driving an electric vehicle plays a critical role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but the impact of this reduction gets diminished if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. the sources of electricity used to power your car must be green too and several choices are available to make that happen.

it all comes down to this: how can you ensure that you are maximizing the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources used to charge your vehicle?

the two highest contributors of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016 were transportation and electricity production, according to the u.s. environmental protection agency. in illinois, 40% of the state’s electricity is produced by coal and natural gas—only 7% is produced by wind and solar, reports the u.s. department of energy. fortunately, some power companies offer green energy options for your power. and there are steps you can take to maximize the percentage of renewable sources for your electricity. how you do that depends first on where you live.

“if we’re talking just in a single area, or we’re talking about across the u.s., there’s a difference. that’s because the u.s. is broken up into these different interconnections,” said jordan schnell, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of earth and planetary sciences at northwestern university. “basically, depending on where you are, that’s your regional mix of electricity. the chicago area is different from the rest of illinois. if you live in central illinois, you go into a different mix than you do if you live in the chicagoland area. these are called interconnections.”

schnell uses mathematical models to study air quality issues and said that the most obvious way to ensure utilizing renewable electricity for a car is to live in a region that already produces a large amount of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar. illinois’ neighbor iowa is the heaviest producer of wind energy, and wind turbines dot the landscape along i-55 in illinois.

“the pacific northwest has a lot of hydroelectric and california is really ramping up its solar,” schnell said. “[in] west virginia, they get over 90% of their electricity from coal. unless you put a solar farm on your house, you’re not going to be getting clean energy.”

since moving may not be an option for most people, consider bringing the options home. the most significant opportunity is to contact your electricity provider. schnell said that the company should be able to provide a breakdown of the times when they incorporate the most renewable energy. most often this occurs during the day—a time often associated with when people use the most electricity or the peak load. electric companies typically charge more for electricity during this peak load period, but this is the best time to recharge your electric vehicle to maximize renewable sources.

“that’s when the electricity demand is higher,” schnell said. “so, all these generating sources are online, potentially. at nighttime, the demand is quite a bit lower, so that is picked up by the base load electricity supply which is predominately fossil fuels in most locations. so, the timing is the big thing. generally, it’s better to not charge during the evening. it’s better to charge during the day because there’s cleaner sources during the day.”

in illinois, your electricity provider is most likely commonwealth edison company (comed), which is a subsidiary of exelon corporation. comed provides electricity to 70% of illinois residents, including 4 million in the northern part of the state. in the 12 months ending in september 2018, 60% of the electricity provided to comed’s customers came from coal and natural gas, according to their environmental disclosure report—4% came from wind, hydro, and solar. nuclear power plants produce the rest. comed did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the sources of electricity provided to illinois residents.

direct energy, a subsidiary of u.k.-based centrica, provides power to roughly 67,000 illinois residents. amanda parrish, public relations manager, did not say exactly how much of the company’s electricity mix is made from renewable sources but reiterated that you are more likely to have access to these sources during the day.

“solar is clearly only producing during the day,” she said via email. “wind can blow at all hours, but in certain places we get the most at night. biomass can be used anytime.” although biomass is identified as a renewable source of energy, it does release some carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it is burned to produce fuel.

the illinois power agency act, created in 2007, requires all large investor-owned electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. for the energy year 2019—which ends in may—these companies are required to source 14.5% of their electricity from renewables, and the percentage required increases incrementally up to 2025.

the best method to ensure that your electric vehicle is charged by renewable energy is to take production out of the hands of energy companies and produce the energy yourself.

“some people can get solar power installed at their home,” said marc geller, vice president and co-founder of plug in america, via email. the advocacy group provides consumer information such as installing photovoltaics on homes to power vehicles. “in that case their car could be effectively 100% solar powered.”

producing solar energy at home guarantees that your electricity is made by renewable sources and storing it in a home battery system means you can charge your vehicle via renewable energy at any time. the installation costs and amount of energy produced can vary based on location and installation company, but installing solar panels at home puts the control in the hands of the consumer.

“you could make your own electricity and store it in this battery,” schnell said. “even though you don’t have your car at home during the day where the sun is actually generating the electricity, you can sell it back to the grid or you can store it in your battery. then you can charge it at night from all the solar you generated throughout the day. it depends on where you live and how much you drive—northern illinois is not great for solar—but it can do a significant amount.”

illinois shines offers renewable energy credits (rec) to owners of approved solar panels, and these credits can be sold to utilities to help offset the cost of solar panel installation. comed offers several rebates and tax incentives to install solar panels at home. additionally, solar cooperatives are growing in popularity, allowing a group of individuals to share the cost of solar panel installation and to distribute solar energy among its members, effectively bypassing electricity companies.

regardless of how you power your electrical car, it offers a positive benefit. the electricity is getting more renewable overall and represents the clean future of the transportation system. according to the union of concerned scientists’ ev emissions tool, electric vehicles in randomly selected illinois zip codes release approximately 46% less of carbon dioxide equivalent (co2e) compared to gasoline vehicles.

