Articles by
Michelle Lewis
California now has 1 EV fast charging station for every 5 gas stations
By
Michelle Lewis
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced on Saturday that there is now one EV fast charging station for every five gas stations in California.
California has led the US in the number of EVs and EV charging stations every year since 2016, according to the US Energy Information Administration in December.
Here’s how utility-scale solar farms may just help save the bees
By
Michelle Lewis
A five-year study of solar farms planted with wildflowers and native grasses discovered that native bees showed a 20-fold increase in numbers.
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory wanted to understand how insect pollinators respond to utility solar farms planted with native grasses and wildflowers.
The first wind farm on California’s coast just came online
By
Michelle Lewis
The Strauss Wind Project in Santa Barbara County, the first wind farm on California’s coast, is now online.
The 98-megawatt (MW) Strauss Wind is near Lompoc, on the Central Coast, with Vandenberg Space Force Base to the south, west, and northwest. The location’s 3,000-acre topography is perpendicular to the predominant wind direction from the ocean, making it an ideal location to generate wind power.
Rivian’s Normal, IL, plant is now charging every new EV with 100% clean energy
By
Michelle Lewis
Rivian’s 2.8 MW wind turbine at its Normal, Illinois, plant is officially online and, along with solar, is charging every new EV with clean energy.
Rivian announced it would install the wind turbine in June 2022, and Charlottesville, Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy began construction of the turbine in May.
Now it’s up and running and capable of generating nearly 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year – enough to power 890 average US homes.
A new wind farm in Kansas trailblazes with light-mitigating technology
By
Michelle Lewis
Sunflower Wind is the first in the state to feature an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS) that uses radar to scan for aircraft. When ADLS is installed on a wind farm, the nighttime lights on the turbines blink only when aircraft are detected, thus reducing light pollution for residents who live close enough to be able to see them.
Approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is required to install ADLS, and the FAA reviews every turbine individually. The FAA requires that the ADLS activate and flash if an aircraft is at or below 1,000 feet above the tallest wind turbine and is approaching a three-nautical mile (3.45-mile) perimeter around the wind farm.
The first North American freshwater offshore wind farm will be in Lake Erie
By
Michelle Lewis
Despite pushback from residents, the Supreme Court of Ohio yesterday approved a permit for the construction of North America’s first freshwater offshore wind farm, which will be sited in Lake Erie, around eight miles north of Cleveland.
World’s first wind turbine with recyclable blades is up and spinning
By
Michelle Lewis
Siemens Gamesa’s first recyclable blades are spinning on a wind turbine at the Kaskasi offshore wind farm in Germany. It’s the first commercial installation of recyclable wind turbine technology.
Danish wind turbine giant Vestas to suspend work on four projects in Russia
By
Michelle Lewis
Danish wind turbine manufacturing giant Vestas will suspend work on four Russian wind projects in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Vestas will also suspend all new commercial activities in Russia.
Coal-hungry Indiana’s largest-capacity solar farm is about to come online
By
Michelle Lewis
Houston-headquartered renewables company EDP Renewables North America has completed a 200-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Randolph County, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis. It’s now the largest-capacity solar farm in Indiana.
Wind giant Vestas says it can now fully recycle turbine blades
By
Michelle Lewis
Danish wind turbine giant Vestas has announced today that it, along with a coalition of industry and academic leaders, has figured out how to fully recycle wind turbine blades.
12 US governors ask Biden for all new vehicle sales to be 100% zero-emission by 2045
By
Michelle Lewis
Twelve US governors today issued a letter asking President Joe Biden to put the US on a path to 100% new zero-emission vehicle (ZEVs) sales. Specifically, they asked that all new cars and light-duty trucks are ZEVs by 2035 and new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are ZEVs by 2045.
This AI optical technology cuts wind turbine eagle deaths by 82%
By
Michelle Lewis
IdentiFlight’s smart cameras, which spot birds of prey such as eagles and then halt wind turbines to protect the birds, can result in a large percentage reduction of bird deaths, according to a new study published last week in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
