Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Storage, Regulation, Utilities, Distributed Generation, Industrial, Regulation, Sourcing Renewables  -  October 7, 2017

Weekend reads: Amazon energy drones; innovations in grid renewables; ways to cash in on EV boom & more

 Every Saturday, we'll bring you five of the most interesting — or quirky; it is the weekend after all — energy stories from around the web that you may have missed this week. Here are your holiday weekend reads:

Amazon Energy? Amazon Looks To Deploy Drones To Recharge Electric Cars And Other Vehicles (CB Insights): Amazon has patented a way for drones to provide "in-flight refuel" to vehicles — which might help resolve the charging-infrastructure challenge facing EVs. As our vehicles become more automated and battery powered, we’ll spend less time at the fuel pump and less money on gas. But even electric cars — or bikes, or boats for that matter — can run out of juice, and charging stations aren’t widely available yet.

48 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump (The New York Times): Since taking office in January, President Trump has made eliminating federal regulations a priority. His administration — with help from Republicans in Congress — has often targeted environmental rules it sees as overly burdensome to the fossil fuel industry, including major Obama-era policies aimed at fighting climate change. To date, the Trump administration has sought to reverse nearly 50 environmental rules, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Beyond Tesla: The surprising ways to cash in on the electric-car boom (Quartz): This year, Tesla's stock price has surged 66%. And buying shares in Elon Musk's company is far from the only way to cash in on the future of electric cars.
Investors are sending the prices of the raw materials used to make lithium-ion batteries rapidly higher on hopes that demand for electric cars surges. The rise comes amid fears that the supply of the metals needed for batteries might not meet the new demand.

Utility success with corporate renewables demand raises questions for existing load (Utility Dive): Anybody who says utilities and regulators are not innovative has not noticed how they are meeting skyrocketing demand from corporate buyers for renewables. And innovation 2.0 is coming. Some 71 Fortune 100 companies, at least 215 Fortune 500 companies, and many more small companies with clean energy or sustainability targets are their target market. Utilities need to serve that market, or those potential new customers may take their business to independent power producers.

 Shunning Fossil Fuels, 40 Catholic Groups Seek Climate Action (Reuters): Forty Roman Catholic groups said on Tuesday they were shunning investments in fossil fuels and urged others to follow suit. The coalition was the largest number of Catholic institutions, in countries including Australia, South Africa, Britain and the United States, to team up for a shift to greener energies, the Global Catholic Climate Movement said.

Read These Related Articles:

• Trump would be only world leader to deny climate science; Pokemon are taking over power plants
• Weekend Reads: 2022 EV Trends to Watch; The (Geothermal) Power of Dance
• Weekend Reads: War in Ukraine Shows Global Need for Renewables; GM's Vehicle-to-Grid Plans for CA
• Weekend Reads: Ukraine's Pre-War Lithium Wealth; Are You Ready for Battery Storage?
• Weekend Reads: Harnessing Solar Power Without Direct Sunlight; The Year of Next-Generation Clean Tech