Energy
Transitioning to a world powered by renewable energy is key to tackling climate change. Here you can find the latest good news related to our clean energy transition, covering wind, solar, green hydrogen, hydropower, and more.
Citrus in the snow: Geothermal greenhouses grow local produce in the winter
For those of us who live in the blistering cold during the winter and want to eat local produce, it isn’t easy. Traditional greenhouses are one way to meet the demands for year-round local produce, but they are energy guzzlers and are heated with fossil fuels. In the Midwestern region of the Read More...
Poo power: fuelling schools and teaching students a lesson
Students and teachers at Kasiisi nursery and primary school in Uganda have found an innovative way to save money and protect the planet when nature calls – by building a biogas digester that allows them to harness the energy contained in human faeces. The thought of it is enough to put most Read More...
Obama's clean power plan may be on hold, but coal's fate is not
The U.S. Supreme Court made the imprudent decision to put the Clean Power Plan on hold, but the decision won’t be enough to save coal from a shrinking market. The Environmental Protection Agency projected that coal’s share of America’s power mix would shrink to 27% by 2030 under the plan, and Read More...
What do Iceland and Kenya have in common? Lots of clean and renewable geothermal energy
Walking out of Keflavik airport as the arctic breeze hit my face at 50 km per hour, I thought to myself, “I love my job.”A job that makes a tropical citizen like me enjoy the hospitality of the very warm Icelanders and allows me to learn from their experience is hard to top. With Read More...
Driven by power outages and savings, towns look to microgrid
"The solution to our overburdened, outdated pwer grid? One word: microgrids—localized power networks that are cheaper, cleaner and more reliable." That's how one of our feature articles in the Fall 2015 issue of The Optimist began. Now, we come across an article on AP about U.S. towns that are Read More...
Five lessons from the European wind energy industry's record year
New figures show 2015 was a big year for both the German wind market and the offshore wind industry Annual figures released today by the wind trade body the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) show wind is still the fastest growing source of new power capacity in Europe. Here BusinessGreen Read More...
30 solar energy facts worth knowing
The next time somebody questions the viability of solar energy, arm yourself with these 30 solar energy facts. After all, there’s nothing better than access to a large warehouse of useful information, especially when considering this planet’s energy future. But before we start with Read More...
Morocco launches world's largest solar plant to supply renewable energy to more than 1 million people
Morocco is building on the edge of the Sahara Desert what would be the world’s largest solar power plant by 2018. Last Thursday, its King Mohammed VI switched on the first phase of the concentrated solar energy plant, which will be the size of the capital city by the time of its completion Read More...
We’re one step closer to producing hydrogen gas in a one-step-process
The biggest question facing the solar power industry today is how do you get solar panels to supply a reliable, steady supply of electricity—even after nightfall or during cloudy days. Batteries are one proposed way, but a team of chemical engineers from the University of California, Berkeley may Read More...
New York proposes plan to reach 50% renewables
In December, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the state’s regulators to come up with a plan to reach 50 percent renewables by 2030. Early last week, the New York Department of Public Service (NYDPS) released its proposed plan to do just that. The “50 by 30” Clean Energy Read More...