Renewable Energy

The city of Manchester in Connecticut, located in Hartford County, will soon open a brand-new public library, replacing one that has served residents for nearly 90 years. The new library will be the first net zero energy library in the state.

The heatwaves that keep happening this summer are a major strain on power grids. In some places, electric school buses are helping utilities to keep the lights on and air conditioners running.

The Trump administration has been battling to stop wind power projects in the United States citing various dubious reasons such as national security, danger to birds and whales, and even cancer risks. The President has had a personal vendetta against wind energy for more than a decade since he was unable to stop a wind turbine project near his golf course in Scotland. The executive orders to halt wind-energy leases and permits last year were ultimately overturned by the courts, allowing projects such as five offshore wind projects in the Northeast to continue.

U.S. electric power consumption hit is second straight annual record high in 2025 and will rise further in 2026 and 2027. Electric grid consumption had been relatively stable between 2010 and 2021 and per capita consumption even declined over that period, but all that has changed.

Electric cars store large amounts of energy in their battery banks that is used to drive the car. But in principle, parked electric cars could be used as mobile energy storage networks. The energy in cars could be given back to the power grid – a technology known as vehicle-to-grid or V2G. Alternatively, the stored energy in a car could supply electricity directly to a home, for example during a power outage. This is V2H.

The part of the year between the chill of winter and the heat of mid-summer tends to be when renewable energy systems perform best. Longer, milder days when electricity demand is relatively low are when wind and solar power are ramping up and can account for greater shares of grid energy consumption.

There is organized opposition to renewable energy. Most of it comes from the fossil fuel industry whose market share and business models are threatened by renewables. There is also opposition from conservative political groups, although that opposition doesn’t really have an ideological basis. And then there is NIMBYism: opposition to renewable energy because people don’t want any of it near where they live.

The Trump administration is trying very hard to prop up coal power in the US. The Department of Energy is keeping struggling coal plants on life support, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The Department of the Interior is blocking wind and solar developments that involve public lands. But in spite of all this, coal power is fighting a losing battle.

Solar power has been experiencing a massive boom for fifteen years, with an annual growth rate of 28% over the last decade. More recently, grid storage batteries have established a boom of their own. These battery banks, which can store the energy produced by solar and other sources, are expanding rapidly.

Hydrogen has long been envisioned as the ideal clean energy source for society. Used as a fuel, it releases only water as it is burned. Thus, it could be a direct replacement for fossil fuels in applications where it is difficult to find viable clean alternatives. In fuel cells, hydrogen can be used to generate electricity. But hydrogen faces a major problem: where to obtain it.