energy storage

German energy subsidies

Could a German subsidy on energy storage replicate the German solar miracle for batteries instead? The launch and terms of a long-threatened energy storage subsidy are due to be introduced on May 1.[read more]

China's methanol industry

Balancing dependence on Middle East oil against increasing fuel demand continues to challenge China in its ongoing urbanization and industrialization.[read more]

Enbridge Inc. is emerging as major corporate venturing partners in the Canadian cleantech scene. It has already acquired more than $3 billion in renewable energy assets.[read more]

image via shutterstock

If the highest objective of new energy technology is to provide greater flexibility to manage the electricity grid in ways that society deems most beneficial, then no technology—not wind, not solar, not biomass, not new transmission technology—is more important to develop than energy storage technology.[read more]

The world population is expected to soar to more than 9 billion people by 2050.  Roughly 70% of the global population will live in cities, which today consume 70% of global energy supplies.  That’s a concern for electric and water utilities, but there are ways to address these concerns.  The best Smart Grid planning...[read more]

Smart Grid technology roadmaps help utilities plan for grid modernization. However, they must address changes in utility cultures, particularly the investor-owned utilities (IOUs), and these changes will require support in the form of new regulatory policies.[read more]

   Photo: AquionAbout one fifth of the world’s population lacks access to electricity. It is one of biggest economic obstacles for people in developing countries, but one that could mean opportunities for a clean energy beginning with alternative energy.    There are many possibilities for those excluded people and...[read more]

Photo by Martin Cathrae via Flickr

Long term, therefore, the outlook for wind energy is good—as is the outlook for the electricity storage technology necessary to balance wind's inherently variable nature. As electricity costs begin to rise, power purchasers will find the long term, stable electricity prices that wind projects offer more attractive. As they do, attention will turn to how best to balance the variable nature of that electricity in an environment in which natural gas cannot be counted on to deliver a low cost, long term balancing solution.[read more]

 Policymakers and energy industry experts often talk about clean energy as though it isn’t reliable. In fact, while an MIT study recently found the existing grid would probably be up to the challenge of absorbing clean energy, intermittency does present a real challenge that renewables must address to get to high levels of...[read more]

One of the biggest challenges facing wind energy is intermittency. Wind often blows strongest when power demand is lowest, and weakest when electricity is needed the most. Because today’s power grid needs electricity to be consumed the moment it’s generated, that means wind turbines send energy to the grid half as often as an average coal plant. What if wind farms could store the power that isn’t needed right away and sell it later when demand is high? energyNOW! correspondent Patty Kim visited an energy storage system built alongside a wind farm in the heart of coal country.[read more]

Range anxiety, or concerns about how far electric vehicles will travel on a single charge, is one of the biggest limitations facing the EV industry. In fact, a recent survey said only 20 percent of American drivers would consider buying an EV with a 100-mile range. But what if EVs could drive 500 miles on a single charge? That’s exactly what one of America’s most innovative companies is working on. energyNOW! correspondent Josh Zepps looked under the hood of a next generation battery design that uses nanotechnology to make EVs more powerful than ever.[read more]

Image via Wikipedia A rather poor diagram of inductive charging. Qualcomm, long a leader in the wireless and mobile space, is expanding into in the electric vehicle (EV) charging market with its acquisition last week of HaloIPT. The acquisition, reportedly $70 million, has some in the EV charging space scratching their heads. Not...[read more]

The advanced energy storage industry must focus on making the case for its technology. Technology geeks and policy wonks will never make a market for our products. We need to take the case for energy storage to the consumer. That is what Steve Jobs would do.[read more]

Nico Hotz, a Duke University researcher, discusses solar power generation research that involves using hydrogen as a vehicle for creating electricity.  Full Transcript: Ben Lack:  You’ve got some pretty interesting findings on trying to get more generation capacity out of solar panels.What’s the problem that you were trying to...[read more]

  Earlier this year the Department of Energy (DOE) started the SunShot Initiative – an inter-organizational effort to speed up efforts to make solar energy cheaper than fossil fuels.  The initiative harmonizes and refocuses the work and funds of numerous labs and programs working on solar technology.DOE should adopt a...[read more]