Mercedes-Benz has revealed plans to follow Tesla into the energy-storage business. “A division of parent company Daimler has been testing battery packs that can power houses, and plans to launch commercially in September, according to Australia’s Motoring. Like Tesla, Daimler has tested quietly energy-storage systems for some time. The company created a subsidiary called ACCUmotive in… Keep reading →
The state of Hawaii will soon embark on the most ambitious plan in the U.S. to deploy renewable energy. The state legislature in early May passed and sent to Gov. David Ige House Bill 623 that sets a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 100 percent of net electricity sales by 2045. The bill will test… Keep reading →
New York Energy Week is kicking off its third year next month! The energy industry event series has quickly become a must-attend gathering for businesses, government leaders, financial players, legal professionals, members of the environmental community and citizens interested in the exciting ways energy production, transportation and consumption are evolving. New York Energy Week’s mission is… Keep reading →
Constant rainfall in recent weeks across Texas and Oklahoma resulting in extreme flooding is a result of global warming which is affecting the jet stream, according to meteorologists. “The waterlogged landscape is partly to blame for the weather-related destruction in Central Texas, where fierce storms and tornadoes have dumped record amounts of rain, swelling rivers… Keep reading →
Ranking utility business models, from quick-reward opportunities to long-term investments For years now, U.S. utilities have been finding ways to make money outside their core business of building energy infrastructure and selling kilowatt-hours. Some are putting their field service expertise to use for tree trimming and landscaping services, or using their call centers and service… Keep reading →
Tesla grabbed lots of headlines last week with its energy storage product announcement, but New York could be doing more to prove energy storage technology and advance the market. “New York quietly (as least compared with Tesla) gave out the first $500,000 to kick-start five community microgrids in the state. It was the beginning of… Keep reading →
Tesla Motors is now more than an electric car maker. As expected, the California company late Thursday night presented new stationary batteries for homes, businesses and even utilities, all wrapped up in a significant new business called Tesla Energy. There was nothing revolutionary about the lithium-ion battery technology itself in the “Powerwall” and “Powerpack” products that… Keep reading →
They just sit there most of the day and night, storehouses of electricity, doing nothing. So in an era of increasing renewable energy penetration, why not use electric vehicles and their batteries to help make way for more variable renewable energy? It’s an idea that’s been kicked around a lot, and now the Chinese are getting… Keep reading →
The first natural gas-fired turbine for US power generation and one of today’s state-of-the-art designs currently live a couple hundred yards apart on GE’s massive 413-acre Greenville, South Carolina campus. The fact that both machines convert natural gas into electricity is pretty much where the similarities end. The first gas turbine used for electric utility… Keep reading →
Japanese giant could help startup compete with Stem, Tesla, others in burgeoning energy storage market. GTM Research predicts that behind-the-meter batteries could expand to make up nearly half of the rapidly growing U.S. energy storage market by decade’s end — and there’s also great potential for international growth in solar-rich and energy-constrained countries like Germany… Keep reading →
