Trump Claims Windmills Kill Birds. Here Are the Facts.
President Trump asserted that wind turbines are a major cause of bird deaths. Fact‑checking shows turbines do kill birds and bats, but mortality rates are modest compared with buildings, vehicles, and cats. A 2023 peer‑reviewed study found no statistically significant decline in overall bird populations near wind farms. While clean energy helps curb climate‑driven habitat loss, the industry continues to develop mitigation technologies.
A Very Similar Spike in Frequency (Outside the NOFB) on Saturday 11th April 2026
On April 10 and 11 2026 the Australian NEM experienced two near‑identical frequency spikes, each rising linearly within a dispatch interval and peaking just outside the Normal Operating Frequency Band (50.174 Hz and 50.176 Hz respectively). High‑resolution 0.1‑second data from a Brisbane device captured...
Soaring Renewable Transmission Costs to Pressure Power Bills
Australian renewable transmission cost estimates have exploded. AEMO’s 2020 projection of $8.5 billion (≈$5.6 billion USD) for new lines in NSW and Victoria is now seen as $120 billion (≈$79 billion USD) and could exceed $200 billion (≈$132 billion USD). Adding wind and solar generation adds...
Another Case of Semi-Scheduled VRE Over-Production (This Time at 14:20 on Saturday 11th April 2026)
On Saturday 11 April 2026, Australia’s National Electricity Market recorded a rare over‑production event from semi‑scheduled variable renewable energy (VRE). At 14:20 NEM time, wind farms exceeded their dispatch target by 977 MW and solar farms by 316 MW, creating a combined dispatch error of...
The Battery Chronicle Briefing #1: 2025 Recap and Q1 2026 Analysis
The battery sector recorded its strongest year in 2025, with global plug‑in EV sales surpassing 20 million and lithium‑ion demand topping 1.5 TWh across vehicles, storage and other uses. While demand surged, many manufacturers lacking scale folded, including high‑profile Western startups such...
Chemically Modified Wood Captures Sunlight and Stores It as Heat
Researchers have created a multi‑functional composite by chemically modifying delignified balsa wood with black phosphorene nanosheets, a tannic‑acid‑iron metal‑polyphenol network, silver nanoparticles and hydrophobic alkyl chains. The engineered scaffold confines stearic‑acid phase‑change material, achieving a latent heat of about 175 kJ kg⁻¹...
Why Energy Efficiency Won't Save You Money in a "Green Energy" World
Exelon CEO Calvin Butler told the New York Times that the simplest way to cut electric bills is to turn off lights, underscoring a long‑standing efficiency narrative. The article argues that as the grid shifts toward wind, solar, battery storage and...
Yes, It Was a Large Over-Performance From Wind Farms (Many of Them) that Drove Frequency Above the NOFB on Friday...
On 10 April 2026 the Australian National Electricity Market experienced a frequency spike to 50.174 Hz, driven primarily by a massive over‑performance of semi‑scheduled wind farms. Seven wind farms exceeded their dispatch targets by more than 50 MW, and a total of ten units...
The Second Transformer at Waratah BESS Is Operational (for Testing)
The Waratah Super Battery’s second high‑voltage transformer (HVT2) was placed back in service on 10 April and is now undergoing a testing program. PASA data shows the unit’s availability lifted to 700 MW, though the battery is currently delivering only 350 MW under...
Texas Investigates Battery Project Over China Fears
Texas Attorney General Will Wassdorf announced an investigation into Finnish firm Taaleri’s battery storage project after a complaint alleged that Chinese‑made CATL cells could let Beijing monitor or control the Texas grid. The probe marks the first state‑level action targeting...
America’s Transformer Crisis Has Supercharged a Wave of New Startups
The global transformer shortage, exacerbated by COVID‑induced supply‑chain disruptions, has pushed lead times for high‑voltage units to three‑plus years and driven up costs. Startups are moving in, with Ayr Energy standardizing component designs and leveraging under‑utilized Indian factories to slash...
