QUICK NEWS, October 21: APPS TO MANAGE NEW ENERGY; SOLAR AFTER SUNDOWN FOR LAS VEGAS; PROCTOR & GAMBLE TO CLEAN UP WITH WIND

APPS TO MANAGE NEW ENERGY Energy Apps for Residential Customers

4Q 2015 (Navigant Research)

“Energy-focused applications, or apps, for residential customers help people efficiently use and manage energy consumption in their homes, thanks to new tools and access to data…[that give] residential customers insight into their power usage and offer ways to reduce consumption, helping customers save money. Simultaneously, utilities benefit from better informed and more engaged customers who help make grid operations more efficient…The market for energy apps is still in its early stage…[but the] number of energy apps is growing, and customers now expect them to be readily available—either from a mobile device or online through a PC or laptop. Savvy utilities need an app strategy to meet these expectations. Several utilities already offer energy apps for customers, including DTE Energy, Direct Energy, and Infinite Energy, and point to generally positive customer experiences and possible energy savings of approximately 8%...” click here for more

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SOLAR AFTER SUNDOWN FOR LAS VEGAS A Tower of Molten Salt Will Deliver Solar Power After Sunset; For the first time, solar thermal can compete with natural gas during nighttime peak demand

Peter Fairley, 21 October 2015 (IEEE)

“Solar power projects intended to turn solar heat into steam to generate electricity have struggled to compete amid tumbling prices for solar energy from solid-state photovoltaic (PV) panels. But the first commercial-scale implementation of an innovative solar thermal design could turn the tide. Engineered from the ground up to store some of its solar energy, [SolarReserve’s 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes plant] is nearing completion…It aims to simultaneously produce the cheapest solar thermal power and to dispatch that power for up to 10 hours after the setting sun has idled photovoltaics…[Due] on line by the end of this year, [it] uses over 17,000 mirrors to focus sunlight on a heat receiver atop a 165-meter-high tower…[to heat] a molten mixture of nitrate salts that can be stored in insulated tanks and withdrawn on demand to run the plant’s steam generators and turbine when electricity is most valuable…Crescent Dunes promises to be the first of many big molten salt towers…[They presently make] the most sense in markets where, unlike the United States, natural gas is pricey enough to make gas-fired plants less attractive…” click here for more

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PROCTOR & GAMBLE TO CLEAN UP WITH WIND Procter & Gamble to Run Its Factories With Wind Power

Rachel Abrams, October 19, 2105 (NY Times)

“…Procter & Gamble’s biggest foray into wind power…is the latest in a burst of partnerships between major American corporations and renewable energy companies…Hewlett-Packard, Kaiser Permanente and Dow Chemical all announced plans this year to buy renewable energy…[and] 81 companies, including Procter & Gamble, [have] committed to [President Obama’s] American Business Act on Climate Pledge, which includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions…Consumers have increasingly scrutinized consumer products companies for their use of chemicals and impact on the environment. In recent years, those concerns have gained traction, as manufacturers see the potential effects they can have on the bottom line…One by one, consumer products companies have removed offending ingredients…[P&G’s new wind project] is scheduled to be operational in December 2016, and is expected to help reduce [its] carbon emissions by 200,000 metric tons annually. EDF is funding the project, but P.&G. has signed a 12-year contract to buy power from the plant…” click here for more

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