In-Depth Renewable Energy 101 & Climate Change 101 — Thorough Beginner’s Guide

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This section is meant as a primer to the world of climate change and renewable energy. CleanTechnica has posted over 40,000 articles since its inception in 2008. However, reading all of them would take months, so the following is a distillation of the key pieces of the puzzle.

Renewable Energy Basics

These articles cover the bare minimum you need to know about climate change and defeating it. They explain how 100% renewable energy is already possible and modeled, why it would cost less than what we pay now for power, and why the real problem is motivation and not technology to prevent 1.5°C or more of global temperature rise.

Also, hydrogen and nuclear need not apply, as they are inefficient and more expensive than solar/wind/storage. Why would you pay more than you are now when you can pay less instead?

Climate Change Scenarios: An Updated Summary Of Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, & Carbon Bubble Predictions

Solar Costs & Wind Costs So Low They’re Cheaper Than *Existing* Coal & Nuclear — Lazard LCOE Report

100% Wind, Water, & Solar Energy Can & Should Be The Goal, Costs Less

100% WWS Part 1: Jacobson’s New Study Displaces 99.7% Fossil Energy With Massive Savings

100% WWS Part 2: Jacobson’s Latest Study Covers Storage, Transmission, & More

100% WWS Part 3: Jacobson’s New Study Leans Into The Green New Deal

Why Excluding Nuclear, Fossils With Carbon Capture, & Biofuels From The Green New Deal Makes Financial & Climate Sense — #RealityCheck

Is It True That A Tesla Creates More Pollution Than A Conventional Car? No! (Note: If EVs did create more pollution, then naysayers should be all for them because they would create more of what naysayers are arguing for, especially considering deregulation.)

Fear of Progress

Why Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Are Not Competitive — From A Hydrogen Fuel Cell Expert

Toyota Corolla vs. Tesla Model 3 — Cost Comparisons Over 5 Years

The Osborne Effect On The Auto Industry

Fossil Vehicle Sales In Global Freefall — Down 4.7% In 2019! Electric Vehicle Sales Continue To Grow — CleanTechnica Report

More Background For Those Who Are Not Faint Of Heart

As there is more than one way to skin a cat, 100% renewables has more than one possible pathway. And beyond electricity there is much to consider.

Top CleanTechnica Stories of 2019, & Top Stories of the Decade!

New Mark Z. Jacobson Study Draws A Roadmap To 100% Renewable Energy

70%, 80%, 99.9%, 100% Renewables — Study Central

10 Solar Energy Facts & Charts You (& Everyone) Should Know

Cleantech Solutions To Meet 1.5 Degrees Of Warming Are Proven & Scalable

Female Leaders Are On The Rise — Empowered, We Are Unstoppable

Investing In Fossil Fuels = Burying Your Money — 20th Century Fuel Is Staying In The Ground

Air Pollution Is Slowly Killing Us All, New Global Study Claims

24 Questions That Show Nukes Are NOT The Answer

Energy Storage 2020: It’s Not Just About Lithium-Ion Batteries Any More

Combining Solar & Farming Benefits Both

Challenges Ahead

This is where we are now and what we are facing. Things look grim but they do not have to stay that way. Whether we move backward, forward, or forward rapidly is our collective decision to make.

“Not One Country” On Track To Limit Global Warming To 2°C

2 Critical Climate Change Problems Most People Don’t Know About

Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists Leaves Doomsday Clock At 2 Minutes To Midnight

As We Roll Into 2020, Time To Reconsider, What Is The Media’s Role? What’s CleanTechnica’s Role?

What Is The Role Of The Media?

Attempts To Silence Climate Scientists Have Been Desperate But Effective

Chevron’s Fig Leaf Part 1: Carbon Engineering Burns Natural Gas To Capture Carbon From The Air
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Yang Would Spend $3 Trillion On Residential Solar, But The Same Money Could Decarbonize The Grid Entirely

Cement’s CO2 Emissions Are Solved Technically, But Not Economically

Rapid Farmland Degradation To Force Hundreds Of Millions To Migrate Over Next 3 Decades, Study Finds

3 Ways Cities Can Protect Low-Income Residents From Climate Change

This Stealth Terrorist Killed ~53,000 Americans Last Year

Motivational Challenges

The technical tools needed to defeat climate change are now available. The reason it is not happening at the necessary scale is that it is not being demanded by a critical mass of the population. While many claim to want to defeat it, relatively few are voting for it at the ballot box or with their own dollars.

A Tribute To Paradoxes

Want To Be A Techno-Optimist? Here Are Some Basic Guidelines

Cognitive Science Offers Tools To Rebuff Climate Deniers

Climate Change ‘Skepticism’: 6 Overlapping Drivers

Climate Deniers Would Rather See A Continent Burn Than Be Wrong

Who Will Buy Oil, Gas, & Coal When We Are All Dead?

The Costs Of Denial

Denial does not only prevent progress, it often precipitates actions that add additional barriers to progress, or even undoes it instead of achieving it.

