1st wind-solar-battery 'hybrid' plant launches

ORTLAND, Ore. — A renewable energy plant commissioned in Oregon on Wednesday that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there is the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.The project, which will generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced to fill in gaps when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining with fossil fuels like coal or natural gas.At the Oregon plant, massive lithium batteries will store up to 120 megawatt-hours of power generated by the 300-megawatt wind...

Published on 9/30/2022 (173 days ago) Solar, Wind & EV's

Inflation and climate change tackled in new Senate deal that Biden calls 'historic'

NPRPresident Biden hailed as "historic" the Senate Democrats' agreement on a bill to fight the climate crisis and decrease the cost of prescription drugs — key pieces of his domestic agenda."It's a big deal," Biden said of the bill, called the Inflation Reduction Act, at the White House Thursday. He said the legislation also would both reduce inflationary pressure on the economy and serve as the most important investment the nation has ever made in energy security."With this legislation, we're facing up to some of our biggest problems and we're taking a giant step forward as a nation," he said.He noted that both former Vice President Al Gore, a champion of climate change reform, and Larry Summers, who has been critical of the Biden administration's economic approach, expressed support for...

Published on 8/8/2022 (226 days ago) Solar, Wind & EV's