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World’s largest utility joins EWF’s energy blockchain ecosystem

Last week, the Energy Web Foundation (EWF) announced it had officially signed more than 100 affiliates in an effort to become the world’s largest blockchain ecosystem.




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Climate experts tell UK to set zero carbon target for 2050

Developing carbon capture and storage technology and low-carbon hydrogen is “a necessity not an option” for the UK to achieve a net zero carbon economy by 2050.




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Hydrogen: key to a zero-carbon future, or a costly distraction?

The U.K.’s push for a low-carbon economy has some notable successes, but the hardest part of the battle has barely started.




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EU corporates want renewable energy but bureaucracy and regulations are holding them back

This week energy developer BayWa r.e. published its Energy Report 2019, which surveyed 1,200 European corporations about their attitudes toward renewable energy.




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Ameren tests software that could unlock future ‘transactive energy marketplace’

Ameren is preparing to test a Canadian company’s software that could someday help usher in a radically different business model for the utility.





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Companies explore how to make your home smart and 100% renewable-powered

Big Oil wants to put a box in your hall closet that works like a human brain, can cut the lights, stop the refrigerator and will know how you move about in the privacy of your home better than you do.




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LevelTen receives series B funding; arranges 146-MW PPA for Starbucks

Seattle, WA-based LevelTen Energy helps corporate buyers of renewable energy find and purchase energy from solar and wind projects within North America through its procurement platform. The company says its solution reduces the cost, complexity, and risk of renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs), by incorporating analytics, aggregation, and process best practices.




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Power companies in New England tapping residential batteries to reduce peak demand

Here’s the latest wrinkle in the battery boom: National Grid Plc is paying consumers to tap electricity from their power-storage systems.




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AI-powered storage company enters Northeast market with “front-of-the-meter” solution

This week artificial intelligence (AI)-driven energy storage services provider Stem said that it had formed a partnership with New York-based private equity company Syncarpha Capital to build 28.2 megawatt-hours (MWh) of large-scale storage projects co-sited with solar in Massachusetts.




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The 150,000-square-meter sky bridge of Shanghai’s 'Rafael Gallery' will be covered in solar

Solar company Hanergy announced that its thin-film solar modules will cover the 150,000 square meter roof of the ‘Rafael Gallery’ located at a Tech City in Shanghai.




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Energy storage sites provide unique wholesale market participation

ENGIE Storage has announced it will supply and operate a 19 MW/38 MWh portfolio of six energy storage sites that will contribute to the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program and participate in ISO-New England wholesale markets.




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On the brink of blackouts, Texas makes case for power plant boom

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.




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Clinical trials success showcases Korea–Australia pharma collaboration

Korean biopharma company, PharmAbcine, is commencing full-scale clinical trials of a brain cancer treatment in the United States, following pioneering early phase trials in Australia.




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Making healthy, innovative food and beverages for the world

There are few countries better placed than Australia to meet the growing global demand for foods that enhance health and wellness.




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US biotech injects 3D printing expertise into Victorian artificial kidney project

San Diego-based biotechnology company, Organovo Holdings (Organovo), has announced a tie up with a Melbourne research institute to help develop regenerative medicine in Australia.




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Korean genome co invests A$4m to take Queensland microbiome project global

Seoul-based genome specialist, Macrogen, has agreed a A$4.1 million investment in the Queensland microbiome testing and bioinformatics company, Microba.




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French drone startup takes flight in Australia

Sunbirds, a Toulouse-based startup has set up an office, assembly workshop and maintenance centre in Brisbane, Queensland. The office provides drone packages and drone-as-a-service solutions to surveyors, cattle stations and environmental monitoring companies. Australia is emerging as a hub for Agriculture 4.0 – the next generation of technologies set to revolutionise the agriculture and food sectors.




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Japan's Prime Minister Re-Election Risks Undercutting Clean Energy Push

Shinzo Abe’s re-election as prime minister risks undercutting Japan’s commitment to clean energy at a time when incentives are under review and the nation’s utilities say they can’t accommodate capacity already planned.




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Viewpoint: Editor's note on making MHK commercial

Attending the Ocean Energy Europe event in Paris recently the considerable presence of developers and manufacturers signalled a long-term transformation for the sector, which - for tidal stream in particular - is now emerging as a technological reality.




