Monthly Archives: April 2019

Battery storage now looks like a bargain

The sun provides us generously with more than 5000 times as much energy as we need. Deserts alone receive solar energy in excess of 450 times our annual usage. When factoring in wind energy on top of this, we have access to an abundance of renewable energy - much more than humanity will ever be

Shell quits major US oil lobby over climate change

London (CNN Business)Royal Dutch Shell says it's quitting a major US oil lobby because it disagrees with the group's policies on climate change. The energy company said Tuesday that it would not renew its membership in the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers lobby next year because of "material misalignment." Shell (RDSA) CEO Ben Van Beurden

IKEA shutters solar offering as result of FiT closure

Furniture giant IKEA closed its solar panel offering in the UK on 1 March citing the closure of the feed-in tariff (FiT). In a statement to Solar Power Portal a company spokesperson said the commercial proposition no longer stacked up. “At this point in time, we do not feel that the majority of new home

Plastic pollution persists for billions of years, claims study

A new study has revealed just how prolonged single-use plastics’ impact on the natural environment really is. The study, conducted by packaging supplier Rajapack, highlighted how long it takes for various plastic products to degrade. It identified objects such as microplastics, plastic straws and polystyrene cups as among the worst culprits, with microplastics leaving a

BNEF: Battery storage costs have ‘plummeted’ in past year

The average costs associated with building and operating large-scale lithium-ion battery storage arrays has fallen by 35% since last June, paving the way for more government and business support for the technology. That is a key finding of new research by Bloomberg NEF (BNEF), which claims that both battery storage and offshore wind have made

Battery Power’s Latest Plunge in Costs Threatens Coal, Gas

London and New York, March 26, 2019 – Two technologies that were immature and expensive only a few years ago but are now at the center of the unfolding low-carbon energy transition have seen spectacular gains in cost-competitiveness in the last year. The latest analysis by research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) shows that the benchmark levelized

Summer Outlook 2019: Solar PV stable but whole system approach now critical

National Grid expects minimum summer transmission system demand in 2019 to fall broadly in line with last year’s, owing to a collapse in new solar deployment. The Electricity System Operator (ESO) has also paid testament to its advanced, machine-learning forecasting tools, but said whole system thinking will need to become far more prevalent as the

In blow to climate, coal plants emitted more than ever in 2018

“We are headed for disaster, and nobody seems to be able to slow things down,” a Stanford University professor said. Global energy experts released grim findings Monday, saying that not only are planet-warming carbon-dioxide emissions still increasing, but the world’s growing thirst for energy has led to higher emissions from coal-fired power plants than ever

Suppliers break cover with early solar export tariff replacements

A host of energy suppliers have unveiled solar export payment plans designed to replace the now defunct export tariff despite the government’s Smart Export Guarantee being months away from implementation. Yesterday Octopus Energy said it was going to “replace and improve” upon the export tariff by introducing a product which would pay consumers a flat

Octopus Energy to outdo export tariff with Outgoing product

Octopus Energy has sought to “replace and improve” upon the now defunct export tariff with its own iteration. The Outgoing Octopus tariff will replace the export tariff and financially reward its customers who generate their own panel and export what they do not use back to the grid. Octopus has launched two versions of Outgoing

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