As the public learned of the recent opening of America’s first offshore wind power project, many wondered why it took so long? This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk with the executive editor of EcoRI News, Tim Faulkner, to discuss the opening of the Block Island Wind Farm off of Rhode Island. We learn about the logistics of this undertaking, compare it to offshore wind projects in Europe, and ponder the future of similar endeavors under a presidential administration that is openly hostile to wind power.
A short list of US cities rely on renewable energy: Aspen, Burlington, and Greensburg, KS. Now an unexpected name can be added to this select group: Las Vegas. The city reports that all municipal buildings and facilities will be powered by renewable energy.
Scientists tell us that earth is overshooting its planetary boundaries at a rate far quicker than the average person would believe. This situation becomes rapidly compounded by the significant challenges of population growth, urbanization, unemployment and rising socioeconomic inequality. To complicate things further, the most rapid change is occurring in those parts of the world with the least resources and capacity to manage these effects.
Modernization of the U.S. power grid will not only require replacement of old components with new ones, it will also need to account for larger amounts of renewable energy and distributed generation. This movement is causing utilities to consider microgrids as a part of the solution.
50 MW wind deal is equivalent to electricity needs of 16 GM sites and warehouses
Press Release
DETROIT, November 16, 2016 /3BL Media/ — General Motors has made its largest renewable energy procurement to date, purchasing enough wind power to equal the electricity needs of 16 of its U.S. facilities, including business offices in Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, a major assembly and stamping complex in Arlington, Texas, and 13 parts warehouses east of the Mississippi River.
Company announces plans for new wind farm in Mexico as business and government leaders convene at COP22—one year after the historic Paris Agreement
Press Release
MARRAKECH, MOROCCO, November 15, 2016 /3BL Media/ -- Mars, Incorporated is urging the business community and global leaders at COP22 to take bold action to implement the targets agreed last year in Paris for tackling climate change. Mars combined this call to action with an announcement of plans for a wind farm in Mexico—its third major wind energy commitment in as many years.
When the gavel came down on the historic Paris Agreement for climate action on 12 December 2015, the international community delivered a statement of intent for a different and better future. One year on – after months of quiet diplomacy, business calls for action and civil society efforts – the agreement has been ratified, and the statement of intent is now set to drive government, business and investment decisions for decades.
Utility regulators in some U.S. states are considering the adoption of performance-based regulation to replace the traditional cost of service regulation.
By the end of this year, the five turbines of the Block Island wind project will begin converting wind into power. The project is the first offshore wind farm to be operating in US waters, and more are going to follow.
