Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Procurement, GHG Emissions, Regulation, Distributed Generation, Solar  -  November 5, 2016

Weekend reads: Trump's energy department; solar war's cash burn; Dakota pipeline protest & more

Every Saturday, we'll bring you five most interesting — or quirky; it is the weekend after all — energy stories from the prior week that you may have missed from around the web. This weekend's smart energy reads:

Imagining Donald Trump's Energy Department: 'It's Like an Alternate Reality' (Greentech Media): The presidential race is tightening. In less than a week, Hillary Clinton's 7-point lead over Donald Trump dropped to 3 points. Some polls have the race at a virtual tie.  Now many within the Department of Energy are grappling with an uncertain future. "How would you even begin to form an energy policy under a Trump administration? I don't know. There's no way to know what the agency would look like in that world," said one current staffer interviewed by GTM, who asked not to be named.

Batteries That Make Use of Solar Power, Even in the Dark (The New York Times):  A new cash crop has sprung up on Nicholas Beatty's enchanting farm near here. Rows of gray solar panels range over about 25 acres, turning sunlight into electricity, as dog-size muntjac deer hop by. The panels themselves, trouble-free money earners that feed into the electric grid, are no longer unusual on farms in Britain or other countries. What’s new in Mr. Beatty’s field is a hulking 40-foot-long shipping container.

Millions in Cash Burned on One War Over Rooftop Solar Panels (Bloomberg): There’s a war brewing over the future of rooftop solar, and Arizona is at ground zero. Pinnacle West Capital Corp., which owns the state's largest utility, last week said it has formed a third-party group to support candidates for an elected state board that regulates their industry. The move promises to inject $1 million into a race in which SolarCity Corp., a rooftop solar provider, is already planning to spend $2 million though a nonprofit it supports, according to officials from the two groups.

Inside the Battle Over the Dakota Access Pipeline (Pacific Standard): Over the last seven months, thousands of people, including members of over 280 tribes and First Nations, have joined the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline, which passes half a mile from its reservation. They've established two makeshift camps, "Oceti Sakowin" and "Sacred Stone," near — but not in the path of — the pipeline route. 

Landmark Paris Climate Agreement Takes Formal Effect. It’s Not Nearly Enough (Time): The most significant international agreement to combat climate change took effect Thursday evening—midnight in Europe—just days before international climate negotiators were set to meet in Morocco to chart a path forward on the issue.

Read These Related Articles:

• Weekend Reads: The U.S.'s New Climate Goal; Sustainable Fleet Trailblazers
• Weekend Reads: MIT on Where to Site Renewables; AI's Promise for Energy Efficiency
• Weekend Reads: London's Eye-Catching EV Buses; Earth's Giant 'Batteries'
• Weekend Reads: COP29 on Energy Efficiency; Unscrambling Hydrogen
• Weekend Reads: Five Things to Know About COP29; Rethinking Gas Stations

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