By Carl Meyer, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Solar energy businesses in British Columbia believe their market is at a tipping point following years of niche status, as costs come down, governments demand greener buildings and residents offset rising utility bills from power-hungry electric cars.
Continue reading BC’s solar market at tipping point, industry saysBy Roy L Hales
Germany’s renewable sector is setting new records again. For the past three months, they supplied more public electricity than the coal sector. This came to a peak last month. Renewables produced 54.4% of Germanys electricity in March 2019.
Continue reading Renewables Produced 54.4% of Germanys Public Electricity In MarchBy Roy L Hales
Germany added 2.3 GW of new onshore wind capacity in the first half of 2017. Though it failed to meet the target last year, the Renewable Energy Act set annual target of installing 2.5 GW new solar capacity. Add in a warm autumn and the winter storms Xavier and Herwart, and it is easy to see how renewables supplied 44.1 per cent of Germany’s energy in October.
Continue reading Renewables Supplied 44.1 Per Cent Of Germany’s Energy
By Roy L Hales
Germany led the world for the number of solar installations during 2012. This relatively small European nation added 7.60 GW of capacity to the grid. Then their numbers started going downward: 3.30 GW of new solar capacity in 2013; 1.56 GW in 2014; 1.4 GW in 2015. As of October 31, only 0.79 GW of new capacity has been added this year. Germany’s critics are once again hailing the imminent demise of this nation’s renewable revolution. What happened to Energiewende?
Continue reading What Happened To Energiewende?By Roy L Hales
The joint study from Stanford University and UC Riverside reads like a report card. The authors recognized that, “solar energy has one of the greatest climate change mitigation potentials” of all renewable energy sources. It can play a leading role in helping the United States reach its’ goal of reducing emissions to 80% of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This would require covering a great deal of land surface. Using current technology, close to 71,428 square kilometres (44,383 sq. miles), or an area roughly comparable to South Carolina, could be covered with panels. Rebecca R. Hernandez et al examined more than 160 sites in California to find out how utility scale solar impacts the land.
