Innovative or just silly? You decide. But clearly innovations in the energy space are penetrating mainstream thinking. The relationship between saving energy and saving money has advanced in recent years, with inventors focusing efforts on the next big (or super small) energy breakthrough. Check out the devices below and use the comment section to let… Keep reading →
It was no April Fool’s Day prank when the rate of a power demand increase spiked to its highest level of the year – 12.4% – on the morning of April 1st, 2013 in the Southwest Power Pool territory. Low seasonal and weekend demand overnight quickly reversed course as the business week began and utility… Keep reading →
Microbes in panda feces have shown some promise in making cellulosic biofuel production cheaper and more efficient. “Current methods for breaking down non-food plant material (stalks, stems and cobs) are expensive and require pretreatments that use heat and high pressure or acids…But the bacteria [Mississippi Stat Assistant professor Ashli] Brown and her team discovered do… Keep reading →
CPUC has proposed policies and mechanisms for its landmark energy storage procurement program that sets a 1,325 MW energy storage mandate. On September 3, 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a proposed decision detailing policies and mechanisms for its energy storage procurement program established under the 2010 Assembly Bill 2514, the first… Keep reading →
Energy storage is an exciting space for researchers, investors and established energy industry players alike because as technology advances and costs come down the potential for truly disruptive – and highly lucrative – innovation feels almost within grasp. The ability to cheaply and reliably store and dispatch utility-scale volumes of electricity will alter existing power… Keep reading →
The US military’s efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels may help to advance emerging energy technologies by providing them with coveted assets, such as financial backing and testing opportunities. But there is no guarantee that these technologies, as applied to military-specific conditions, will be commercial successes in a civilian context. The Department of Defense holds an… Keep reading →
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Last year’s election season brought us an amazing series of zingers and gaffes from national politicians — including a number on Solyndra and the clean energy stimulus. Since 2013 isn’t an election year (well, sort of), cleantech hasn’t been in the national spotlight in the same way. That means most of the key… Keep reading →
MIT researchers have devised a membrane-free rechargeable battery prototype that could facilitate cheaper, large-scale energy storage and support widespread renewable energy use. On August 16, 2013, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) unveiled a membrane-free rechargeable flow battery prototype capable of overcoming the major barriers of energy storage – cost and performance –… Keep reading →
Quick Take: A decade after its original publication, a coalition of industry organizations has updated its Electricity Storage Handbook. The document was produced in collaboration by Sandia National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Although focused on transmission and distribution… Keep reading →
New York broke temperature and energy-use records in late July, and expectations that heat waves might become a more common feature of Eastern Seaboard summers are raising pressing questions about power grid stability, and how utilities can manage the load when demand peaks. There are both supply- and demand-side solutions to managing rising energy demand in… Keep reading →
