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‘Eye of Sauron’: The Dazzling Solar Tower in the Israeli Desert
You shouldn’t look at it directly, but that’s easier said than done. Drive through the crags and craters of the Negev Desert, and it’s difficult to miss: a piercing light, mounted on an austere gray tower, more than 800 feet high. It’s visible even from space. “It’s like a sun,” said Eli Baliti, a shopkeeper in the nearest village. “A second sun.” To backers, the tower is an impressive feat of engineering, testament to Israeli solar innovation. To critics, it is an expensive folly, dependent on technology that had become outmoded by the time it was operational. This is the great solar tower of Ashalim, one of the tallest structures in Israel and, until recently, the tallest solar power plant in the world.
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Wind Energy
GE begins restructuring its onshore wind unit to adjust for ‘market realities’
GE Renewable Energy confirmed that it has begun restructuring its onshore wind operations amid media reports that the company was laying of “hundreds” of workers. The company notified workers on Wednesday of layoffs in the Americas, the Middle-East and Africa, according to anonymous employee media reports. [ read more … ]
Solar Energy
Maine farms could be ideal match for solar agrivoltaics, but more funding needed first
From spring to fall, Michael Dennett spends his days transporting sheep from his family’s homestead in Jefferson, Maine, to graze at nearby solar farms. The flock that began as a gift for his wife — “really just [an] excuse for myself to get sheep,” he said — now works as a solar lawn service. “If you’re a sheep, one of your biggest concerns … is eating grass in the predawn to, like, seven o’clock in the morning, and then hiding out for the rest of the day in the shade and just ruminating,” Dennett said. “They’ll spend the entire day under those panels, snoozing, walking around and kind of being lazy.” [ read more … ]
Inflation Reduction Act
Utilities taking up new tax tools in US climate package to finance renewables
U.S. utilities are already moving to take advantage of the new benefits of transferring clean energy extended investment tax credits and new production tax credits contained in the recent federal climate package. But experts expect the traditional tax equity market for financing renewable projects will remain robust. Until recently, developers of large-scale wind and solar installations could only monetize tax credits received from the U.S. government by selling them to large financial firms and other companies with significant tax liabilities, creating partnerships that owned projects. [ read more … ]
Markets
Gas Prices in U.S. Rise for a Second Week After Refineries Shut down
Gasoline prices in the United States are creeping higher, reversing a monthslong streak of declines and chipping away at a potent talking point for the Biden administration, which had been emphasizing its success at easing pressure on drivers since the summer. Though the uptick has followed a rise in crude oil prices, analysts pointed to two new factors that are also pushing gasoline higher — a loss of refining capacity in California and Ohio, and rising demand in recent weeks. [ read more … ]
DOE
US Seeks Input on How to Use Cold-War Law to Boost Clean Tech
The US Energy Department is considering ways to boost the domestic production of clean energy technology such as solar panels, transformers and hydrogen fuel cells using the powers of a Cold War-era law once invoked by former President Donald Trump to prop up money-losing coal plants. The agency said in a notice Monday it’s seeking public input on how to use the Defense Production Act to speed up production of technology for grid reliability and clean-energy deployment. President Joe Biden’s administration granted the agency new authority over the summer to use the 1950 law. [ read more … ]
EVs
Tesla Breaks Its China Factory Delivery Record but Trails BYD
Tesla Inc. hit a record of more than 83,000 electric-vehicle deliveries from its recently upgraded Shanghai factory in September, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
The plant delivered 83,135 EVs last month, an 8% increase from August, according to data released by the association on Sunday. The American EV maker still trailed Chinese rival BYD Co., which topped the charts for EV deliveries last month with almost 95,000 units, up 14% from August. BYD’s total sales, including hybrids, were a combined 201,000 units in September. BYD also broke its own records in September, in EVs as well as total sales. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.