Hacker News with Generative AI: Renewable Energy

Device uses wind to create ammonia out of air (ieee.org)
Lots of green energy experiments in the lab publish impressive results—but what’s more impressive is when those results come from an actual on-site pilot demonstration in the real world. That’s the case with new research that is able to generate ammonia out of thin air, without requiring an external power source.
Renewable Energy, Green Technology, Chemistry, Engineering
140 points by rbanffy 1 day ago | 110 comments
China plans to build enormous solar array in space (livescience.com)
Space Exploration, Renewable Energy, China, Technology
5 points by bookofjoe 2 days ago | 3 comments
Lightcell: An engine that uses light to make electricity (lightcellenergy.com)
Renewable Energy, Energy, Technology
99 points by curl-up 4 days ago | 55 comments
Largest compressed air energy storage facility starts operation in China (ess-news.com)
A 300 MW compressed air energy storage (CAES) power station utilizing two underground salt caverns in central China’s Hubei Province was successfully connected to the grid at full capacity, making it the largest operating project of the kind in the world.
Energy Storage, Renewable Energy, China, Engineering
6 points by gnabgib 7 days ago | 0 comments
Innovative ways to float skyscraper-sized wind turbines (mena-forum.com)
Record-tall Wind Turbine Towers with 3D-printed Concrete Bases were in the news a few years back. Today, here are six innovative ways to float skyscraper-sized wind turbines. These enormous turbines can reach up to 240m tall—about the size of a skyscraper. Since they are so tall, strong winds far above the sea surface tend to cause the turbine to tilt, so platform designs focus on minimising this tilt while still being cost-competitive with other forms of energy.
Renewable Energy, Engineering, Wind Power, Construction, Sustainability
30 points by yread 8 days ago | 12 comments
Why Did We Wait So Long for Wind Power? (construction-physics.com)
Since the early 2000s, wind power has been a substantial fraction of new electricity capacity in the US. In 2020 wind power was 42% of new electricity generation capacity, and in 2021 it was 32%.
Renewable Energy, Energy, Climate Change, Wind Power
28 points by chautumn 8 days ago | 10 comments
World's largest pumped storage power plant fully operational in China (ess-news.com)
The Fengning Pumped Storage Power Station, the world’s largest facility of its kind, has commenced full operations with the commissioning of its final variable-speed unit on December 31.
Renewable Energy, China, Energy, Power Plants, Infrastructure
82 points by philipkglass 8 days ago | 86 comments
Renewable Energy Made Up 62.7% of Germany's Electricity in 2024 (ecowatch.com)
Renewables are now making up a majority of the net public electricity generation in Germany, according to a new report by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE).
Renewable Energy, Germany, Electricity Generation, Energy Policy, Climate Change
37 points by belter 10 days ago | 57 comments
Germans turn to balcony solar panels to save money (france24.com)
Berlin (AFP) – As snowflakes gently settled on his balcony solar panels on a cold winter's day, Berliner Jens Sax checked his smartphone to see how much electricity they were generating.
Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Germany, Energy Costs, Climate Change
66 points by vinni2 10 days ago | 78 comments
High electricity prices in California have nothing to do with renewables (pv-magazine-usa.com)
New research from Stanford University has shown that California could massively rely on renewable energies to cover its electricity demand without risks of blackouts and high energy prices.
Renewable Energy, California, Energy Prices, Research
9 points by toomuchtodo 12 days ago | 4 comments
German power prices turn negative amid expansion in renewables (businessinsider.com)
German power prices briefly fell into negative territory early on Thursday, extending a trend being seen throughout countries in Europe as a jump in renewable power generation causes energy supply to outpace demand.
Germany, Renewable Energy, Energy Markets, Power Prices
18 points by rustoo 12 days ago | 15 comments
The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved (newatlas.com)
China has approved what is set to become the biggest hydropower dam complex in the world, capable of producing nearly three times as much power as the current record-holder, the Three Gorges Dam.
Hydroelectric Dams, China, Energy, Renewable Energy
31 points by thelastgallon 13 days ago | 68 comments
UK electricity cleanest ever in 2024, with record 58% from low-carbon sources (theguardian.com)
The UK’s electricity was the cleanest it has ever been in 2024, with wind and solar generation hitting all-time highs, according to a report.
Renewable Energy, Environment, United Kingdom, Climate Change, Energy
10 points by ksec 13 days ago | 4 comments
In Colorado, a marriage of solar energy and farming (ksjd.org)
The fields surrounding Byron Kominek’s farm lay fallow. But on a sunny morning in mid-December, Kominek harvests the sun’s rays.
Renewable Energy, Agriculture, Colorado
191 points by dr_dshiv 14 days ago | 115 comments
38C3: Blinkencity, radio controlling street lamps and power plants [video] (media.ccc.de)
A significant portion of Europe's renewable energy production can be remotely controlled via longwave radio.
