A few years ago, the kind of double-digit drop in oil and gas prices the world is experiencing now because of the coronavirus pandemic might have increased the use of fossil fuels and hurt renewable energy sources like wind and solar farms. That is not happening. From a report: In fact, renewable energy sources are set to account for nearly 21…
Tag: renewables
New Renewable Energy Capacity Hit Record Levels In 2019
According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), solar, wind and other green technologies now provide more than one-third of the world’s power, marking another record. The Guardian reports: Fossil fuel power plants are in decline in Europe and the U.S., with more decommissioned than built in 2019. But the number of coal and gas plants grew in Asia,…
Can Solar Power Compete With Coal? In India, It’s Gaining Ground
Electricity from sunlight costs less, a hopeful sign for developing nations building out their power grids. From a report: In a dusty northwest India desert dotted with cows and the occasional camel, a solar-power plant is producing some of the world’s cheapest energy. Built in 2018 by India’s Acme Solar Holdings, it can generate 200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power…
Do Emails Contribute to Global Warming?
“Cut back on email if you want to fight global warming,” read the headline on a recent article at Bloomberg: [A]ll those messages require energy to preserve them. And despite the tech industry’s focus on renewables, the advents of streaming and artificial intelligence are only accelerating the amount of fossil fuels burned to keep data servers up. Right now, data centers…
Finnish Scientists Produce a Protein Made ‘From Thin Air’
New submitter SysEngineer shares a report from HuffPost: A new protein made from air, water and renewable electricity could revolutionize our food system within the next decade. Developed by the Finnish company Solar Foods in a lab just outside Helsinki, the protein — called Solein — is made using living microbes that are then grown in a fermenter in a process…
Good News For Climate Change: India Gets Out of Coal and Into Renewable Energy
“India has been aggressively pivoting away from coal-fired power plants and towards electricity generated by solar, wind, and hydroelectric power,” writes the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Lasrick shared their report: The reasons for this change are complex and interlocking, but one aspect in particular seems to stand out: The price for solar electricity has been in freefall, to levels so…
‘The Next Nuclear Plants Will Be Small, Svelte, and Safer’
“A new generation of reactors will start producing power in the next few years,” writes Wired, addingi that “They’re comparatively tiny — and may be key to hitting our climate goals.” For the last 20 years, the future of nuclear power has stood in a high bay laboratory tucked away on the Oregon State University campus in the western part of…
Renewables overtook fossil fuels in UK electricity mix for first time
Windfarms, solar panels and biomass have outcompeted gas and coal power stations for the first time ever over a whole quarter, in a significant milestone Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219592-renewables-overtook-fossil-fuels-in-uk-electricity-mix-for-first-time/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Scottish Developers Announce Subsidy-Free Onshore Wind Farm
Independent Scottish developer Muirhall Energy announced on Monday that construction has begun at the Crossdykes Wind Farm, an important step in the company’s effort to deliver Scotland’s first subsidy-free onshore wind project. CleanTechnica reports: The 46 megawatt (MW) Crossdykes Wind Farm, being developed at Dumfries and Galloway, in the western Southern Uplands of Scotland, is expected to produce first power in…
Just 10 Percent of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Cash ‘Could Pay For Green Transition,’ Report Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Switching just some of the huge subsidies supporting fossil fuels to renewables would unleash a runaway clean energy revolution, according to a new report, significantly cutting the carbon emissions that are driving the climate crisis. Coal, oil and gas get more than $370 billion a year in support, compared with $100 billion…