wind energy

Free at Last! How my Electric Car let me Escape the clutches of Big Carbon and Mideast Oil Dictatorships

Montreal (Special to Informed Comment) – As someone who regularly teaches courses on both Middle Eastern and environmental subjects, I have long been keenly aware of the double implications of participating in an economy that simultaneously destroys the planet while supporting human rights-abusing dictatorships. From the moment the first electric vehicles hit the market I […]

Germany

Renewables cover almost half of German electricity use in first 9 months 2020

Julian Wettengel

(Clean Energy Wire ) – Renewables covered about 48 percent of German power consumption in the first three quarters of 2020, preliminary data from energy industry association BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) shows, a 5-percentage point increase over the same period last year. On the one hand, the […]

Green New Deal

When the Pandemic ends, Put People and the Economy back to Work on Solar and Wind Farms and Electrified Transport

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Me. (Special to Informed Comment) – Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans share a problematic assumption: Once the Covid—19 pandemic is reduced to the harm level of the seasonal flu the economy can return to normal levels of at least moderate growth. Liberal Democrats would be more generous in providing the relief needed to […]

Environment

Paint some Blades Black: A Simple Hack for Solving the bird problem with Wind Turbines

The Conversation

By Jethro George Gauld| – With climate change threatening many of the world’s species with extinction, a transition from fossil fuels is urgently needed. But some argue that the rush to replace coal power with wind could endanger birds that have a habit of flying into turbines. While wind farms aren’t quite the bird slayers […]

Featured

Is the US missing the Boat on a Green Recovery from Covid? Every new Gigawatt of Renewables is 1500 Jobs

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The coronavirus is still running wild, causing over 40,000 new infections a day in the US, which has among the highest rates in the world. The US had an unemployment rate of over 10% this July, and the US economy is in the dumpster. Scientists warn that the fall could […]

Climate Crisis

Energy isn’t just electricity – the common mistake obscuring the mammoth task of decarbonisation

The Conversation

By George Loumakis | – One of the first things I teach students is the difference between energy and electricity. Electricity is a particular form of energy, but often the two words are used interchangeably. Britain recently celebrated its longest streak without burning coal to generate electricity. For the first quarter of 2020, global electricity […]

Climate Crisis

Floating wind farms: how to make them the future of green electricity

The Conversation

By Susan Gourvenec | – Since 2010, wind energy has seen sustained growth worldwide, with the amount of energy generated by offshore wind increasing by nearly 30% each year. Countries around the world need to ramp up renewable energy supply quickly to meet growing demand and rapidly reduce emissions. Despite this urgency, offshore wind currently […]

Germany

Over Half of Germany’s Power Use in 1st Half of 2020 was from Wind and Solar, as Coal Sank

Clean Energy Wire

By Julian Wettengel | – Renewables covered more than half of Germany’s power consumption in the first six months of 2020, according to a first estimate by think tank Agora Energiewende*. As coal use dropped and demand was low due to the coronavirus crisis and energy sector emissions fell significantly. Germany will most likely reach […]

Climate Crisis

The Corporations that are Swinging behind Green Energy may make all the Difference in Climate Emergency

The Conversation

By Zdravka Tzankova | – The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea My new analysis of companies that seek to buy renewable electricity finds that business is becoming a powerful new ally in the U.S. political battle to stop climate change. Driven by pressure from environmental groups and […]