Clean Energy News – Center of Excellence for Clean Energy

Request for Proposals: Innovative ways to use earth abundant materials instead of critical materials

Posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2020

The Joint Center for Deployment and Research in Earth Abundant Materials (JCDREAM) requests proposals focused on discovering innovative methods to promote the use of earth abundant materials or reduce the use of critical materials, in addition to other new approaches.

JCDREAM is interested in project proposals in support of experimental, theoretical, commercial and educational efforts to advance the use of earth abundant materials as substitutes for critical materials, promote awareness around critical materials issues, and novel recycling technologies for critical materials.

Successful proposals will advance the use of earth abundant materials as replacements for critical materials in major Washington state industries, specifically clean energy and low-carbon transportation.

Avista focuses on serving customers and communities

Posted on Monday, June 1, 2020

Avista maintains its focus on health, safety and critical utility operations in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

“We’re deeply focused on serving our customers and communities well, and that means doing all we can to fulfill our core purpose, now and into the future,” said Dennis Vermillion, Avista president and CEO.

“We’ve assessed state guidelines and our projects to determine how we can safely continue on with operations that play a vital role in providing our customers with reliable energy.”

As a result of these efforts, more Avista crews will be out maintaining infrastructure, trimming trees, replacing poles, supporting construction work and more to serve customers.

PSE commits $1M to support community

Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020

Puget Sound Energy Foundation and Puget Sound Energy will donate more than a million dollars to organizations and food banks during a challenging time for its customers and communities as they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation will help community organizations and food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic throughout its service area.

“We know this is a great time of need for the communities we serve and the organizations that support them,” said PSE Foundation Chairman and President Andy Wappler. “We are living our value to do what’s right and helping how we can.”

IKEA adds 1M solar panels to its stores

Posted on Friday, May 22, 2020

IKEA invested $2.8 billion in renewable energy infrastructure in 2019. It put 1 million solar panels on 370 0f its stores and warehouses, and also built 535 wind turbines and 2 solar parks.

The goal is to be climate positive by 2030. IKEA shows that we have the solutions.

Solar power interest peaks during pandemic

Posted on Thursday, May 21, 2020

People in quarantine are searching for solar power.

New data from The Harris Poll and LG show that LG’s solar web traffic, as well as quote requests for residential systems are both trending high since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the issue becomes turning this interest into concrete sales.

The trend is extending beyond just base-level consumer interest, as Wicka shares that requests for system quotes have skyrocketed since the onset of the pandemic. From March to April, quotes for solar systems rose 44% month-over-month.

$1B Nevada Gemini Solar Project approved for construction

Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020

The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday signed off on Nevada’s Gemini Solar Project, which could be the largest U.S. solar plant once constructed.

The 690-megawatt Gemini project won federal approval despite lingering controversy over its environmental footprint.

Gemini would feed solar power to the Las Vegas load center.

Coal plant to close, transition to wind energy

Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Great River Energy, a North Dakota electric power supplier which operates as a not-for-profit cooperative, is aiming to purchase over 1,100 MW from new wind energy projects by late 2023, an investment of more than $1.2 billion. It also plans to modify a coal and natural gas-based power plant to be fueled solely by natural gas.

Great River Energy said it planned to shut down two units of Coal Creek Station in the second half of 2022, adding that it was also willing to consider opportunities to sell the plant.

FERC to discuss COVID-19 impact

Posted on Monday, May 18, 2020

According to industry insiders, the pandemic is highlighting issues facing power generators and the energy industry in general as COVID-19 slows the U.S. and global economy.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is planning a technical conference this summer that would look at long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the energy industry. The discussion would look at how the industry should approach investments and infrastructure development should the trend of lessening demand for electricity, and oil and gas, continue.

Economic stimulus packages will help renewable energy sector

Posted on Monday, May 4, 2020

The clean energy sector has been one of the fastest growing industries in the United States for the last ten years, employing 3.4 million farmers, electricians, manufacturers, scientific personnel, and more — serving a wide variety of industries throughout supply chains in all 50 states.

Until last month, the sector had been a prodigious job creator not only in industrial regions, but also in rural America where those most vulnerable to economic shock and crumbling infrastructure live.

However, according to a new report released by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) the industry is among the hardest hit groups in the energy sector, losing roughly 106,000 jobs in the weeks immediately following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conversations about the fourth economic stimulus package, which will focus on energy and infrastructure, strike an encouraging tone for renewable energy.

Bill Gates backs hydropower technology as renewable energy source

Posted on Friday, May 1, 2020

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is backing a hydropower technology that may potentially “fundamentally change how water is leveraged as a renewable energy source.”

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which was set up by Gates, joined Schneider Electric in an $11m investment in Natel Energy, which says its Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT) can boost output from plants while simultaneously cutting effects on fish and other environmental impacts.