Weekend reads: Intel's new AV lab; Microsoft emissions data; drop in EPA fines & more - Smart Energy Decisions

Demand Management, GHG Emissions, Industrial, Regulation, Commercial, Industrial, Solar  -  August 12, 2017

Weekend reads: Intel's new AV lab; Microsoft cloud emissions data; the drop in EPA fines & 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:

True Green Raises $350 Million for Commercial, Industrial Solar (Bloomberg): True Green Capital Management LLC, an infrastructure asset management firm with more than $500 million under management, raised $350 million for commercial and industrial solar investments. The Westport, Connecticut-based asset manager closed True Green Capital Fund III on June 30, Managing Partner Panos Ninios said in an interview. The fund was oversubscribed, attracting endowments, foundations, fund-of-funds, family offices and insurance companies. It also attracted more capital than True Green’s two previous solar-focused funds, which together raised $223.4 million.

EPA fines collected against polluters dropped 60% under Trump, report says (CNN): The amount of money the Environmental Protection Agency is penalizing polluters they've sued for breaching federal regulations has plummeted by 60% under President Donald Trump, a report released Thursday has found. Between January and July, fines resulting from settlements have been significantly lighter on polluters' pocketbooks on average compared to previous administrations in the same time period, according to a report released by the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental watchdog nonprofit group.

Q&A: An inside look at Intel's new AV lab (Smart Cities Dive): Intel is going all-in on self-driving technologies this year — and putting its money where its mouth is. Intel has said it plans to spend $250 million over two years on autonomous vehicles (AVs). Additionally, the company reached an agreement to buy Mobileye, a Jerusalem-based auto vision company, for $15 billion. All of this work is with good reason. Intel’s own report finds the market for AVs will grow from $800 billion to $7 trillion as autonomous vehicles get on the streets. The report also finds that self-driving cars could save over half a million lives in just 10 years.

Microsoft's cloud serves up energy emissions data in near real time (GreenBiz): It has become much simpler for corporate energy buyers to source clean, renewable power, but that doesn’t mean the process is simple. Not only is it still difficult to climb around the regulatory and policy obstacles, it is excruciatingly painful for sustainability teams to gather the emissions insights and financial data they need to support their cause — indeed, more than 60 percent of the corporate renewables buyers surveyed in mid-2016 by consulting firm PwC said they were evaluating advanced metering and energy management software to help with this task. Software giant Microsoft has come up with another option, one it is testing in several U.S. markets.

Power Hungry: The States That Use The Most And Least Energy Per Capita (Forbes): Anyone who thinks Louisiana is a sleepy state hasn’t visited lately. With the fracking boom unlocking a gusher of natural gas, multinationals have been spending tens of billions of dollars to construct manufacturing plants on the Gulf Coast powered by all that cheap energy to churn out plastics and chemicals. And that’s made Louisiana the biggest energy consumer per capita in the U.S.

Tags: Weekend reads

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