Island states are often dependent on expensive imported fossil fuels for their power. Ocean thermal energy conversion plants could provide constant power – if technical issues can be overcome.
Mike Cannon-Brookes has blocked AGL’s demerger – for now. But can he force it to accelerate the closure of its coal and gas-fired power stations?
Motorists drive at night on a road without street light as Nigeria struggles with power outages in a commercial district of Lagos.
Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images
Nigeria’s national electricity grid has collapsed more than 200 times since 2010, regularly resulting in widespread blackouts.
It’s now cheaper for Eskom to buy renewable energy from independent power producers than to run its coal power stations.
Johann van Dalen via shutterstock
South Africa’s renewable energy procurement programme has the potential to restore energy security and eventually reduce power prices.
Even if additional energy production capacity was added to the national grid through renewables, questions remain about whether access will be equitable and affordable.
Lou Bopp/ GettyImages
The electricity sector is expected to play a key role in Canada’s push to net-zero emissions. Enhancing long-distance transmission can be lower the cost of providing clean and reliable electricity.
Solar power is becoming more common for households at all income levels. These homes in Richmond, California, went solar with the help of GRID Alternatives.
GRID Alternatives
Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Eric O’Shaughnessy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Solar power doesn’t have to be just for the wealthy anymore. With the right kind of financial incentives, households at all income levels can benefit from affordable clean energy.
New Zealand’s electricity generation is already more than 80% renewable, but experts warn a 100% target would require significant over-building of renewable generation that would rarely be used.
It’s more expensive to refuel a petrol vehicle than it is to charge an electric vehicle.
GettyImages
South Africa’s well positioned to adopt electric vehicles but this isn’t a solution in itself because the vehicles would still depend on electricity generated from carbon-emitting coal power stations.
The rules governing Australia’s electricity market are more than 20 years old and no longer serve consumers, or climate action. But big energy companies are using COVID-19 to delay reform.
A switch to electric transport is one of New Zealand’s key climate strategies. It will increase demand on the national grid, but might also help increase renewable electricity generation.
Shutdown in Seattle to slow the spread of coronavirus empties the streets, March 26, 2020. Less economic activity means less revenue for utilities.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Nuclear energy generates 75% of France’s electricity, and ongoing troubles at the new Flamanville EPR reactor have raised crucial questions about its future in the country’s electricity mix.
Smoke from a coal-fired Beijing power plant that closed in 2017 as part of China’s transition to cleaner energy.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
The United Nations is calling on world governments to step up action against climate change. Can China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, fulfill its pledges?
Chicago’s Lake Michigan waterfront froze during the 2019 polar vortex.
AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato
Solar photovoltaics and wind power are on track to supplant fossil-fuel-based electricity generation by the 2030s. The only thing holding back the renewable revolution is politics.
Policymakers need to be smart about the smart meter rollout.
AAP Image/David Crosling
You may already have a smart meter at home, which monitors your electricity use at 30-minute intervals. But until you can access that data yourself, you could be missing out on the best power deals.
Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy and Director, Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at The Fletcher School, Tufts University