Huge Solar with Battery Storage Project Complete and Operational

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 2/29/2024 Image: The Edwards & Sanborn solar and storage project in Kern County, California. (Mortenson) The new California facility makes grid-scale solar energy available even when the sun doesn’t shine. Two million solar PV panels and over 120,000 batteries have come online on a combination of public and private land in … Read more

United States Set to Expand Solar Energy on Federal Land

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 2/28/2024 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has revised its goals for expanding solar energy projects on public lands throughout the western United States and introduced a new solar development “roadmap” to help achieve them.  The revised goals and roadmap are part of the Biden administration’s efforts to establish a net-zero … Read more

Heading into COP28, the United Nations Calls for the Rapid Acceleration of Climate Change Action

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 9/26/2023 The first United Nations Stocktake on Climate Change Progress calls for a dramatic acceleration of policy and technical action to combat climate change. The report, released in early September, recognizes that some progress has been made since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, but states that both “ambition and implementation” must … Read more

It’s the Gophers vs. the Flickertails

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 7/18/2023 “America is a bifurcated country. Half the people don’t want anything to change — ever — while the other half want everything to change, especially if change means eliminating the use of fossil fuels.”  So begins an article in CleanTechnica, an online independent journal covering technical and policy issues affecting … Read more

500 Mile SunZia Renewable Energy Transmission Project to Break Ground

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 7/11/2023 Zondits has published several articles regarding the difficulty of expanding U.S. electrical transmission and distribution networks to facilitate the rapid growth of large-scale solar and wind renewable energy projects. However, some encouraging news is coming out of the American Southwest.  The Associated Press and multiple Southwest U.S. news outlets are … Read more

The Custom Conundrum: Accelerating Building Electrification

GianGabriel Masoni Dobles, Zondits staff, 6/27/2023 Valerie Nibler, Zondits contributor Energy efficiency efforts have made a significant shift toward building electrification in recent years, as the transition to clean renewable energy sources has moved front and center. For single-family homes, the effort has focused on heat pumps for space and water heating as well as … Read more

Pew Research – Climate Change is Not a Top Priority for Most Americans

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 6/13/2023 If you listen to National Public Radio (NPR) or watch public TV, you likely have heard of Pew Research, as they are regular sponsors of educational programming. Public opinions on energy and environmental issues are regularly tracked by Pew. Their research results have a mix of good and bad news … Read more

Aging Transmission Grids are a Major Bottleneck for Renewable Energy Expansion

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 5/9/2023 CNBC’s fourth installment in their series on the U.S. power grid reports that renewable energy projects are waiting in lines longer than those for a Taylor Swift concert. According to the article, wind and solar project wait lines are often years long as power grid infrastructures struggle to accommodate the … Read more

Renewable Energy is Booming in China – But so is Coal

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 4/4/2023 China is leading the world in the completion of renewable energy projects. In 2022, China added almost as many renewable energy projects to the grid as the rest of the world combined, according to the Global Energy Monitor (GEM). GEM is a non-profit organization that tracks energy projects and fuel … Read more

Now You Can Use Your Renewable Energy Credits to Buy Gasoline Gift Cards

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 4/1/2023 Gasoline and diesel retailer Finite Fuels, LTD has introduced a gasoline gift card that can be purchased with renewable energy credits. The card, which is available in $25 and $50 denominations, can be used at thousands of gasoline stations that sell Finite Fuels’ generic brand products. Francis Fable, the CEO … Read more