Wed.Sep 25, 2019

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Central Park to undergo $150M LEED Gold-targeted redesign

Inhabitat - Innovation

To cap the Central Park Conservancy’s 40-year renewal of Central Park, the nonprofit has unveiled designs to update the park’s north end with a LEED Gold-targeted recreational facility, a new pool, skating rink and other amenities.

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A locally led move toward microgrids in Puerto Rico

GreenBiz

The shift can promote energy equity, foster local ownership and avoid expensive and polluting investments in fossil fuels.

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A solar-powered catamaran with a built-in plastic clean-up system sets sail off the coast of Ibiza

Inhabitat - Innovation

Tourists from all over the world flock to Spain's coastal regions throughout the year; however, the rising amount of plastic waste accumulating in the Mediterranean is threatening to do irreversible damage to these once-pristine waters. Thankfully, one forward-thinking cruise company is doing its part to keep the damage at bay.

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The innovation buzz from Stockholm World Water Week

GreenBiz

It’s not just about technology, it’s about laws, public policy and social engagement.

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Electrofuels Are the Future: The Driving Force to Decarbonizing Heavy Transport

Speaker: Ayesha Choudhury - Senior Vice President, Head of Capital Markets at Infinium

With the first wave of the energy transition, renewable energy sources (such as solar and wind) have begun replacing coal power generation. However, some sectors are lagging behind and struggling to decarbonize more than others, including large-scale transportation like commercial aviation, shipping, and rail transit. Electrofuels (aka eFuels) are the next generation of solutions to help the hardest-to-abate sectors pivot from their reliance on fossil fuels.

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Honda makes largest renewable energy purchase of any automaker

Inhabitat - Innovation

Multinational auto manufacturer Honda Motor Company, headquartered in Tokyo, recently made the largest renewable clean energy purchase by any car maker.

Energy 258
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Business leaders call out the climate action resisters among them

GreenBiz

As public pressure mounts, and utilities and automakers shift toward a low-carbon economy, fossil fuel companies find it harder to hide.

More Trending

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World leaders' commitments fall short at UN Climate Action Summit

GreenBiz

"We are running out of time," said Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima.

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Pacific heat wave threatens coral reefs in Hawaii and other regions

Inhabitat - Innovation

Researchers predict a major marine heat wave in the Pacific Ocean could prove disastrous to the fragile coral reefs along Hawaii’s Papa Bay and similar coastlines.

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Philadelphia International Airport grapples with climate change and sea-level rise

GreenBiz

The airport is next to the Delaware River, which will rise as the Atlantic does.

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Recent Changes to California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program, Explained

GreenTechMedia

Clifford Rechtschaffen was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission by Governor Jerry Brown in January 2017. *. California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) is one of the longest-running and most successful distributed generation incentive programs in the country. It has evolved several times since its inception, and a recent decision by the Public Utilities Commission moves SGIP in several important new directions in response to fresh challenges faced by the state.

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AR/VR Simulations for Sustainable, Regenerative, Circular Cities

Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor

With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.

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Propel Solutions and Green Business Bureau Join Forces

Green Business Bureau

Today, the importance of green and sustainable business is becoming more prevalent. Customers are defining sustainability as added value in the products or services they invest in. Propel Solutions and Green Business Bureau (GBB) have partnered to bring sustainability services to businesses who are committed to doing their part for the planet. With both companies built on a foundation of Continuous Improvement, this collaboration is a perfect match.

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Italian Oil Giant Eni Piles Onto UK Offshore Wind Market

GreenTechMedia

Italian oil and gas major Eni has partnered with developer Mainstream Renewable Power as it looks to build up a portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage assets. Separately on Wednesday, Norwegian oil giant Equinor revealed a partnership with China Power International Holding to develop offshore wind projects in Europe and China. The Eni partnership will focus on the U.K. initially before expanding out to Africa and Southeast Asia.

Africa 100
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Kia and Hyundai invest in IONITY, plan to bump up EV systems to 800 volts

Charged

Kia and Hyundai have announced investments in IONITY , the European charging network established by BMW, Ford, Daimler, and VW. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes both Kia and Hyundai, will obtain equal shares in IONITY as those of founding partners. Starting in 2021, Kia and Hyundai will equip EVs with 800-volt charging systems to accommodate IONITY’s maximum charging power of 350 kilowatts.

