Amazon unveiled a gauntlet of new climate initiatives today, including 80% renewables by 2024, zero emissions by 2040, a fleet of 100,000 electric vans and a $100 million investment in reforestation measures.

What Is Peak Demand?

Peak Demand is when electrical power demand is the highest. A likely time for Peak Demand to come is during a heatwave, when households and businesses across the nation turn on their air conditioning to stay cool. When peak demand occurs, utilities fire up peaker plants, which are able to meet the increased demand for electricity.

Last week, I had a sit down with Andrew Breiter-Wu, President of Breiter Planet Properties. I asked him a few questions about himself and the company, and got to know more about his story. As we walked through the Prudential building in Boston, looking for a place to sit down and talk, Andrew noted: “I love this area, because there is always something going on. It’s great to be in the action.” In the solar world, Andrew is definitely “In the action”.

Is it possible for utilities to provide 100% renewable energy?

Xcel Energy is an electric utility based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It serves more than 3.3 million electric customers throughout Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. Xcel has a goal of delivering 100% carbon free electricity by the year 2050. As of 2018, their delivery was 38% carbon free, and by 2030, Xcel hopes to deliver 80% carbon free electricity before reaching their ultimate goal of 100% carbon free by 2050. 

The sun is rising on the cannabis industry in the United States. Cannabis is now fully legal in ten states: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, and the District of Columbia. With widespread legalization, the cannabis industry is growing rapidly. Despite its speedy growth, there are two major roadblocks that the cannabis industry faces. Energy costs and limited backing from traditional banks hinder the industry's further expansion.

The Big Apple? More like The Big Array! New York City is now home to the biggest array of solar panels on top of an apartment complex in the United States. This solar array sits proudly atop Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan with over 9,671 solar panels spanning 22 acres of roof space. Nearly doubling the solar capacity in Manhattan, this project adds 3.9 Megawatts of power.  Installing this solar array will have the same effect as removing nearly 12,000 cars off the road, and reducing carbon emissions by 62,472 tons!    

This past week we remembered the incredible achievements of the Apollo 11 team that put the first man on the moon, 50 years ago. CBS, CNN, and other media organizations did a great job covering this with segments throughout the week and specials using the original footage from the historic day/week back in July of 1969.