Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, WWF, and Friends of the Earth have signed a joint letter to the UK Prime Minister warning the UK government against watering down its climate change and environmental policy commitments, following the release of photographed documents suggesting the Government would “scale down” environmental measures in an effort to smooth post-Brexit trade deals.
A new report published this week has shown that China’s wind and solar PV industries could grow to such a point that they are able to replace fossil fuel energy sources by up to 300 million tonnes of standard coal per year by 2030, clearly demonstrating and confirming China’s rapid transition to a clean energy economy.
The small Dutch energy company Vandebron, which allows consumers to buy their renewable energy directly from local producers on an online marketplace, has offered utility Nuon €1 million for its coal-fired power plant in Amsterdam. After the purchase, the energy startup wants to shut the plant down and turn it into a theme park.
The global total number of coal-fired power plants under development plummeted in 2016, including a 48% decline in overall pre-construction activity, a 62% decline in new construction starts, and a massive 85% decline in new Chinese coal plant permits.
A food production coop in southern Lebanon composed of 23 women has installed 12 solar panels with a combined power of 3 kilowatts thanks to the efforts of Greenpeace and local volunteers. The installation provides power to the machines and empowerment to the women in the group.
In its annual ranking of world businesses based on their environmental policies, Greenpeace gave Amazon a so-so rating. Greenpeace said Amazon lags behind Apple, Facebook, and Google in terms of its renewable energy promises and projects. Not happy about being slapped around in public, Amazon has decided to ramp up its commitment to rooftop solar at its more than 50 worldwide operations centers.
Solar power growth was more dramatic than almost anyone expected during the Obama administration. That was largely due to global factors — incentives in other countries that ramped up demand in those countries, a subsequent burst in manufacturing capacity (especially in China), and the dramatic drop in solar panel costs that resulted (globally).
According to the newest Greenpeace Click Clean report, Apple, Google, and Facebook, along with the data center company Switch, are spearheading the greening of the IT sector, at least when it comes to their energy sources.
This week, Anne-Sophie Garrigou, journalist at The Beam, interviewed Mike Hudema, a fervent opponent to the development of the Alberta tar sands in Canada, working with advocacy organizations, including Greenpeace.
The Chinese authorities have halted construction on 30 large coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 17 GW — a figure that is greater than the entire coal fleet of the United Kingdom — underscoring the country’s desires to minimize its reliance upon coal-generated electricity.
