Solar energy can now be stored for up to 18 years, say scientists

Good News Notes: “Solar-powered electronics are one step closer to becoming an everyday part of our lives thanks to a “radical” new scientific breakthrough. In 2017, scientists at a Swedish university created an energy system that makes it possible to capture and store solar energy for up to 18 years, releasing it as heat when…

Nonprofit sets sights on future commercial kitchen

Good News Notes: “Whether it’s supporting a community of local entrepreneurs, helping a farmer to develop value-added products or creating innovative ways to serve those in need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Maui Food Technology Center has been seeking ways to expand its roots. For the next phase of growth, the nonprofit’s president Luana Mahi said…

East St. Louis empty lot to become renewable energy source

Good News Notes: “Heavy industry has long polluted the air in East St. Louis, but by early next year for the first time in the city’s history, a clean energy facility will also be humming along. Ameren Illinois plans to build a $10.2 million solar field on 17 acres of land across from East St….

Can shore-based wave power unlock clean, affordable…

Good News Notes: “Many have tried to harness the ocean’s power to generate electricity, resulting in several embarrassing failures and little tangible success. Startup Eco Wave Power hopes to transcend that tempestuous legacy with a radically simple idea: capture the ocean’s energy closer to shore.  This approach sacrifices the greater energy potential of larger offshore waves, but…

Small City Sets Example for Floating Solar, Empowered by NREL Data Set

Good News Notes: “Two city employees of Cohoes, New York, were brainstorming how to power the city’s municipal buildings with renewable energy, but few options made sense. Cohoes does not have acres of unused land for solar panels, and the slate-topped buildings cannot hold rooftop solar. Moreover, with its high amount of low- and moderate-income…

Inside the “International Space Station of the sea”

Good News Notes: “Fabien Cousteau has a vision for how humans can live and work in the ocean. He imagines that long-term stays under the waves could be enabled through the construction of underwater habitats, which would look and feel like houses, as opposed to just sealed, submarine-like bubbles.  These habitats would have a galley,…

Phykos’s carbon-capturing robotic seaweed farms are like planting fore

Good News Notes: “A new prototype of a small, solar-powered robotic vessel recently started sailing in the Pacific Ocean, pulling an underwater rack filled with seaweed. The startup developing the technology, called Phykos, says each platform holding the fast-growing kelp may be able to capture as much CO2 as 250 trees—and though the approach still needs…

World’s largest carbon-capture plant Orca opens in Iceland

Good News Notes: “The world’s largest direct air carbon capture and storage plant has started operating in Iceland, run by Swiss company Climeworks. Named Orca, the plant sucks carbon dioxide directly from the air and buries it as rocks deep underground, using technology from Climeworks‘ Icelandic partner Carbfix. Orca has the capacity to remove 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the…