#renewable-energy

#renewable-energy

A decade on from the Paris Climate Agreement, countries are making uneven-but-visible climate progress as per capita emissions edge downward, renewable energy surges, and more than 100 countries adopt net-zero targets, the latest Climate Change Performance Index has found. But the report found that momentum still falls short of what's needed to meet the Paris goal of holding global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) and ideally 1.5 C above preindustrial levels.

A decade ago, the cheapest way to meet growing demand for electricity was to build more coal or natural gas power plants. Not anymore. Solar and wind power aren't just better for the climate; they're also less expensive today than fossil fuels at utility scale, and they're less harmful to people's health. Yet renewable energy projects face headwinds, including in the world's fast-growing developing countries.

When I arrived in Reykjavík, Iceland, last March, a gravel barrier, almost thirty feet at its highest point, had been constructed to keep lava from the Reykjanes volcano from inundating a major geothermal power station not far from downtown. So far, it had worked, but daily volcano forecasts were being broadcast on a small television at the domestic airport where I was waiting to take a short flight to Akureyri.

Can you imagine someone giving you $170,000 (129,000)? What would you buy? Can you imagine getting another $170,000 one minute later? And the handouts then continuing every minute for years? If so, you have a feel for the colossal cash machine that is Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco, the world's biggest producer of oil and gas last year. That tidal wave of cash keeps the authoritarian kingdom afloat,

Hayley and Helaman Perry-Sanchez put off their move to Cambridge, Massachusetts, as long as they could. Helaman was accepted to Harvard Business School in 2020, and though he was excited to pursue his MBA, the Perry-Sanchezes weren't as eager to relocate to the East Coast. After meeting and marrying while they were in college in Utah - and subsequently leaving the Mormon church together - Hayley, 27, and Helaman, 29, had found jobs and built a life in Seattle.

Renewable energy has grown faster than every major forecast predicted in 2015. There's now four times as much solar power as the International Energy Agency (IEA) expected 10 years ago. Last year alone, the world installed 553 gigawatts of solar power-roughly as much as 100 million U.S. homes use-which is 1,500% more than the IEA had projected. Investors are now pouring twice as much into renewables as into fossil fuels.

"These barriers with imports, exports, all of these issues, they are making it more complicated for the world. They are making it very expensive for everybody. We are just creating barriers unnecessarily for no reason. The whole globe needs each other," Abunayyan said. "There's no one country that does not need the others. We are all human on this earth. We need to work together, we need to have integration, and we need to think about how we create something that's good for all our people on this earth."

This £3.9 billion investment is a huge win for Britain. It will give businesses - from life sciences to high street banks - the ability to connect to thousands of other businesses across the world in an instant, powering our AI ambitions, boosting growth and creating hundreds of well-paid jobs,

Together with SambaNova and our strategic partners, we're building a sovereign AI infrastructure powered by renewable energy, demonstrating that sustainability and scale can go hand in hand. Our goal isn't just to make AI greener, but to make it competitive, compliant and cost-effective.

Aiming for architecture that harmoniously coexists with nature ZED Ishikari is located in a 100% renewable energy area in the industrial zone extending along Ishikari Bay in Hokkaido. This is a region where people have been exploring ways to adapt to the vagaries of nature, such as inclement climate and the flooding of the Ishikari River.

The Government has unveiled a national plan to create 400,000 green energy jobs within the next five years, in what ministers say will be one of the most significant workforce transitions in modern British history. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the programme aims to double the number of people working in the UK's low-carbon sector by 2030, with a sharp focus on equipping tradespeople, school leavers, ex-service personnel and workers leaving fossil fuel industries with the skills needed to support the transition to net zero.

The newly installed capacity from renewable energies amounted to around 582 gigawatts in 2024, or around 15.1% more than the previous year. While this was the highest amount ever recorded, in its report IRENA stressed that this was not enough for countries to reach global renewable energy goals, which target a yearly increase of 16.6%.

Renewable energy systems in commercial architecture often remain hidden behind facades or tucked away on rooftops, treated as necessary but unsightly additions to building design. This approach misses opportunities to celebrate sustainable technology as part of the architectural experience, particularly in industries like wine making, where connection to natural cycles and environmental stewardship could enhance rather than compromise the visitor experience.

It was meant to be the world's grand fix for the climate crisis: nations would make their economies greener by transitioning to renewable-energy technologies, electrifying transport and digitalizing the global economy to reduce material use. After years of fraught negotiations, countries agreed to this global transition at a momentous summit in Paris in 2015. But the fix has proved to be more complex.

A home battery system stores excess electricity generated by your solar panels during the day. Instead of sending unused solar energy back to the grid or letting it go to waste, your battery holds it for later-typically when the sun sets or during a power outage. Here's a simplified breakdown of how it works: Solar panels generate electricity during the day. Your home uses what it needs immediately. The surplus charges your battery. At night or during outages, your battery powers your home. This setup gives you more control over your electricity usage, reduces your dependence on energy companies, and offers peace of mind when the grid goes down.

But analysis from the Centre for Net Zero (CNZ) says it would cost 43 percent less to power a 120 MW data facility with renewables and a small amount of gas-generated energy, when compared with an SMR. It claims that a microgrid comprising offshore wind, solar, battery storage, and backed up by gas generation, would be significantly cheaper to run annually than procuring power sourced from a nuclear SMR.

Pledge to cut emissions by 7-10 percent does not go far enough, though renewables rollout a cause for hope, expert say.