December 17 Green Energy News

Headline News:

• Norwegian energy giant Statoil was declared the provisional winner of the US government’s wind lease sale of 79,350 acres in waters off New York. Statoil had submitted the winning bid of $42,469,725 in the online offshore wind auction conducted by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. [GCaptain]

Block Island wind farm (Photo: Deepwater Wind)

• “Passive house building boom shows low-carbon future may be closer than we think” • The number of Passive House units in North America has quadrupled in the last year, from 500 to over 2,000 units. Once the projects on the books are completed, North America will have four times as many certified Passive House buildings as in 2015. [Straight.com]
• Lazard Ltd’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis compares costs of various generation technologies. Its latest, LCOE 10.0, shows that the cost decline of generating electricity from solar PV was steeper than decreases among other forms of renewable energy in 2016, with utility-scale PV technologies down about 11% from last year. [Solar Industry]
• The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released its 2015–2016 Arctic Report Card. With sea ice extent and snow cover diminishing, it now appears that the Arctic is stuck in a set of feedback loops that will only see temperatures in the region rise at ever faster rates for the foreseeable future. [CleanTechnica]
• In August 2010, one of Donald Trump’s most exclusive new hotels, the Trump SoHo in downtown Manhattan, boasted it would invest in 100% clean power. Specifically, it would purchase electricity from wind. One of the deal’s main architects said the move to purchase wind energy was spearheaded by Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. [Mother Jones]
• In Vermont, the Burlington Electric Department continues to focus on sourcing 100% of its power from renewable generation with the addition of a new source to its power portfolio. Maine’s 17-turbine Hancock Wind Project began operating commercially on December 16, and it will supply 9% of Burlington’s energy needs. [vtdigger.org]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

December 17 Green Energy News posted first on Green Energy Times