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WEEKLY NEWSFLASH 8/7-8/11: HUGE FUNDING FOR ALTAEROS ENERGIES, MORE CITIES JOIN PARIS AGREEMENT, AND U.S. POWER USE DOWN OVER LAST DECADE

August is well under way and so are the amazing achievements of our member companies! This week, Altaeros recieved $7.5 million in funding from SoftBank. They plan on using this new money to fund a SuperTower to bring broadband internet to rural areas. Another member, Accion Systems, received a big shout out from SpaceNews about their amazing propulsion tech, so if you’re interested in satellite propulsion or space travel, make sure to check that out!

In domestic news, American’s are down 7% in electricity consumption in the last decade. This is exciting but the trend probably won’t last since EV’s are on the up and up, which is inevitably a good thing! Additionally, this week Orlando, Florida became the 40th city (as well as the largest Floridian city) to agree to all renewable energy by 2050.

With the addition of Florida, one-third of Americans are now included in an alliance to uphold the Paris Agreement. This means that states are taking positive action on issues their citizens believe in and will be driving forces in the battle against climate change in the years to come, regardless of Federal stances.

What news have you been reading this week? Share with us @GreentownLabs!

 

TechCrunchAerostat startup Altaeros gets $7.5M from SoftBank to bring broadband wireless to rural areas

  • Altaeros Energies announced that it has received $7.5 million in new funding from SoftBank Group. The capital will speed up the launch of SuperTower, a project that uses Altaeros’ tethered balloons to bring broadband wireless to rural areas.

“We will aim to develop as many services as we can for the network that we deploy. At the end of the day, an autonomous aerostat is a platform and its potential applications are only limited by the creativity of our customers.”

SpaceNews Smallsats need small propulsion. Boston startup Accion has a few big ideas.

  • U.S military and commercial satellite operators are eager to hand off some of the jobs large spacecraft perform to small satellites and even cubesats. Accion Systems has the solution.

” We are building what is essentially an ion engine, but there are two main differences. We use a liquid propellant and completely new manufacturing techniques.”

Clean TechnicaAmericans Are Using Less Electricity Today Than A Decade Ago

  • A new report reveals that demand for electricity in US homes all across America is down 7% from what it was 10 years ago.

” Demand for electricity overall should increase as the electric car revolution takes hold, but the good news is that utility companies more and more are turning to renewables like solar and wind to meet the needs of their customers in the future.”

EcoWatchOrlando Becomes 40th City to Commit to 100% Renewable Energy

  • The Orlando City Commission unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday establishing a goal to move Orlando to 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2050.

“This is a first, important step, and we plan to continue to support and encourage the City to follow with concrete measures that solidify this commitment.”

Futurism – An Alliance Upholding the Paris Agreement Now Represents a Third of the U.S. Population

  • President Donald Trump decided to back out of the Paris climate deal two months ago. This doesn’t mean, however, that the nation has hung up the gloves in the global fight against climate change. A group of states is taking the lead.

“Our collective efforts to act on climate will ensure we maintain the [United States’] commitment to curb carbon pollution while advancing a clean energy economy that will bring good-paying jobs to America’s workers.”

Energy Manager Today – World’s Largest Companies Push Record Growth in Renewable Energy

  • The largest companies in the world are jumping into renewable energy big-time this year, and the proliferation of ambitious commitments all boil down to economics.

“The dollars and cents make renewable energy a no-brainer.”