Electrek Green Energy Brief

In 2020, 26% of US households – that’s 32.25 million out of 123.53 million homes – used electricity as their only source of energy, according to the US Energy Information Administration. But what the EIA doesn’t note is what fuels that “electricity as the only source of energy.”

Plans in Europe to place a small number of coal plants on temporary standby would only add 1.3% to EU emissions annually, even in the worst-case scenario where they run at the highest levels, according to London-based energy think tank Ember. 

Eleven US East Coast states have already committed to procuring nearly 40 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power. But increasingly powerful Atlantic hurricanes will be a threat to those future offshore wind farms. A team of scientists investigated how to make offshore wind turbines more resilient – they found that when they turned an offshore wind turbine around, it was better able to withstand violent storms.

Finnish startup Polar Night Energy and local Finnish utility Vatajankoski have together built the world’s first commercial sand-based, high-temperature heat storage system that can be powered by solar and wind.

For the first time ever, wind and solar produced 17.96% more electricity in the month of April than nuclear power plants. 

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas has installed the first wind turbine at Japan’s Akita Noshiro offshore wind farm. Akita Noshiro will feature 33 V117-4.2 megawatt (MW) wind turbines.

Rhode Island has passed a law requiring all of the state’s electricity to be offset by renewable energy by 2033 – the fastest timeline of any state in the US.

The US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling this morning, “sharply curtailed” the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) options to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants – the second-largest source of emissions in the US. Greenhouse gas emissions cause climate change.

Stockholm-based wind farm and solar developer OX2 has applied for a permit to build a massive 5.5 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. If approved, it will be the largest single offshore wind farm in the world.

Italian startup Energy Dome has now begun to commercialize the world’s first CO2 Battery, which was launched earlier this month in Sardinia, Italy. The battery uses carbon dioxide to store renewable energy on the grid, and Energy Dome says the technology can be quickly deployed anywhere in the world.

Spanish-German wind giant Siemens Gamesa has been awarded a firm order for 60 of its SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbines, which will be installed at the 882-MW Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland. It will be the first installation of the world’s most powerful wind turbine, which has 14.7 megawatts (MW) of capacity.

Here’s where the world’s seven largest economies stand in their clean energy transitions ahead of the 48th G7 Leaders’ Summit next week in Germany.

Rivian plans to install a 2.8 megawatt wind turbine on the east side of its Normal, Illinois, manufacturing plant. The wind turbine will provide clean energy to charge new R1 vehicles for the first time.

Jackson, Michigan-based Sesame Solar is today unveiling what it claims is the world’s first fully renewable mobile nanogrid – that’s a small microgrid – that runs on solar and green hydrogen.

West Lafayette, Indiana-based Purdue Research Foundation recently completed a licensing agreement with an international energy company – the name of which was not disclosed – for the commercialization of a new process discovered at Purdue University Northwest (PNW) for the biological production of green hydrogen from food waste. A second licensing agreement with a company in Indiana is under negotiation.

The US Army has launched the largest floating solar farm in the Southeast. It’s also the first project of its kind for the US Department of Defense.

The first of 11 8.6 megawatt (MW) turbines has been installed at the world’s largest floating wind farm, off the Norwegian coast. Hywind Tampen is also Norway’s first offshore wind farm – and it will power offshore oil and gas platforms.

President Joe Biden will today waive tariffs for 24 months on solar panels made in Southeast Asia in response to a Department of Commerce (DOC) investigation that is destabilizing the US solar industry.

Southwest Airlines announced this week that it’s investing in SAFFiRE Renewables as part of a Department of Energy (DOE)-backed project to develop and produce scalable, sustainable aviation fuel.

Contrary to popular belief, air-source heat pumps can work very well in cold climates. They’re now the best choice for energy efficiency and reducing heating bills, and that’s why their adoption is going to grow quickly in colder countries.

The Biden administration announced this week that it will cut the cost of building wind and solar on US public land by 50%.