Researchers at Germany’s Öko-Institut have published a review of nearly a dozen previous studies on the need for new power lines in a future renewable electricity supply. The main finding is that the research community isn’t yet speaking the same language. Craig Morris explains.
All posts tagged: Solar
Solar steam powers homes – and new jobs – in South Africa
South Africa still gets most of its energy from coal, but in sunny Northern Cape province, a different electricity source is taking hold. Munyaradzi Makoni of the Thomson Reuters Foundation explores how thermal solar plants are affecting the region.
India’s energy transition: potential and prospects
Touted as the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gas, India is steadily on its way to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The targets that the country has set itself are closer to being achieved and even surpassed. Sadia Sohail explains the newest study on India’s energy policy.
Southeast Asia: hotspot for renewables or dumping ground for coal?
In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), renewables contributed 8% to final energy consumption in 2014. Since then, the share renewable energy has only slightly increased whereas fossil fuel-powered generation is the main source for new power plants. Lars Blume and Nguyen Thi Hang illustrate why momentum in Southeast Asia is changing.
Cape Town in crisis
Cape Town is dealing with one of the biggest climate change-linked water crises to face a modern city. This should serve as our wake-up call: we must transition to a new, shared way of organising around increasingly stretched resources, writes Leonie Joubert.
Negative power prices: good or bad?
The New York Times says they are “positive for energy users.” But Germany’s newspapers Handelsblatt and Der Spiegel say that Germans are paying neighboring countries to take excess power off their hands. Who is right? Craig Morris investigates.
Hawaii recognizes constitutional right to safe climate and environment
Hawaii’s highest court took an important step in December to hold the state’s agencies accountable for transitioning away from fossil fuels as it affirmed the state’s constitutional right to a clean environment. The ruling cheered environmental activists at the end of an otherwise stressful year, writes Dana Drugmand.
When is the grid “full”?
The new governing coalition taking shape in Germany aims to build a lot more solar and wind “if the grid can absorb the electricity.” Craig Morris spoke with German experts, and no one could tell him what that means.
Community choice energy drives renewable growth in California
Community choice aggregation (CCA) is a tool to encourage local control of energy systems that can drive significant growth in clean energy. In California, communities are using CCA to invest in renewable energy; in other US states, it’s a different story. Ben Paulos takes a look.
Analysis: How developing nations are driving record growth in solar power
Emerging markets now account for the majority of growth in solar power, according to new data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Led by China and India, these developing economies are behind dramatic recent growth in solar capacity, which expanded by 33% in 2016. Zeke Hausfather of Carbon Brief takes an in-depth look.