After nearly two decades, the Sun has set for NASA’s SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), a mission that continued and advanced the agency’s 40-year record of measuring solar irradiance and studying its influence on Earth’s climate. The SORCE team turned off the spacecraft on February 25, 2020, concluding 17 years of measuring the amount, […]
Green Energy
Idaho’s largest wind farm planned near Shoshone
SHOSHONE — A massive wind farm, Idaho’s largest, could break ground in the Magic Valley in 2022. The final size and cost for the Lava Ridge Wind Project isn’t yet known, but the wind farm could be up to 1,000 megawatts with a price tag in the $1 billion range. At 1,000 MW and with […]
If carbon neutral by 2050 is the Moon Shot, where’s the Rocket Ship?
When Kennedy said we would send a man to the moon, people were doubtful this could – or should – happen. History may paint a rosier picture, but in 1969, only 47 percent of the public supported the moon landing. They weren’t necessarily on board, but for the teams of scholars, researchers, scientists and engineers […]
Architects envision a green, solar-powered skyscraper
Warsaw-based architecture firm FAAB Architektura has unveiled designs for the Vertical Oasis Building, a conceptual skyscraper that would use renewable energy to reduce its carbon footprint. Envisioned for densely populated cities around the world, the futuristic proposal features a conical shape with a facade built of materials designed to harness solar energy. Large round openings […]
This Finnish VC Firm Says It’s The First To Be Carbon Neutral
Butterfly Ventures invests in the seed stage startups from Finland, Nordics, and Baltics. As a young venture capital (VC) firm with a €30 million fund, they also chose to ensure that all their operations are carbon neutral on an annual basis. Juho Risku, CEO of Butterfly Ventures, said that the company was surprised when they […]
Heating solar panels to clear snow
Norwegian technology company Innos has developed a weight monitoring system it claims can kick in to melt snow on rooftop PV panels. The Weight Watcher technology, which uses module surfaces to melt the snow, was created to avoid unsafe loads on panels and roofs. “If you push a current through a diode, as is a […]
2019 Was a Record Year for U.S. Solar Power
The expansion of solar-powered electricity in the U.S. broke major records last year, accounting for nearly 40% of all new generating capacity. And total installed photovoltaic (PV) power is expected to more than double in the next five years, according to an annual report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, […]
Maersk Pledges to be Carbon Neutral by 2050
Aimed at accelerating the transition to carbon neutral shipping, Maersk announces today its goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve this goal, carbon neutral vessels must be commercially viable by 2030, and an acceleration in new innovations and adaption of new technology is required. Climate is one of the most important issues in […]
Brookfield Renewable Confirms Massive Renewable Energy Merger With TerraForm Power
Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP), a subsidiary of asset management company Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM), has finally struck a deal to acquire TerraForm Power (NASDAQ:TERP), or the roughly 38% stake that it and its affiliates don’t already own in the company. The combined entity will be one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies. The acquisition […]
Breakthrough Solar System Uses Recycled Aluminum to Store Energy—Without Batteries
A new renewable energy startup company has come up with a low-cost, zero-emissions solution to the thorny issue surrounding what happens when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Paradoxically, the more the world embraces clean energy like solar and wind, the more it must embrace something markedly less-clean—diesel fuel or batteries. In […]