The California state legislature and governor Jerry Brown have signed into law four key new energy bills that are set to accelerate energy storage deployment in the Golden State.

James P McDougall, CEO of Younicos blogs on the possibilities of establishing a solar-oriented baseload – and why his company is convinced of the scaling potential of utility-scale batteries.

Later this year, the 21st annual session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) will take place in Paris. Leaders from around the world are coming together with an overarching goal of creating a deal to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Key to the reduction of global carbon emissions is the transformation of our energy networks, by adopting cleaner, more efficient and smarter technologies, writes Andrew Jones.

Just 3–4% of electricity generated by utilities globally is stored today, according to the International Energy Agency. This is despite the fact that storage can help overcome the energy ‘trilemma’ of curbing rising energy prices, the need to ensure the security of supply and creating a low carbon economy. So, what’s the hold-up? Taking the UK as his starting point but with lessons transferrable to other regions, Roger Lin of NEC Energy Solutions explains and counters some of the myths that stand in its way.