Europe could have saved itself $100 billion (€86bn) by installing solar power panels in sunnier countries and wind turbines in windier places, the World Economic Forum's "Future of Electricity" platform said in a report released on Tuesday (20 January).
The report, written with consultancy Bain, added that another $40 bilion (€34.5bn) could have been saved by better cross-border coordination and bigger power cables between countries.
The plan here seems far-fetched — a $36 billion tunnel that would run twice the length of the one under the English Channel, and bore deep into one of Asia’s active earthquake zones. When completed, it would be the world’s longest underwater tunnel, creating a rail link between two northern port cities.
Germany’s tech scene saw increased funding figures for its tech hub, Berlin, increased foreign VC participation, and one of its most notable investors go public in 2014. With this increased buzz and VC dollars, 15 VC-backed tech companies raised $20M+ rounds of financing this past year. The largest was Delivery Hero, the online food ordering site which closed three separate rounds of financing totaling over $450M, including a $350M Series G which valued the company at $1B.
Another day, another funding from SoftBank. This time the corporation, one of Japan’s leading telecoms, has invested $7 million in Altaeros Energies, which is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and makes airborne wind turbines.
Des chercheurs de l'université de Cambridge ont développé une nouvelle méthode qui permet de transférer de l'énergie d'un semi-conducteur organique à un inorganique, en ouvrant ainsi les portes à la possibilité de produire des cellules photovoltaïques beaucoup plus efficaces.
Although there are no scientific grounds to ban fracking, shale gas will do little to solve Europe’s energy supply security problems, according to a new report by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC).
Best practices have “greatly reduced the environmental footprint of shale gas fracturing,” the EASAC said, claiming that risks can be appropriately managed.
These include the replacement of potentially harmful chemicals and the full disclosure of all the additives used in the hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – process, notes the report published on Thursday (13 November).
The high cost of batteries has made them impractical for storing energy from wind and solar or providing back-up power on the electricity grid. Now, though, several battery startups are claiming price reductions that make energy storage on the grid look more feasible.
Fremont, CA-based Imergy Power Systems today said it’s developed a shipping container-size battery that will cost under $300 per kilowatt-hour, $200 less per kilowatt-hour than its last product. That price doesn’t mean that giant batteries will replace natural gas or coal power plants en masse, but it does make energy storage more attractive for specific uses, such as microgrids or providing power at peak hours of the day.
The business of solar power continues to attract more money as innovative companies refine ways to finance and connect solar projects to the electrical grid.
OneEnergy Renewables, a Seattle company developing mid-sized solar power projects, has raised $5 million in Series B funding, as residential solar giant SolarCity announced plans to sell solar-backed bonds to individual investors.
Also, Kirkland, WA-based Clean Power Research introduced new software that promises to make the process of applying to connect solar to the electricity grid more efficient. Meanwhile, the Mariners have added a solar array at their Arizona spring training facility (pictured at top).
The inventor of a low-cost solar cell that works even when the sun isn’t out and a researcher who is using artificial photosynthesis to convert solar energy into hydrogen fuel are the two winners of the $1million Eric and Sheila Samson Prize, the world’s largest award for innovation in the field of alternative fuels. The winners were announced Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Science, Technology and Space Minister Yaakov Peri.
