Beginning of the end for megadam projects in China as solar and wind power rise
It’s the beginning of the end for the era of megadam building in China. China Three Gorges Corp. on Monday turned on the first set of generators at the massive Wudongde hydropower plant, deep in the mountains of Yunnan province. About 170 kilometers (106 miles) ...
Tohoku land-reutilization project breathes new life into 3/11 danger zones
Towns and cities in the three Tohoku prefectures damaged most by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami are moving forward with plans to reuse abandoned land plots under a group relocation program aimed at disaster prevention. With the central government designating such plots as disaster ...
Panasonic to end tie-up with Tesla over solar cell production
Panasonic Corp. will end its tie-up with U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Inc. in producing solar cells after years of struggling to boost output, sources said Wednesday. The electronics maker will continue its cooperation with Tesla on EV batteries, the sources said. The two companies signed a ...
Giant solar park in the desert jump-starts Egypt's renewables push
Near the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, a swath of photovoltaic solar panels spreads over an area of desert so large it is clearly visible from space. They are part of the Benban plant, one of the world's largest solar parks following the completion last ...
As extreme storms wreck power grids, Japan turns to home battery networks
After recent typhoons ravaged the nation's power grid and disrupted services to almost 1.4 million customers, the government is encouraging homeowners to invest in storage systems, seeking to marry batteries with existing rooftop solar capacity to create backup electricity networks. The backbone would be the ...
World's energy watchdog is undermining climate change battle, critics say
A short walk from the Eiffel Tower, Fatih Birol oversees the world's energy watchdog, whose analyses of fuel demand have long been viewed as the gold standard by government officials, energy executives and investors. But now the Turkish economist and the International Energy Agency are ...
In the Australian Outback, answer to renewable power's top problem emerges
The answer to the renewable energy industry's biggest challenge is emerging in the Australian Outback. Early next year, one of the first power projects that combine solar and wind generation with battery storage is planning to start up in northern Queensland. The Kennedy Energy Park, ...
Toyota tests car covered in solar panels to make charging stations redundant
Put together the best solar panels money can buy, superefficient batteries and decades of carmaking know-how and, theoretically, a vehicle might run forever. That's the audacious motivation behind a project by Toyota Motor Corp., Sharp Corp. and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization ...
Those nations beholden to fossil fuels will soon be throwing good money after bad.
Toyota tests solar-powered Prius in quest for plug-free electric car
Inspired by new ultrathin solar panels developed for satellites, a project led by Toyota Motor Corp. is experimenting with a sun-powered Prius that it hopes will one day operate without needing to be plugged in. In the government-funded demonstration project, Toyota engineers fitted solar panels ...
SoftBank's massive Vision Fund bets on Swiss startup that's using concrete blocks as batteries
SoftBank Group Corp.'s massive Vision Fund is making its first-ever energy storage bet — and it's on a rather unconventional type of battery. The fund is investing $110 million in Energy Vault, a Swiss startup that's using cranes and concrete to store energy. An electric ...
Huge Pakistan mine shows the power of coal
In the flat scrubland of Pakistan's scorching Thar Desert, hundreds of workers have been toiling for two years in the vast open pit of the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co. Taking three-hour breaks during the hottest part of the day and living in a ...
