Recently I’ve talked about my new net zero home I’m building, but not all net zero buildings have to be homes or houses. The same net zero, passive house concepts can be scaled up to large buildings, offices, and apartment buildings. In fact, I had a chance to
With electric vehicle demand skyrocketing and the growing need for energy storage for renewables, lithium-ion batteries are one of the key technologies for our sustainable future. However, “how sustainable?” is the million dollar question. Between the supply chain issues of the past couple of years and inflation, the cost of
When it comes to grid-scale energy storage, redox flow batteries (RFB) are one of the big competitors for lithium-ion batteries. In preliminary tests, RFBs can be manufactured with longer lasting lives, be made more scalable, and are easier to recycle than other battery technologies. Yet, after investing millions of US
As you know, efficient energy storage systems are the conundrum of making the most out of our intermittent renewable energy generation. Unless you’ve had your head in the sand, it’s a glaring problem we have to solve, which is why so many different battery technologies are being explored
When it comes to heating and cooling our homes or producing hot water, heat pumps are proving themselves to be one of the most energy efficient ways to go. However, there’s a category of material that could be used to efficiently produce hot water, or to reduce your heating
I recently visited the Ace Hardware trade show in Chicago, IL. The main theme of the show was sustainable electric tools and hardware. DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ego, and many more had a massive foot print with all the latest in electric battery powered equipment. While visiting each booth they were packed
CO2 is infamous for being the major culprit of climate change, but what if this global warming villain could turn into a green energy hero? Believe it or not, carbon dioxide may be a key component in developing a new green battery that can be quickly deployed around the world.
Storing solar energy cheaply and efficiently is a key component for the future of renewable energy. Even though lithium batteries are great, they can still be costly and, depending on the chemistry, there can be safety concerns. There are ways we can store solar energy more directly though … and one
Summer’s been bringing on the heat the last couple weeks, and everything from the people to power grids have been trying to lay low. While most cities have been able to keep up with the demand for electricity, it’s led to questions about how do we tackle this
Solid state batteries have been hyped for years as a silver bullet for making EVs mainstream, improving consumer electronics, and ... well ... everything. It’s 2022 and they still aren’t here in any meaningful way, but there have been interesting advancements that are worth exploring. However, with several other battery
Being cheaper, more energy dense and longer lasting than lithium-ion technology, lithium-sulfur batteries may be the holy grail of power storage. Besides fueling electric vehicles (EVs) adoption, they could turbocharge the integration of renewables into our energy grid. However, a technical fault has been holding back their economic feasibility…until
It’s been almost 4 years since I had solar panels installed on my house, which is located in Massachusetts. In general they’ve been performing pretty close to what was promised, but last year threw us some curveballs that made me a little concerned. I saw a pretty sharp
