Environment

A seemingly rising and potentially reasonable concern for rooftop and ground mount solar installations is sun glare that can shine on neighbor houses and be a nuisance. I saw a TV report on one case like this, and it's a concern among some members of my HOA. My wife and I think it's a...

Maybe someone (NWdiver) can help me understand why this is happening. I would have thought that now that solar panels are less expensive and more people are installing them companies could still be competitive and also make a profit.

A Bloomberg report says Tesla Powerpacks could be used to store clean energy generated at sea as part of a project submitted to the state of Massachusetts by Deepwater Wind LLC. The plan submitted proposes a facility with 144-megawatt capability leveraging Tesla batteries for massive offshore...

The company that obtained a permit to build the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline might decide not to build it. A TransCanada Corp. executive told investors Friday that it is still assessing interest in Keystone among the oil companies that would pay to use the Canada-to-Texas line, as well...

I sat down and tried to calculate the ecological costs of the Gigafactory and the Model 3. I found a number of problems with assuming that long range EVs are always better for the environment. Please read my blog post about it: The ecological challenges of Tesla’s Gigafactory and the Model 3...

Hello! As my family eagarly awaits our model 3, we are looking at getting a solar system for our house. We have a large south facing roof, so the question is, how big do I need to go. I know that is a complex question, but since I know next to nothing about solar, I was hoping some folks could...

Why This Big Oil CEO Is Buying an Electric Car

Freeway drivers breathe dirtier air than previously thought Quotes: "Rush hour just got a lot worse. A new study finds that freeway pollution is twice as toxic than air just off the roadway. And air during the morning commute is worse than during the drive home. ...... Then, the researchers...

According to this abstract Alternative strategy for a safe rechargeable battery - Energy & Environmental Science (RSC Publishing) researchers at UT (including a 94-year old, John Goodenough!) think that this type of battery is denser than today's Li-ion types. Here is the story: Lithium-Ion...

The UK will ban the sale of all petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 onwards, including hybrid models, as part of a move to tackle air pollution. UK plans petrol and diesel car sales ban from 2040

less ambitious than some but should it actually happen has to be positive. New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 - BBC News thanks Elon (US next?)

From a resource availability and neutral cost perspective, do you think Elon could build out a 90% renewable Western Interconnection within 6 years and the whole country within 12? Assuming we gave over total control of the grid and all policy while guaranteeing roughly the same $/kWh revenue...

[vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/2C-A797y8dA” video_title=”1″]Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a broad conversation at the National Governors Association conference, made some bold statements about the risks of artificial intelligence and hinted that two more Gigafactories will be built in the U.S...

'National Parks: Americas Best Idea' a PBS Ken Burns series is streaming on Amazon Prime. It's an amazing series about the history of our parks. It's scary that only a handful of people stood between preservation and the absolute exploitation of these areas that most people would now agree are...

Not news to most of us here, however it appears that utilities are being successful in many states in getting net metering killed: Rooftop Solar Dims Under Pressure From Utility Lobbyists I am fortunate that the little power co-op — 13,000 meters in four counties — which serves my remote...

Opinion | Connecticut Should Be Tesla Country Hypocrisy of offering rebates for buying electric cars that you're making it difficult to buy is duly noted.

France to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040

#1: I knew Louisiana was mostly water where it said it was land near the beach. The teacher and I argued about this in elementary school. I saw the water in the maps and she said no, it's land! I continued arguing this for many years. I just gave up: they were wrong, and I knew it. All...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a sponsored post from non-profit organization Climate XChange, an educational and research group dedicated to providing policymakers and advocates with cutting edge information on market-based solutions to climate change. On the third floor of 200 year old Old West...

Federal tax credits for electric vehicles won't last forever, especially under the Trump administration. While it's difficult to quantify exactly how many people saw the $7,500 rebate as the deciding factor to "go green," there is little doubt that it factored into the final purchasing choice of...

Koch brothers launch new misinformation campaign against electric cars

Interest groups supporting the Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More (RECLAIM) Act, a bill to pump money into distressed coal communities in Appalachia, want to strengthen the bill before the House Natural Resources Committee sends it to...

Full article at: Solar eclipse in August raising worries about Ontario's power grid

All, Our recent electric bill outlined the following: Jun 22 KWH Reading (Actual) 41,797 May 20 KWH Reading (Actual) 40,346 Kilowatt Hours Metered 1,451 Jun 22 KWH Out (Actual) 20,007 May 20 KWH Out (Actual) 19,149 Kilowatt Hours Out 858 We were billed for 593KWH as the above data would...

The possibility of what the energy industry calls a "lower-for-longer" scenario is gaining ground. It could accelerate the auto industry's transition from fuel-efficient cars to thirstier sport-utility vehicles and give Americans unexpected savings in their summer travel budgets, while also...