“electricity in most of the u.s. is already cleaner than gasoline,” geller said. “and it’s getting more renewable every year everywhere.”

ted roosevelt iv, susan eisenhower, nick akins, president and ceo of american electric power, and denise fairchild, president and ceo of emerald cities, took their seats on stage. they discussed the politics of climate change and asked: where does the responsibility lie?

in the current political age, rules and regulations on the energy sector are few and far between, so what incentive is there for energy companies to move towards a greener future?

nick akins answered by pointing out that their company shareholders care whether or not they are moving towards renewable energy, and that as a company they have a responsibility to the community.

ted roosevelt told us about barclays latest initiative to lend out green mortgages. having discovered that people who invest in green houses have better credit, barclays will be offering mortgages at a lower interest rates to owners of “green” houses, meaning newer houses that have been built from scratch to be energy efficient.

the conversation continued, interweaving ideas of nuclear energy, for which ted roosevelt and susan eisenhower were proponents, business, politics, and the future of renewable energy.

do we have the energy to lead? these panelists seemed to think we do. ​

up next: storyfest grand prize announcement >

while a report from the national renewable energy laboratory (nrel) shows wind energy is on the rise in the united states, proposed cuts to the department of energy budget cuts could deal a significant blow.

the global wind energy council released a global wind statistics report in april 2016 for wind energy by country in 2015. the report ranked the united states second in wind energy at 74,471 megawatts — behind only china. however, pushback from the house of representatives under the trump administration could cause the united states to lose that prestigious place.

thus far, attempts to undermine the budget of the department of energy have proved unsuccessful. according to a science magazine article, the house of representatives under the trump administration proposed on june 27, 2017, for the 2018 budget starting on oct. 1 to eliminate the advanced research projects agency energy (arpa-e). the proposed budget did not go through, due to a lack of support from the senate. sen. lamar alexander (r.-tenn.), who lead the senate committee on appropriations that issued the fiscal year 2018 budget, according to a science magazine article, stood up to this to say “this is not what we are going to do.”

in a bipartisan effort, the gop-controlled senate fought back against the budget the house proposed in june with a bill on july 18 to actually increase basic research funding of the arpa-e by 8%. arpa-e projects include the metacapacitors for led lighting at the city university of new york (cuny) energy institute and temperature-regulated batteries at the oak ridge national laboratory (ornl) in tennessee.

    “…that is not what we are going to do.”

while the senate has pushed back against cuts that could threaten clean energy innovation this past july, wind energy has a long way to go. the wind energy sphere is a “material intensive industry,” according to dr. stephen hsu of george washington university’s department of mechanical & aerospace engineering.

wind turbines present an issue of cost effectiveness to repair. hsu explained that, in simple terms, it’s not exactly appealing to need to fix turbines with propellers 200 to 300 feet in the air.

this means, according to hsu, one of the biggest deterrents for a business to purchase wind turbines is damage caused by the external environment.

in the early 2000’s, there was a huge push for wind turbines, and now some of those wind turbines are coming up on the expiration of their 20-year warranties. these potential repairs are a turnoff to investing in wind energy. to tackle the challenge presented by environmental and age-related damage to turbines, hsu’s lab is focusing on technology involving cell healing for blade repair.

hsu said he thought, “maybe we can make the need for repair much less,” and that would reduce the risks of purchasing owning and operating wind turbines. so, hsu created a wind energy 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 at gw’s virginia science and technology campus. his team is currently putting research efforts into microtechnology, and his lab is focusing on technology involving cell healing for blade repair.

in a 2010 gw today article, rachel muir wrote about how “many of the new materials required to revolutionize the wind turbine industry will be engineered at the nanoscales.” revolutionizing the industry will be crucial in order to get businesses on board with buying wind turbines, and self-repairing turbines could be the innovation that builds the bridge toward a cleaner future over the economic gap.

“it’s not science fiction. it is actually feasible microtechnology,” hsu said, yet “it’s kind of a risk, because it’s untested.”

“…it’s not science fiction, it is actually feasible microtechnology.”

risky though it may be, companies have shown interest in the proposal. the 11 companies of the wind energy 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 , including ari wind, generation energy, and viryd, contributed more than $1 million to support research of the technology.

however, even with corporate funding, government support remains the key factor that could make wind energy boom. katherine dykes of the national renewable energy laboratory wrote in her paper, “enabling the smart wind power plant of the future through science-based innovation,” that “the scenario we projected in the study relies on scientific innovation and thus there is a dependency on research funding.”

hsu explained how, globally, wind energy is on the rise. thus, if funding for the department of energy decreases significantly under the trump administration, then in terms of wind energy, “after four or eight years, we could be way behind europe,” he said.

nuclear physicist and former u.s. secretary of energy ernest moniz called the proposed budget “a retreat from our nation’s commitment to clean energy research,” according to a press release from the national treasury employees union from may 26 this year. he went on to say the house’s proposed budget “would put us behind china and europe, blunting our competitive edge in a multi-trillion-dollar developing clean energy global market.”

the house and the senate remain locked in conflict. while the senate voted in july on the bill to increase arpa-e funding, the house wants to get rid of the agency altogether.

