IBM has announced the launch of an advanced power and weather modeling technology that will help utilities increase the reliability of renewable energy resources. According the company, the solution, “Hybrid Renewable Energy Forecasting” (HyRef) combines weather predictions and analytics to accurately forecast the availability of wind power and solar energy. This will enable utilities to integrate more renewable energy into …
Corn Farmers Look to Produce Fertilizer from Wind
Farmers in Minnesota soon could be turning wind energy into fertilizer. Research funded by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association is developing a way to have the wind turbines put up in corn fields produce the very nitrogen fertilizer that helps those same crops grow. “We take water, and we separate the hydrogen and oxygen. We pull nitrogen from the air …
EIA: Wind, Solar & Biofuels Seeing Good Growth
The latest government energy report seems to provide plenty of good news for some of our favorite alternative fuel sources. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) August 2013 Short-Term Energy Outlook shows that wind, solar, ethanol and biodiesel productions are all up for the year, according to comments from EIA’s Administrator Adam Sieminski: Renewables: “Wind power generation is expected to …
Now This Is Interesting…
Now this I find interesting. Yesterday I brought you the story about how Xcel Energy is taking aim at net metering, one of the most important tools to increase solar power adoption on homes. Yet the company is the top wind energy provider and has announced plans to expand its wind power production to “reduce customer costs, protect against rising …
1st Offshore Wind Lease Sale in U.S.
Today the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its first-ever offshore wind lease sale, leasing 164,750 acres off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The area was divided into two leases, the North Lease Area, which consists of about 97,500 acres, and the South Lease Area, covering approximately 67,250 acres. Oceana, an international advocacy group protecting …
Wind & Solar to Growth Significantly
According to a recent report by Worldwatch Institute, global use of solar and wind energy continued to grow significantly in 2012. Solar power consumption increased by 58 percent, to 93 terrawatt-hours (TWh), and the use of wind power increased by 18 percent, to 521 TWh. Although hydropower remains the world’s leading renewable energy, solar and wind continue to dominate investment …
Deep Water Wind Turbines Hold Energy Key
According to a new report from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), “Deep Water, the next step for offshore energy,” deep water wind turbines are key to unlocking the massive energy potential in Europe’s Atlantic and Mediterranean seas and the deepest parts of the North Sea. The report finds that floating turbines in North Sea deep waters alone could power …
Capturing Energy from Ocean Currents
Raul Delga Delgadillo, a soon to be senior this fall at Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, has learned he will receive a $15,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA. The award is a result of his entry in the national sustainable design competition for his idea to capture energy from ocean currents. Delgadillo will …
RES America to Construct Minnesota Wind Farm
RES America Developments Inc., a subsidiary of Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas), will be working with Xcel Energy to construct the 200 megawatt (MW) Pleasant Valley Wind Farm. The project is near Austin, Minnesota, adjacent to the Grand Meadow wind project owned by Xcel Energy. “RES Americas is pleased to once again work with Xcel Energy to provide …
European Wind Installs Double But Orders Weaken
The amount of new offshore wind energy installed in Europe during the first half of this year has doubled compared to a year ago, but a lack of future orders is troubling wind energy advocates there. The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) says 277 new offshore wind turbines, totalling 1,045 megawatts (MW), were connected to the grid during the first …