Bloomberg: U.K. Botched Its Renewable Energy Programs, Auditors Report
The U.K. government miscalculated the costs of renewable-energy support and is likely to overshoot its 7.6-billion-pound ($9.2 billion) annual budget by about a fifth in 2020 and 2021, according to auditors.
The “government’s forecasting, allocation of the budget and approach to dealing with uncertainty has been poor, and so has not supported value for money,” Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said Tuesday in an emailed report.
The support mechanism, known as the levy control framework, was established by the U.K.’s Department of Energy & Climate Change, subsequently renamed by Prime Minister Theresa May’s government to the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. It sets annual caps on costs for clean energy such as feed-in tariffs, renewable obligation certificates and contracts for difference.
Fortune: Here's Why SolarCity Will Give Up to $1,000 in Cash to Airbnb Customers
Home-sharing company Airbnb and SolarCity are partnering to offer some incentives to folks who set up solar panels.
On Tuesday, the companies announced a new deal through which Airbnb hosts who sign up to install panels through SolarCity are eligible to receive up to $1,000 in cash back. Additionally, new and current SolarCity customers who sign up to be Airbnb hosts will get $100 in travel credits through the home-sharing company.
The new partnership falls in line with Airbnb’s claims that home-sharing is more environmentally friendly than traditional hotels.
The Buffalo News: Three Reasons Tesla Wants to Team Up With Panasonic in Buffalo
Bringing in Panasonic as a partner with SolarCity at its solar panel factory in Buffalo will give the ambitious venture manufacturing expertise and much-needed financial support.
The tentative deal between the Japanese electronics giant and Tesla Motors is also aimed squarely at skeptical shareholders who will decide the fate of the electric-vehicle maker's $2.2 billion bid to buy SolarCity.
Panasonic's non-binding letter of intent -- if it turns into an actual agreement -- also would provide Tesla with some relief from the billions of dollars in capital it must raise to support its ambitious ventures, from building a $5 billion battery Gigafactory in Nevada to ramping up production of its Model 3 electric vehicle.
Here's a look at three main reasons why Tesla is trying to forge a partnership with Panasonic at the Buffalo factory.
Inside Energy: Political Change Powers Up Wyoming’s Wind Industry
The future is looking up for Wyoming’s wind industry.
There are few places in the country with more wind energy potential than Wyoming, but the state has seen almost no new wind turbines built in six years, even while wind has boomed in the rest of the country.
Depending on who you ask, the challenges have been political, technical or both. But now, the outlook is improving on all fronts.
That’s due, in part, to legislators’ recent decision to kill a proposal that would have increased the state’s tax on wind energy -- the only such tax in the nation. The Joint Revenue Committee in May billed the increase as a way to help offset revenue shortfalls from the crash in oil, coal and gas prices. Initially, it seemed to have considerable support.
Popular Mechanics: Scientists Accidentally Discover Efficient Process to Turn CO2 Into Ethanol
Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have discovered a chemical reaction to turn CO2 into ethanol, potentially creating a new technology to help avert climate change. Their findings were published in the journal ChemistrySelect.
The researchers were attempting to find a series of chemical reactions that could turn CO2 into a useful fuel, when they realized the first step in their process managed to do it all by itself. The reaction turns CO2 into ethanol, which could in turn be used to power generators and vehicles.