 “…after four or eight years, we could be way behind europe.”

still, hsu is unswayed by the economic circumstances. “wind energy will rise,” he said. it’s not a question of whether or not wind energy will expand ahead, it’s a question of whether the united states will invest in it.

“we have a lead,” hsu said. “why waste it?”

arcadia power two years ago while soaking up the rays. their company has since grown exponentially and is powering the country with wind in all 50 states.

the arcadia power team developed an easy-to-use platform for arcadia customers so they can follow their energy usage each month (see the example, below). as bhatraju said in a recent interview, “the mix of software and energy is just getting started and i think it will actually be a massive growth industry.” through this transparent platform design, arcadia hopes to expand the want for clean energy. the idea is, the more the customers know about their energy usage, the more they will want to join in the cause, the company said.

this is the clean energy platform customers can see when they sign up with arcadia power.

with wind energy, arcadia already has averted more than 16 million pounds of co2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent, which accounts for both carbon dioxide and the global warming potential of the fossil fuels that were saved. 

arcadia power has been consistently increasing their customer numbers since the beginning of this year, so what challenges lie ahead?

one major roadblock they face is those who do not want to pay more for clean energy. but there are many benefits to switching to wind power, which arcadia touts, such as:

• knowing exactly where your energy is coming from
• a cheaper energy bill, in the long run (assuming you change the amount of energy you use after seeing your usage)
• your home or business running 100% fossil fuel free
• supporting clean energy initiatives

ease of use is another way to keep customers happy. from their user-friendly web design to streamlined billing, the company’s platform is designed with simplicity in mind to encourage users to stick to clean energy. bhatraju said he hopes to continue developing the idea of connectivity in the power grid to make it even easier, and more appealing, for all of america to switch over to clean energy. 

before bhatraju started arcadia power, he worked in the energy sector for several years. he previously created a start-up called american efficient, an energy-efficient technology company, and also worked on the hill as a policy aide. today he’s a published author and on the board of the environmental voter project. all of these areas of expertise have brought him and his team to where they are today. 

so what’s next for arcadia? bhatraju and the team are working on expanding their green energy options to homes and businesses by developing a solar project. expanded energy options should draw more interest from consumers and increase the number of customers using these environmentally friendly energy options, leading to a cleaner environment — and a better future for generations to come.

grid scale energy storage

ares energy storage technology employs a fleet of electric traction drive shuttle-trains, operating on a closed low-friction automated steel rail network to transport a field of heavy masses between two storage yards at different elevations.

during periods where excess energy is available on the grid, ares shuttle-trains draw electricity from the grid, which powers their individual axle-drive motors, as they transport a continuous flow of masses uphill against the force of gravity to an upper storage yard.  when the grid requires energy to meet periods of high demand, this process is reversed.  the shuttle-trains provide a continuous flow of masses returning to the lower storage yard with their motors operating as generators, converting the potential energy of the masses elevation back into electricity in a highly efficient process.
 
ares facilities integrate significant recent advances in motor/generator traction drive and power control technologies with proven rail technology to produce a reliable and highly capable system that approaches an 80% charge / discharge efficiency. 

the facilities are highly scalable in power and energy ranging from a small installation of 100mw with 200mwh of storage capacity up to large 2-3gw regional energy storage system with 16-24gwh energy storage capacity.

carleton college has installed two wind turbines in order to reduce our carbon footprint. our second turbine, which is connected directly our the campus power grid, will supply 25-30% of our electricity needs and reduce our carbon footprint by 10%. in addition, we are trying to make our buildings more energy efficient by performing energy audits with our local energy company. these two projects are just the beginning for carleton college’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2050 as outlined by our carbon action plan.

vote now to help this idea win!

the mag-lev wind turbine can generate electricity from 5-120mph wind conditions and it doesn’t require that constant repair that traditional system demand. the mag-lev wind turbine should be the only technology used in the wind energy business, it signifies the end of the short term generation facilities and brings to the table decades of electricity production from each unit. the regenydyne wind turbines can be deployed on land or water and they generate many, many more megawatts per acre than any other facility on planet earth.

this system will change the status quo in the wind energy business! the regenedyne’s vertical axis design coupled with the use of the 5 axis magnetic levitation, carbon fiber and aluminum make it the most stable system in the market yet. this system will run for decades instead of years, it will produce consistent power and provide communities all over the world with a sound, viable alternative to the production of electricity.

animation

http://regenedyne.com/

brochure

http://regenedyne.com/brochure.htm

http://regenedyne.com/magray%20mw%2010.0%20v1.5%20s.pdf

hd videos

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if you have any questions please contact me at: rdscommodities@gmail.com or 1-360-301-1557