After concluding that global warming almost certainly is man-made and poses a grave threat to humanity, the U.N.-sponsored expert panel on climate change is moving on to the next phase: what to do about it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, will meet next week in Berlin to chart ways in which the … Continue reading What is the future of fossil fuel?
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Threat from global warming heightened in latest U.N. report
Global warming poses a growing threat to the health, economic prospects, and food and water sources of billions of people, top scientists said in a report that urges swift action to counter the effects of carbon emissions. The latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the effects of warming are … Continue reading Threat from global warming heightened in latest U.N. report
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China’s renewables revolution
China’s energy revolution, which underpins its transformation into the world’s largest manufacturing system (the new “workshop of the world”), continues to astonish all observers and to terrify some. China is known widely as the world’s largest user and producer of coal, and the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This is … Continue reading China’s renewables revolution
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Europe can reduce gas imports by 26% with higher 2030 renewable energy target
A 30% renewables target for 2030 would cut Europe’s reliance on gas imports by almost three times as much as the European Commission’s proposal for 27%, the Commission’s own figures show. In a letter to EU foreign ministers, The European Wind Energy Association’s chief executive Thomas Becker said that a renewable energy target of “at … Continue reading Europe can reduce gas imports by 26% with higher 2030 renewable energy target
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“Fossil fuel subsidies distort the market”
Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Maria van der Hoeven, talked to Sarah Azau at EWEA 2014 Annual Event in Barcelona about power markets, subsidies and the Crimea. Will the Crimean situation make a difference to our relationship with Russian gas? Or are we simply too dependent on it? We are quite dependent on … Continue reading “Fossil fuel subsidies distort the market”
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Three years after Fukushima: 100% renewable energy is only a matter of political will
Three years after the Fukushima/Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Global100RE Ambassadors are highlighting the need to refrain from using hazardous nuclear and fossil energy sources and instead shift towards 100% renewable energy. Ambassadors of the Global 100% Renewable Energy Campaign Bill McKibben, David Suzuki, Hans-Josef Fell, Jeremy Leggett, and Ulrich Kelber call on policy makers around … Continue reading Three years after Fukushima: 100% renewable energy is only a matter of political will
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Wind energy’s triumph in Spain is being ignored by the government
In 2013 wind power was the leading source of electricity in Spain, but wind energy is facing huge regulatory hurdles – the latest of which will be discussed in detail at EWEA 2014 in Barcelona on Wednesday 12 March. We spoke to Jaume Margarit Roset, Director General of the association of renewable energies in Spain, … Continue reading Wind energy’s triumph in Spain is being ignored by the government
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The Key to the California Carbon Problem: Tesla electric vehicles and Ivanpah Concentrated Solar Power
According to recent research, California is actually the Nation’s second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter, and the biggest problem is the transportation sector. This might come as a surprise when you read about California’s implementation of renewable energy, such as the recent startup of the world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Ivanpah. In fact, by … Continue reading The Key to the California Carbon Problem: Tesla electric vehicles and Ivanpah Concentrated Solar Power
Continue readingWind Energy Opens Big Lead over Nuclear in China
In China, wind power is leaving nuclear behind. Electricity output from China’s wind farms exceeded that from its nuclear plants for the first time in 2012, by a narrow margin. Then in 2013, wind pulled away—outdoing nuclear by 22 percent. The 135 terawatt-hours of Chinese wind-generated electricity in 2013 would be nearly enough to power … Continue reading Wind Energy Opens Big Lead over Nuclear in China
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AWEA statement on Chairman Camp’s tax reform proposal
The American Wind Energy Association today released the following comment on House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp’s (R-MI) proposal for tax reform legislation: “Retroactive tax increases undermine investors’ trust in the US investment environment.
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Renewables can support China’s 80 pct power consumption by 2050: WWF
China can transition to an 80 percent renewable electric power system by 2050 at far less cost than continuing to reply on coal, according to a report released by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on Wednesday. The report said around 80 percent of China’s electricity generation can be met by renewable sources, if appropriate policies and … Continue reading Renewables can support China’s 80 pct power consumption by 2050: WWF
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Arctic Sea Ice Freefall is Mirror Image of Carbon Dioxide Ascent
The amount of Arctic sea ice has plummeted in recent decades—a bold manifestation of the rise in temperature resulting from the rapid increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. After staying below 300 parts per million (ppm) for some 800,000 years, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere skyrocketed as humans started burning more … Continue reading Arctic Sea Ice Freefall is Mirror Image of Carbon Dioxide Ascent
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Active Power Control of Wind Turbines Can Improve Power Grid Reliability
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with partners from the Electric Power Research Institute and the University of Colorado have completed a comprehensive study to understand how wind power technology can assist the power grid by controlling the active power output being placed onto the system. The rest of the power system’s … Continue reading Active Power Control of Wind Turbines Can Improve Power Grid Reliability
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Utilities Must Shift Their Business Models to Meet Changing Market Conditions
Recent market changes have placed new pressures upon the traditional business models of power utilities. The rise of distributed generation is forcing utilities to account for more volatile and intermittent energy sources even as stricter regulations on energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions force them to turn toward cleaner, more costly forms of generation. The … Continue reading Utilities Must Shift Their Business Models to Meet Changing Market Conditions
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What A Year: 45 Fossil Fuel Disasters The Industry Doesn
While coal, oil, and gas are an integral part of everyday life around the world, 2013 brought a stark reminder of the inherent risk that comes with a fossil-fuel dependent world, with numerous pipeline spills, explosions, derailments, landslides, and the death of 20 coal miners in the U.S. alone. Despite all this, our addiction to … Continue reading What A Year: 45 Fossil Fuel Disasters The Industry Doesn
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Obama calls on federal government to move to 20% renewables by 2020
On December 5th, 2013 U.S. President Barack Obama signed a memorandum directing the nation’s federal government to meet 20% of its electricity demand with renewable energy sources by 2020, more than double the current level. romeo and juliet essay As a first step, agencies are required to source 10% of their electricity from renewables by … Continue reading Obama calls on federal government to move to 20% renewables by 2020
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Climate Change Driving Weather off the Charts
Meteorologists are calling the typhoon that slammed into the Philippines with 195-mile-an-hour winds on November 8, 2013, the most powerful tropical storm to make landfall on record. Super Typhoon Haiyan had gusts reaching 235 miles per hour and a storm surge swelling as high as 20 feet, so the destruction it left behind matched that … Continue reading Climate Change Driving Weather off the Charts
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EU Commission: fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies distort market
Subsidies for nuclear and fossil fuels distort competition between different energy sources and increase the overall cost to society of electricity generation, the European Commission states today in a series of non-binding documents on state intervention in energy markets. “EU taxpayers gave over EUR26 billion to fossil fuels in 2011, the documents show. It is … Continue reading EU Commission: fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies distort market
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Fossil fuels dominate energy consumption
Coal, natural gas, and oil accounted for 87 percent of global primary energy consumption in 2012. The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2017 coal will replace oil as the dominant primary energy source worldwide. Global natural gas production grew by 1.9 percent in 2012, dominated by the United States (with 20.4 percent of the … Continue reading Fossil fuels dominate energy consumption
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Nuclear Power
Worldwatch Institute analysis examines the state of the global nuclear energy industry. The levelized capital cost of nuclear energy is 6-81 percent higher than the capital cost of other sources of energy. Since 1987, expansion of the world’s nuclear power generating capacity has slowed considerably. Just 75 GW were added over the last 25 years, … Continue reading Nuclear Power
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