Report: EVs, solar will put fossil fuels in global decline by 2030

Ford F-150 Lightning at Electrify AmericaEVs could help hasten the ongoing transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy through the end of the decade, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA predicts that more than half of the world's electricity will come from low-emission sources by 2030, and that demand for coal, oil, and gas will have also...

US shift toward wind and solar will cut coal, make EVs cleaner

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in United Arab EmiratesIncreased use of renewable energy will help reduce electricity generation from coal and natural gas power plants, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in turn making EVs cleaner. The EIA forecasts that wind and solar will together account for 16% of total electricity generation in 2023, up from 14% in 2022 and 8% in 2018...

Home solar and electric cars are converging, and it’s about time

SunPower home solar installationElectric cars and home solar complement each other, and a new alliance between solar-energy provider SunPower and charging-equipment maker Wallbox aims to make the most of that. With this alliance, SunPower customers can opt to install a Wallbox home charging station at the same time as their home solar and/or energy-storage system installation...

Vast Nevada solar array on federal land will be biggest ever

Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TennesseeNevada is set to host the largest solar array in the United States. Last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved a proposal for the Gemini Solar Project, a $1 billion solar-generating facility to be located about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The facility, which will be built on federally-controlled land and operated by Solar...

Plunge in demand for oil could be a win for renewables

Mulan wind farm [CREDIT: Global Climate Budget 2018]Decreases in overall energy demand resulting from the global coronavirus pandemic will hit fossil fuels hard, while driving a shift toward renewable energy, according to a report issued last Thursday. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global energy demand will fall 6% in 2020—seven times the decline seen after the 2008...

Put the EV in the garage: Solar driveways could power entire households

Platio solar drivewayElectric cars and solar power are a perfect combination. Charging an electric car from a solar array reduces its overall carbon footprint. Now a Hungary-based company is bringing these two technologies even closer together with solar driveways. Platio (via Inhabitat) claims to be the first company to embed solar tiles in a residential driveway. A...

Tesla picks Berlin for European Gigafactory

Tesla CEO Elon Musk introducing Model YTesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Tuesday night that the company would be building its so-called “Gigafactory 4” in Berlin, Germany. Musk had already been in Germany to accept a Golden Steering Wheel, an award made by Auto-Bild group publisher Axel Springer, for the Tesla Model 3. "Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding and...

How much would 100 percent renewable energy really cost?

Mulan wind farm [CREDIT: Global Climate Budget 2018]Democratic presidential candidates talked hardly at all in the debates late last month about the Green New Deal, a proposal in Congress, to, among other things convert America's electric power completely to renewable sources. Americans have shown broad support for such a transition. What's been left unaddressed—and which many candidates...

Renewable energy growth falters as carbon dioxide hits record levels

Offshore wind farmThe past couple of weeks have seen the convergence of two troubling trends. Perhaps most troubling, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography released data last week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that concentrations of carbon in the atmosphere have reached record levels unseen not just in human history, but in the scientific...

EVgo fast-charge network commits to 100 percent renewable power

2019 Jaguar I-Pace at EVgo chargerIf electric cars are supposed to clean up the environment and reduce global warming—and they are—EV drivers would like to rely on 100 percent renewable energy to do charge. And charging networks are striving to provide it. Many, including Tesla with its Supercharger stations, are building new charging stations with solar canopies or...

Powerline approval could bring EV drivers more wind power

Wind farm outside Fort MacLeod, Alberta, Canada   [photographer: Joel Bennett]In the efforts of Green New Deal and electric car advocates, a new permit for power transmission lines may knock down one of the biggest hurdles to bringing more renewable power to electric cars. Last week, a major new power transmission line from Wyoming to the Hoover Dam won final approval from Wyoming, the last of the states it traverses to...

Pumped hydro could deliver 100 percent renewable electricity

Potential global pumped hydro storage sites [CREDIT: Matthew Stocks Australian National University)Achieving 100 percent renewable power, as Congressional Democrats' Green New Deal and other proposals around the world envision, will require a lot of energy storage. And while the cost and availability of a storage batteries has made significant progress lately, they may not be the best solution to store renewable energy. A new study by...