Qinghai province used only wind, solar and hydroelectric power to supply its population of 5.8 million. While the U.S. flounders on environmental action and a growing number of cabinet officials out themselves as climate deniers, China continues to make waves as an emerging leader in this space. Chinese state media announced this week that the sprawling province of Qinghai in the country’s northwest had run for seven consecutive days entirely on renewable energy. The province

Batteries are not a new technology. The voltaic pile—the first true battery—came to be in 1800 thanks to Alessandro Volta. Since then, the invention of several different types of batteries has taken place. Important to this narrative is the invention of the lead-acid battery by Gaston Planté in 1859. This was the first battery that could be recharged by passing a reverse current through it. The battery itself is heavy and not applicable in all instances. However, it’s still u

Warehouse personnel can take simple steps today to improve battery life tomorrow. Lead-acid battery technology hasn't changed much since it was introduced in the 19th century, but that doesn't justify taking an outdated approach to maintaining the lead-acid batteries that power a facility's forklifts. Advances in charging technology and maintenance techniques combined with common-sense approaches to heating and cooling can go a long way toward keeping batteries in their best

As more states offer incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs), governments are overlooking the benefits that alternative eco-friendly and energy efficient vehicles offer. By only providing credits for pure EVs, states are missing out on an opportunity to ignite adoption of other cars, like micro-hybrids, which also offer environmental advantages compared to traditional combustion engines. Micro-hybrids aim to combine the best characteristics of modern combustion

In what it says is a world first, Toronto Hydro is testing pole-mounted energy storage devices that can supplement electricity during peak hours in homes. In a pilot project, a compact white box, a little bigger than a suitcase, has been mounted about six metres up a hydro pole in the Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W. area. It’s paired with a 50 kilowatt transformer that typically powers about 12 houses. “It’s a lithium ion battery just like the one in your cell phone, and it’s

India is expected to add more than 1GWh of lithium-ion battery assembly capacity this year, with a host of companies getting in on the act, according to the head of the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA). The South Asian country has already surpassed 1GWh of distributed lithium-ion battery deployment for applications such as telecom towers and bank ATM machines, but to reach this stage companies had been importing complete battery packs from outside India. However, Rahul Wa

New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation’s largest fuel retailer, is planning to foray into energy storage business. The firm is weighing the option of launch of an improved version of lead-acid battery for low cost mobility and industrial applications. The idea of developing a next-generation energy storage product is also being contemplated by the oil marketer as told by IOC’s Director-Research & Development (R&D)- Dr. S.S.V.Ramakumar to ETEnergyWorld. “We ar

India’s first grid-scale solar-plus-storage tender has been held up by the extreme drop in the country’s solar PV prices this year, according to Rahul Walawalkar, executive director of the Indian Energy Storage Alliance. Although not officially announced by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which released the tender, the process has clearly faced delay after attracting strong levels of interest from 13 bidders in late 2016. The tender is for 5MW/2.5MWh battery energy

What if you need a battery? A really big one — big enough to run a city? It’s a question that inventors have been tackling for decades. No one wants the fridge, or the hospital, going on the blink when demand surges or the power plant needs repairs. It turns out to be a surprisingly tricky question to answer. Today, with the rise of green energy sources like solar and wind, the need for industrial-scale energy storage is becoming ever more vital to make sure there’s power eve