Cybersecurity, Renewable Energy, Technology, Germany
216 points by aunderscored 20 days ago | 47 comments
Homebrew Batteries (hanssummers.com)
I had lots of fun building homebrew batteries. I wanted to build a radio transmitter powered by natural, homebrew power sources. The first thought, was a lemon battery (or few). All over the place on the internet, you can read about the classic school science project, sticking two dissimilar metals into a lemon and generating some small amount of power. Sometimes potatoes. You can even buy "kits" to do this in toystores.
DIY, Electronics, Renewable Energy
141 points by xanderlewis 22 days ago | 19 comments
China approves Tibet mega dam that generate 3 times power than Three Gorges (scmp.com)
China has approved the construction of a colossal hydropower project on Tibet’s longest river that could generate three times more energy than the Three Gorges Dam, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
China, Hydropower, Tibet, Renewable Energy, Infrastructure
7 points by ksec 22 days ago | 0 comments
'We take for granted we are going to replace fossil fuels with 100% renewable' (elpais.com)
Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Energy Transition
4 points by belter 23 days ago | 2 comments
Solar, EVs and a Big Exit from Coal: 2024's Good Climate News (bloomberg.com)
Record solar installations, Norway’s electric vehicle revolution and a G7 member’s coal phase-out are just some of the good news stories for the planet this year.
Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Energy, Environment, Coal
16 points by toomuchtodo 24 days ago | 2 comments
Satellite powered estimation of global solar potential (research.google)
High-quality satellite digital surface models and roof segmentation power Google Maps Platform Solar API expansion in the global south and reduce global revisit times.
Satellite Technology, Renewable Energy, Google Maps, Global South
265 points by jonbaer 29 days ago | 204 comments
How balcony solar is taking off (theguardian.com)
“If 1.5 million Germans have bought solar balcony kits there must be something in it,” he says.
Solar Energy, Germany, Renewable Energy
5 points by doener 29 days ago | 1 comments
How balcony solar is taking off (theguardian.com)
“If 1.5 million Germans have bought solar balcony kits there must be something in it,” he says.
Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Germany
6 points by bilsbie 30 days ago | 0 comments
Ann Arbor hopes to bring rooftop solar to the masses by creating a utility (bridgemi.com)
In the shadow of a presidential election dominated by rhetoric about job-killing EVs and the virtues of fossil fuels, the residents of one Michigan city voted this fall to embrace solar energy.
Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Local Government, Michigan
7 points by toomuchtodo 34 days ago | 2 comments
Get a solar panel for your balcony now (stapelberg.ch)
A year ago, I got a solar panel for my balcony — an easy way to vote with your wallet to convert more of the world’s energy usage to solar power. That was a great decision and I would recommend everyone get a solar panel (or two)!
Solar Power, Renewable Energy, Sustainability
4 points by paulcarroty 36 days ago | 0 comments
Hacking Rooftop Solar Is a Way to Break Europe's Power Grid (bloomberg.com)
All it takes is one hacker and a batch of faulty solar panels to threaten the safety of Europe’s electric grid.
Cybersecurity, Renewable Energy, Europe, Energy Grid, Hacking
6 points by rustoo 36 days ago | 1 comments
Fire risk assessment of battery home storage compared to general house fires (ssrn.com)
Battery storage systems are becoming an integral part of the energy transition, as they offer the possibility of bridging time windows in which self-generated renewable energy is not available and they are able to deliver manifold system services to the grid.
Energy, Fire Safety, Battery Technology, Renewable Energy
185 points by gnabgib 39 days ago | 205 comments
An Italian town that built its own sun (2021) (vice.com)
A town where the sun doesn’t rise for three months a year.
Renewable Energy, Italy, Architecture, Climate Change
143 points by Amorymeltzer 40 days ago | 42 comments
The momentum of the solar energy transition (nature.com)
Decarbonisation plans across the globe require zero-carbon energy sources to be widely deployed by 2050 or 2060.
Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Energy Transition
52 points by simonebrunozzi 41 days ago | 21 comments
The Birmingham Blade: geographically tailored urban wind turbine designed by AI (birmingham.ac.uk)
AI design specialists EvoPhase and precision metal fabricators KwikFab have unveiled the world’s first urban wind turbine designed by AI, and tailored to the unique wind conditions of a specific geographic area.
Artificial Intelligence, Renewable Energy, Urban Design, Engineering
28 points by taubek 42 days ago | 47 comments
Germany: Power generation from renewables continues to rise sharply (heise.de)
More electricity was generated in Germany in the third quarter than in the previous year. Renewable energies alone are responsible for this growth.
Germany, Renewable Energy, Energy Production
11 points by doener 42 days ago | 5 comments