50 Ways To Slow The Electric Vehicle Revolution — A Complete Idiot’s Guide

The New Right-Wing Ploy Coming Soon: Fake Climate Solutions

How Market Power Gives Electric Utilities Political Power

FERC Sides With Fossil Fuels In Forcing Renewables To Match Prices

6 Years of CNBC’s “Top” Tesla Coverage

Oil & Petrochemical Companies Want YOU To Pay To Protect Them From Climate Change! (Note: This is not a satirical article.)

Addressing FUD

One of the way naysayers prevent progress is to argue Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD): that it’s not possible, too expensive, or worse than the status quo. Arguing with them is like playing a game of whack-a-mole, since their actual goal is not to make humanity better off — it is to find an excuse that sticks and keeps people from creating a better future.

Tesla’s Enemies Are Perfecting The FUD Machine, & Playing The Media

10+ Million Fires, 19,000 Deaths, And 70,000 Injuries From Internal Combustion Vehicles

Battery Recycling Will Be The New New Thing, And JB Straubel & Kore Power Are Leading The Way

Lithium Mining vs Oil Sands Meme: A Thorough Response

Advantages & Disadvantages Of Solar Power

How To Guides

As the old saying goes, “Think globally, act locally.” And perhaps it’s prudent to add “and vote strategically.”

How Can I Save Planet Earth?

The Short List Of Climate Actions That Will Work

Dragon’s Guide To A 100% Renewable Home — Part 1 (LEDs)
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

How Your Local Elected Officals Can Support Clean Energy

How To Tell A Good Community Solar Program From A Bad One

Fresh Buyer’s Guide For Used Electric Cars

Tesla Powerwall Keeps A Remote Home Powered Through 42-Hour Utility Outage

A Guide To Disaster Preparedness Part One
A Guide To Disaster Preparedness — Part Two

2019 Divestment Year In Review

Small Yet Large Pieces Of The Puzzle

The world is infinitely complex, yet there are bedrocks to civilization that count on certain pieces of the puzzle or else they would never work.

How Will Life Change If We Transition Away From Fossil Fuels?

Why Gender Equality Is Needed For Successful Climate Policies

Survey Says Clean Energy Policy Is Important Across Party Lines (Note: If only voters on all sides of the spectrum would vote for it)

Big Oil Faces A Formidable Foe In Fight Against Electric Vehicles

Tesla Supercharger Shrinks To Suit Needs Of City Drivers

5 Tips For Owning A Tesla Without A Home Charger

Western Australia Trials Tesla PowerBank Community Storage System

Tesla CTO JB Straubel On Why Vehicle-To-Grid & Used EV Battery Storage Isn’t Logical

Why You Should Care About The National Climate Bank — A CleanTechnica Exclusive

How Would Warren & Sanders Pay For A Green New Deal?

Envision Energy Says EV Battery Cell Costs Will Fall Below $50/kWh By 2025

43 Battery Storage Companies To Watch

DHL Exec: Tesla Semi Trucks To Pay For Themselves In 1.5 Years

20 Reasons Why 2019 Gave Us Climate Hope

Renewable Energy Success Stories

Australian Grid Hits 50% Renewables For First Time

Kenya Meets Renewable Energy Generation Target, Should Now Shift Focus To Accelerating EV Adoption To Soak Up Excess Electricity

India Added 50 Gigawatts Of Renewable Energy Capacity In Last Five Years

World’s Largest Storage Battery — 2.5 GWh — To Replace Gas Peaker Plants In Queens

Tesla Turned On The World’s Largest Lithium-Ion Battery Facility In The World Today (2017)
Update, Update #2, Update #3

Network Of Tesla Powerwall Batteries Saves Green Mountain Power $500,000 During Heat Wave

A Peak Inside the Unisphere, One of the World’s Largest Net-Zero Buildings

Australia Solar & Storage News — In Your Face, ScoMo!

Who Got The Tesla Story Right In The 2010s?

Want To Ban New Gas & Diesel Cars? Look To Sweden To See How It’s Done

Tesla Model 3 = 7th Best Selling Car In USA*

Tesla Sales

Real Time Renewable Energy Data

If you want to know how far along we are, you must have the data.

US Electricity Generations Reports and Electricity Capacity Reports | CleanTechnica

Real Time Australia Energy Usage | RenewEconomy

Daily Wind Power Generation | WindEurope

Thanks to all who contributed to creating this new section, and if new ideas come to mind please post them below and they may be included in future updates.


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Barry A.F.

I've had an interest in renewable energy and EVs since the days of deep cycle lead acid conversions and repurposed drive motors (and $10/watt solar panels). How things have changed. Also I have an interest in systems thinking (or first principles as some call it), digging into how things work from the ground up. Did you know that 97% of all Wikipedia articles link to Philosophy? A very small percentage link to Pragmatism. And in order to put my money where my mouth is I own one (3x split) Tesla share.   A link to all my articles

Barry A.F. has 68 posts and counting. See all posts by Barry A.F.