Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Storage, Regulation, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  January 12, 2019

Weekend reads: EIA says solar, wind to dominate; AOC & the Green New Deal

It's the weekend! Kick back and relax with these must-read energy stories from around the web:

EIA forecasts 8.2 GWac of solar to come online in 2019 (PV Magazine)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) is the formal, official source for data on the U.S. electricity system, and since it started tracking distributed PV a few years ago, solar is no longer an exception. Earlier this week EIA announced its projections for new capacity to come online in 2019, including solar and wind. And while EIA did not include distributed solar in the graphics in a post in Today in Energy, it gave an estimate of new distributed solar via its Short-Term Energy Outlook. 

How corporations are approaching sustainability and the Global Goals (Brookings Institute)  Corporations are increasingly building sustainability into their business strategies, and linking outcomes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as seen in the 7,500 companies issuing annual sustainability or corporate responsibility reports in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative. Given this evolution in corporate thinking and action, the pertinent questions are “why” and “how.” To investigate, we studied 40 companies with a strong record on sustainability.  

How Blockchain Can Reduce Costs For The Shifting Electric Vehicle Landscape (Forbes)  The auto industry has been in the spotlight of late, as the Trump administration has threatened to cut subsidies for electric cars (EVs)—partly in response to the significant layoffs GM announced in November. If Congress chooses to eliminate the subsidies, the act would hurt EV adoption in the U.S. and impact the auto industry, which is investing heavily in developing hundreds of new electric models. But within the shifting landscape, blockchain technology—a distributed ledger managed by a peer-to-peer network—can play a part in eliminating costs, adding value, and helping manufacturers stay competitive in a burgeoning market.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, activist groups map out next steps in Green New Deal fight (CNN)  New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and allied progressive groups are ramping up their push for a Green New Deal. The initiative came to national prominence after Ocasio-Cortez joined young activists from the Sunrise Movement at a protest in then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office during orientation for incoming House freshman last year. Ocasio-Cortez, the Justice Democrates, a progressive group that recruited the Bronx-born New Yorker to run, and Sunrise are now poised to throw their organizing muscle behind the ambitious suite of policy proposals, which would move the country toward 100% renewable energy.

This Chicago aquarium saved millions with an energy management dashboard (Energy News Network)  The Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago had invested in an impressive suite of clean energy solutions, from a 1-megawatt lithium-ion battery to automated energy management software. “We had submeters. We were doing monitor-based commissioning. We had these powerful controls. We were doing LED lights, and we had the solar,” said Bob Wengel, Shedd Aquarium’s senior vice president for facilities. “And we were dropping our peak. At one time it was 3.5 megawatts. We got it down to 3, and then we got it down to about 2.9 megawatts.” Shedd was cruising, Wengel said. Then came a summer thunderstorm.

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