Climate Crisis

By Sören Amelang | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany’s boom in stationary batteries linked to solar PV systems accelerated last year, doubling the total number of units to more than one million, reports solar industry association BSW. The batteries have a combined capacity of 12 gigawatt-hours – enough to power 1.5 million […]

Climate Crisis

We Need to Phase out Fossil Fuels Immediately, but Equitably

Tom Athanasiou

By Tom Athanasiou | – This essay was originally published in Foreign Policy in Focus Just before the recent climate summit in Dubai, COP28 president Sultan Al-Jaber, with some exasperation, came out with the following rather amazing statement: “Please help me, show me the roadmap for a phase out of fossil fuel that will allow […]

Climate Crisis

In our National Crisis, We need Public Voices of Optimism — not Gadflies circling a Black Hole

Bahman Fozouni

Sacramento (Special to Informed Comment) – Who is a public intellectual? What role should they play? Searching the internet yields several answers. Alan Lightman’s The Role of the Public Intellectual offers a thoughtful discussion of different visions of the public intellectual and their role and responsibilities. I have opted for a broader description, but with […]

Climate Crisis

Oil Firms Forced to Consider Full Climate Effects of new Drilling after Landmark Norwegian Court Ruling

The Conversation

By Daria Shapovalova, University of Aberdeen | – Norway’s district court in Oslo recently made a decision on fossil fuels that deserves the attention of every person concerned about climate change. This ruling, which compels energy firms to account for the industry’s entire carbon footprint, could change the way oil and gas licenses are awarded […]

Climate Crisis

As Climate Chaos Accelerates, Governments can’t Afford any other Priority

Stan Cox

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In December, the New York Times reported that “Earth is finishing up its warmest year in the past 174 years and very likely the past 125,000.” (Though it’s not the Times’s style, that latter figure should have had a couple of exclamation points after it!) Furthermore, according to the National Oceanic […]

Climate Crisis

Top 3 Pieces of Good Green Energy News this Year

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The climate crisis is the most serious challenge facing our globe, and it is natural to do some doom-scrolling about how we are failing to make the necessary changes fast enough to avoid catastrophe. But as climate scientist Michael E. Mann argues, concentrating on the negative actually promotes apathy and […]

Climate Crisis

Old Forests are Essential for Slowing Climate Change: Prohibit Logging Them!

The Conversation

By Beverly Law, Oregon State University and William Moomaw, Tufts University | – (The Conversation) – Forests are an essential part of Earth’s operating system. They reduce the buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and land degradation by 30% each year. This slows global temperature increases and the […]

Climate Crisis

Global warming on course for Destabilizing 5.2° F. (2.9° C) Rise, UN report warns

China Dialogue

Catherine Early ( China Dialogue ) – Countries must make far greater efforts to implement their climate strategies this decade to stand a chance of keeping global temperature rise within 1.5C (2.7F) of the pre-industrial average. Continued delays will only increase the world’s reliance on uncertain carbon dioxide removal technologies (CDR), according to the UN […]

Batteries

California’s Great Battery Revolution Allows Closure of Peaker Gas Plants and move to 100% Wind, Solar, Water

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The renewables revolution around the world has depended primarily on wind, hydro, and solar. A fourth factor is now swiftly emerging as essential, that is, mega-battery storage. Batteries store energy when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, to release it when those sources decline. California has so […]