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'Valuable and largely overlooked': Interest in virtual power plants grows

Robert Zullo

April 07, 2024 |

Utah News Dispatch |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Utility companies across the United States are using virtual power plants to meet electricity demand, access backup power, and lower the electric bills of participants. To make these power plants work, the utilities use energy from the battery storage systems of customers who have home solar arrays.

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A New Hampshire in-home energy storage program saved money and helped the grid

Sarah Shemkus

March 16, 2023 |

Energy News Network |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Hampshire

A pilot program in New Hampshire provided residents with home batteries that can be charged during lower-cost electricity hours and used later during higher-cost hours to reduce energy costs. Stored energy could also be sent back to the grid for use during peak hours.

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How Kenya Became the World's Geothermal Powerhouse

Eric Krebs

September 26, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya

Kenya is leading the world in geothermal electricity generation and infrastructure. The electricity is cheap, reliable, low-carbon, and a part of the country’s plan to industrialize.

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Is Burying Power Lines Fire-Prevention Magic, or Magical Thinking?

Angela K. Evans

July 11, 2022 |

Inside Climate News |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

Burying electrical lines underground — a process called undergrounding — can prevent wildfires and mass power outages. Most of the country’s existing electric infrastructure is above ground and outdated, which is something cities at risk for wildfires are beginning to address.

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Can Ontario boost EV battery recycling before it's too late?

Nathaniel Basen

April 22, 2021 |

TVO |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Kingston, Ontario

After lithium-ion batteries from iPhones, laptops, or electric cars are used up, the Ontario-based company LiCycle recycles parts of them to be reused in new batteries or in other products. While the recycling process isn’t completely environmentally friendly, the company is able to recover 95 percent of the raw materials and says their operations produces no carbon emissions, wastewater, or solid waste.

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The Hottest Amenity From Developers? A Power Plant Made of Batteries.

Patrick Sisson

March 03, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Salt Lake City, Utah

An apartment complex in Utah includes a solar battery in every apartment allowing the resident, power utility, and building developer to save costs for generating electricity. Through a unique partnership, the power systems can provide 12.6 megawatts of power for the building, which translates into residents saving up to 40 percent on the energy bills. This setup might not be easy to scale, but the developer plans to expand the model in other states.

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It looks like the Batmobile, works on solar energy, and could be the future of cars

Sarah Kaplan Aaron Steckelberg Jane Hahn

February 25, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

Aptera Motors, a California-based startup, is poised to roll out the first mass-produced solar vehicle this year: for $25,900. The car is a three-wheel, aerodynamic electric vehicle covered in solar cells that can provide energy to drive about 40 miles. The model is not 100 percent efficient with some energy lost in its electrical current conversion and in its drive system, but the creators say it is four times more effect than an average electric vehicle. Still, when the company started taking preorders, they sold out of its first 330 vehicles in 24 hours.

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Electric car batteries with five-minute charging times produced

Damian Carrington

January 19, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Israel

Batteries that can be fully charged in five minutes have been created for the first time, allowing electric cars to recharge faster. The Israeli company StoreDot produced 1,000 of these new lithium-ion batteries, which can be recharged for 1,000 cycles while retaining 80 percent of the original capacity. It could be a few years before they are mass produced, but the CEO of the company says that this feat “demonstrates it is feasible and it’s commercially ready.”

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How sunshine can make the railways greener

Richard Kenny

November 24, 2020 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Australia, Byron Bay, New South Wales

As a way to reduce the amount of diesel fuel that powers trains, governments and transit companies around the world are turning to solar panels as a way to utilize renewable energy. In Australia, a solar train launched in 2017 that uses lithium-ion batteries that are charged by solar panels on the roof of the carriages. And a rail line in the United Kingdom uses energy from a solar farm to keep the train running. Scaling solar panels for nation-wide transit systems can be challenging, but many countries are committed to eliminating the use of fossil fuels on their rail networks.

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A pollution solution where the rubber meets the road

Lindsey McGinnis

November 09, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

The Tyre Collective, a project by four recent graduate students in London, is seeking to capture vehicle tire pollution, the microplastics that go into the air from the friction of tires. They have been developing a device that attaches to the bottom of a car and uses electrostatic charges and airflow to collect up to 60 percent of tire particles as the car is driven. To reduce the amount of tire pollution, tire companies are seeking to balance safety requirements, tire durability, and making them out of more sustainable materials.

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