Elysian Refines Its Bold All Electric E9X Airliner
Dutch startup Elysian, backed by Panta Holding, has completed its Conceptual Design Review and unveiled a revised all‑electric E9X airliner. The new design stretches the wing to 50 m, reduces electromotors from eight to six, and raises the maximum take‑off weight...
Hydrogen Generators
Hydrogen fuel‑cell generators are beginning to replace diesel backup units at telecom sites, offering silent, heat‑free, zero‑emission power. Diesel generators, common at data centers and remote cabinets, generate loud noise—up to 110 decibels—and oily smoke, especially in cold weather. Early...
Clean Energy Champions Win Control of Arizona’s Top Utility
Liberal‑aligned Clean Energy Team captured an eight‑to‑six majority on the Salt River Project board, Arizona’s largest public utility that provides power and water to millions. The election, framed as a showdown between the Sierra Club and Hollywood activist Jane Fonda...
Four Big Non-Conformances at Wind Farms (Coincidentally on Friday 10th April 2026 at the Time of the Frequency Spike). ...
On Friday 10 April 2026 a 50.174 Hz frequency spike hit the Australian NEM just before the 10:30‑10:35 dispatch intervals. Simultaneously AEMO issued eight market notices—two for each of four semi‑scheduled wind farms—labelled non‑conformance and constraining a total of 689 MW. The notices cover...
Nuclear Safety at Risk: What’s Changing Under Donald Trump
President Trump’s administration has quietly stripped more than 750 pages of nuclear safety regulations, replacing concrete protection standards with vague language and raising the radiation exposure limit that triggers investigations. The revisions apply to a new pilot program for small...
The Curious Case of a Frequency Spike (Outside of the NOFB) on Friday 10th April 2026
On Friday 10 April 2026 the Australian NEM mainland frequency jumped to 50.174 Hz at 10:30:41.5, breaching the Normal Operating Frequency Band and likely triggering Contingency FCAS. The excursion lasted only one to two dispatch intervals, peaking at 10:30 and receding by 10:35,...
Ten Years of IoT in Building Automation: 2016 to 2026
Over the past decade, building automation has shifted from siloed, proprietary controllers to open, cloud‑connected IoT ecosystems. Falling sensor costs and protocols like MQTT and BACnet/IP enabled real‑time data collection, while the COVID‑19 pandemic accelerated remote monitoring and highlighted cybersecurity...
Rolls-Royce and Yokogawa Collaborate on Small Nuclear Reactors
Rolls‑Royce SMR and Yokogawa Electric have signed a joint agreement to develop the data‑processing and control systems that will act as the "central nervous system" for the first generation of Rolls‑Royce small modular reactors. Yokogawa will design, validate, build and...
Econet InfraCo Provides Rural Clinics with Free Solar Energy
Econet InfraCo, the infrastructure arm of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, is supplying free solar power to rural clinics located within five kilometres of its telecom base stations. The scheme, launched in 2025, taps existing tower infrastructure to run vaccine refrigerators and...
How California Fleets Are Tackling $7 Diesel With Electric Trucks
Diesel prices in California have surged past $7 per gallon, a 55% increase since early 2026, prompting carriers to confront soaring fuel surcharges that jumped 20% in just two weeks. In response, many fleets are accelerating purchases of battery‑electric trucks,...
Sub-Zero
Germany’s power market plunged into deep negative pricing on Monday as unusually strong wind and solar output covered roughly 80% of the nation’s electricity demand. Intraday prices fell to -€324 per megawatt‑hour (about $353) and imbalance fees dropped to -€4,632/MWh...
Scoop: Energy Vault Makes a Play for Japan’s Storage Market
Energy Vault announced a binding agreement to acquire a pipeline of Japanese battery projects, adding 350 MW of advanced‑stage and 500 MW of early‑stage storage capacity. The deal marks the Swiss‑engineered firm’s formal entry into Japan, a market praised for its revenue‑stacking...
CIBSE’s Ruth Carter: Net Zero Is a Destination and the Journey Is Decarbonisation
Ruth Carter, CEO of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), says the organization has expanded 20% to 24,000 members in 194 countries while championing building performance, safety and decarbonisation. She highlights embodied carbon as the "sleeping giant," responsible...
