Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, Solar, Sourcing Renewables, Wind  -  May 26, 2018

Weekend reads: Battery boom roadblock; NJ leads the way & more

Kick back and relax with these must-read energy stories from around the web:

Bold action places New Jersey in pole position on clean energy (AWEA)  Today New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed bold legislation that will move the state’s electricity mix to 50 percent renewable by 2030 and codifies the largest commitment to offshore wind power from any state. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) hailed the Garden State for their ambition. “Today Governor Murphy sent an unambiguous signal that New Jersey is ready for clean energy investment that will lead to good jobs and a more prosperous economy,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA. 

Big Battery Boom Hits Another Roadblock: Fire-Fearing Cities (Bloomberg)  The new era of big batteries has already drawn scrutiny after fiery electric-car crashes across America and Europe. Now, U.S. city planners are worried about the same risk of hard-to-control blazes as these power-storage units make their way into basements and onto rooftops. “You can have these things go on fire, and then hours or days later, they can reignite,” presenting a new challenge for first responders, said Paul Rogers, who led New York City’s effort to establish battery safety standards until he retired as a lieutenant with the fire department earlier this year. 

While Scientists Debate 100% Renewable Goal, Australia & Germany Lead The Way To The Future (Clean Technica)  In April of 2017, a team of researchers led by Benjamin Heard, an environmental consultant in Australia, declared that powering the world with 100% renewable energy was a scientific impossibility. Too complicated, too complex, too many technical snarls to be untangled, too unreliable — you get the picture. Here is a line from the introduction to that report. “An effective response to climate change demands rapid replacement of fossil carbon energy sources. 

Wait—Offshore Wind Offers HOW Much Power? Use This Calculator… (Union of Concerned Scientists)  Almost every week is bringing news about another step forward somewhere in the country for America’s newest renewable energy, offshore wind. Increasingly, the news is about advances for specific projects off our shores. But when we hear about an offshore wind project of a certain size—X hundred megawatts—what does that mean? What does it mean in terms of our electricity needs, for example, or our need to cut pollution, or our potential to do more? A simple new calculator from the Union of Concerned Scientists can help you size up each offshore wind project.

Solar Flower Power at the Detroit Zoo (Fox 2 Detroit)  The Detroit Zoo is putting the 'petal' to the metal in its ongoing efforts to be environmentally sustainable with the installation of the 'Smartflower' an all-in-one, ground-mounted solar panel system. CEO of the Detroit Zoological Society Ron Kagan said  "this is part of our green journey. We were awarded the greenest zoo in the country a couple of years ago and we're doing a lot of things in terms of sustainability, this is just our latest one. First in Michigan, first in any zoo. It's super cool." 

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