Renewable Energy Focus
Bloomberg
- Nov 30
New wind turbines and solar panels worldwide will provide more energy over the next five years than U.S. shale-oil production has over the past five, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The leading renewable-energy technologies will add the equivalent of 6.2 million barrels of oil a day to the global energy mix, exceeding the 5.7 million barrels a day pumped from U.S. shale oil wells since 2010, analysts said in a new research report. While countries are setting targets for emission reductions in 2030 and 2050, Goldman Sachs said the biggest shift will occur over the next decade as demand for renewable energy, LED lighting, and plug-in vehicles accelerates.
Reuters
- Dec 2
As world leaders convene in Paris to forge a pact to curb carbon emissions, the U.S. solar industry is pushing to seal a smaller deal in Washington that for it is arguably more urgent: preventing a key clean energy incentive from disappearing. Solar supporters want U.S. lawmakers to extend a 30 percent tax credit for solar installations, possibly as part of a package of renewed temporary tax breaks Congress is working to pass in the next two weeks, industry lobbyists and executives said. The tax credit is currently slated to step down to 10 percent for commercial solar systems, and expire for residential systems, at the end of 2016. The industry says extending the 30 percent tax credit now will help companies gear up for investments next year, rather than spending 2016 preparing for a rollback.
Energy Matters
- Dec 3 The U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has released research showing that America’s top corporations are adding more solar power capacity than ever before. According to SEIA’s report, the use of solar energy by America’s biggest companies has grown by a massive 183 percent in the four years since the organization began surveying solar electricity capacity in the U.S. business community. The study, which identifies major commercial solar projects and ranks top corporate solar users, shows a 59 percent increase in solar installations since 2014.
CleanTechnica
- Nov 30 A new partnership between NRG Home Solar and Airbnb, aimed at helping to increase the amount of rooftop solar installations, will deliver incentives to both existing and new Airbnb members in the form of rebates and/or travel credits. The promotion will allow current Airbnb hosts who choose to go solar through the initiative to get a rebate on their home solar lease, which will vary in value by location. The initial solar partnership will be launched in California and New York.
SolarServer
- Dec 2 sPower has completed its Sierra Solar PV project, the company’s first in Los Angeles County. The 22.5-megawatt solar photovoltaic farm is now delivering solar power to Southern California Edison under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Press-Enterprise
- Nov 28 The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and earthquake faults have been uneasy neighbors for decades. Even before the twin reactors produced a single watt of electricity, the plant had to be retrofitted after a submerged fault was discovered 3 miles offshore during construction. That cleft in the earth, known as the Hosgri fault, has long been considered the greatest seismic threat to a plant that stands within a virtual web of faults. But new questions are being raised by sophisticated seafloor mapping that has found that the Hosgri links to a second, larger crack farther north, the San Gregorio fault. Research being led by federal agencies is continuing.
Renewable Energy World
- Dec 3 Google, the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy, is expanding its clean power portfolio with deals for 781 megawatts of solar and wind power. The Alphabet Inc. unit completed five deals to buy the output from power plants in the U.S., Chile, and Sweden, and now has contracts for 2 gigawatts of renewable energy worldwide, according to a statement Thursday. In the U.S., Google will buy 200 megawatts of power from Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc.’s Bluestem wind project, and 200 megawatts from Electricite de France SA’s Great Western wind project, both of which will be built in Oklahoma. The company will also buy 225 megawatts of U.S. wind power from independent power producer Invenergy LLC.
Los Angeles Times
- Nov 30 The University of California is looking to play a prominent role as Bill Gates and other billionaires from around the world form a new private fund that will invest in the development of large-scale carbon-free energy solutions. The fund, announced Monday in connection with the climate change talks that opened in Paris, will be staffed by scientists and financial experts and will consider a wide array of investments, including biofuels, solar and wind power, and efforts to capture carbon emissions from fossil fuels, Gates said in a conference call with reporters. Called the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, the initial 28 investors also include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman.
Solar Industry Magazine
- Nov 24 San Diego-based residential solar services provider OneRoof Energy Inc. has closed $2 million in the form of a secured non-convertible note issued to Black Coral Capital LLC, a current investor in OneRoof Energy. The note is secured by OneRoof Energy assets that are not otherwise pledged to project financing.
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
- Nov 27 A Seattle energy company has purchased a 55-megawatt power facility in the Geysers geothermal field in Lake County, California. AltaRock Energy announced last week that its clean energy subsidiary, Baseload Clean Energy Partners, purchased Bottle Rock Power LLC from Riverstone Holdings and U.S. Renewables Group for an undisclosed price.