We Can’t Miss This Chance for the Net Zero Revolution – China’s Done It!
Professor Peter Newman, a sustainability expert at Curtin University, outlined a six‑point plan urging Australia to break its oil dependence and accelerate a net‑zero transition. He highlighted batteries’ role in daily grid stabilization and argued that Australia can follow China’s...
What the Iran Conflict Means for Gas Prices, Clean Energy, and the Climate
U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have forced Iran to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting global oil supply by more than 10% and pushing crude prices up $40 per barrel. U.S. gasoline prices have risen above $4...
Arpit Dwivedi on the 2,000-Year-Old Battery That Could Power the World | Believe in Aliens Episode 4
Cache Energy is commercializing a 2,000‑year‑old chemical reaction that stores electricity in limestone (quicklime) pellets housed in ordinary grain silos. Founder Arpit Dwivedi argues the approach is three to five times cheaper than competing long‑duration storage and can be deployed...
Storage Is the Energy Transition’s Biggest Illusion
The article argues that grid‑scale storage cannot replace dispatchable generation in the U.S. energy transition. Current U.S. storage capacity is only about 0.4 % of daily electricity throughput, with most batteries limited to 2‑4 hours. Even aggressive forecasts to 2050 fall far...
When Data Centers Go Dark (DDCU 5/7)
The post forecasts that between 2028 and 2030 a data center will run for 90 consecutive days without any on‑site personnel, with AI making roughly 90% of operational decisions. Robotic fleets will autonomously swap hardware, clean sensors, inspect cooling systems,...
The Fight Over ‘Critical Minerals,’ Explained
Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths are essential for electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, and demand is projected to double by 2030. The United States, fearing China’s dominance in refining, launched Project Vault,...
Understanding the Data Center Building Boom
AI‑driven demand is triggering a data‑center construction boom that could push U.S. electricity consumption to 12% by 2028. Georgia Tech researchers are quantifying the hidden costs—higher power use, water stress, and rising local electricity rates—while proposing solutions such as workload‑scheduling...
Hawaii Sustainability Expo: The Importance of an Experience-Based Event for the Future of Clean Energy — with Life of the...
Bill McKibben, co‑founder of 350.org, highlighted that solar and wind have become cheaper than fossil fuels and urged faster action at the Hawaii Sustainability Expo. The three‑day event, April 24‑26, 2026, offers a $7 ticket price and combines a Pro...
Cummins, Alstom, and the Long Tail of Hydrogen Mistakes
Cummins and Alstom have both stumbled on hydrogen, but their exposures differ. Cummins spread its capital across fuel cells, electrolyzers and other pathways, only to see hydrogen demand stay weak and subsidy‑dependent, prompting write‑downs and a halt to new commercial...
North America’s First Lithium Hydroxide Plant Goes Live In Texas, Reducing Reliance On China – by Bethany Blankley (Dallas Express...
Tesla’s North American lithium‑hydroxide refinery in Robstown, Texas began full‑scale operations in January 2026, marking the continent’s first battery‑grade plant of its kind. The project, broken ground in May 2023 by Governor Greg Abbott, Elon Musk and state officials, aims...
I Audited 6 Hydrogen Vendor Claims. Three Are False, One Exceeds the Laws of Thermodynamics.
A recent audit of six hydrogen vendor claims revealed three outright false statements, one that only holds in specific U.S. geographies, one conditionally achievable, and a 95% efficiency claim that violates thermodynamic limits. The analysis contextualizes these exaggerations against a...
SN1 Solar Node – An ESP32-C3-Based Board with IP67 Enclosure, Solar Charging, ESPHome Firmware
Granz Scientific unveiled the SN1 Solar Node, an ESP32‑C3‑based development board housed in an IP67‑rated enclosure with an integrated solar panel. The board supports single or dual 18650 lithium‑ion batteries, USB‑C charging, and offers prototyping strip‑board areas for custom sensors....
Data Centers and the Electricity Divide: Who Pays More, and Who Benefits
Electricity pricing in the United States is far from uniform; residential users typically pay significantly higher rates than large industrial customers. The blog explains how this stratification benefits data centers, which qualify for bulk and time‑of‑use tariffs that can be...
