Science and Technology:
¶ Operating entirely on solar power and batteries in a flight from Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Mountain View, California, on April 23, just before midnight. The plane had taken off on April 21, resuming a journey that had stalled on the island of Oahu for almost 10 months. [CNN]
Solar Impulse 2 flew holding patterns for some hours
above San Francisco before landing.
¶ Li-ion batteries are on the verge of surpassing lead-acid batteries in terms of lifecycle costs. They already surpass them in all performance metrics, and cost trends strongly suggest that, even on an energy basis, Li-ion will reach cost parity with lead-acid in fewer than 5 years. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ With a target to have solar capacity of 100 GW operating by March 2022, the Indian government announced nearer-term annual targets. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy plans to add 15 GW and 16 GW of solar capacity in the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively. [CleanTechnica]
India One Solar Thermal Power Plant. Photo by Bkwcreator.
CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.
¶ Jeremy Buckingham, a member of the New South Wales parliament’s upper house, lit the surface of the Condamine River with a barbecue lighter to demonstrate the dangers of fracking. He posted a video on his Facebook page on Friday. By Sunday it had 2.2 million views. [The Guardian]
¶ Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power announced a load-shedding plan for urban and rural areas. It is stated that power cuts of six hours a day will be applicable to residential and commercial consumers in urban areas, 8 hours in rural areas and no load-shedding for industry. [Business Recorder]
¶ The isolated Canary island of El Hierro is aiming for energy independence using wind and hydro power in a setup that could provide a model for other islands, and then electric cars and organic farms. Pumped storage, storing power from the wind, is being used instead of diesel power. [Taipei Times]
El Heirro wind farm. AFP photo
¶ Daimler AG has begun shipping Mercedes-Benz stationary energy storage units for use in power grids powered by PVs or for recharging electric vehicles. The lithium-ion batteries powering the stationary battery storage units are installed together with a PV system. [IHS Electronics360]
¶ An Australian technology company has won a grant to expand its plans. The technology involves laying out a large array of mirrors that tracks the sun throughout the day and creates a concentrated light beam onto a highly efficient solar PV receiver sitting on top of a central tower. [Sydney Morning Herald]
John Lasich, CTO at RayGen, stands in front of mirrors for concentrating solar power. Photo: Joe Armao
¶ All the radar systems, lighthouses, barracks, ports and airfields that China has set up on its newly built island chain in the South China Sea require tremendous amounts of electricity, which is hard to come by on islands. China may have a solution: floating nuclear-power plants. [The Seattle Times]
US:
¶ Iowa now gets more than 31.3% of its electricity from wind, more than any other state. Iowa is pushing to increase the share of wind generation to 40% within the next five years. This would have lasting economic impacts beyond job growth, the Energy Department reported. [Lima Ohio]
Wind farm in Iowa. Photo by Tony Webster.
CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.
¶ A coalition of industry stakeholders developed programs to promote the concept of “community storage” in utilities across the US. The programs would let utilities aggregate behind-the-meter resources like water heaters, electric vehicles and batteries, to provide services to the grid. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Legoland Florida Resort and Tampa Electric are partnering on a 2-MW solar energy project that will produce electricity – and shade – for visitors at the vacation destination. Tampa Electric will install a canopy of solar panels over the resort’s preferred parking lot. [Orlando Attractions Magazine]
Legoland Florida is building a new solar energy system
in their parking lot.
¶ A coalition of environmental and community groups is challenging the federal government’s decision to extend operations at the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant for 25 years. In a lawsuit, they say the approval lacked an assessment of clean alternatives. [Summit County Citizens Voice]
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