Sustainability

US data management company Iron Mountain has a growing portfolio of onsite and PPA renewables, and it’s one of the first major corporate firms to track its renewables by the hour as part of an innovative PPA that may serve as a forerunner for widespread 24/7 matching.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has been on the back-foot since its destruction of 46,000-year-old sacred indigenous sites last year, costing one chief executive his job and one country a timeless piece of its cultural heritage. Along with the impacts of Covid-19 and stock price decline, the company is seeking to rebuild its brand with improved emissions reduction targets, which will see multi-gigawatt solar and wind installations.

A new study from researchers at the universities of Lancaster and Reading in the UK has managed to quantify the economic boost provided by the symbiotic relationship between solar farms and honeybee hives.

A report from Australia’s Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre which analysed the development of battery hubs in the U.S., Germany and Japan, has found that co-location and cooperation between industry and government were key to their success. For Australia to play the same game, it will have to leverage its wealth of resources, and clean up its act along the way.

Production waste puts a dent in the perception of sustainability of batteries. Northvolt, however, has partnered with a young Swedish company to make the best use of the battery production waste, and also help to decarbonize the fertilizer industry while they are at it.

Re-Source 2021 took place in Amsterdam at the end of last week, and pv magazine was there to cover the event where the suppliers and sellers of renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) meet the (largely corporate) buyers, though encouraging PPA uptake among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was among the major talking points, including ‘additionality’, de-risking renewable PPAs and 24/7 matching.

Re-Source 2021 in Amsterdam has kicked off and the pivotal timing of the event has not been lost on any of the attendees or speakers. It is the time to kickstart the energy transition, and following the European Commission’s endorsement of corporate renewable PPAs as a solution to surging energy prices, this is the room where it could happen.

A new report published by the International Energy Agency offers a series of guidelines for the design of recyclable PV modules. The report aims to help manufacturers find the balance between durability and recyclability, to better address concerns about the 78 million tons of end-of-life PV modules expected by 2050.

For the first time since 2019, Intersolar Europe has opened its doors. The pv magazine team is delighted to be on the ground in Munich this year to bring you the latest solar PV and energy storage developments, events, and trends from the event, as they happen. Stay tuned for our live updates over the next three days!

A consultation process examining whether legislation is required to ensure the eco credentials of panels and inverters is focusing on eco-design and energy labeling but has also made mention of the need for less carbon intensive manufacturing.