Much of California’s wine country died on the vine last fall as wildfires raged through Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
One 16-acre vineyard, though, survived by going off the grid.
Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery, in Sonoma, has spent the past four years developing a microgrid to establish clean, economical energy independence.
“When the farm underwent a precautionary evacuation during the October 2017 wildfires in Sonoma, the MicroGrid ‘islanded,’ or ran independently from the utility grid,” Craig Wooster, project manager of the vineyard’s microgrid, recently told Microgrid Knowledge.
“So the farm continued to operate smoothly, including powering irrigation pumps, while surrounded by power outages for over a week, monitored from afar by cell phone.”
In January, Stone Edge Farm was given California’s highest environmental honor, the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA), for its ongoing sustainable practices.
The vineyard’s microgrid project uses hydrogen gas and solar panels to store electricity. Stone Edge also uses cover crops, composting practices and monitoring technologies to cut water use in half.
California projects will test road vibrations as potential renewable energy source.
Brewing giant commits to 100-percent renewable electricity by 2025.
In the world's conversation about energy, one point is beyond debate: Energy makes a vital contribution to people's quality of life, to society and to human progress. This is true today, and it will remain true in the future. That's why Energy Matters was created. We believe it's important to equip people with unbiased information so they may form opinions, join the conversation and feel confidence in the work and accomplishments of the energy sector. Energy Matters is an initiative that provides transparent information and perspective on energy. Here, we'll cover a range of topics: the scale of global energy; the ways energy is sourced and produced; current energy technology; forthcoming innovations; the world's future energy needs; and the sustainable sources of energy that will fill them. Because energy matters to everyone, we hope you'll rely on Energy Matters as an ongoing source of balanced information.
