The National Renewable Energy Lab wrote software to cut the review period for a rooftop solar permit by 30 days. State plans $1 million in grants for more to adopt the app.
National Renewable Energy Lab
Posted inBusiness
Exxon drops algae research, but Colorado labs press on in hunt for green fuel
Technologies that are quicker to scale now are ExxonMobil’s focus. The Colorado labs the petroleum giant funded still see potential in algae as a biofuel.
Posted inEnvironment
Colorado School of Mines goes renewable, seeking enough solar panels — designed by students — to power its campus
The state’s premier engineering school installs $4.8 million in new panel arrays across campus to sustain its clean energy use
Posted inClimate, Energy, News
Delta County thought solar panels were a baaaaad idea. But what if there were 1,000 sheep grazing under them?
The question before the Delta County Commission this month is whether 1,000 sheep can forge a path for dozens of solar panels — after the commissioners rejected a solar project citing concerns about losing farmland. In March, the commission, on a 2-1 vote, rejected an 80-megawatt solar project covering 475 acres just outside of Delta, […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, News, Technology
Researchers in Colorado have figured out what makes air conditioners consume so much energy. It’s not the heat.
This just in from the laboratory: When it comes to the air conditioner chugging away in the window, it’s not the heat — but the humidity that’s causing it to work overtime. An analysis by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden found that on average more than half of the energy used […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, News
These cells could be the key to efficient, cheap solar energy. But they have to make it in the “torture chamber” first.
The little perovskite solar cell was sweating it out in the “torture chamber.” Well, it wasn’t actually sweating, since a solar cell doesn’t have sweat glands, but if it had, at 185 degrees Fahrenheit and 85% humidity, it’d be sweating. The 6-inch-by-6-inch cell would be in the chamber – a Xenon Exposure System locker – […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Coloradans, Economy, Energy, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors
Xcel Energy may fill the hole left by closing its Hayden coal-fired power plant with salt. And fish.
There is molten salt in the town of Hayden’s future – maybe trout, too – but almost definitely molten salt. The idea of using molten salt energy storage to fill part of the gap in employment and taxes left by the planned closure of the Routt County town’s coal-fired power plant is being planned by […]
Posted inColoradans, Election 2020, Energy, Environment, Health, Outdoors, Politics and Government
In Colorado, where climate change is front and center, John Hickenlooper is favored to unseat Cory Gardner
Democrat John Hickenlooper famously told a U.S. Senate committee he’d sipped fracking fluid — it was, “almost ritual-like,” he said in 2013 — to prove it’s safe. Now the one-time energy geologist is pitching himself as the more pro-climate candidate in a battle to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. Hickenlooper’s success might seem surprising […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Technology
As more electric vehicles are on the way, Colorado’s tax incentives begin to wind down
Colorado is gearing up for an influx of electric vehicles, thanks to new state policies and pending legislation to increase the number of vehicles available for sale and who can sell them. But there’s one thing in decline — the tax credits available to new electric-car buyers. Colorado’s credit for new EV purchases dropped to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: In Colorado, conservative and pro-oil and gas communities support renewables, too
If you believe some politicians and media pundits, the way we produce energy in the United States is extremely controversial. To hear them tell it, some people are wedded to fossil fuels and other people only want renewables. The two sides are locked in vicious political combat and the idea of them ever working together […]