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By Whit Fulton, ConnectDER With the new administration inaugurated in January, and with Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirmed last week, those of us working to help solve the climate crisis can’t help but feel hopeful with what should be a new, aggressive approach to energy policy. As the world is facing a daunting climate crisis, and…

According to recent analysis by BloombergNEF, in last year’s record-setting year, the wind market commissioned nearly 100 gigawatts (GW) of new build in 2020. Undeterred by COVID-19, installations grew 59% year-on-year. Developers commissioned 96.3 GW of wind turbines globally in 2020, compared with 60.7 GW the previous year, said BNEF. Most of these were on…

By Leonardo Botti, FIMER Without doubt, the solar PV industry is one of the most exciting sectors to be working in at the moment. With the International Energy Agency (IEA) reporting a huge 18-fold increase in the amount of installed solar PV capacity between 2010 and 2020, and IEA executive director Fatih Birol, stating that…

By Allen Austin, ABB Renewable energy has arrived, and it makes up the majority of new generating capacity being added in the United States. The US Energy Information Administration projects renewables’ share of the national generation mix will rise from 21 percent in 2020 to 42 percent in 2050, even as the federal tax credits…

Energy storage installation grew nearly 200 percent and totaled an all-time operational record in fourth quarter 2020, according to a new report. The report released by analytics and research firm Wood MacKenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association’s latest U.S. Monitor report indicated that about 2,156 MWh of new energy storage was brought online in the last…

The 4-MW Kruisvallei hydropower plant reached commercial operations in late February 2021, according to project developer Red Rocket. Construction of this small hydro plant, on the Ash River between Clarens and Bethlehem in the Free State Province of South Africa, began in March 2019. Kruisvallei Hydro is the third hydropower project procured under South Africa’s Renewable…

by Richard Schmalensee, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management and Davide Schoenbrod, Professor, New York Law School The oil industry’s lobbying arm, the American Petroleum Institute, suggested in a new draft statement that it might support Congress putting a price on carbon emissions to combat climate change, even though oil and gas are major sources of those…

Originally published on ILSR.org Since rooftop solar became possible, electric utilities have struggled to incorporate it into their outdated business model. In recent years, this lag in utility recognition has become increasingly problematic, risking the health, environmental, and financial impacts of over-investment in large fossil fuel power plants. In over 30 states, monopoly utilities submit…

[updated March 2021] Solar experts and installers have found that when a family decides to install rooftop solar panels on their home, their children understandably become interested in solar energy and solar power systems. We want to help parents explain solar power and the benefits of solar energy systems to their kids. However, the complexities…

The Department of the Interior today announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed the environmental analysis of the proposed Vineyard Wind I offshore wind project. This is the final analysis that BOEM needs to either approve the project or request additional modifications. Vineyard Wind is proposing what is expected to be…