Google commits to sustainability and erasing its carbon footprint

Following on from Microsoft’s decision to undo its carbon footprint, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced the company’s sustainability commitments. Pichai said the company will be eliminating its entire carbon legacy, covering all operational emissions backdated to 2007, when the company became carbon neutral.

In a blog post outlining the company’s sustainability plans, Pichai wrote: “We

How can impact investors balance the green energy equation?

  • Impact investors must be aware of both the positive and negative consequences of their activities.
  • Clean energy sources all involve some environmental cost, such as disposing of equipment at the end of its life.
  • Understanding these impacts throughout renewable sources’ lifecycles can help investors strike the right balance.

Impact investing has

Good News! Wind And Solar Just Hit a New Record in 2020 as Coal Declines

Wind and solar produced a record 10 percent of global electricity in the first half of 2020 as the world’s coal plant fleet ran at less than half its capacity, analysis recently published showed.

Despite a near-record drop in power demand due to the pandemic, renewables accounted for 1,129 terawatt-hours in January-June,

Redesigning sustainability for a pandemic world

As we kicked off the New Year, 2020 was shaping up to be a pivotal moment for the global sustainability movement. The world’s most valuable companies were planning to go carbon negative, renewable energy had achieved competitive pricing, and heck, Greta Thunberg had just been named Time’s Person of the Year. There was a glimmer of

Steep energy bills can lead families into poverty, nationwide study shows

While it makes sense that families living below the poverty line have a difficult time covering their energy bills, new University of Wisconsin Oshkosh research shows the reverse to be true as well—high energy bills can lead a household into poverty.

The nationwide study—led by UWO environmental sociologist Jeremiah Bohr and published Nov.15 in the peer-reviewed

2019-12-12T18:55:44-06:00Tags: |

Australia is the leader in building new renewable energy

In Australia, renewable energy is growing at a per capita rate ten times faster than the world average. Between 2018 and 2020, Australia will install more than 16 gigawatts of wind and solar, an average rate of 220 watts per person per year.

This is nearly three times faster than the next fastest country, Germany. Australia

2019-09-25T09:12:24-05:00Tags: |

Humanity’s fight against climate change is failing.

Iceland is cold. But it sits atop one of the world’s hottest underground regions, giving the country the ability to tap into a massive store of geothermal energy held by live volcanoes beneath Icelanders’ feet. Drill down only a few hundred meters, and trapped water will come gushing out as high-temperature steam. It’s easy enough

2019-09-26T18:09:13-05:00Tags: |

Scientists Call for Rethink on Sustainability

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and the University of Sheffield in the UK, have called for a redefinition of sustainability stating, “it should be defined as being able to live harmoniously with nature in a shared planet with other species, without exploiting it.”

They say that this redefinition is essential if society wants to mitigate climate change and

2019-09-23T17:01:23-05:00Tags: |

New Device Can Make Renewable Energy from the Cold Night Sky

No sun? No problem.

A new thermoelectric device can generate electricity for an LED light bulb even during the blackest night, according to a report by researchers.

The secret is using a phenomenon known as radiative cooling, which happens when surfaces on the ground radiate heat into the atmosphere. This process can make a surface cooler than

2019-09-22T18:25:34-05:00Tags: |

Creating a common language for solar

As solar comes to represent a larger proportion of the global energy mix, direct comparisons with conventional energy sources, and even with other renewables, are becoming more and more important. This is reflected in a bid by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Expert Group to standardize reporting on solar energy potential. Long

2019-09-02T08:20:14-05:00Tags: |

Top sectors for jobs in the renewable energy

With businesses and nations attempting to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and mitigate their impact on the environment, many are turning to renewable sources of energy.

Eleven million people worked in renewable energy in 2018, according to recent analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This represents an increase of 700,000 compared to 2017,

2019-09-01T19:09:25-05:00Tags: |

Renewable energy sources produced 20% of U.S. electricity

Renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for more than one-fifth (20.1%) of net domestic electrical generation during the first six months of 2019, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of just-released data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). A year earlier, renewables’ share was 19.9%.

The latest issue of EIA’s

2019-08-28T17:22:45-05:00Tags: |

Sustainability Group Awards Two Wind Energy Projects in Iowa

Of the many wind energy projects in the United States, only three are verified as sustainable by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. Recently, two of them — developed by power generation and distribution provider Alliant Energy with support from Black & Veatch as owner’s engineer – were the first wind projects ever to achieve the

2019-08-19T08:27:09-05:00Tags: |
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