Black & Veatch has commissioned its new microgrid system that provides power to the Rodman Innovation Pavilion located at the company’s Kansas World Headquarters. The microgrid uses a combination of natural gas, solar energy, geothermal and battery storage, and is the first of its kind in the state. It can operate as an independent power source or in support of …
Renewables Exceed 75% Of New Gen Capacity
Renewable energy sources including wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower provided over 75 percent of the 1,1229 MW of new electrical generating capacity that went online in first quarter of 2015. The results were published in the recent “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Energy Projects. The remaining 302 MW added was from natural …
DOE Selects FORGE Geothermal Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced five projects for the first part of the multiphase Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) effort, totaling $2 million. The lab is focused on unlocking the potential for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) that could lead to more than 100 gigawatts of renewable, clean energy. EGS are engineered geothermal reservoirs, created …
Navajo Students Wind Schoolyard STEM Lab
Nizhoni Elementary School in Shiprock, New Mexico has been awarded the first-ever Schoolyard STEM Lab from Samsung and the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). The STEM Lab was donated during the 10th annual National Environmental Education Week. The Schoolyard STEM Lab is an outdoor classroom space designed to work in any climate for a hands-on, immersive environmental education program that …
DOE Releases 2014 Geothermal Tech Report
“We’ve turned the corner … the potential growth curve for geothermal is extremely exciting,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Power, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, United States Department of Energy, Douglas Hollett. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released its annual report, “2014 Annual Report Geothermal Technologies Office,” and highlights 35 project successes in program areas …
Bennet Files Amendment for Bridge to Tax Reform
Trade groups are calling for national support of the Bennet Amendment for Bridge to Tax Reform. U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has filed an amendment to the annual budget resolution being considered this week by the Senate that would make room for renewable and efficiency tax credits. The amendment specifies “a fund for “creating clean energy jobs, including extending over …
Sens Wyden, Risch Intro Geothermal Energy Bill
Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, have introduced legislation to encourage geothermal energy production on public lands. Coined the Geothermal Production Expansion Act, the bill would prevent speculative bidders from driving up the price of leases for developers seeking to use the land for geothermal projects. The bill streamlines the federal geothermal leasing program by allowing for the …
Paper Calls for More Geothermal Recognition
A paper recently published in the March 2015 edition of Electricity Journal argues that the value of geothermal energy as well as other baseload renewables need to be better recognized as current options for electricity. Authors Ben Matek with the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) and Karl Gawell, GEA executive director, write, “Misinformation about baseload renewables has distorted the discussion about …
EIA Reports Renewable Energy Sees Gain
Net electrical generation from non-hydro renewable energy sources increased by 10.9 percent over the previous year (2013), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest “Electric Power Monthly“. The solar contribution to net electrical generation more than doubled (102.8%) while wind grew by 8.3 percent, biomass by 5.7 percent, and geothermal by 5.4 percent. Comparatively speaking, nuclear power and …
Rwanda’s Prez Paul Kagame Calls for Clean Energy
The 140 MW Oklaria 1 geothermal plant was recently commissioned in Naivasha, Kenya and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was on hand for the event. He is advocating for more investment in renewable energy as Africa struggles with lack of electricity, and said this is a must for the country, and for Africa, to see an economic transformation. “European countries are …