Renewables

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Biofuel

There are two categories of biofuels: primary biofuels that are used directly without conversion to create useful energy such as heat, and secon …

Biopower

Biopower is created by the conversion of fuels derived from recently living organisms and/or municipal solid waste into energy in the form of el …

Carbon negative

Carbon negative refers to an entity or a process that has a net effect of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Clean energy standard (CES)

A clean energy standard, or CES, is a regulatory requirement obligating utilities, generation authorities, or load-serving entities to acquire a …

Climate change

Climate change is defined as a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns.

Cogeneration

Using combined heat and power technology, electricity is generated first in the process, with the waste heat captured to create useful thermal e …

Combined heat and power

Combined heat and power, or CHP, is the concurrent production of useful thermal energy (heating and/or cooling) and electricity or mechanical po …

Concentrated solar power (CSP)

Concentrated solar power or CSP technology concentrates sunlight to create heat, and then it uses the heat to create mechanical power.

Curtailment

A curtailment is an event where energy services are temporarily unavailable.

Department of Energy (DOE)

The United States Department of Energy is a cabinet-level executive department of the federal government responsible for energy policy and safet …

Direct combustion biopower

Direct combustion is the controlled burning of biomass to create heat.

Duck curve

The duck curve is the name given to the shape of the net load curve in a market with a significant penetration of solar energy.

Economic dispatch

Economic dispatch, also called least-cost economic dispatch, is the operation of generation facilities to reliably produce energy at the lowest …

Energy

Energy, as measured in kilowatt-hours or megawatt-hours, is equal to the power being used multiplied by the length of time that it is used.

Fixed cost

A fixed cost remains basically constant regardless of the level of output or operation in a company over a short period of time (one to a few ye …

Gasification biopower

Gasification is a process that creates a gaseous fuel that then is used to fuel a power plant.

Geothermal power

Geothermal power is created by the conversion of thermal energy in the earth to energy in the form of electricity.

Geothermal resources

Geothermal resources are used as a source of hot water or steam for geothermal power plants.

Home of the future

The home of the future will be full of flexible energy consuming/producing devices that can be controlled in response to price signals from elec …

Hydrokinetic power electric generation

Hydrokinetic power is electricity derived by converting the kinetic energy of moving water into electricity.