Renewable Energy Is Key to Fighting Climate Change Renewable energy is one of the most effective tools we have in the fight against climate change, and there is every reason to believe it will succeed. A recent New York Times column seems to imply that renewable energy investments set back efforts to address climate change—nothing could be further from the truth. What’s more, renewable technologies can increasingly save customers money as they displace emissions from fossil fuels. Wind and solar energy have experienced remarkable growth and huge cost improvements over the past decade with no signs of slowing down. In fact, the investment firm Lazard estimates that the cost of generating electricity from wind and solar has declined by 58 percent and 78 percent, respectively, since 2009. In the longer term, the U.S. The benefits are huge In addition to the climate benefits that they will help deliver, renewables already provide a wide range of market and public health benefits that far outweigh their costs. Change is here
Green Mountain Energy Company: A Leader in Renewable Power The Reason Renewables Can't Power Modern Civilization Is Because They Were Never Meant To Der Spiegel Over the last decade, journalists have held up Germany’s renewables energy transition, the Energiewende, as an environmental model for the world. “Many poor countries, once intent on building coal-fired power plants to bring electricity to their people, are discussing whether they might leapfrog the fossil age and build clean grids from the outset,” thanks to the Energiewende, wrote a New York Times reporter in 2014. With Germany as inspiration, the United Nations and World Bank poured billions into renewables like wind, solar, and hydro in developing nations like Kenya. But then, last year, Germany was forced to acknowledge that it had to delay its phase-out of coal, and would not meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction commitments. After renewables investors and advocates, including Al Gore and Greenpeace, criticized Germany, journalists came to the country’s defense. But Germany didn’t just fall short of its climate targets. AG Energiebinlanzen The Question of Technology
40 Facts About Solar Energy - Conserve Energy Future The consumption of non-renewable sources like oil, gas and coal is increasing at an alarming rate. The time has finally come to look after some other renewable sources of energy i.e. solar, wind and geothermal energy. Although many countries have started utilizing solar energy extensively but still they have to go a long way to exploit this energy to fulfill their daily demand for energy. Here are few facts on solar energy that can help you assess the potential of solar energy to meet global requirements. What is Solar Energy? Solar energy refers to energy from the sun. The main benefit of solar energy is that it does not produce any pollutants and is one of the cleanest source of energy. Below are 40 Facts on Solar Energy Fact 1: Solar energy is a completely free source of energy and it is found in abundance. Fact 3: The solar technology can be distinguished into active and passive. Fact 4: The earth gets 174 Petawatts of incoming solar radiation in the upper atmosphere. Rinkesh
IEA: Renewable electricity set to grow 40% globally by 2022 | Carbon Brief The world’s renewable electricity capacity is set to rise sharply over the next five years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says, expanding 43% on today’s levels. The forecast – a significant upwards revision of the IEA’s renewables projections last year – is largely driven by increasing expansion of solar energy in China and India, says the Paris-based organisation. The global dynamics of renewables expansion will also shift over this five-year period, with capacity growth in India overtaking that of the EU for the first time. Renewables accounted for almost two-thirds of net capacity additions in 2016, with almost 165 gigawatts (GW) coming online, the IEA adds. A further 920GW of renewable capacity will be installed by 2022, according to its forecasts. Carbon Brief breaks down the IEA’s numbers for 2016 and the main elements of its renewables forecasts for the next five years. Solar king Electricity capacity additions by fuel 2016. “Undisputed leader” Accelerated forecast EU overtaken
Énergie éolienne : fonctionnement, avantages, chiffres clés et enjeux L'éolien en France En 2023, l’éolien a compté pour 10,3% de la production électrique en France métropolitaine selon RTE, consolidant ainsi sa place de 2e filière renouvelable productrice d'électricité après l’hydroélectricité. Avec une production annuelle record de 50,7 TWh, l'éolien est devenue par la même occasion la 3e filière productrice d'électricité toutes sources confondues, devant le gaz naturel. La France dispose d'un potentiel énorme grâce notamment à son littoral atlantique, faisant de l'Hexagone le deuxième gisement d'énergie éolienne en Europe, après le Royaume-Uni. Évolution de la puissance éolienne installée en France Historique de la production éolienne en France En Europe Dans l'Union européenne à 27, l'énergie éolienne a généré 466 TWh en 2023 (412 TWh à partir d'installations terrestres et 53 TWh à partir d'éoliennes offshore), soit l'équivalent de 19% de la demande d'électricité dans l'UE cette année-là selon l'association représentant la filière Wind Europe(3).
Climate change: ISU working to fill gaps in diversity, inclusion | Local Education NORMAL — An initiative to improve diversity and inclusion at Illinois State University has mostly taken baby steps that might not be obvious to many. For example, more than 20 all-gender restrooms have been added to campus. Education about respect and building a sense of community have been added to Preview sessions for incoming students. Training for search committees includes suggestions for increasing the diversity of candidate pools. The accomplishments of women on the faculty and staff are being given more attention in university publications. NORMAL — Work is expected to begin in the 2018-19 academic year to identify what form a multicultural center might take at Illinois State University. But another step — creation of a website listing the implementation team's “action items” to address short- and long-term ideas — is intended to make sure the Campus Climate Task Force report does more than gather dust on a shelf. “Everybody has something to contribute,” she said.
Non-Renewable Resources Never Really Run Out There’s a remarkable confusion in the modern debate over energy sources. Informed by geological rather than economic considerations, energy sources and some raw materials are thought of either as “Renewables” or “Non-Renewables” — and the former is somehow much preferred to the later. We’ve all heard versions of the following story: the use of non-renewable energy sources and digging up of non-renewable metals are what propelled the Industrial Revolution and underlined the build-up of our current rich societies and economies — but they are physically limited and finite, they will “run out,” and their use is “unsustainable” (the meaning of which is far from clear). In a trivial sense this is of course true: the anti-capitalist environmentalists are superficially correct about no Planet B and the impossibility of infinite growth of material consumption. But it’s also, as Tim Worstall explains, “supremely unimportant.” How Non-Renewable Resources Don’t Run Out …But Renewables Do
California solar panels | guide to solar incentives, costs and savings in CA !! What solar incentives and tax credits are available in California? The main incentives to install solar in California is the 30% federal solar tax credit and the net metering law. The upfront utility based incentives from each of the main publically owned utilities are now exhausted for residential customers and almost exhausted for commercial customers. However, the investment case for buying solar panels for your home has never been stronger because reductions in the price of solar systems has more than compensated for the loss of some upfront rebates. Net Metering in California The California Public Utility Commission voted by a narrow majority of 3 to 2 to extend the ability of residential energy customers in California to be credited with full retail rates for excess solar power that they generate and feed back into the grid at times when the electrical loads in their house are less than their solar production. This is a very generous incentive and should not be taken for granted.
Renewable Energy Ready Homes (RERH) | ENERGY STAR The RERH Specifications were developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to educate builders on how to assess and equip new homes with a set of features that make it easier and less expensive for homeowners to install solar energy systems after the home is constructed. The RERH specification and checklist takes a builder and a project design team through the necessary steps of assessing the home's solar resource potential and outfitting a home with the necessary minimum structural and system components needed to support a complete renewable energy system. Meeting the recommended elements of the RERH specification may not be possible in all home building situations due to factors such as excessive shading on the proposed array location. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) RERH Specification (4.82MB) details the site assessment and structural and system components needed to make a home solar PV ready. PV RERH checklist (134KB) includes a standalone copy of the RERH Solar PV checklist.