Strong winds in Europe push renewable energy prices negative
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy is the future, and as the technologies becomes more efficient, and as record amounts of new capacity come online they’re changing the economics of the energy industry leading some to question if oil prices will ever recover. Asides from being very hot,...
A green energy revolution in the making, electric plants bring light to homes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Every day we’re finding new ways to power our planet, but what if the plants around us could power our devices and cities, would we be more inclined to live in harmony with nature? Forget wind power. Forget solar power. What if you could...
California smashes its renewables energy record
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy still has a long way to go before it beats out fossil fuels completely but the momentum is gathering. Earlier this week the US state of California announced that on May 13th they smashed through a renewable energy milestone as its largest grid,...
Scientists have created the world’s first durable printed solar cell
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to print stable, high efficiency solar cells could one day help companies produce low cost solar panels in volume that that will reduce the cost of solar power and speed up its global adoption. Renewables, especially solar power, is on a tear...
Futurist keynote, Dubai: The Future of Minds &Machines, Dubai IAICC International Innovation Conference
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Dubai is a city that was gifted nothing, and had to build and earn everything, and it was a great honour to speak there, in a place that is rapidly becoming the very embodiment of the future. Dubai Dubai so good they named it...
China brings the world’s largest floating solar power plant online
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Solar power is on an unstoppable roll and with companies bringing new capacity online every minute of every day the future of the technology looks bright Late last week, workers switched on a solar energy plant that’s capable of producing 40 megawatts of power...
Atlanta joins 26 other US cities, commits to run entirely on renewable energy by 2035
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One by one major US cities are committing themselves to a green future and every one of them wants to run 100 percent on renewable energy by 2035. Earlier this month Atlanta lawmakers approved a resolution that puts the city on track to run entirely on...
Australia is building the world’s biggest solar farm
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF With solar technology improving in efficiency, and reducing in cost countries now seem to be racing to embrace it and the projects are getting bigger and bigger The record for the largest solar power plant keeps changing hands,. One minute it’s Africa, the next it’s...
Scientists set new solar panel efficiency record
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Solar power is now coming of age and every innovation, and every breakthrough only helps to accelerate its adoption. Turning sunlight, which is basically photons, into electricity, electrons, is a surprisingly tricky thing. While there have been experiments that have created solar arrays that can capture...
Google Project Sunroof shows off solars huge potential in the US
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over eighty percent of homes in the US could run solar panels and if you want to wean yourself off of fossil fuels then that could be great news It sounds like an obvious thing, but if you’re a company who’s selling solar panels,...
India brings the world’s largest solar power plant online
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Solar power is now the cheapest form of electricity in 58 countries, with more capacity coming online that number’s only going to get bigger China might be largest producer of solar energy in the world, but neighbouring India is equally ambitious. In the next...
New solar panels generate electricity from rain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A new range of all weather solar panels could help further reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and make renewable energy an even more attractive proposition. Solar panel technology has changed the way many people bring energy into their homes, but it’s always had...
It’s a monster, world’s largest wind turbine means business
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The cost of renewable energy is beginning to fall as the technologies mature, now the world’s largest wind turbine wants to step out from solar power’s shadow Wind energy is one of the most promising renewable energy resources in the world, right after solar...
America’s largest wind farm to be built off of the coast of New York
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over the years the uptake and roll out of wind power as a renewable energy source across America has been slow, but advocates hope that this ambitious new wind farm project will change all that. I always thought that in America it was Chicago,...
Scientists create the first carbon free supercapacitor
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Breakthroughs in supercapacitor technology will have multiple benefits, from helping to create new renewable energy grid-scale electric storage systems and faster electric vehicle charging systems. Elon Musk last year went on record to say that if anything was going to accelerate the roll out...
Google hits its ambitious 100% renewable energy target
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy is rapidly becoming the energy of choice for many countries and companies, and as output increases and costs fall, more companies are making the switch from fossil fuels By March this year all of Google’s datacentres and offices will be powered entirely...
Bright future, solar power is the cheapest form of energy in 58 countries
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We aren’t at a tipping point yet but the indicators are looking good for the future of renewable power – investment and output are up and costs are down. According to a new report from some of the world’s leading analyst organisations solar power...
France opens the worlds first solar panel road to the public
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF While there are questions about the return on investment and viability of solar panel road schemes it’s important to experiment with the technology, especially as more electronic vehicles hit the roads. France has opened what it claims to be the world’s first solar panel...
Las Vegas becomes the largest US city to run solely on renewable energy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy is gradually moving from the shadows and into the limelight with major projects underway, or already completed, around the world, now Las Vegas is the latest in a string of cities to meet all of its energy needs from renewables On Monday,...
The worlds largest solar power plant goes online in Morocco
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Energy produced from renewable sources is finally getting its day in the sun, as more, larger renewable energy installations come online the economics of renewables keep getting better and better and the only way is up. Cracked fields stretch away towards the Moroccan desert...
