Important Innovations Collection

European Union May Vastly Expand Wind Power Capacity                                  Source:  Europe Offshore Wind Farm 2030 and 2050 Green Goals For the European Union, energy produced by wind power generation is now cheaper than that produced by fossil fuels.  As a result, the EU is considering a huge investment in offshore wind power technology and infrastructure. The nearly $Trillion investment is aimed at creating five-times or 60 gigawatts of offshore wind generated energy by 2030.  The current level is 12 gigawatts.  By 2050 the EU is targeting 300 gigawatts.  They are also targeting 60 gigawatts of wave and tidal energy by 2050. Massive Renewable Energy Agenda These renewable energy goals are unprecedented and would require a major change of scale for the energy sectors of the 27 nation European Union.  The cost is estimated at $937 billion.  Th...

Green Tech Investments Up 28% in US 2019, a Record Source:  Wind, Solar Energy Stock Image Wind and Solar Lead the Way Despite the Trump Administration's views on Climate Change and renewable energy, US companies broke records in their investments in green technology in 2019.  Investments hit $55.5 billion, which is up 28%.  That catapulted the US to second place in renewable energy investments behind China, whose financial bet on renewables fell 8% to $83 billion. Clearly, China remains the far ahead leader in pushing renewables.  Europe's renewable energy investments fell 7% to $54 billion, right behind the US. Interestingly, Brazil's financial investment soared by 74% to $6.5 billion.  The data was collected by Bloomberg. New Green Energy Technologies The big investment push in the US for new renewable energy technologies and expansions is by wind and solar energy companies.  They're rushing to qualify for federal tax credit that ...

SoftBank's Vision Fund Investing Big in the Swiss Startup Source:  Solar Vault computer rendering Storing Solar and Wind Energy for 24/7 Use Switzerland's energy storage technology company Energy Vault has received a $110 million investment from SoftBank's Vision Fund, one of the world's largest technology investors.  The company stores wind and solar energy in a huge tower of concrete blocks.  It uses software to autonomously control the energy tower's operations including a 400 foot, 6 armed crane that stacks the energy storage blocks.  And it uses algorithms to account for changes in energy supply and demand, weather, grid needs and other factors.  Storing renewable energy is the biggest challenge facing the green energy industry.  Energy Vault has a very innovative solution that SoftBank's Vision Fund is betting on. Global Expansion Energy Vault relies on low cost materials like cement blocks to provide energy storage.  It says it's a m...