The Canadian province of Ontario has recently created a very low carbon electricity system by phasing out coal generation. Further efforts are being made to reduce natural gas generation and to electrify the heating and transportation sectors to extend the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
All posts tagged: Coal
India’s solar power set to outshine coal
Solar power in India will be cheaper than imported coal by 2020, but replacing the subcontinent’s fossil fuels with renewable energy is an enormous task. Henner Weithöner explains the potential of a solar takeover.
Trump Election Raises Fear About Clean Energy Progress
The bad news has been rolling in: the Trump administration will encourage fossil fuel production. But can this make economic sense? And could there any possibility for the continued growth of renewables? Ben Paulos investigates.
Corruption stalls SA’s renewable program?
South Africa is half way into a program that will see 96 privately owned and run utility-scale renewable energy plants built across the country. The project has been hailed for the speed of its rollout, its transparency, and for bringing the cost of solar and wind power down to well below that of new-build coal or nuclear. Already, the first plants are feeding at least a third of the project’s intended energy contribution into the grid. So why has the planned construction on the last few plants ground unexpectedly to a halt? Leonie Joubert asks.
Developing by inhibiting
Poland’s Plan for Responsible Development is supposed to help Poland escape economic stagnation. But the money recieved from the EU has mostly been spent on upgrading coal plants, and attempts at building renewable plants have fallen flat. Michał Olszewski takes a look.
Germany’s last new coal plant
Will another coal plant ever be opened in Germany? Only one is currently in the pipeline officially, and it has almost been completed—and could be put into operation soon. So what’s the holdup? Craig Morris takes a look.
In Poland, an Ohioan finds a parallel world on climate policy
In both Poland and Ohio, citizens are fighting for clean air and clean energy. Despite an anti-renewable turn in state policy, locals are attempting to cut carbon emissions. Kathiann Kowalski compares Warsaw and Cuyahoga County’s efforts.
The Ukrainian crisis can be solved—with an Energiewende
A Ukrainian Energiewende could go a long way to resolving the current geopolitical crisis around the country, writes Oleg Savitsky of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine in a new report for the Succow Stiftung. According to Savitsky, it would reduce Ukraine’s dependence on Russian gas and uranium as well as on coal from the breakaway regions, while at the same time reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the risk of a nuclear disaster. It would also help to combat corruption and usher in economic growth and a more equitable society. Savitsky calls on the EU and Germany to set up a “Marshall Plan” to bring about a Ukrainian energy transition, rather than trying to maintain Ukraine as a failed gas transit state.
South Africa’s changing energy landscape
South Africa shows how quick an energy transition can be. In four years, with coal and nuclear power stations on hold, South Africa’s renewable energy program has nearly 100 plants in development. Leonie Joubert takes an in-depth look.
China’s energy transition: rapid growth on a long road
China set a world record, again, in 2015 by adding more installed capacity of both wind and solar in a single year than any other country (32.5 GW of wind and 18.3 GW of solar). By the fourth quarter of 2015, China overtook Germany with the largest installed capacity of solar power in the world (with a total of 43 GW). Though China’s increasingly ambitious policies have ushered in rapid gains in renewable energy, Rebecca Coombs examines the country’s continued over-reliance on coal, which suggests a long road ahead towards a true clean energy transition.