Can we really generate most of our power from renewables in a few decades? In a word, yes. But to understand further, we must understand how we produce and distribute power today. Part of the difficulty lies in the concepts we use to understand the electrical power system. A simple … [continued]
Below is another initial version of an article I wrote for The Economist Group’s GE Look Ahead website (months ago). This one focuses on how a 100% or nearly 100% distributed energy grid would work, assuming a hypothetical grid like this ever came about. Again, this article seemed like something that CleanTechnica … [continued]
Abengoa makes the case for concentrating solar power systems with energy storage for peaker plants to compete with gas turbines, and for baseload, too.
SolarReserve’s baseload solar 260 MW Copiapó project bids into the grid in April, having just cleared Chile’s permitting with a Resolución de Calificación Ambiental. With a price expected to be well under 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, the pioneering 24-hour solar project in Chile’s Atacama desert can compete on price against other baseload generation. Much … [continued]
The Nerdalize heater, an innovative e-radiator drawing its power from large computer cooling systems, may turn out to be an affordable heating solution for residential and commercial customers, putting excess heat to good use. According to the Dutch-based Nerdalize: The Nerdalize heater contains high-performance servers in the form of a … [continued]
Originally published on RenewEconomy A project testing a combination of solar PV, combined heat and power systems and battery storage at a commercial facility in Germany could be adapted and scaled up elsewhere, according to General Electric, one of the project’s partners. The project – launched last week – is … [continued]
Sorry about the clickbaity title, but as it turns out, the solution to a serious problem discovered last year at Ivanpah — the first solar power tower in the US — actually has turned out to be “one weird trick.” Below is the exact problem, and how the problem was solved. America’s second solar power tower, … [continued]
Below is another cleantech link drop, my favorite cleantech stories from around the interwebs other than the ones we’ve covered. However, one of these stories doesn’t have a link, but I figured this is the best place to share it. Tesla emailed over a Q1 sales update (woohoo!). In case you … [continued]
Unfortunately, many people still think that Masdar* = Masdar City. In fact, Masdar has 4 big arms, just one of which is Masdar City. One of the others is Masdar Institute. The cleantech and sustainability research institute includes many top researchers and professors, including several who formerly worked for MIT. … [continued]
Since the days when we humans learned to use fire and developed six simple machines, we have progressed a lot in our ability to harness external sources of energy. In fact, we have defined and redefined its use. But what is energy? Scientists define it as “the ability to do … [continued]
