After the disastrous earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in 2011, causing a nuclear catastrophe, the country’s energy security, already flawed, was seriously weakened. Since the closure of almost all of its nuclear power plants, Japan is facing an energy’s security predicament. To restore lost power, the country turned more intensively to fossil fuels, a... Continue Reading →
Renewables, More Than Pretty Words
Ecological, environmentally-friendly, and green… these are just some of the pretty words we use to paint a positive image out of renewable energy. Doing so is not wrong; after all, if we want to combat the adverse effects of fossil fuel use, framing renewables as something positive will only make us prefer it over other... Continue Reading →
A YouTube Video and LED Roads: Is This the Future of Solar Energy?
SOLAR. FREAKING. ROADWAYS. Yes, you read it right. SOLAR. FREAKING. ROADWAYS. If you don’t get where I’m going with this, click here to watch a short explicatory video. If you don’t have approximately 419 seconds to spare, though, my explanation will do the trick. With their first prototype launched in 2010 and three modified... Continue Reading →
Becoming a Global Model for Renewables
How Latin America is improving its energy efficiency – and breaking barriers at the same time. Chile has put renewable energy on the forefront of its agenda, tripling its share in renewables in the past 6 years. It is now perceived as a model for the use of renewables and is helping Latin America get on... Continue Reading →
A New Breath of Life for Wind Power
“Floating wind turbines are not confined anymore to R and D” asserts Wind Europe, the European association for wind energy. Indeed, since the first floating wind turbines have been installed in 2016, it seems that new renewable energies are not projects anymore. Wind power gets more and more innovative, with new technologies being more efficient.... Continue Reading →
Are Biofuels an Alternative to Oil?
In the beginning, biofuels were thought to be the perfect substitute to oil as they combated greenhouse gas emissions and diversified fuel supply. However, public opinion has shifted in the last years. What could have gone wrong? The problem is that after some years, the production of biofuels started to show the negatives it entailed.... Continue Reading →
“The Windy City Getting Windier”
In 2018, the state of Illinois announced the enactment of the Illinois Clean Energy Jobs Act, with the highly ambitious aim of producing 100% clean energy by 2050. However, this past week, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel signed a resolution taking the act one step closer, passing legislation committing to run the city on... Continue Reading →
Flywheels: the Low-Cost Solution to the Energy Storage Issue
It is said that covering less than a quarter of the Sahara Desert with solar panels could power the whole planet with electricity. It is said that wind power being considered “one of the most promising new energy sources” could provide 20% of the US’s electricity by putting turbines on less than 1% of its... Continue Reading →
Quit the Banter, Europe Needs Air Conditioning
As climate change becomes increasingly visible, there is no question heat waves are becoming more prevalent. Last summer, Europe witnessed record-breaking temperatures in a heat wave that took millions by surprise.[1] For example, Scandinavia, a region not used to temperatures above the 30o C mark, saw temperatures extending above 32o C. As a result, the... Continue Reading →
The Green New Deal: Energy Transition vs Energy Dominance?
For the 2020 US Presidential Elections, most democratic candidates have supported the “Green New Deal”, described by the Green Party as a plan to “convert the old, gray economy into a new, sustainable economy that is environmentally sound, economically viable and socially responsible”. This includes achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and 100% renewable energy by... Continue Reading →