Happy Monday and welcome to the first day of National Clean Energy Week. The governors of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin are among those recognizing National Clean Energy Week, along with numerous participating Midwest organizations and businesses. Registration is still open for virtual programming that will continue throughout the week with input from Midwest entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Topics include agriculture, climate, renewables, transportation, technology commercialization, and technology applications.
Today’s headlines:
š SOLAR:Ā AĀ University of Colorado DenverĀ researcher who studied nearly 500 public U.S. airports found thatĀ 20% of them had added solar panel technologiesĀ over the last decade, includingĀ Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
š AGRICULTURE:
- Up to one-third of the nitrogen runoff from Midwest farms that makes its way into the Mississippi River basin annually comes from heavy rainfall events that occur only a few days each year, according to aĀ study fromĀ Iowa State UniversityĀ that used innovative computer modeling techniques.
- Faribault, Minnesota-based aeroponics farming technology businessĀ Living Greens FarmĀ plans to expand nationwide by the end of this year or the beginning of next year,Ā reports AberdeenNews.com. The company says its technology allows indoor growing using 95% less water, 98% less land, and no pesticides.
šļøĀ WASTE: GEM-AshĀ in Rosemount, Minnesota, is using reconfigured existing technology to remove precious metals from a Twin Cities area waste-to-energy facility without the use of polluting chemicals,Ā reports the Star Tribune.
š BATTERIES:Ā Battery technology has had difficulty scaling with electronicsā advances and progress is slower than other technological advancements,Ā reports Semiconductor Engineering. AnĀ Argonne National LaboratoryĀ scientist discusses the challenges of creating solid-state lithium-ion batteries.
š NET-ZERO:Ā TheĀ Prairie Island Indian CommunityĀ in MinnesotaĀ issued a request for proposalsĀ for a $46 million project to create an energy system for the tribe that results in net-zero emissions, making it the first net-zero community in the state. The system should reduce energy consumption, incorporate solar and geothermal energy, and develop microgrids for energy distribution and storage.
š ACCELERATOR:Ā ApplicationsĀ are due tomorrow, September 22, for theĀ Mid-West Energy Research Consortiumās WERCBench Labs Accelerator. The program for startups in the energy, power, and controls sectors provides up to $40,000 and lab space and equipment for product testing.
