California solar bill would extend access, savings to renters and low-income families

Good News Notes: “California has been the clean energy frontrunner in the United States, and it has been particularly strong in deploying distributed, rooftop solar. Distributed generation, especially when paired with energy storage, has numerous advantages in cost savings, efficiency, a lessened carbon footprint, the preservation of land, and more when compared to centralized resources….

Automate The Farm With Acorn

Good News Notes: “Farming has been undergoing quite a revolution in the past few years. Since World War 2, most industrial farming has relied on synthetic fertilizer, large machinery, and huge farms with single crops. Now there is a growing number of successful farmers bucking that trend with small farms growing many crops and using…

Renewable Energy Surges Even In Fossil Fuel Friendly Red States

Good News Notes: “The nation’s two largest coal-producing states, Wyoming and West Virginia, have emerged as leaders in renewable energy and energy storage, respectively, according to a new report. States that voted red in the 2016 presidential election occupy seven of the top-ten spots for wind and solar generation as a percentage of their electricity…

Upcycling Plastic Waste For Supercapacitors

Good News Notes: “What if you could solve two of Earth’s biggest problems in one stroke? UC Riverside engineers have developed a way to recycle plastic waste, such as soda or water bottles, into a nanomaterial useful for energy storage. Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan and their students have been working for years on creating improved energy storage materials…

In a potential big win for renewable energy, Form Energy gets its first grid-scale battery installation – TechCrunch

Good News Notes: “Form Energy, which is developing what it calls ultra-low-cost, long-duration energy storage for the grid, has signed a contract with the Minnesota-based Great River Energy to develop a 1 megawatt, 150-megawatt hour pilot project. The second-largest electric utility in Minnesota, Great River Energy’s installation in Cambridge, Minn. will be the first commercial…