Hinkley Point C (HPC) is supposed to cost 18B UK to build; Spend 60% of that amount (~ 10B UK) using domestic firms; Have the entire cost of construction borne by the foreign owners; And agree to a 92.5 UKP per MWh wholesale price for 35 years. HPC is expected to have a generation capacity of...

Hi, Alan aka Pollux here. I had been hoping to go to TMC Connect this year (at last!) but find myself chained to my desk working through the last 13 days of the Climate XChange 2017 Carbon Pricing Awareness Raffle. In case anyone hasn't heard by now, we just came off a very successful hearing...

Hi Everyone, Personally i find the necessity of driving a gas car to visit a national park incongruous and deeply upsetting. It should not be necessary to pollute in order to enjoy our National Parks. The point of National Parks is to preserve and protect those environments. Generally speaking...

Did I already know there's a problem? Do I care? And would I pay to fix it? The National Park Service wants to know! And they decided they want my inputs regarding fixing the hazy and dirty air at national parks and wilderness areas. I believe I was picked at random. I'm guessing that this is...

Gogriddy.com A neat concept. I have been on it for 4 days so I am still adjusting but you get rates every 15 minutes. Let me know if you are interested and I will share some of my screen shots.

My utility company (Florida Power and Light) does not technically buy back electric (at least not at retail pricing) but they do credit me 11months of the year for any overage. I have an 11.69kw solar array and my bill goes from $20-$100/month. Any extra power made from Jan-Nov gets traded...

To someone with more electrical engineering knowledge than me, am I correct that the APSystems YC500 line of microinverters, with maximum output power of 500W, will not be able to take full advantage of newer 300+W panels (important note! the YC500 serves 2 panels, not just 1)? Can I just use...

Note what's printed on the one guy's grey t-shirt. :)

[taken from email I sent yesterday to a bunch of people. anything in brackets is something I added or modified for this thread post.] Folks, Even those of you who don’t live in Massachusetts, or are too busy, or are prevented by your corporate role from speaking out publicly — you can still...

That was fast. Any idea where that puts a rational price point for residential? With minimal soft costs......$1.90/W with decent hardware?

recently there are some reports of Pres. Trump using solar panels as the wall. As shown by China's great wall, its best to own land both sides of the wall. And solar obviously does not like trees. Anyway, some back of the envelope calcs length approx, 3,000km or 3,000,000 metres a module is...

Did anything ever come of the bet Elon made with the Australian billionaire about fixing their power storage problem in 100 days or the system would be free? I see a lot of articles and videos about the bet but I can't find anything regarding if it ever went any farther. Dan

So I was feeling pretty down about climate recently, but for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, this totally warms my heart. We Are Still In

We've had various discussions on aspects of sustainable investing in other threads, namely coal divestment, funds that focus specifically on renewable energy, etc. What I haven't seen is a thread dedicated to sensible sustainable investing that's not so narrowly defined. In other words, if the...

Here is a poll to get a sense of how many EV owners also have (or plan to soon get) solar panels on their home.

[vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6y9Ia8OX4″ video_title=”1″]If you didn’t catch it on television, an excerpt of the episode from National Geographic’s “Years of Living Dangerously” featuring actor Ty Burrell is now available online. In the episode “The Road Ahead,”...

What is a Solar Inverter? It's a device that converts the DC power generated by solar panels into AC power that one can use in most homes. When we first shopped around for solar, we had many choices and we picked our provider based on cost, and it turned out to be a pretty good technical...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced he will leave President Trump’s White House advisory councils following a decision for the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. Musk tweeted his feelings on the decision after Trump held a celebratory press conference, complete with a jazz band in the...

Out he goes Twitter

In a statement backed by all 28 EU states, the European Union and China will commit to full implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, EU and Chinese officials said. The joint statement, the first between the China and the EU, commits to cutting back on fossil fuels, developing more green...

If you get your electricity from Southern California Edison and have an EV or even a plug in Hybrid, they give you a $450 credit. Don't have to buy a new one, even if you already own one or lease one. Clean Fuel Rewards Program | SCE Clean Fuel Rewards Program Application is pretty simple.

Looks like the bill going through the Colorado senate to kill the EV tax credits has been LOST (meaning it is dead for the session and will need to be restarted next session). Good news for Coloradoans looking to buy an EV in the near future!

Good piece by Michael Liebreich Liebreich-Six-Design-Principles-for-the-Power-Markets-of-the-Future.pdf

Tesla’s efforts for direct sales in Texas were killed Monday by the state legislature. The automaker had pushed legislation in March that would have allowed vehicles to be sold directly to buyers, rather than through a franchised dealership. “Once again, the legislature failed to act on...