Across the U.S., COVID-19 is hitting communities of color the hardest. Here in greater Boston, it’s no different. There are high rates of infection in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park—the heart of Black Boston. In fact, Black people account for more than 40% of COVID-19 cases in Boston, but only 25% of the city’s population. Other […]
There are many free newsletters on various aspects of renewable energy and Global Warming issues more broadly. Among the most useful are PV Magazine and its editions for various countries and regions of the world. I subscribe to the global edition in English, German, French, and Chinese; the Spain, Mexico, and Latinoamerica editions in Spanish; and the […]
The targets become ever more tempting as antiquated coal plants age out and become ever more financially ruinous for their owners. Which ones are they working on where you are? Are we having fun yet? In a First, Renewable Energy Is Poised to Eclipse Coal in U.S. The coronavirus has pushed the coal industry to […]
Indonesia is undergoing another conversion in government policy on energy. There is much more renewable energy in this year’s plan, to be achieved much sooner than previously thought, on more than 9,000 inhabited islands. Wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, wave, tide, storage… By Mokurai Indonesia should put more energy into renewable power Aug 19, 2019 In […]
Over many decades, the centralized power grid — a one-way flow of electricity, generated by large, remote power plants and distributed over miles of transmission lines to homes and businesses — succeeded in delivering electricity across continents to billions. But in recent years the system’s shortcomings have become increasingly evident. By Justin Gerdes Ensia The […]
Its name conjures an image of vivid deep blues. But when cobalt is dug out of the ground in ore form, there’s barely a hint of the rich hue it lends its name to. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produces more than half of the world’s supply, it takes the form of […]
Living on an island forces one to be an innovator in ways large and small. For the 50 or so year-round residents of Isle au Haut, an island off the coast of Maine, innovation can look like using PVC pipe as a curtain rod because there are no real curtain rods at hand — or […]
School buses are not the thing during the Coronavirus disaster with the schools closed, but that will end. When we last looked, there were a few hundred electric school buses in tests here and there. We will soon have entire states going all in on them, 100%, Virginia first. By Mokurai Largest Electric School Bus […]
As the world tries to figure out how to subdue Covid-19, and as much of the global airline fleet sits idle, aviation’s CO2 emissions may not be top of mind. Eventually, however, we will want and need to fly again. We should, therefore, use the next year or two of slack demand to prepare for a […]
Recently, we passed a major milestone for clean energy in the United States. More than 100 million people now live in places committed to 100 percent clean energy. That’s almost one in three people in this country, representing 163 cities, 13 counties, eight states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. By Michael Brune Sierra Club This milestone […]
Political divisions are a growing fixture in the United States today, whether the topic is marriage across party lines, responding to climate change or concern about coronavirus exposure. Especially in a presidential election year, the vast divide between conservatives and liberals often feels nearly impossible to bridge. By Deidra Miniard, Indiana University; Joe Kantenbacher, Indiana […]
Yet another tipping point passed in new renewable electricity installations. We have to finish off finishing off coal, then the gas Ponzi scheme, and ramp up EV usage, helped by covid-19, fracking bankruptcies, the global oil and gas price wars, increasing divestment…and of course the fact that renewables are cheaper than destroying the planet—I mean, […]
Covid-19 has brought the Climate Denialists and Concern Trolls and Pundits-Telling-You-What-You-Really-Think out in force. It will destroy renewables and EVs and whatever. Or else it will demonstrate that we don’t actually need any of that pollution, and we can now go full electrons ahead with all of those profitable investments in saving the Planet Entire. […]
Denialists complain bitterly about the variable output of wind and solar energy systems. But for consumers, that means that the cost of electricity is necessarily negative sometimes. You get to arbitrage your recharging, if your government does not interfere. Others get to use negatively-priced energy to make hydrogen from water, as a form of energy […]
As the human tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, global restrictions to stop the spread of the virus — including stay-at-home orders, business closures and travel prohibitions — may contribute to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The virus has already made an indelible impact on the energy sector: Global energy use is predicted to fall […]