The Hill: Feds Fast-Track Approval for 3 Solar Power Farms
Federal officials have approved the first three proposed solar power farms under a streamlined permitting program for solar projects on federal land.
The three projects are all on Bureau of Land Management property in Clark County, Nev., and will together have a capacity of 440 megawatts, enough to power about 132,000 homes.
Guardian: Global Apollo Programme Seeks to Make Clean Energy Cheaper Than Coal
A plan to tackle climate change by emulating the race to put a man on the moon is launched on Tuesday, aiming to channel billions of dollars in research that will give renewable energy commercial liftoff.
The Global Apollo Programme aims to make the cost of clean electricity lower than that from coal-fired power stations across the world within 10 years. It calls for £15B a year of spending on research, development and demonstration of green energy and energy storage, the same funding in today’s money that the U.S. Apollo programme spent in putting astronauts on the moon.
Green Car Reports: Why Arcane 'Travel Provision' Rules Make EVs Rare Outside California
The sparsity of cars with plugs has been one of the biggest frustrations for Northeastern electric-car shoppers and advocates.
While California buyers can choose among roughly two dozen different battery-electric and plug-in hybrid offerings, just a handful are available outside the state.
So what gives? Why are the BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model S the only battery-electric cars widely available in the Northeast?
Bloomberg View: Corn Ethanol Is Worse Than Keystone
For years, environmental activists have opposed the Keystone XL pipeline, claiming that development of Canada’s oil sands will be “game over for the climate.” But if those same activists are sincere about climate change, why aren’t they getting arrested outside the White House to protest the use of corn ethanol?
That’s a pertinent question, given a new analysis from the Environmental Working Group, which finds that corn ethanol produces more carbon dioxide than Keystone XL would -- presuming, of course, that the pipeline ever gets built.
Science Daily: Getting Rid of Pin Holes in Solar Cells
Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University have eliminated problematic pinholes in the top layer of next-generation solar cells in development. At the same time, they have significantly improved the lifetime of the solar cell and made it thinner. The findings were recently published in Scientific Reports.
The pinholes in the top layer of the solar cell, known as the hole transport layer, were identified as a key cause for the quick degradation of perovskite solar cells.