March 2013 Archives
Wildlife:
BrightSource experts say that the California Energy Commission oversimplifies the issue of solar flux injury to birds, but one of those experts may have made a sensible suggestion that the firm won't like much.
The Grid:
We can run our grid on renewable power effectively, say the authors of a study released this month, without massive storage capacity. The key is building out about three times as much renewable generating capacity as the grid needs to meet peak demand.
The Grid:
The Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project would help make energy derived from renewable sources available more reliably, but at what cost?
Wind:
A Maryland-base company wants to build two 2,250-foot-tall solar wind generating tunnels in the Arizona desert that would use downdrafts to provide a gigawatt of renewable energy to the grid. The towers, which would be the second-tallest structures in the world, would occupy public land just outside San Luis, AZ and use desalinated water from the Sea of Cortez to generate the downdrafts.
Concentrating Solar:
According to the California Energy Commission's scientific staff, BrightSource Energy's Hidden Hills project will "almost certainly kill or injure" eagles and other special status species of birds.
Photovoltaic (PV):
A proposed utility-scale solar development that so far enjoys wide support among environmentalists is taking a step forward. The Westlands Solar Park, slated to cover 24,000 acres of degraded farmland when it's finally built out sometime after 2020, has started the environmental review process mandated under California environmental law.
The Grid:
A new study indicates that power storage may only become crucial as the grid approaches 4/5 renewable.
Utilities:
The CEO of the largest power-plant company in the U.S. calls rooftop solar power a "mortal threat" to utilities, and says that's not a bad thing.
Concentrating Solar:
Both BrightSource and the California Energy Commission staff agree that there's a level of concentration of solar flux from the proposed Hidden Hills solar project that will harm birds. Where the disagreement arises is just what that level is.
Commentary:
If we cut down on coal use here and then ramp up coal exports, we undermine our own progress on climate change. Whether the coal is burned in Utah or Uzbekistan makes little difference to rising sea levels
News and analysis about renewable energy in California. Blog host Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. He currently lives in Joshua Tree and can be contacted at: rewire@kcet.org.
- Wind Power
- PV and Solar Thermal
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
- Watts and Watt-Hours, Kilo and Mega
- 'Enough To Power X Thousand Homes'
- The Grid
- Distributed Generation
- Conservation and 'Negawatts'
- Grid Storage
- PACE Loans, Feed In Tariffs and Net Metering
- Base Load and Peaking Power
- Capacity Factor
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Biomass
- Transportation and Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
