Energy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia’s massive oil deposits and its 9.53 million barrels per day (bpd) of petroleum production make it an enormous carbon polluter and the foremost enemy of climate science and of electric vehicles. Some 38% of Saudi power plants use petroleum and 62% of electricity generation is done by domestically […]

Climate Crisis

America may have invaded Iraq for its Oil, but Solar Power is what Iraqis now Want

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iraqi farmers, tired of high electricity bills and frequent blackouts, are turning to solar panels, according to Khalid Al-Mousuly at Reuters. Farmers need electricity to run water pumps for irrigation. It isn’t just the farmers. With nearly a gigawatt annually in solar panel imports, Iraq has emerged as the third-largest […]

Agrovoltaics

How Wind and Solar Power Keeps America’s Farms Alive

The Conversation

By Paul Mwebaze, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (The Conversation) – Drive through the plains of Iowa or Kansas and you’ll see more than rows of corn, wheat and soybeans. You’ll also see towering wind turbines spinning above fields and solar panels shining in the sun on barns and machine sheds. For many farmers, these […]

Desalinization

Egypt needs more drinkable Water – how windy coastal Resorts could help

The Conversation

By Thokozani Majozi, University of the Witwatersrand (The Conversation) – Egypt is facing a growing water crisis due to its arid climate, limited water resources, and rapidly increasing population. The country of 114 million people depends heavily on the longest river in the world, the Nile, for fresh water. But rising demand for water in […]

Climate Crisis

How Electric Vehicles and Water Heaters are turning Cities into giant Batteries

The Conversation

By Bin Lu, Australian National University and Marnie Shaw, Australian National University (The Conversation) – As the electrification of transport and heating accelerates, many worry the increased demand could overload national power grids. In Australia, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050. If everyone charges their car and heats water using electric systems at […]

Climate Crisis

Green Energy and protecting Nature get the Thumbs up in Climate Change study in 68 Countries

The Conversation

Marina Joubert, Stellenbosch University (The Conservative) – Africa has begun experiencing frequent extreme weather events. Extreme weather is defined as the kind of heatwaves, droughts, storms and floods that have historically been rare occurrences for the place and time, and which pose a danger to large numbers of people and the economy. Marina Joubert researches […]

Agrovoltaics

Solar Power: California Farmers identify a hot new Cash Crop

The Conversation

By Jacob Stid, Michigan State University; Annick Anctil, Michigan State University, and Anthony Kendall, Michigan State University (The Conversation) – Imagine that you own a small, 20-acre farm in California’s Central Valley. You and your family have cultivated this land for decades, but drought, increasing costs and decreasing water availability are making each year more […]

Egypt

Egypt brings Africa’s Largest Wind Farm Online on Red Sea Coast, Powers 1.1 mn. Households

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The only place I’ve ever heard of along the Egyptian mainland’s Red Sea coast is the resort city of Hurghada . I never got there, being a workaholic. I was mainly a Cairo guy during my nearly 4 years off and on in that country. So I didn’t know anything […]

European Union

Solar Power outstripped all others in Europe last Month for First Time

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – As the Trump Department of Energy and the Republican tax bill try to kneecap solar energy in the United States, Europe and China are making impressive strides in this sector, with economic and environmental benefits of which the US seems bent on depriving itself. The Ember energy consultancy just announced […]