All posts tagged: renewable energy


Challenges to Latin America’s geothermal boom

Geothermal energy prospects remain largely untapped in many parts of the world. Latin America with its numerous volcanos and seismic activities along the Pacific Ocean has a particularly high potential to develop this renewable resource. What is holding it back? Rebecca Bertram reports.

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Will the new Polish government launch a renewable energy revolution?

Even though ecology is a key economic and social theme, it was most definitely side-lined during the Polish parliamentary elections of 15 October 2023. The campaign was dominated by other issues: the surveillance of opposition politicians by special services, the role of state-run media, migration policy and the unprecedented enrichment of politicians from the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party through state assets. These subjects stirred a lot more emotion than the future of a coal-based economy or the need to unfreeze the stunted development of wind energy. Michał Olszewski reports. Read More

With renewables growing, nations at COP28 vow to triple rate of expansion

The adoption of renewables, especially wind and solar, continues grow — though certainly not fast enough. In 2022, solar and wind power accounted for an impressive 12% of electricity generated worldwide. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2023 solar adoption surged above 50 percent. Going forward, the IEA’s Net Zero Scenario (NZS) calls for an anticipated 25% growth rate for solar generation annually through by the end of the decade. To ensure this happens, during COP28 in Dubai, many nations agreed to set a goal of tripling renewable capacities by 2030. While certainly the world faces many challenges to hold to only 1.5 degrees of heating – as lead blogger Michael Buchsbaum relates, the necessary rapid build out of renewables looks like it’s starting to happen. Read More

Sunny breezes: Latin America’s energy transition set for swift expansion

With nearly a billion solar panels’ worth of large-scale clean-electricity projects slated to come online in the next seven years, Latin America is poised to become a major renewable energy producer. A newly published report by the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) tallies more than 319 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar and wind-power projects continent-wide due to be launched by 2030 – nearly equal to 70 percent of the region’s combined total of all current electrical capacity today. Since 2022, investing in this region’s energy potential has both accelerated and taken on more importance as Europe races to replace Russian fossil fuels with cleaner sources, including soon truly green hydrogen. Lead blogger and podcaster, Michael Buchsbaum reviews how clean energy growth throughout Latin America is reaching a tipping point – and how they’ll be competing with China too.

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How to modernize Poland’s outdated electric grid

Obsolete power grids are putting the brakes on Poland’s renewable energy rollout. According to the Energy Regulatory Office (URE), more than a third of overhead lines are over 40 years old, while a third of power stations were built before the year 1982. This aging infrastructure may slow the nation’s rapid increase in renewable sources. Agata Skrzypczyk has the details.

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