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South Africa’s Eskom Preparing First Large-Scale Battery Tender

GreenTechMedia

South Africa’s utility Eskom is preparing to launch a tender for 1.4 gigawatt-hours of battery storage that will need to be installed by December 2021. The large-scale energy storage tender, the first of its kind in the country and in Africa as a whole, will be split into two phases, with an initial 200 megawatts/800 megawatt-hours of capacity to be built by December 2020, an Eskom official said.

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How Digital Transformation will Bend the Curve of the Linear Economy Toward the Circular

Speaker: Bruce Armstrong Taylor, Co-Founder & Managing Director of SmartNations Foundation, Jimmy Jia, Venture Partner at Pi Labs, Fabienne Durand, Senior Advisor to the SmartNations Foundation, & Roger Strukhoff, Executive Director of the Tau Institute

The Climate 4.0 Economy. Climate change is here. We see it in many ways already. Weather catastrophes: Texas freezing over, the wildfires of California, the increasingly unpredictable violence and frequency of hurricanes, the rapid melting and disappearance of polar ice caps. Much more evidence all around us. What can we do in our corporate organizations, in our homes and communities, to change the current course?

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Bosch reports €13 billion in electromobility orders

Charged

Since the beginning of 2018, Bosch has won electromobility-related orders worth roughly €13 billion, including production projects for electric powertrains for passenger cars and light trucks. The company is fast-tracking electrification, as well as developing higher-efficiency ICEs and investing in fuel cells, automated driving and technology for mobility services.

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More Delays for UK’s Hinkley Point Nuclear Plant as Offshore Wind Costs Drop

GreenTechMedia

French energy giant EDF has suffered another blow in the development of its controversial Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the U.K. after costs soared by as much as £2.9 billion ($3.6 billion), potentially rising to a total of more than £22 billion. EDF said “challenging ground conditions” have made earthworks at the site more expensive than expected.

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Go electric on the water with the Taiga Orca electric watercraft

Charged

Montreal-based startup Taiga Motors began life in 2015 as a spin-out from the racing team at McGill University, where co-founders Paul Achard, Gabriel Bernatchez and Sam Bruneau worked on electric powertrains. The company has developed a line of electric snowmobiles, and has now announced an electric watercraft (as reported by Electrek ). The Taiga Orca features carbon fiber construction and a 23 kWh battery pack, which the company says will power about two hours of fun on the water.

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Oil and Gas Investor EnCap Muscles Into Energy Storage Business

GreenTechMedia

EnCap Investments has directed about $37 billion in venture investment into oil and gas companies over its 30 years in business. Now, it’s making its first investments into clean energy, with a goal of developing up to 2 gigawatts of utility-scale energy storage, either on its own or linked to solar, wind and peaker plants. This week, the Houston-based upstream and midstream oil and gas industry investor announced that it’s “pursuing opportunities created by the global transiti

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Faith-based institutions fit local investments into global portfolios

Impact Alpha

“Faith and Investing,” ImpactAlpha’s series on faith-based investing, is sponsored by the Global Impact Investing Network. The GIIN is bringing faith-based investors together at its annual investor forum in Amsterdam on Oct 2 and 3. Register now with code ImpactAlpha10 for a 10% discount. ImpactAlpha, September 25 – Where politicians squabble, Bon Secours Mercy Health Systems sees investment opportunities.

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An Unusual Plan for Lowering Solar’s Customer Acquisition Costs: Infomercials

GreenTechMedia

SALT LAKE CITY — Generac Power Systems, a Fortune 1000 company that sells residential backup power generators, is making a play for the residential solar and storage market. This spring the Wisconsin-bsaed company, part of stock-listed Generac Holdings Inc., acquired storage manufacturer Pika Energy and home energy management system company Neurio Technology.

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These 4 MacArthur geniuses are taking on the climate crisis

Grist

If any tough problem needs a squad of geniuses to work some magic, it’s the climate crisis. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when the MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of this year’s so-called “genius grants” Wednesday morning, four of the 26 recipients were scientists and artists working on ways to adapt to life on our overheating planet.

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To unlock entrepreneurship for development, ANDE turns to women, jobs and the environment

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, Sept. 25 – For its 10th anniversary, the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs gathered some of its 300 members to look ahead. The takeaway: ANDE is aligning its work around the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular, environmental action (SDG Nos. 6, 7 and 13), gender equality (No. 5) and jobs and economic growth The post To unlock entrepreneurship for development, ANDE turns to women, jobs and the environment appeared first on ImpactAlpha.

