This week in cleantech and energy news, a smartphone attachment will reveal water contamination, lawmakers make moves to introduce offshore wind jobs, Saudi Arabia partners with SoftBank to start the world’s largest solar power generation project, and a German firm is selling hybrid storage systems combining batteries and hydrogen to power homes with reliable renewable energy.
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Futurism – A Clever Smartphone Attachment Will Show if Water Is Contaminated
- A smartphone attachment will allow users to collect quick and precise measurements of water pollution.
“This kind of data can steer environmental policies on a national level. Citizens can tell if their drinking water is contaminated. Fishermen are able to determine the quality of their catch, and how pollution could affect local fish populations. Polluted water can even determine human migration patterns by forcing fishermen to move or give up their trade altogether.”
North American Wind Power – Lawmakers Introduce Offshore Wind Jobs And Opportunity Act
- Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, Congressman Bill Keating, and Congressman Raúl Grijalva, recently introduced the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act, legislation designed to educate and train offshore wind workers.
“’This bill will help launch a new generation of American job seekers into highly skilled careers,’ notes Nancy Sopko, director of offshore wind at the American Wind Energy Association. ‘We can repeat the success of the land-based wind industry, now supporting more than 100,000 American jobs, by ensuring the U.S. workforce stands ready to harness this new ocean energy resource.’”
CNBC – SoftBank and Saudi Arabia are creating world’s biggest solar power generation project
- Saudi Arabia and Japan’s SoftBank expanded their partnership on Tuesday, announcing the world’s biggest solar power generation project.
“The 200 gigawatts of capacity announced Tuesday will be spread throughout the kingdom. The first two solar parks will be able to generate 7.2 gigawatts of power and are scheduled to begin construction this year and start generating electricity in 2019.”
Forbes – Avangrid Wins Mega Transmission Project In New England
- Massachusetts will begin to negotiate final terms for the construction of a $950 million transmission line to carry electricity from Canada’s Hydro-Quebec dam system through Central Maine Power’s New England Clean Energy Connect project.
“The NECEC will supply renewable energy to Massachusetts for twenty years, and it will continue to deliver benefits for New England consumers for decades beyond.”
Greentech Media – Seasonal Storage for Homes? German Firm Sells Residential Batteries Tied to Fuel Cells
- A German firm is aiming to help homes obtain year-round self-produced renewable energy with a hybrid storage system combining batteries with hydrogen.
“The technology mix is designed to allow the Picea to keep a household running off solar and battery storage in summer, while storing up enough hydrogen to cover energy use over the winter. Overall, the system, which will start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2018, is expected to deliver between 3 and 6 megawatt-hours of energy a year.”
Cleantechnica – Huge Emissions Reductions At Hand With Mass Adoption Of Lighting & Appliance Highest Standards
- A report from the Climate Action Tracker has concluded that we have the opportunity to make huge emissions reductions by requiring the highest existing minimum energy performance and labeling standards for lighting and appliances in buildings.
“If the highest existing minimum energy performance and labeling standards were applied around the world, they could result in energy savings of 4,500 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030, the equivalent of closing 1,140 average coal-fired power plants. Further, if we were to combine these highest standards with low-carbon electricity, we could reduce annual emissions by 5.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2) in 2030, a decrease of 60% compared to business as usual.”