Weekend reads: Rick Perry in at DOE; a pre-EPA New York; turning solar into art & more - Smart Energy Decisions

GHG Emissions, Regulation, Regulation, Solar, Wind  -  March 4, 2017

Weekend reads: Rick Perry in at DOE; Tesla's cash burn; turning solar into art & 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. This weekend's reads:

Now that he’s confirmed, Rick Perry has a big decision to make about the Energy Department (Vox): Now that Rick Perry has been confirmed as Donald Trump's energy secretary, we're about to find out what he really believes — and what he's willing to fight for. Back when he was governor of Texas and running for president in 2011, Perry famously vowed to abolish the Department of Energy (DOE) — an agency with a $32 billion budget that oversees the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal and also funds energy research on everything from solar panels to carbon capture.

'Solar canopy' turns sunlight into electricity and art (CNN): In the desert metropolis of Dubai, where the summer is one long heat wave, shade is precious as people seek refuge from the sun's scorching rays. Enter Italian architect and designer Carlo Ratti's latest creation — a shiny metal canopy that can be used to create micro climates in outdoor areas by controlling light and shade.

Remembering a City Where the Smog Could Kill (The New York Times):  Once upon a time, you could touch the air in New York. It was that filthy. No sensible person would put a toe in most of the waterways. In 1964, Albert Butzel moved to New York City, which then had the worst air pollution among big cities in the United States. "I not only saw the pollution, I wiped it off my windowsills," Mr. Butzel, 78, an environmental lawyer, said. "You'd look at the horizon and it would be yellowish. It was business as normal." 

Denmark Just Ran Their Entire Country on 100% Wind Energy (Futurism): On February 22nd, Denmark generated enough energy with its wind turbines to power the entire country for the day. An especially windy day allowed the turbines to generate 97 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy. 70 of those GWh came from onshore wind turbines and the remaining 27 GWh from offshore installations. All of this power, generated from a single type of renewable energy, is enough to power 10 million average EU homes.

Tesla Is Burning Through Cash (Bloomberg):  Elon Musk is burning through cash and may need to raise more soon to produce the mass-market electric sedan Tesla Inc. is banking on to reach the mainstream consumer. A capital raise would provide more cushion to the smallest and youngest publicly held U.S. automaker, which has huge expenditures planned ahead of introducing the Model 3 sedan in July. Tesla burned through cash in the fourth quarter and expects to spend as much as $2.5 billion in the first half of the year before fielding its first mass-market car.

Tags: Weekend reads

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