Soon the entire fleet of UPS trucks traveling in London, England will be powered solely by electricity. The company says this is the beginning of the end of its reliance on the internal combustion engine. UPS has said new charging technology has enabled it go ahead with plans to more than triple the number of electric vehicles it runs in London over the next few years, to 170. Camilla Hodgson reports in the FT: “We certainly believe this to be groundbreaking,” said Peter Harris, director of sustainability at UPS Europe. The development will herald “a new generation of sustainable urban … [Read more...]
Are You Ready for the ‘Mini-Grid’?
A small German startup has connected 20,000 households that independently produce energy. The company is Sonnen. It’s virtual network allows users to buy and sell excess energy to each other at a reduced cost. The FT has more. In Germany, about 20,000 households are already part of an initiative, launched by energy storage company Sonnen, which connects homes that independently produce energy. Sonnen’s virtual network allows them to buy and sell excess energy to each other at a reduced cost. Sonnen is Europe’s largest maker of rechargeable energy storage packs. When the company launched in … [Read more...]
What is GE Working on Now?
For generations GE has been at the vanguard of innovation. Now it appears the mega-corp is about to unleash an artificial intelligence on the power grid that could save up to $200 billion in power worldwide. Anna Hirtenstein reports in Bloomberg: “We’re also putting a lot into the machine learning side, a lot,” said Steven Martin, chief digital officer at GE’s energy connections business, at an interview at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit in London. “We have a lot of people working on this.” The technology would optimize how electricity flows in and out of storage devices such as … [Read more...]
Where Did All of Australia’s Power Go?
During the brutal summers in Australia, temperatures regularly rise to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This February (southern hemisphere Summer), when temperatures were peaking in Adelaide and across the continent, there was a problem. Australia, a major energy exporter, didn't have enough natural gas to run the power plants to keep the air conditioning on. As a result, when things got particularly bad one night, 90,000 homes in Adelaide had their power cut to prevent wider blackouts. How, you may be asking, can this happen in a country that exports natural gas and coal to the Pacific … [Read more...]
The Minimum Wage Debate Goes off the Rails
Here The Economist reports on the minimum wage debate. Some in the academic community have managed to convince themselves that unlike any other market, in the labor market, setting a price floor does not lead to lower demand. How does one come up with such a half-baked theory? The data we are told. The data doesn’t show any deleterious impact from minimum wage hikes. Yet, if you asked this same crowd what they thought of a minimum price for tea by example, you would get an earful on why such a policy would lead to more supply and less demand. As far as the laws of supply and demand are … [Read more...]
These Megacities are Changing the World of Energy
A "megacity" is one populated with 10 million or more souls. You can imagine the energy needed to power, feed, and keep that many people warm or cool each day. ExxonMobil's Energy Factor explains that in some developing megacities, governments are working hard to change their energy footprints before they become unsustainable. Here are some examples: Shenzhen, China Shenzhen was little more than a sleepy fishing village bordering Hong Kong when the Chinese government made it one of the country’s first Special Economic Zones in 1979. The move unlocked foreign investment, and the population … [Read more...]
Massive New Wind Power Capacity to Come Online by 2021
The Global Wind Energy Council says by 2021 the world will have 815 gigawatts of wind power generation capacity. Tsvetomira Tsanova reports for Renewables Now that the biggest gains will come in Asisa. Asia is seen to install 153.5 GW in 2017-2021. Deployment in Europe and North America is seen at 73.5 GW and 61.5 GW, respectively, according to the Global Wind Report: Annual Market Update. GWEC’s rolling five year forecast sees 59.4 GW of new wind additions this year and the annual market is expected to rise to some 75.3 GW by 2021. “We are well into a period of disruptive change, … [Read more...]
This Will Be The Largest Multi-State Wind Investment in America
Xcel Energy is preparing the largest multi-state investment in wind capacity in America. The plan is for eleven wind farms across seven states, with a generating capacity of 3,380MW. Ivan Shumkov writes of the plan at Renewables Now: The plan, to be implemented through 2021, includes a mix of owned wind parks and power purchase agreements (PPAs). “With wind energy at historic low prices, we can secure savings that will benefit customers now and for decades to come,” said Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO of Xcel Energy. Xcel has submitted proposals for the 522-MW Sagamore Wind … [Read more...]
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