Clean Energy Blog
Stay up to date on the latest news related to clean energy in our region and beyond.
New Washington Law a Boost for Fusion Energy
An employee at Zap Energy works on a fusion device. (Zap Photo) Late last week, Governor Inslee signed new legislation that clearly establishes fusion as a clean energy source. SHB 1924 also requires the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council and Department of Health...
Fervo Energy reduces geothermal drilling time by 70%
Drilling operations at Fervo's Cape Station (Credit: Fervo Energy) Over the summer of 2023, Fervo Energy completed a 30-day well test at Project Red that confirmed the commercial viability of its drilling technology. Now, Fervo has published early drilling results...
Big News for EV Charging in WA State- Commerce Awards over $85 Million in Grants
Announced by the WA State Department of Commerce and Gov. Jay Inslee last week- the funds are going to nonprofits, electric utilities, tribes and public agencies and will build nearly 5,000 new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in communities throughout the...
Details on How Power Generation Maintained Reliability During Cold Snap
The Pacific Northwest recently experienced a cold snap that brought below-freezing temperatures to the region for four days- increasing the area's energy demands. According to BPA, the area's load peaked at 11,396 megawatts, which is a modern era energy demand record...
PNW Center Of Excellence Hosted Governor Inslee for a Visit
The Center of Excellence hosted Governor Inslee, First Spouse Trudi, and partners at Centralia College on Friday, January 19th. The visit highlighted a number of clean energy workforce strategies, developments, and partnerships- including comments from partners on...
Viability of Using Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology- Caterpillar Demonstration
Caterpillar announced a successful collaboration with Microsoft and Ballard Power systems demonstrating the viability of using large scale hydrogen fuel cells as backup power for data centers. The demonstration was conducted in a challenging environment: 6,086ft above...
DOE Announces $30 Million in Funding to Integrate Cybersecurity in Clean Energy Infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Energy, as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, announced an initiative to ensure cybersecurity is integrated in the development of clean energy. The funding opportunity will support research, development, and demonstration of...
Startup Company Recurrent Aims to be Standard for Scoring Used EV Batteries
Recurrent, a Seattle-based startup, launched in 2020 and established itself as a leader in used EV battery analytics- providing scores for battery health on consumer sites such as Edmonds.com and Cars.com. The platform provides information for both shoppers and car...
Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules Up for Comment
In late December, the United States Treasury Department released the anticipated tax guidance for hydrogen production. The regulations for the 45V tax credit outline qualifications for a range of 60-cents to 3 dollars per kg of hydrogen produced. To claim the full...
PNNL Establishes a Center for Artificial Intelligence
The Center for AI @PNNL coordinates pioneering research of hundreds of scientists working on a range of projects focused on science, security, and energy resilience. The goal is to increase collaboration and focus, and a priority of the center is developing ways to...