Energy

Scotland’s Renewables soar by 28%, as new Muslim Leader pledges Net Zero and Just Climate Transition

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Neil Pooran and Peter A Walker at Business Insider report that 28% more renewable electricity was generated in Scotland in 2022 than in the previous year. The impressive increase was largely driven by onshore wind farms. Scotland’s green energy generation capacity is expected to soar further as big offshore wind […]

Climate Crisis

IPCC: The World faces a Climate Emergency, but with a Huge Global Effort we can Avoid the Worst

The Conversation

By Frank Jotzo, Australian National University and Mark Howden, Australian National University | – The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to the wheel we can turn things around. Loosely, that’s the essence of today’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC […]

Climate Crisis

Solar and Wind to Supply 16% of US Electricity this Year, But some States are in the Vanguard

Minnesota Reformer

By: By Robert Zullo – Despite supply-chain problems amid the lingering effects of the pandemic, 2022 saw major increases in solar and wind power in the United States, though that growth varied by state, according to a report released last month by a nonprofit focused on climate change. Nationally, electricity generated from solar and […]

Featured

Renewables outstrip Coal in US for first Time, with 50% of new Power being Solar

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Energy Information Agency of the US Department of Energy announced this week that for the first time in US history, renewable sources generated more electricity in 2022 than did coal. Renewables also outstripped nuclear power generation, for the second year in a row. In fact, renewables are even more […]

Climate Crisis

Netherlands becomes European Leader in Solar Power Per Capita, with 500K Panels on Lakes, Reservoirs and Seas

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Solar panels are like magic, turning sunshine into electricity. They are, however, relatively bulky. We own our own home and have 16 of them on our roof, but renters have often complained to me that it isn’t so easy in an apartment building. There is also a danger that they […]

Climate Crisis

Calls for a ‘Green’ Ramadan revive Islam’s long Tradition of Sustainability and Care for the Planet

The Conversation

By Noorzehra Zaidi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County | – For many Muslims breaking fast in mosques around the world this Ramadan, something will be missing: plastics. The communal experience of iftars – the after-sunset meal that brings people of the faith together during the holy month starting on March 22, 2023 – often necessitates […]

Climate Crisis

Saudi Aramco Reports Gargantuan $161 Bn in Profits, But will Electric Cars kill the Oil Market within 2 Decades?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dan Murphy at CNBC reports that the giant Saudi Aramco oil company posted an unprecedented profit of $161 billion for 2022. The company’s CEO, Amin Nasser, commented that this was probably the biggest profit ever made in the course of one year by any private company. Murphy reports that Nasser […]

Batteries

Iran discovered to have 10% of World’s Lithium Deposits, in Good News for China’s EV Industry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Indian Express reports from Iran’s PressTV that the country has discovered a deposit of 8.5 million tons of lithium in the Qahavand Plain of western Hamedan province. There are only 89 million tons of lithium in the world in known deposits so far, with the bulk of them in […]

Climate Crisis

How to beat the Fracking Frenzy–Lessons from the Campaign that ended it in Ireland

Waging Nonviolence

The successful Irish anti-fracking struggle offers key insights on community power building for anti-extraction movements all over the world. Jamie Gorman