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.
NREL
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 inClimate, News, Politics and Government
Biden, speaking in Colorado, pitches spending plan as key to fight climate change
By Alexandra Jaffee and Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press ARVADA — President Joe Biden tried to advance his domestic spending plans Tuesday by touring a renewable energy lab in Colorado to highlight how his clean-energy proposals would help combat climate change and create good-paying jobs along the way. The trip to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Flatirons […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Biden turns to Colorado to pitch investments in clean energy to combat climate change
By Alexandra Jaffe and Darlene Superville, The Associated Press LONG BEACH, Calif. — While legislators craft the details back in Washington, President Joe Biden is pitching his massive domestic spending package with a visit to a renewable energy lab in Colorado to highlight how the investments in clean energy in his plan would help combat climate change. The […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News
AAA Colorado will run rescue vans, tow trucks with alternative fuel from new hydrogen station
The vehicle rescue and travel club AAA Colorado will partner with New Day Hydrogen to build a hydrogen vehicle fueling station and put AAA service vans and tow trucks on the road that run on the alternative fuel, trying to jump-start clean, renewable energy uses in the state. “A hundred years ago, we thought it […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Coloradans, Energy, Environment, Housing, News
A disillusioned ExxonMobil engineer quit to take action on climate change. He found his net-zero place in Arvada.
For 16 years, Dar-Lon Chang worked as an engineer at ExxonMobil. Fresh out of graduate school, he was by all accounts exactly the type of person the company is known for hiring: smart, driven, diligent. From his base at Exxon’s sprawling campus outside Houston, Chang helped the company maximize production at far-flung oil and gas […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Environment, News, Technology, Transportation
When is clean hydrogen fuel coming for Colorado cars, and who needs to get ready?
It will take more than one alternative fuel powering cars and trucks to meet Colorado’s ambitious goals of 50% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within just nine years, and signs are growing that much-hyped hydrogen is about to have its turn. Hydrogen has been the clean fuel of the future for decades among energy and […]
Posted inCOVID, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Coronavirus has led to a boom in single-use plastics. NREL is launching a new effort to upcycle them.
GOLDEN — In the coronavirus era, where germs present a deadly risk, people aren’t taking any chances. They’d rather be sterile than sorry. The result has been a boom in single-use plastics — gloves, bottles, packaging — reversing a yearslong trend of trying to reduce waste wherever possible. Demand for flexible packaging is expected to […]