Whysol Renewables Secures €319M Green Financing for Italian Renewable Energy Projects
Whysol Renewables Group, through its subsidiary Whysol ION Holding, closed a €319 million green financing facility backed by six major banks, including CDP, BNP Paribas, and UniCredit. The loan will fund two battery energy storage system (BESS) plants and four agrivoltaic installations...
How Utilities Actually Think
In a recent Shift Key episode, Alice Yake – former Xcel Energy chief planner and now VP of GRIDS at Breakthrough Energy – dissected how utilities decide what to build, revealing decades of over‑investment driven by shifting natural‑gas expectations. She...
The Stranded Energy Epiphany (DDCU 3/7)
In 2025 Applied Digital secured over 400 MW of stranded wind power in North Dakota and placed compute directly at the generation site, flipping the traditional data‑center model. The post argues that moving electricity costs about $41.50 per megawatt‑hour per 1,000...
AECC Tests Megawatt Hydrogen Turboprop Engine
China's Aviation Engine Corporation of China (AECC) successfully completed the maiden flight of its AEP100 megawatt hydrogen‑fueled turboprop engine. The test used a 7.5‑ton unmanned cargo aircraft that took off from Zhuzhou, Hunan, and flew 36 km at 220 kph while reaching...
LX Pantos Partners with SK E&S on Solar-Powered Warehouses
LX Pantos has teamed with SK Innovation Energy & Services to equip three South Korean logistics centers with a combined 2 MW of rooftop solar capacity. The sites – Incheon’s MegaWise Cheongna Center, plus facilities in Changwon and Yongin – will...
Exclusive: Merino Energy Launches an All-in-One Heat Pump for $3,800
Merino Energy, a newly emerged startup, unveiled the Merino Mono, an all‑in‑one wall‑mounted heat pump priced at $3,800 that plugs into a standard 120‑volt outlet and can be installed in about an hour. The unit eliminates the outdoor condenser and...
The Gigawatt Delusion (DDCU 2/7)
Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta together pledged $320 billion for data‑center expansion in fiscal 2025, launching the largest coordinated capital deployment in tech history. More than 1,000 U.S. sites are under construction, delivering roughly 75 GW of capacity—about New York City’s peak demand....
E-Cat Update: A Quiet Signal Something Is Already in Motion
The latest E‑Cat NGU update marks a shift from vague promises to concrete activity. Rossi confirmed customers are already using the system, indicating early field deployments. He also disclosed active manufacturing of 100 W modules in the United States, Europe and...
Federal Government Publishes ‘Expectations of Data Centres and AI Infrastructure Developers’
The Australian Federal Government released a policy paper outlining its expectations for data‑centre operators and AI infrastructure developers. The document sets clear standards on energy consumption, water use and national‑interest considerations, echoing recent Australian Financial Review coverage of the sector’s...
AEMC Proposed New Grid Standards for Data Centre Connections
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has released a draft rule package proposing new grid connection standards for large data centres. The proposal introduces mandatory ride‑through capability, raises the size threshold for "large" inverter‑based loads to 30 MW, and aligns requirements...
Kalmar Corporation to Supply Hybrid Straddle Carriers to PSA Antwerp
Kalmar Corporation will deliver 14 hybrid straddle carriers to PSA Antwerp, with delivery slated for Q4 2026. The order, booked in Q1 2026, supports the Port of Antwerp‑Bruges modernization and aims to cut emissions. The hybrid carriers blend diesel engines...
How Electricity Prices Fuel Data Center Opposition
Data center developer Hut 8 faced fierce opposition in Logan County, Illinois, after residents linked a proposed AI‑focused facility to rising electricity costs. Heatmap Pro’s opposition index gave the county a score of 69, placing it just outside the top ten...
How the Iran War Could Scramble the Climate Tech Capital Stack
The Iran‑Iran war’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz is choking oil exports, slashing revenues for Gulf sovereign wealth funds and oil‑backed venture arms. Those investors have been a major source of early‑stage climate‑tech capital, funding electric mobility, clean hydrogen,...