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An irrigation network in Japan offers more than 1.4 MW of potential generation

The addition of hydropower generating capacity to an irrigation network in northern Japan is one step closer to completion. Several sites have been identified for the installation of VLH turbines, with a total capacity of 1.433 MW.




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Serbia Seeks to Boost Renewable Energy Investment With New Law

Serbia seeks to unblock investment in renewable energy after adopting legislation that opens gas and power markets in line with European Union guidelines.




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Machining work performed to deal with bearing cooling problem at Lookout Shoals

A problem with bearing cooling at the Lookout Shoals plant helped Duke Energy uncover several other issues that needed to be resolved. Through creative approaches and significant machining work, the units are now operating dependably.




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California Governor Seeks to Increase Renewable Energy Mandate to 50 Percent

California Governor Jerry Brown proposed spending $59 billion to fix crumbling roads and raising the state’s renewable energy mandate to 50 percent.




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Geocaching challenge takes participants to three Pacific Northwest hydro facilities

Visitor centers at large hydro projects in the U.S. nearly became an endangered species after 9/11. Fears about additional attacks on critical infrastructure led to restricting public access to many hydro projects, putting visitor centers in jeopardy.




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Brazilian Bank Raises $408 Million for Renewable Energy and Water Projects

The Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco Holding SA raised 1.05 billion reais ($408 million) to finance renewable energy and water treatment projects.




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Geothermal Saves Kenya $24 Million of Fuel Monthly, Says KenGen

New power-generating units at Kenya’s Olkaria I plant are saving East Africa’s biggest economy about 2.2 billion shillings ($24 million) a month on fuel costs, according to the country’s biggest electricity producer.




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Harvard’s Star Alumni Urge Week of Fossil Fuel Protests

Actress Natalie Portman, environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and other high-profile Harvard University alumni are calling for demonstrations to urge divestment from fossil fuels.




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Clean Energy Makes Up Record Share of UK Power with Coal-to-Biomass Conversions

U.K. electricity from low-carbon sources accounted for almost a quarter of the country’s generation in the fourth quarter as Drax Group Plc converted a second coal-power plant to burn wood.




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Republican Texas Bows to California and Backs Energy Finance Plan

Jim Keffer is Republican state lawmaker in Texas with a permit to carry a concealed weapon and doubts about whether human activity is causing global warming.




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Australian Clean Energy Deadlock Spurs Companies to Focus Abroad

Political deadlock over Australia’s clean energy future is prompting companies such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Acciona SA to increasingly turn to rival markets for growth.




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Carbon Market Overhaul Closer After EU Lawmakers Approve Plan

European Union negotiators are endorsing an accelerated overhaul of the bloc’s carbon market after the price of emission rights fell to levels that fail to deter polluters.




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Two Workers Die in “Landslide” at Hamzadere Dam Irrigation System in Turkey

Two construction workers died as the result of a landslide and additional workers were injured on May 22 at the construction site of the Hamzadere Dam Irrigation System in the Ipsala district of Edirne, Turkey. Edirne is in the northwestern-most part of the Turkey near its border with Greece.




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EU Raises Concern That UK, France Won't Meet Renewables Goal

The European Commission raised concern that the U.K. and France may not meet their 2020 renewable energy targets, saying the two countries should examine whether they’re doing enough to reach the goals.




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For All Their Talk, Colleges Divest Little After Climate Protest

Stanford, Oxford and Georgetown universities have won praise for promising to purge their endowments of direct investments in coal, embracing the fight against climate change.

 




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‘Snail’s Pace’ in Climate Talks, Weak Pledges Frustrate UN Chief

The secretary general of the United Nations is frustrated with the pace of negotiations for what’s intended to be a crucial agreement limiting global warming.

Climate change pledges submitted so far from the world’s leading economies won’t be enough to keep the planet from warming dangerously, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday in New York.

Proposals to reduce heat-trapping emissions need to be “a floor, not a ceiling,” he said.

The global increase in temperatures will exceed 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) under the national pledges already submitted to UN, Ban said. That’s the goal scientists and the UN have set to avoid the worst effects due to global warming.

The proposals submitted to date “will not be enough to place us on a 2-degree pathway,” Ban said.

Without any changes to global emissions, the world is on track to warm by 4 degrees Celsius or more, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change Janos Pasztor said earlier this month.

