Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, Solar  -  June 23, 2018

Weekend reads: Shell, BA target sustainable fuel; no EE for cannabis

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

Falling Battery Costs Will Enable World to Get Half of Needed Energy from Wind and Solar (Renewable Energy Magazine)  Wind and solar are set to surge to almost “50 by 50” – 50 percent of world generation by 2050 – on the back of precipitous reductions in cost, and the advent of cheaper and cheaper batteries that will enable electricity to be stored and discharged to meet shifts in demand and supply. Today, Bloomberg (BNEF) published its annual long-term analysis of the future of the global electricity system – New Energy Outlook (NEO) 2018. The 150-page report draws on detailed research by more than 65 analysts around the world, including sophisticated modeling of power systems country-by-country, and of the evolving cost dynamics of different technologies.

Shell, British Airways working with waste-to-fuel company to produce sustainable jet fuel (JWN)  Velocys has received £4.9 million of funding to deliver the next development phase of a waste-to-sustainable jet fuel project that the company is developing in the U.K. with Shell and British Airways. As part of the funding package a grant of £434,000 has been secured from the Department for Transport (DfT) under the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition (F4C). The next stage is to include detailed pre-front-end engineering and design study and site permitting activities, funded by a combination of the F4C grant and £4.5 million committed by the industry partners including Velocys.

Cannabis businesses shut out of Maine’s energy-efficiency programs (Portland Press Herald)  One of Maine’s most energy-intensive industries is being shut out of the state’s energy efficiency programs. Efficiency Maine has decided that it is too risky to give its grants to cannabis businesses, even if they are state licensed, because they operate outside of federal law. That makes any cannabis business a potential federal target that could be forced to close before it can achieve the energy savings needed to justify Efficiency Maine’s investment, the trust’s board concluded. “Don’t forget, marijuana may be legal here, but it’s still federally illegal,” 

Auburn University and The University of Alabama are charging up for the fall (AL.com)  Both universities are adding more electric car charging ports to their campuses for the fall semester. Auburn will be adding 14 additional electric vehicle charging stations, and Alabama will be adding seven. There will be a total of 15 charging stations at Auburn and 10 at Alabama. Alabama will add one more station at a later date. The charging stations will be scattered around the parking lots and decks at both universities. Alabama's charging stations can charge two cars at once.

The largest solar farm apiary in the US opens this week (Inhabitat)  An important feature of permaculture is the concept of stacking functions, or finding multiple uses for the same space or resource. North Carolina-based PineGate Renewables is taking this principle to a new level with the opening of the largest solar farm apiary in the U.S. Starting this week, the Eagle Point solar farm in Jackson County, Oregon will host 48 hives of honey bees underneath and between the solar panels. John Jacob of Old Sol Apiaries helped to determine the site’s suitability and will serve as the caretaker of the bees. 

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