Global emissions from fossil fuels have stalled. That puts us in the right place to keep warming below 2°C, but there’s plenty of work still to be done.
South Africa’s new energy plan shows a greater reliance on gas, solar and especially wind power.
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Will government policy to promote clean energy be disastrous or a boon? A close look at the 2009 stimulus, which plowed $90 billion into energy, can tell us a lot.
Companies like Tesla, with batteries and electric cars, are disrupting traditional energy companies in Australia.
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Tara P. Dhakal, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Solar power has enormous potential, but provides only about one percent of world electricity today. An engineer explains the many steps it takes to make solar panels that are efficient, clean and cheap.
Low-carbon initiatives in cities like Rwanda’s Kigali can help citizens to deal with the harsh effects of climate change.
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Tristan R. Brown, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
The wind and solar industries scored a huge win by getting extended tax credits, but research shows this isn’t the best policy for lowering emissions through renewable energy.
The Herbert solar plant in the Northern Cape, South Africa. The panels face the sun squarely and constantly.
SunPower Corp
South Africa has been slow to adopt renewable energy sources. One option, which has proved successful elsewhere, would be to install solar photovoltaic panels on rooftops in low-income areas.
Mozambique is seeking to use renewable energy to extend electricity access to rural institutions.
Joshua Kirshner
Mozambique has long standing energy challenges and widespread energy poverty. To change this, particularly for people living in rural areas, it needs to democratise the way it supplies energy.
Disase carrying insects are attracted to light bulbs – a constraint of domestic solar energy.
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Solar is a vital piece of the energy puzzle for Africa, but there is an insect problem that comes with the light from solar.
A solar water heating unit on the roof of a home in Kuyasa outside Cape Town. South Africa has a long way to go to get people off the grid and onto solar heating.
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Wilfred Fritz, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Deon Kallis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Africa is blessed with an abundance of sunshine.Given the heavy demand for energy, alternatives, such as solar, could provide solutions and help stimulate economic growth.
Real hot: the Ivanpah solar power plant and others like it use mirrors to produce heat to make steam and drive an electricity turbine.
BrightSource Energy
The massive Ivanpah solar power plant uses natural gas – even more than it expected last year. It’s not ideal, but solar power and natural gas are a powerful, and relatively ‘green,’ combination.
Solar energy is key to development in African countires.
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Integrated research is key to sustainable development, which helps Africa resolve its energy woes.
Low carbon choices such as solar power are essential for the African continent, if it intends to stop the harmful global warming effects.
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Given existing technologies, expanding access to electricity almost always increases CO2 emissions. There are real trade-offs between addressing poverty and climate change.
Will alternate solar technologies get a boost if solar overall grows?
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