Electricity is the ‘New Fuel of Choice’ Says IEA

According to the International Energy Agency, “2018 is the year of electricity” and global electricity supply “is being transformed by the rise of renewables”.

California ‘Smart Home Study’ Underway

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is funding a study that it hopes will result in lower utility bills for customers and more control over electricity load for utilities. The project will involve 100 homeowners in Southern California who will install various types of distributed energy resources (DER) such as thermostats, load control switches, batteries, water heaters and eventually electric vehicle chargers.

Buildings Are Becoming Energy Hubs: How Utilities Can Adapt

As utility customers invest more in advanced energy technologies, buildings are becoming dynamic energy hubs. Anywhere, anytime, a building could be a consumer, storage point, or generator of energy. And a building’s energy profile could change instantaneously as it responds to signals from internal controls, the grid operator, or third parties to deploy assets like controllable water heaters, smart equipment, solar, and storage.

University Spin-off’s Small Packets Are a Big Deal for Energy Industry

It’s been a whirlwind year for Packetized Energy, the Vermont-based clean energy sector start-up spun off from a U.S. Department of Energy project in 2016 by three University of Vermont electrical engineering faculty, Paul Hines, Mads Almassalkhi and Jeff Frolik.

POWER-GEN International Explores the Competitive Advantages of Power Generation Technologies

When California voted to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045, it sent a signal to the market about which types of power generation technologies will remain competitive into the future. And according to Mike Ferguson, Director, North America Energy Infrastructure and Sustainable Finance with S&P Global Ratings, what California does, other states may soon follow.

EU Unveils Plan to Cut Emissions to Zero

The European Union unveiled its long-term vision on combating climate change in a push for more ambitious action on the environment just days after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected his government’s warning on the economic costs of global warming.

Constellation and Enel To Help Make Starbucks Coffee Greener in Illinois

This week Constellation, an Exelon company, said it signed a long-term PPA with Starbucks to power more than 340 Illinois stores with 100 percent renewable energy produced by Enel Green Power (EGP) North America, Inc.’s HillTopper wind project in Logan, County, Ill.

EV Charging Infrastructure Company Attracts Largest Funding to Date at $240M

This week, Electric Vehicle (EV) charging network provider, ChargePoint, announced that it has raised $240 Million in Series H funding, which is more capital than any other EV infrastructure company in the world, surmising in its press release that the move to electrify transportation is accelerating.

Enel Named Amongst the Top 12 Corporate Startup Stars

Italian multinational utility Enel has been recognized as one of the world’s most active companies in the open innovation field.

Waste To Energy: The Next Step After Banning Single-Use Plastics

In October of this year, the European Parliament voted in favor of a ban of the ten most notorious single-use plastics that harm our planet and marine life, including straws, plastic cutlery and cotton buds. The vote also committed to a move towards a circular economy – recognizing the inherent value of the 2.12 billion tonnes of waste that is dumped globally each year. Yet questions remain about how we deal with the items not on the list, the ones where there are no obvious alternatives; the fruit trays, the ice cream tubs, the burger boxes. With waste generation expected to double by 2025 we must continue to act on this growing crisis and be more innovative with waste.