By Alf Hornberg, The Conversation
The current blind faith in technology will not save us. For the planet to stand any chance, the global economy must be redesigned. The problem is more fundamental than capitalism or the emphasis on growth: it is money itself, and how money is related to technology.
By Don Fitz, Resilience.org
The very idea of re-imagining society so that people can have good lives as they use less energy has been consumed by visions of the infinite expansion of solar/wind power and the oxymoron, 100% "clean energy".
By Mike Small, DeSmog Blog
England recently experienced its most severe blackout in more than a decade, leading to a cacophony of calls from the usual suspects to scrap windfarms and abandon plans to turn the country’s electricity supply from brown to green.
By Kris De Decker, Low-Tech Magazine
For more than two thousand years, windmills were built from recyclable or reusable materials: wood, stone, brick, canvas, metal. When – electricity producing – wind turbines appeared in the 1880s, the materials didn’t change.It’s only since the arrival of plastic composite blades in the 1980s that wind power has become the source of a toxic waste product that ends up in landfills.
By Kris De Decker, Low-Tech Magazine
Small wooden wind turbines offer additional benefits that are inherent to all decentralised power sources. The fact that they're paid for by the same people that enjoy their benefits, increases their public acceptance.
By Jeremy Leggett, Jeremy Leggett blog
On Solarcentury's 21st birthday, an interesting question occurs to me. How many Solarcenturys would it take to stave off the climate crisis, at least where energy is concerned. The answer I arrive at might really surprise you.
By Nathanael Johnson, Grist
Though there are still hurdles to leap, states basically know how to eliminate emissions from the electrical grid, said Mike O’Boyle, head of electricity policy at the think tank Energy Innovation in San Francisco.
By Maria Galluci, Grist
Community or shared solar is broadly defined as a project where multiple participants own or lease shares in a mid-sized solar facility usually between 500 kilowatts and 5 megawatts, and receive credits that lower their monthly utility bills based on how much power the facility delivers to the grid.
By Chris Nelder, Energy Transition Show
At the same time, India is busily electrifying 18,000 villages, pushing forward on the electrification of transportation, and developing demand-side technologies that together are more likely to make India one of the world’s great success stories in energy transition than one of the world’s largest upcoming carbon emitters.
By Brian Davey, Feasta
Unfortunately there appears to be little recognition that such a Green New Deal must address a much bigger set of issues than merely climate change.