The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it wants to significantly raise the minimum common lightbulb efficiency level from 45 lumens per watt to over 120 lumens per watt. The DOE previously banned incandescent bulbs from 2023, and this new rule will accelerate the transition away from compact fluorescent bulbs as well toward…

Heating and cooling equipment multinational Johnson Controls has developed an air source heat pump prototype that can operate in temperatures below -20F (-29C) as part of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge. DOE launched this challenge because, according to the program’s fact sheet, “additional efforts are needed to…

BP says it plans to invest $1 billion by 2030 into electric vehicle (EV) charging across the United States. The company says a cornerstone of the investment includes Hertz and BP announcing an intention to bring fast-charging infrastructure to Hertz locations in major cities, such as Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Miami, New York…

The US has a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 – and that can’t happen without floating offshore wind farms. The Departments of Energy, the Interior, Commerce, and Transportation are today on their second day of a two-day Floating Offshore Wind Shot Summit. The summit’s goal, which is being…

Solar energy company Arevon Energy and San Diego Community Power have broken ground on the Vikings Energy Farm, one of the first solar peaker plants in the US. Vikings Energy Farm is a solar + storage power plant in Holtville, California, in Imperial Valley, near the Baja California border. It was first announced in…

The US Department of the Interior has proposed the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Wind energy is coming to the Gulf of Mexico Map: BOEM The Proposed Sale Notice announced includes a 102,480-acre area offshore Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two areas offshore Galveston, Texas, one comprising 102,480 acres and the…

PacWave is a US Department of Energy-funded, grid-connected, full-scale test facility for wave energy conversion technologies. It’s the first of its kind in the US, and construction is well under way. PacWave is also a joint venture with the state of Oregon and Oregon State University. It’s being developed off the coast of Newport,…

The first commercial spiral-welded wind turbine tower has begun operation – here’s what it is and why it matters. The spiral-welded wind turbine tower was built by GE Renewable Energy and wind turbine producer Keystone Tower Systems. And after years of collaborating with the US Department of Energy, they installed the 89-meter-tall (292-foot-tall) tower…

Growth of wind and solar power has saved the European Union (EU) €12 billion in avoided gas costs since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to a new analysis from energy think tank Ember. This Friday, February 24, marks a year since Russia invaded Ukraine. And in that rough period – from March 1, 2022, to January…

ABB E-mobility has announced the delivery of its one millionth electric vehicle charger. With a presence in more than 85 markets, the launch of ABB E-mobility’s new $30 million, 52,493 sq. ft. production facility in Valdarno, Italy in 2022, doubled the company’s production capacity over the last two years, the company says. The manufacturing site…