Ormat Technologies and Toshiba Corporation have announced that the two companies have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop strategic opportunities for collaboration in the areas of geothermal power generation systems and related equipment. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will explore and develop strategic opportunities that will enable them to offer potential customers a more competitive solution for comprehensive supplies and services related to geothermal developments, from resource assessment, field development, power plant engineering, procurement and construction to power plant operation.- A new U.S. Department of Energy report, “Climate Change and the U.S. Energy Sector: Regional Vulnerabilities and Resilience Solutions,” examines the expected regional energy sector vulnerabilities to climate change. Some key findings include: Hydropower is vulnerable to reduced snowpack, earlier melting, and changes to precipitation and runoff patterns, mainly in western regions; Bioenergy crops in the Midwest and Northern Great Plains may be harmed by higher temperatures and more frequent droughts and floods; and Thermoelectric power generation is vulnerable to increasing temperatures and reduced water availability in most regions, particularly in the Midwest, Great Plains, and southern regions.
- The geothermal heating and cooling system at the Missouri University of Science and Technology is reaching the end of its first year of operation. The system has reduced energy use by 57% and lowered the carbon footprint by 25,000 tons per year, exceeding expectations. “The results confirm that the system works as designed and will pay for itself over time from budgeted savings,” says James Packard, director of facilities operations.
- Solar combined with energy storage systems (solar+storage) can help protect vulnerable populations during power outages in multifamily affordable housing and provide an economic return to building owners, according to a new report by Clean Energy Group, a national nonprofit organization working to increase the deployment of clean energy technologies. The analysis of how solar+storage could benefit low-income communities, “Resilience for Free: How Solar+Storage Could Protect Multifamily Affordable Housing from Power Outages at Little or No Net Cost,” stresses the need to make vulnerable populations – including seniors, disabled people, and low-income families – more power resilient in the face of natural disasters.
