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Five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the island is dark. Five years after Hurricane Maria and, despite billions spent (hard to write “invested”), the grid is devastated. This did not have to be. It should not have been. Between Trump grandstanding (paper towels anyone?), profiteering and corruption, (racist) indifference, incompetence, misguided thinking and […]

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The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) targets having 60 percent of Virginia’s electrons ‘clean’ (e.g., low-to-no carbon emissions on generation) by 2036 and 100 percent by 2050. While finally, if passed, legislating a clean power (more prosperous and resilient) future for the Commonwealth, this bill would still leave Virginia a middling player (not a leader) […]

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France has decided to accelerate, significantly, its offshore wind program for a very simple reason: offshore wind will provide reliable, low-cost, clean electrons to power the French economy. Just announced, a new offshore wind project that will deliver electricity to the French grid for 44 Euros per megawatt hour (mWh) (e.g., under $US50 per mWh […]

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Like all too many Americans, part of New Year’s Eve rushing around always seems to be getting in just a few more donations. Thanks to the GOP Tax Scam, along with millions, that end-of-year rush is, well, even rushier. (We always try to clean out and donate useful stuff and that, generally, is a ‘whenever’ […]

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Weirdly, while spending many pages detailing how the Energy Information Agency (EIA) failed to predict accurately fossil fuel trends, the report’s authors failed to highlight that the real-world performance of renewable energy (notably wind and solar) has greatly outperformed baseline forecasts. With the President’s call for more solar energy, highlighting that renewables have been doing so well (in price reductions and speed of market penetration) would seem something strongly support of Administration objectives rather than for something to be ignored in a 42-page White House report.

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Since diving into the deep end when it comes to energy issues, almost every day sees new fascinating concepts, approaches, and technologies. Fascinating … exciting … even hope inspiring at times. And, as well, as the passion builds, so many of these are trulyEnergy COOL. The fifth annual DC Renewable Technology conference provided multiple opportunities […]

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After several years of essentially ignoring Climate Change in the State of the Union address, President Obama spoke forcefully about climate change and clean energy in the speech. While there are some significant problems embedded in the discussion, such as praise for natural gas, there is significant material worth cheering, supporting, and building on. Amid […]

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100 … 100 percent.  Such a ’round’ and definitive figure provides the basis for a very clear, simple target to think about. With all the delays toward action related to climate mitigation and the mounting impacts of climate disruption around the globe, the concept of 80 by 50 (80 percent reduction carbon emissions by 2050 […]

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Writ large, around the world, liquid fuel (generally diesel) has a relatively small role in providing electricity and thus the “oil” and “electricity” domains have a minimal overlap. There are, however, exceptions that are notable generally in being “islands”. These islands can be temporal (power supply disruption leading to use of generators while the electric […]

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One of the nation’s most important (and sadly too little discussed) intercollegiate competitions is about to open in Washington, DC: the biennial Solar Decathlon.  For two weeks, 19 university teams from around the globe will compete across ten categories (thus, “decathlon”) that show the house works (can they get household chores and tasks done, like […]

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