The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board of Commissioners was presented with the Eland Solar & Storage Center in Kern County, California, from an LADWP internal team on June 18, 2019. The team told the commissioners that on July 23, they plan to seek approval of a two phase 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) priced at 1.997¢/kWh for …
Satellite data plus artificial intelligence equals no place to hide. Earlier this month brought a mind-blowing announcement in the world of power plants and pollution. In a nutshell: A nonprofit artificial intelligence firm called WattTime is going to use satellite imagery to precisely track the air pollution (including carbon emissions) coming out of every single power plant in the world, in real …
For 60 years, Lego made its signature building blocks from oil-based plastic. In 2018, the company launched its first pieces made from plant-based plastic, sourced from sugarcane. As one of the leaders of Lego’s larger environmental mission, Tim Brooks, the company’s vice president of environmental responsibility, suggested focusing on finding a replacement for polyethylene, a flexible material used in certain Lego …
The Aloha State’s GEM$ program enables renters and low-income households to install solar and energy-saving equipment with no upfront costs. Hawaii may have a solution for the energy efficiency industry’s perennial landlord-tenant split incentive dilemma. The problem: Landlords won’t reach into their own pockets for energy-saving improvements if their tenants are paying the utility bills; for their part, tenants aren’t …
ICAST is very proud of the green retrofit work it recently completed on 6 apartment properties in New Mexico that will save over 20,000 therms annually. Located in Donna Ana County, they are close to El Paso, Texas on the New Mexico border. The properties are owned and managed by Medlock Properties and are all multifamily affordable housing properties under …
A compact solar-powered device can make hydrogen fuel at a record-setting rate. Power generation fuelled by hydrogen emits only pure water, but producing hydrogen cleanly and quickly has posed a challenge. In the photo-electrochemical (PEC) approach, materials similar to those used in solar panels are immersed in a water-based electrolyte. Sunlight striking the materials drives a reaction that splits water …
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that the automaker is working on a new battery pack to come out next year which will last 1 million miles. When talking about the economics of Tesla’s future fleet of robotaxis at the Tesla Autonomy Event yesterday, Musk emphasized that the vehicles need to be durable in order for the economics to work: “The cars currently …
Last Friday, tens of thousands of school students went on “strike”, imploring politicians to finally Get Serious about climate change policies, and urging a switch to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Can’t be done, they were told. Readers may remember, however, that ANU researchers Andrew Blakers and Matt Stocks in February said that if Australia continued at its current rate …
Eversource advanced plans to install a 25 MW / 38 MWh lithium-ion batteryin Provincetown, Massachusetts, after residents approved a lease for the project last week, the utility announced on Friday. Provincetown, on the northern tip of Cape Cod, has faced an increasing number of power outages as climate change has caused more severe storms, according to an Eversource official. The battery will help maintain power during power …
A few words from ICAST’s Solar Program Manager Chuck Watkins about being selected by the DOE to launch an affordable solar energy program for multifamily.