Distribution

Cities and Energy Video Panel

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Often implementing programs that create meaningful change don’t involve pure innovation, groundbreaking technology or original approaches. In many cases – in both the private sector and across regulatory spheres – the best implementations rely on learning from leaders and applying established solutions to new environments.

With cities driving the global economy and the world tipping further into being a more thoroughly urbanized place, urban energy leaders in both the private and public sector world are trying less often to “reinvent the wheel” as they are learning from what C40 Climate Leadership Group director Michael Marinello says in this video is a “network effect.” Keep reading →

 /  Published October 9, 2012 at 10:30 AM

The Green Republic? Germany’s Wind Energy Boom

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The German wind industry sits at the heart of a European energy market preparing for a disruptive transformation intended to promote integration and allow the rich wind resource of the North to fuel continent-wide growth, without the risks of nuclear power and reliance on foreign energy producers.

It is a comprehensive, ambitious vision that in Germany alone the environment minister Peter Altmaier has compared in scale to the country’s painful post-Communist reunification. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 8, 2012 at 4:00 PM

Are You Part of the 95 Percent When it Comes to Energy?

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California-based distributed generation technology leader gen110 celebrated the opening of its new office in the town of Petaluma in an unusual way. They went to the streets to find out how little people knew about the business of paying for electricity.

Americans have long enjoyed low-cost, reliable electricity supply, but there are signs that era may be coming to an end as long-delayed upgrades and new strains on the system combine to undermine reliability and boost consumer prices. Jason Brown, gen110’s CEO, is convinced that California is at a tipping point for distributed generation. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 18, 2012 at 3:00 PM

Wind and energy storage

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 /  Published September 13, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Save Energy with Natural Gas Upgrades

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Natural gas is an efficient, safe, and reliable fuel source. It costs less than heating oil, and is one of the cleanest-burning fuels available. If you are not currently using natural gas in your building, converting to natural gas is a wise choice for property owners who want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the air quality in your community.

For buildings already using natural gas, there are ways to minimize equipment replacement costs, lower operating costs and enhance the overall value and infrastructure of your property. One way is to commission an energy efficiency study to evaluate your property’s energy use and learn how to increase its energy efficiency. Regular maintenance and tune-ups to natural gas heating systems, as well as upgrading to high-efficiency furnaces, boilers and controls are often worthy investments. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 10, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Distributed Generation Tipping Point Approaches: Gen110

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The appeal of distributed generation is growing as the economics improve sharply, and a perfect storm of delayed infrastructure investment, falling prices for distributed renewable energy sources and a series of high profile centralized transmission grid failures mean the business is approaching a “tipping point.”

“We’re looking at a mass exodus away from the centralized utilities,” Gen110 Co-founder and CEO Jason Brown told Breaking Energy in a recent follow-up to an interview following a successful round of fund-raising by heavy-hitter venture capital firms earlier this year. Since the beginning of the year Gen110 has gone from being able to meet utility prices for electricity provision for one in ten homes to forecasting it will be able to match utility rates for three in ten by the end of this year. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 21, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Wind Energy Works: United States Celebrates 50 GW Milestone

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Over the last decade, wind energy has catapulted from a fringe energy option to an economic, mainstream, $50 billion a year industry that employs 300,000 people globally. Over the last decade, technology advancements have driven the cost of wind down 60%, while the price of oil has surged over 350%. In fact, 40% of new power installations in America over the past five years have been wind energy. The success of wind power has become so widespread in the US that even companies like Walmart, Anheuser Busch and Nestle are becoming power producers using the technology.

Last week, the United States celebrated the milestone of 50 GW of installed wind power, demonstrating wind’s value as a mainstream, domestic source of energy for America. Fifty gigawatts is big: it’s enough capacity to power 12.8 million American homes, or meet the electricity demands of Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama and Connecticut through wind power alone. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 17, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Sign Of The (Slow) Times: PJM Seeks to Cancel Planned Transmission

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Grid operator PJM Interconnection said its staff will recommend dropping the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) and the Mid Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP) from its regional transmission projects.

PJM’s planning process looks 15 years ahead to identify transmission upgrades needed to maintain stable power systems. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 15, 2012 at 11:30 AM

What Is Set to Drive Natural Gas Prices Lower?

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Prices for natural gas are headed lower after a hot summer showed signs of the first boost in pricing for the fuel on which the US energy sector is increasingly relying.

With the approaching end of the cooling season and continued strong supply from domestic gas producers, prices are likely to revert to their earlier trading range between $2 and $3 per million BTU, predicted Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research, a Massachusetts consultancy. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 14, 2012 at 2:00 PM

White House Touts Wind Energy Growth

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The Obama Administration is calling for continued government support of wind energy, touting a new report showing that it accounted for nearly a third of new electric capacity added in the United States last year. A report released Tuesday by the Department of Energy says the U.S.wind power industry is “facing uncertain times,” growing strongly but confronting the possibility of an expiring tax credit that would deal it a severe blow. Roughly $14 billion was invested last year in the industry, which accounted for 32% of new U.S. generating capacity, the report says. The U.S. has also become a major player on the manufacturing side, producing 67% of new wind turbine equipment used domestically last year.

 /  Published August 14, 2012 at 9:30 AM
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