• Energy

Investing in Renewables in the Midwest Yields Big Returns

• Midwest
• renewable energy
• renewables

A new study from Harvard has found that the locations where renewable energy sources are built in the U.S. matter as much as, if not more than, the type of renewable energy that’s built there.

Why This Matters: The location of new renewables projects matters because regions that are dependent on coal will reap outsize health benefits from cleaner energy sources than places that already have a grid partly powered by renewables.

• Energy

India invests in solar power, will the trend continue?

• clean energy
• climate change
• coal
• elections
• India
• renewables

In India, the world’s third largest emitter of GHG emissions, a staggering 74% of the country’s electricity generation comes from coal-fired power plants, and coal use is continuing to increase as the population continues to grow. But new data suggests that coal usage might be slowing as India, for the first time, is investing more […]

• Energy

Tackling climate change means properly pricing fossil fuels

• coal
• energy subsidy
• gas
• oil
• renewables

We often hear that fossil fuels are heavily subsidized but by how much exactly? As Vox recently reported,” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) periodically assesses global subsidies for fossil fuels as part of its work on climate, and it found in a recent working paper that the fossil fuel industry got a whopping $5.2 trillion […]

• Energy

China vows to reduce emissions but is still bankrolling coal worldwide

• China
• coal
• globalization
• renewables

This past weekend Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing which promoted China’s foreign policy initiatives of supporting massive infrastructure projects within its partner countries. Some of these ventures include, as NPR reported, hundreds of electric power plants that burn coal, which is a significant emitter of the carbon scientifically linked to climate change.

• Energy

Starbucks to power 360 Texas stores through solar energy

• CSR
• renewable energy
• renewables
• Solar
• Starbucks

Yesterday, Starbucks, Cypress Creek Renewables, and U.S. Bank announced that they are teaming up on a portfolio of solar farms across Texas. As a part of the deal, two solar farms developed, built and now operated by Cypress Creek, one of the nation’s leading solar companies, are providing enough energy for the equivalent of 360 […]

• Oceans

Norway to End Arctic Oil and Gas Drilling

• Arctic Ocean
• climate change
• drilling
• Norway
• oil and gas
• renewables

In a decision that caught oil and gas industry executives by surprise, the largest governing party in Norway announced it is withdrawing its support for fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic ocean near the sensitive Lofoten Islands, thereby effectively putting them off limits for development. According to Bloomberg, State-controlled Equinor ASA, the biggest Norwegian oil producer, have said that gaining access to Lofoten is key if the country wants to maintain fuel production — experts had estimated that there are 1 billion to 3 billion barrels of oil in the waters off the Lofoten archipelago.  

• Energy

Demand for renewables increases but coal and gas are still king

• coal
• IEA
• natural gas
• renewables

As a follow-up to yesterday’s story about the price of battery storage plummeting thus painting a positive outlook for renewables, we still have some substantial supply and demand challenges to overcome before we can utilize renewables more broadly on a global scale. This week, the International Energy Agency released data showing that energy demand around […]

• Energy

Germany to shutdown all coal plants, will rely on renewables

• Angela Merkel
• coal
• coal plant
• Germany
• renewables

Germany, one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal, will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years and will work to rely significantly on renewable energy to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change, a 28-member government commission said Saturday.