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Another Virtual Pipeline Truck Carrying Fracked Gas Crashes in New York. Local Climate Advocates Demand Urgent Action

DeSmogBlog

Read time: 6 mins On Monday around 1:00 a.m., a “Virtual Pipeline” truck carrying compressed natural gas mined from the Marcellus Shale crashed on Interstate 88 near Binghamton, New York, after the vehicle swerved to avoid deer, flipped over, and fatally ejected 52-year-old driver Jeffrey Lind. The truck’s container system began leaking compressed methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

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10 inverter innovations on display at Solar Power International

Solar Power World

From the smallest micro- and string inverters to the largest centrals, one thing was clear as I walked the show floor at Solar Power International: In this year’s new inverter launches, simplicity was paramount. Here’s a roundup of the new power electronics I checked out. 1. SMA America’s Sunny Central UP with Virtual Support SMA… The post 10 inverter innovations on display at Solar Power International appeared first on Solar Power World.

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Blended finance is mobilizing billions, not trillions, for the global goals

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, Sept. 25 – Proponents of the use of philanthropic and public capital to mobilize private capital for public goods have touted blended finance as a way to grow annual investments in sustainable development from billions to the trillions needed to deliver on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. The result so far: billions to…billions.

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Companies take Twende Solar’s Photovoltaic Oath to provide renewable energy to communities in need

Solar Power World

With nearly 1 billion people around the globe lacking access to basic electricity, nonprofit Twende Solar is teaming up with solar industry partners to power schools, medical facilities and communities with solar electricity. Manufacturer Unirac joins solar contractors Elemental Energy and SunPower by Milholland Electric in taking Twende Solar’s Photovoltaic Oath, committing to use their… The post Companies take Twende Solar’s Photovoltaic Oath to provide renewable energy to communit

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Green Party of Canada sets a high bar with climate platform

Clean Energy Canada

VICTORIA — Dan Woynillowicz, policy director at Clean Energy Canada, made the following statement in response to the federal Green Party of Canada’s costed climate platform : “The Green Party of Canada’s climate platform sets a high bar, with incredibly ambitious targets for cutting carbon pollution and rapidly transforming how energy is produced and used in Canada.

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SmartFlower Solar Unveils the Smartflower +Plus Integrated Battery Storage System, at Solar Power International

altenergymag

The new integrated battery storage system from SmartFlower Solar, the Smartflower +Plus, will be debuting at Solar Power International today.

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Power Electronics launches HEM HYBRID for huge solar-plus-storage projects

Solar Power World

Power Electronics has presented the HEM HYBRID, its latest solution for large-scale photovoltaic plants, a solar inverter unique in the market that allows interconnection with storage systems using batteries up to 3,000 kW (DC / DC) of power. The new solar-plus-storage inverter has been presented at Solar Power International. The HEM HYBRID is a solar… The post Power Electronics launches HEM HYBRID for huge solar-plus-storage projects appeared first on Solar Power World.

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New Updates to HOMER Grid Software Offer Enhanced Modeling for Distributed Energy Systems

altenergymag

With the release this week of version 1.6, the HOMER Grid software, which facilitates the design of grid-tied distributed energy systems, now has three new features that make it a more powerful and efficient tool.

Energy 60
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Battery and energy storage highlights at SPI 2019

Solar Power World

There are many battery-related companies exhibiting at Solar Power International/Energy Storage International this year. And with plenty of big storage announcements from companies not necessarily directly involved with batteries before, there was a lot of top tech to sort through. Here were the most interesting battery products I saw on the show floor today.

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Enphase Energy Simplifies Energy Monitoring for Solar Installers

altenergymag

With the integration of the LTE-M-based cell modem, IQ Combiner 3C customers can enjoy the peace of mind that their Enphase-based systems are capable of being always connected to service and system performance data in the cloud.

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Enphase debuts new combiner for uninterrupted monitoring

Solar Power World

Installers can now leverage a more efficient way to help ensure that Enphase-based solar systems are always connected by using the Enphase IQ Combiner 3C, which includes an integrated Enphase CELLMODEM-M1. The IQ Combiner 3C is designed to provide uninterrupted connectivity to the Enphase Enlighten monitoring and service platform and streamlines PV solar and storage… The post Enphase debuts new combiner for uninterrupted monitoring appeared first on Solar Power World.

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ESG 2.0: ACORE Releases Recommendations on ESG Scoring to Better Reflect Renewable Energy Use and Investment

altenergymag

In a new white paper released today, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) explores the current state of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing in the U.S. and provides recommendations for ESG methodologies that better reflect renewable energy use and investment.