New York State should be leading the offshore wind ambitions of the U.S. The region enjoys high capacity factors for offshore wind, especially during the peak winter heating season. And New York is used to being a leader in so many things. Thatâs why it put its climate reputation at risk in October when the state government announced it would not renegotiate contracts with offshore wind providers Ărsted, Equinor and BP, explains Joseph Webster at … [Read more...]
Strategic home + workplace EV charging: thereâs no need for extra power plants, storage, advanced demand management
High EV usage introduces new power consumption problems. At first look, extra storage and plants will be needed to cope with charging peaks. Either that, or sophisticated advanced demand management connected to every charging point, to smooth out demand. David Chandler at MIT describes research there that shows how, done right, none of that may be necessary. The study, tested on real life data in New York and Dallas, reveals that two things can … [Read more...]
If most truck journeys are less than 300 miles the E-Truck revolution can happen now
What proportion of trucks today could go electric? Thatâs the question Emily Porter at RMI has asked for California and New York. The answer is 65% of medium-duty trucks and 49% of heavy-duty trucks. Those are very encouragingly high numbers. RMIâs definition of âelectrifiableâ is if they travel fewer than 300 miles between trips to their home bases. The study gathered real data on how freight trucks are driven today. Clearly, a large number of … [Read more...]
âFloato-voltaicsâ: floating solar farms on existing municipal water reservoirs
The municipality of Cohoes, population 17,000, in New York State, is building a floating solar farm on its 10-acre water reservoir. It should power all the city-owned buildings and streetlights, save $500,000/year in electricity costs and still leave 40% of the generated electricity remaining for other civic use. It will cost $6m. It will be a first for a U.S. city, explains Connor O'Neil at NREL. The case for city âfloato-voltaicsâ is so … [Read more...]
Free online Buildings Electrification training for workers on lockdown
More than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits during the lockdown. Among their number will be workers who, while sitting at home, could be trained up with useful skills they can use when the lockdowns end. You just need to identify where the big skills gaps in the economy are. Stephen Mushegan and Claire McKenna at RMI look at buildings refits and electrification, where like in most countries huge emissions reduction targets … [Read more...]
