There is broad agreement that the energy system will need longer-duration energy storage technologies to integrate increasing levels of solar and wind generation and achieve deep levels of decarbonization. While gigawatts of lithium-ion battery capacity are being added to the US power grid each year, few of these installations have a duration longer than four hours.

Long-duration energy storage (LDES), often defined as eight hours of storage or longer, is beginning to emerge as the next big leap in the evolution of the electric grid. As excitement around the sector ramps up, LDES companies are surpassing billion-dollar investment milestones, and states and utilities are establishing the first procurement targets for longer-duration storage resources. But why exactly do we need LDES? When will we need it? And, what needs to be done to support LDES technology and market development?

In this panel discussion, experts representing state, utility, and academic viewpoints will address these questions from their perspective. Panelists will answer questions from attendees following the discussion.

Panelists:

Chico Hunter, Manager, Innovation and Development, Salt River Project
Wilson Ricks, Doctoral Researcher, Zero-carbon Energy systems Research and Optimization (ZERO) Lab, Princeton University
Tom Ferguson, Energy Storage Programs Manager, Renewable and Alternative Energy Division, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
Weston Dengler, Senior Analyst, Research & Industry Strategy, Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA)
Geovanni Castano, Energy Technology Advisor, Dominion Energy
Seth Mullendore, President and Executive Director, Clean Energy Group (moderator)

Register here.

The NY Capital Region’s central get together for professionals in clean technology, energy, climate, sustainability, and related

A regular get together for folks working in the clean technology, energy, climate, sustainability, and related spaces.

Events are held in Albany. Normally set up as an after work networking, “happy-hour” style event, keep an eye out for special events like panels, lectures, advocacy, and facility tours.

Primarily we aim to have fun, learn, and get to know each other.

Also… traditional energy (i.e. oil & gas) folks are welcome! Just prepare to be converted 🙂

Join Renewable Heat Now for the last NY HEAT Albany lobby day of the legislative session!  We’ll be chanting and singing outside the Assembly Chamber and throughout the Capitol to ensure our legislators hear us loud and clear: NO MORE EXCUSES, NY HEAT NOW!

On Tuesday, June 10th, at 7:00pm the Conservative Climate Activists and Nuclear New York will be hosting our monthly Climate Science and Energy Engineering Dinner, which will usually occur on the 2nd Tuesday of every month.

The event will be at the Skylight Diner, by 9th Ave & 34th St in Manhattan, within easy reach of the A/C/E & 7 subways, and one block from Penn / Moynihan station. The diner has a large menu with affordable prices, generous portions, and is willing to do separate checks for a large group, with everybody using their own credit card.

The topics of conversation will be

• Climate Science: you have to be able to debate climate science in order to reach out to conservatives, and also, even if you don’t talk with conservatives, there is a lot of controversy over just how bad things will get, and how fast.
• Energy Engineering: We have to decarbonize the economy, but there are many unresolved / controversial issues to discuss — which zero carbon sources of energy are preferable, how to decarbonize transportation, particularly aviation. To get public cooperation, we have to figure out a path to decarbonize that won’t involve too much negative impact on per capita GDP, or too much disruption to our way of life.

Tribalism: the Mortal Enemy of Reason

80-90% of people who discuss public policy do it as a “team sport” — they say:

• I’ll be a liberal, so I will agree with liberal opinions, and nothing else, or
• I’ll be a conservative, so I will agree with conservative opinions, and nothing else

Typically, they can’t really justify their opinions with facts or logic, and they aren’t persuaded by facts or logic, because facts and logic aren’t how they got where they are. Information that supports the viewpoint of their tribe they will focus on and remember, while information that rebuts it they will dismiss and forget.

If interaction between the tribes gets hostile enough, as in the current day, people start automatically thinking the opposite of what the other tribe does. People are pleased when something happens that makes their opposing tribe unhappy. So when a party comes to power, it sometimes starts deliberately doing things that are not very constructive, just to deliberately offend the opposition. Both ends of the spectrum do this.

In addition, we lack any source of facts that is respected by both ends of the spectrum. In fact, most media are biased one way or the other. One has to consume media from both ends of the spectrum — if you consume only one end, everything you hear from the other end through the end that you listen to will be the stupidest voices on the other end. And within the climate movement we do have a lot of people saying stupid, scientifically inaccurate thigs, and conservatives hear all about them.

Social media seems to exacerbate the situation — the conversation gets dominated by the most extreme elements of either tribe, neither of whom are being terribly constructive, while the more reasonable people in the middle, who shun tribalism and who want to work out compromises and solve problems, can’t get noticed.

People “doing their own research” on social media is a complete disaster, because social media is not a truth engine, it is an outrage engine.

Join more than 500 sustainability leaders to shape the future of our planet.

Join us to celebrate the start of summer and hang out with other passionate sustainability community members. We’ll have local makers selling their sustainable goods and educators in the climate space helping you get involved in climate action.

The Center for Earth Ethics is thrilled to bring our faith, spirituality and climate training to the Hudson Valley this June. The Center has hosted Faith and Climate trainings since 2016. When both nature and society face many threats, community, spiritual connection, and bioregional knowledge are indispensable. This convening is a vital opportunity to come together, learn from leaders and one another, and renew our commitment to the challenging work ahead.

This training, designed for leaders and active members of all faiths and traditions, will support participants in responding to the climate crisis, with a focus on ecology and biocultural heritage of the Hudson Valley. The program will address climate science and policy, bioregionalism, local watershed and foodshed issues, and environmental justice initiatives. We will share skills to offer spiritual support and pastoral care, co-create ritual and ceremony, communicate science through an ethical lens, and learn from the land and water. The program will run from Friday afternoon through Saturday evening with an optional stay through Sunday morning.

The training will be held at The Ashokan Center, New York State’s oldest environmental education center. Adjacent to the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskills foothills, The Ashokan Center hosts cultural, educational and community programming in its historic buildings powered by 100% renewable energy. Our program will integrate the outdoor classroom, forest and stream of this special site. Miles of hiking trails, kayaks, and a wood-heated sauna are available to participants, alongside a fully vegetarian, high-quality menu. Participants may stay onsite or commute from home. Learn more about the Center’s facilities.

Although preference will be given to people connected to faith and spiritual communities in the Hudson Valley, the training is open to all who feel called to apply.
By application; apply at the link below.
In person only; onsite lodging available. Please contact us at info@centerforearthethics.org with  any questions. 

Applications will be accepted through May 25. 

Join staff to pull a seine net in the Hudson River, fish from the wheelchairaccessible patio, or do art activities nearby. Rods, reels, and bait will be available free of charge, and education staff available to help.

Enact is hosting a workshop on Tuesday, June 17th, focusing on emerging developments in the Northeast Solar and Energy Storage Industry.