World leaders have five months to go before a meeting of almost 200 nations in Paris that’s intended to seal a new global pact to cut planet-warming carbon emissions. If successful, the agreement would be the first ever to require both developed nations like the US and growing economies like China to address climate change.

“The pace of UN negotiations are far too slow,” Ban said. “It’s like a snail’s pace.”

The U.S., the world’s biggest historic source of greenhouse gases, pledged earlier this year to cut its emissions by as much as 28 percent by 2025. The European Union has promised a 40 percent cut by 2030. Several other major economies, including Australia and Japan, have yet to submit climate plans to the UN.




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Clean Energy Companies Beat the Stock Market

Stocks of clean-energy companies are proving to be better investments than those of companies that produce most of the Western Hemisphere's power, and are outperforming the rest of the stock market as well.

The evidence is found in the New York Stock Exchange Bloomberg Americas Clean Energy Index. Its 141 companies, all based in North and South America, returned 32.62 percent in the past two years. In contrast, the 40 conventional-energy companies in the Standard and Poor's 500 Energy Index returned 1.02 percent over the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Clean energy also is beating the rest of the stock market. The Clean Energy Index is up 6.02 percent so far this year. Lagging behind are both the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000 Index, which gained 3.12 percent and 3.86 percent respectively in 2015.




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The Latest Sign That Coal Is Getting Killed

Coal is having a hard time lately. U.S. power plants are switching to natural gas, environmental restrictions are kicking in, and the industry is being derided as the world's No. 1 climate criminal. Prices have crashed, sure, but for a real sense of coal's diminishing prospects, check out what's happening in the bond market.




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Climate Talks Nearing Consensus in Behind-the-Scenes Meetings

Publicly, the United Nations climate-change talks look mired in disputes over everything from money to the length of the proposed agreement.




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Solar power growth impacting UK electricity sector

Q2 of 2015 saw a large increase in the generation of electricity from solar PV in the UK, with the growth having a significant impact on electricity market prices and other supply factors.




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WavePOD MHK Prototype Receives US$3.1 Million in New Funding

According to a press release from Aquamarine Power, the marine hydrokinetic (MHK) Wave Power Offtake Device (WavePOD) 10th-scale prototype, a project run jointly by Aquamarine Power, Bosch Rexroth and Carnegie Wave Energy, has received US$3.1 million in new funding. 




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Nigeria inaugurates 400-kW Tunga small hydroelectric project

Power to Sardauna, Taraba, Nigeria has increased with the Aug. 14 commissioning of the 400-kW Tunga hydroelectric project on the Donga River.  




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Seattle City Light evacuates 711-MW Skagit hydropower project amidst wildfire

Safety concerns raised by wildfires have forced utility Seattle City Light to evacuate employees from the town of Diablo, the nearby 711-MW Skagit hydropower complex and the North Cascades Institute's Environmental Learning Center.




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ORPC Ireland receives funding for marine hydrokinetic feasibility study

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is funding the Ireland division of U.S.-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. (ORPC) to identify feasible tidal energy sites in the coastal waters of County Donegal. 




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Proposed changes to U.K.'s FiT program met with backlash from small hydro sector

Changes to the United Kingdom's Feed-In Tariff program could have a negative impact on a number of generation sectors -- including small hydroelectric power -- according to a number of industry groups.




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Strong fall chinook returns reported at Bonneville Dam

According to the Fish Passage Center website, adult fall chinook counted at Bonneville Dam were 212,618 as of Sept. 3, the second highest on record since counting began in 1938.




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The Crown Estate launches small-scale MHK leasing program

The Crown Estate, one of the largest property owners in the United Kingdom, has launched a program of offshore leasing for small-scale marine hydrokinetic (MHK) testing and demonstration projects less than 3 MW. 




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Sen. Murkowski introduces pair of Alaskan hydroelectric power bills

Hearings on a pair of bills held by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week could potentially lead to an expansion of hydroelectric power in Alaska.




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Knight Construction wins spillway gate rehab contract for Blue River Dam

Knight Construction & Supply Co. has won a $3.7 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rehabilitate spillway gates at the Blue River Dam in Oregon.




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Asia’s emerging green bond market could affect hydroelectric project investment

Japan, the third-largest global bond player, is now becoming involved in using green bonds to have an affect on renewable energy that will likely include hydroelectric projects.