The road to electrifying heating and transportation in the United States is being mapped out by Electric Power Research Institute and The Brattle Group. Their forecasts show that different paths may yield a range of environmental, business and health benefits. Electrification could also stoke the fire of utility profits, which has dimmed in recent years. “A greening grid, alongside rapid …

New York’s electric grid operator moved a step closer to finalizing a carbon pricing proposal last week, as a task force issued draft recommendations containing new details on its plans. The recommendations made by the Integrating Public Policy Task Force, a joint effort between the New York Independent System Operator and the state government, build on an April proposal and …

Renewable energy technology has come a long way in the past few decades, finally making solar and wind power generation competitive with fossil fuels on price. But they don’t work when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. “If we want to power the world mainly with renewables we need to find a way to overcome that variability, …

Cut peat blocks were already being used for building houses thousands of years ago. Now, scientists at the University of Tartu in Estonia have developed a material which could make it possible to print energy-efficient houses out of milled peat and oil shale ash using a 3D printer. A couple of years ago, Dr Jüri Liiv invented an organic humate soil improver, …

Scientists have developed a pioneering new technique that could unlock new methods of making solar energy more efficient. A team of experts from the University of Exeter has discovered an innovative way for generating photovoltaic (PV) energy – or ways in which to convert light into power. The new technique relies on ‘funnelling’ the sun’s energy more efficiently directly into …

Colorado’s biggest utility company recently released details of its $2.5 billion proposal to become a cleaner power generator, retiring two coal-burning plants and by 2026 replace them with projects generating nearly 55 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Xcel Energy (Nasdaq: XEL) submitted its plan to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission late Wednesday, laying out extensive options how it …

Most water agencies don’t think of local water projects like green roofs or efficiency rebates as assets, but now they can. And that means agencies can now access capital markets for funding, which could help dramatically grow these projects. IN THE YEARS to come, we’re likely to see a lot more “green” and distributed infrastructure projects from water utilities, like permeable pavement, …

Across South Florida, people are joining hands to address the threat they face from sea-level rise. To that list, add the editorial boards of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, along with WLRN Public Media. The media outlets have created an unprecedented collaborative, “The Invading Sea,” because the threat of sea level rise becomes more …

“There is no technical or economic barrier to transitioning the entire world to 100 percent clean, renewable energy with a stable electric grid at low cost,” said Mark Z. Jacobson with Stanford University. This is the key finding of research completed and published in early 2018. At the heart of this study is the need to match energy supplied by …