“We’re thinking we can turn water heaters, refrigerators, thermostats, electric vehicles and batteries into virtual power plants [VPPs]” to help balance the grid's increasing clean electricity, Jigar Shah, director of the DOE Loan Programs … [Read more...]
Planning the Energy Transition
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve run across what might be a few really useful reports on the energy transition. The Lancet is doing an annual climate countdown report to monitor our progress. Here is this year’s edition: … [Read more...]
Grid-scale Battery: The Tesla System in Australia
Remember when Elon Musk offered to build a grid-scale battery for Southern Australia in "100 days or it’s free"? He made good on his bet, installing it on time for the cost of $66 million in December of 2017. According to a report on its … [Read more...]
Building New Renewables Cheaper than Operating Existing Coal Plants
Rocky Mountain Institute had a webinar on “The Energy Future Is Now” on December 13: "Rocky Mountain Institute CEO Jules Kortenhorst, electricity expert Leia Guccione, and Marketing Director Kelly Vaughn discuss the urgency facing today's … [Read more...]
Ann Berwick states the obvious: “Natural gas is not a clean fuel”
Just to amplify another experienced, reality-based voice calling out the Boston Globe for its series (!) of pro-pipeline editorials. This time it's former Department of Public Utilities chair Ann Berwick -- but stop me if you've heard this … [Read more...]
Zero Net Energy – May 14, 2018
Design for World’s First Energy Positive Hotel in the Arctic Circle https://snohetta.com/projects/366-svart https://inhabitat.com/snohetta-unveils-designs-for-worlds-first-energy-positive-hotel-in-the-arctic-circle/ Editorial Comment: … [Read more...]
MIT Energy Hackathon: Rebuilding Energy Infrastructure in the Caribbean After the Hurricanes
The content committee for the MIT Energy Hackathon, November 3-5, has accepted my challenge on "Rebuilding Energy Infrastructure in the Caribbean After the Hurricanes.” With luck, an extremely knowledgeable and expert team of MIT and other … [Read more...]
Tell DPU to Say No to Eversource’s Profit-Driven Rate Hikes
Eversource is asking to raise our electric rates by $96 million next year and an additional $50 million annually for the next four years. As the Department of Public Utilities public notice details, Boston area customers would see an … [Read more...]
Energiewende: Germany’s Energy Transition
Tuesday, March 31 I saw Andreas Kraemer, International Institute for Advanced Sustainability in Pottsdam, founder of the Ecological Institute of Berlin, and currently associated with Duke University, speak at both Harvard and MIT. His … [Read more...]
Getting to Net Zero: Cambridge, MA
For the past year, the Cambridge, MA city government has had a Getting to Net Zero Task Force studying the implications of a net zero energy building requirement. They finished the draft report on March 16, 2015 and will have an open forum … [Read more...]