wind, water, and solar are the only feasible ways to convert the US and the world to clean energy. However, even the best technologies come with environmental impacts. With encouragement from the federal government, private industry has recently made … [continued]
Harnessing renewable energy is a crucial step in building sustainable communities, and as climate change accelerates, finding carbon-free energy sources that are affordable, reliable, and can handle changes in policy, extreme weather events, and rising demand is more important than ever. One often-overlooked solution? Our rivers. Small hydroelectric turbines (“Small … [continued]
Who gives a dam? Drop-in hydrokinetic turbines could bring hydropower to canals, rivers, and tidal waterways without damming up the flow of water.
One notable driver of small hydropower is the low generation cost compared to other off-grid renewable technologies. This information comes from a deeper analysis that Transparency Market Research published in a new report titled, Small Hydropower Market, by Installed Capacity – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast, 2015 — … [continued]
Around $4.4 million in new funding is headed to two new projects in Pennsylvania and Michigan in order to aid the development of “advanced” small hydropower materials & manufacturing, via the Energy Department, according to a recent press statement. Specifically, the funding is expected to be supporting new “low-head” technologies. Reportedly, the … [continued]
The one thing everyone working on energy issues in America can agree upon is non-existent energy policy action at the national level. But late last week President Obama signed two bipartisan bills that could create a major boost for US renewables generation from an unlikely source – small hydropower.
It’s kind of amazing these bills becoming law hasn’t gotten much attention, since they’re the first real energy legislation to pass Congress since 2009, and could ultimately create 1.2 million green jobs while adding 60 gigawatts of new renewable electricity to the grid.
In a town hall meeting with staffers last week, new Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz dropped a bombshell and a hint. The bombshell, at least as far as fans of natural gas are concerned, is that Moniz sees natural gas not as a permanent fixture in the US energy landscape, but … [continued]
Germany, South Korea, Japan, and China aren’t the only countries looking to up step on the renewable energy pedal. Brazil, another major world economy, has also recently announced big renewable energy plans.
A new national 10-year plan from Brazil shows that the country will triple its use of renewable energy by 2020 and that a lot of that energy will be wind energy.
