Electricity networks in cities need the biggest overhaul – but the public can help.
With around 700,000 panels, France’s Massangis solar farm generates 56 megawatts (MW) of power. The panels are manufactured by First Solar, a US company.
Ibex73/Wikimedia
Taking advantage of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, outside investors have acquired substantial stakes in what have long been regarded as “sovereign” assets that are critical for the EU’s energy strategy.
We’re going to build a lot more solar as we race to clean up the grid. But as the world heats up, solar will degrade faster in hot, humid areas. We need to plan ahead.
A worker lifts a solar panel to the roof of a home in Frankfort, Ky. Small-scale solar infrastructure can deliver green energy at a fraction of the life-cycle emissions as large solar farms.
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Looking to go solar? While small-scale solar delivers the best results with the least life-cycle impact, a mixed approach offers the best long-term path towards an all-electric future.
Australia leads the world in rooftop solar per head. Can this small-scale power source be the secret weapon to fire up our struggling transition to net zero?
People shout slogans during a protest in Jakarta against plans to evict 7,500 residents from Rempang island to make way for a Chinese-owned glass factory as part of an ‘Ecocity’ development.
EPA-EFE/MAST IRHAM
In some cases, adding a battery to your rooftop solar system will pay off. But to be sure of this, households need information about many factors – and there’s no single reliable place to find it.
As the energy revolution gains pace, huge numbers of PV panels are already going to landfill. Many are still usable and even those that aren’t contain valuable materials that shouldn’t be discarded.
Agrivoltaic farming — growing crops in the protected shadows of solar panels — can help meet Canada’s food and energy needs.
(Alexis Pascaris, AgriSolar)
Canada can meet its carbon emission reduction targets, make food cheap again and open up a gigantic trade surplus with the U.S. by shading farm crops with solar panels.
The very people most in need of the cost savings from installing solar panels are missing out. Better policies are needed to make home solar systems accessible to all Australians.
To achieve low or even no electricity bills, there are three areas owners of home solar systems should focus on getting right.
Deep sea sponges and other creatures live on and among valuable manganese nodules like this one that could be mined from the seafloor.
ROV KIEL 6000/GEOMAR
Mining nodules from the deep ocean seabed could provide the metals crucial for today’s EV batteries and renewable energy technology, but little is known about the harm it could cause.