Solar Garden in CO Shines Spotlight on Efficient Agriculture

coloradodaily.com, 10/6/2020. Jack’s Solar Garden LLC, a solar energy company, celebrated the opening of its five-acre, 1.2-megawatt solar panel and agriculture farm Friday near Longmont. Art, music and conversations about renewable energy occurred underneath the farm’s 8-foot-tall panels. The family-owned and operated company has been working on this project for several years. It’s owned by … Read more

Furnaces Continue to Waste Gas Under Trump Administration

aceee.org, 10/01/2020. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) moved one step closer today to blocking a future administration from cutting the amount of natural gas wasted by furnaces and water heaters. Two of the biggest energy needs in most buildings are heating the air and heating the water. According to DOE, they together account for 62% … Read more

Carbon-Free Energy to Power Google by 2030

greentechmedia.com, 9/30/2020 Google on Monday pledged that by 2030 it will run its entire business on carbon-free energy — every hour of every day of the year. The promise commits the tech giant to an even more aggressive program of sourcing clean energy and enabling the infrastructure to make it available even when the sun isn’t shining and the … Read more

California Set to Phase Out All New Non-EV Car Sales

washingtonpost.com, 9/25/20. California, the world’s fifth-largest economy and the state that created U.S. car culture, will stop selling gasoline-powered automobiles within 15 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Wednesday. Facing a record-breaking wildfire season as well as years of heat waves and droughts exacerbated by climate change, the Golden State is seeking to accelerate the … Read more

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Grant Awarded by Shell

transportdive.com, 9/14/20. Dive Brief: The California Energy Commission has awarded almost $116 million to expand hydrogen refueling systems in the state. Among the proposed recipients was Shell’s Equilon Enterprises, also known as Shell Hydrogen, which could get nearly $41 million.  Shell Hydrogen is proposing to add fueling at 48 existing Shell retail stations and to upgrade … Read more

Sustainability Collides with Modern Entertainment on Netflix

Taylor Patterson, ERS Down to Earth, a new Netflix docu-series, follows actor Zac Efron around the world as he explores sustainable practices, resource conservation methods, and energy efficiency solutions. Zac’s quest to “gain new perspectives on old problems” follows him through eight episodes, each taking place in a different country and focusing on a unique … Read more

Transportation Sector Unveils Surprising Statistics

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Aug. 31, 2020. According to the latest data estimates in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) State Energy Data System (SEDS), people in geographically large states with small populations, such as Alaska, Wyoming, and North Dakota, used twice as much energy for transportation than the U.S. average on a per capita basis. States with … Read more

Mercury Use for Efficient Lighting is Going Out of Style

Published on eceee.org, July 24, 2020. The European Commission is currently assessing whether to ban mercury-based lighting under the RoHS Directive. A new report by the Swedish Energy Agency and CLASP on the availability of LED lamps in Europe shows that there is no technical or economic justification for mercury-based fluorescent lamps to remain on … Read more

Virtual Power Plant on the Horizon for PGE Customers

This article was published on energycentral.com on July 1, 2020. Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) is set to launch a pilot program that will incentivize installation and connection of 525 residential energy storage batteries that PGE will dispatch, contributing up to four megawatts of energy to PGE’s grid. The distributed assets will create a … Read more

New Jersey BPU Sets “Top Tier” Energy Savings Targets

Originally posted on utilitydive.com on June 11, 2020. Dive Brief: The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on Wednesday approved a framework for Energy Efficiency and Peak Demand Reduction programs, setting five-year savings targets of 2.15% for electric distribution companies and 1.10% for gas distribution companies. According to the BPU and energy efficiency advocates, the targets will result … Read more