Countries who limit emissions will gain much more than they lose

Countries stand to gain more than they would lose in economic terms from almost all of the actions needed to meet an agreed global warming limit of no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, according to a paper published by two research institutes at the London School of Economics. It is the latest research to underscore the apparent economic gains from limiting …

A world powered 100% by renewable energy is no fantasy…it’s happening

So much power was produced by Denmark’s windfarms on a Thursday in July this year that the country was able to meet its domestic electricity demand and export power to Norway, Germany and Sweden. On an unusually windy day, Denmark found itself producing 116% of its national electricity needs from wind turbines yesterday evening. By 3am on Friday, when electricity demand dropped, …

Dallas jumps Houston as top green power government

The City of Dallas has yanked the title of top green power user from Houston, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA on Monday said the City of Dallas is now the largest local government user of green power in the nation, taking the top spot away from the City of Houston, which still ranks second above the District …

African Development Bank’s new president wants to bring electricity to the poorest parts of the continent within a decade and says he can mobilize $55 billion a year to make it happen.  “That money is there,” Adesina said in a phone interview. “Today Africa generates $540 billion in tax revenue per year. If you take 10 percent of that and devote …

Tanzania to bring solar electricity to 1 million homes by 2017

A funding round of $25 million was recently raised by Off-Grid Electric to grow its African micro-solar leasing efforts. The majority of the funds came from DBL Partners, though other investors included SolarCity, Western Technology Investment, Omidyar Network, Serious Change LP, and Vulcan Capital. Off-Grid’s new funding will be used in Rwanda and Tanzania to bring clean light sources to areas where there are …

Demand for Cooling is Rising Fast

The world faces a looming and potentially calamitous “cold crunch”, with demand for air conditioning and refrigeration growing so fast that it threatens to smash pledges and targets for global warming.  From The Guardian UK. Worldwide power consumption for air conditioning alone is forecast to surge 33-fold by 2100 as developing world incomes rise and urbanisation advances. Already, the US …

GreenWave Charts Path from Commercial Fishing to Aquatic Agriculture, Starter Packages and Guaranteed Purchase of Products for 5 years

For the full article on GreenWave, which was selected from a pool of 400 entries representing work being done in 136 countries for a $100,000 award, see: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/oct/22/greenwave-ocean-farming-bren-smith-fuller-challenge-sustainability-climate-change Prior to starting GreenWave, Smith worked a variety of commercial fishing jobs “all over the globe”, including long lining for McDonald’s in the Bering Sea and “sliming” in Alaska canneries. In his …

Juneau Considers Shift to 100% Clean Transportation, Makes Steps

Following is an excerpt from RMI’s E-Lab Accelerator.  Read the full article at http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_10_20_driving_the_rain_electrifying_transportation_in_juneau_alaska Juneau—Alaska’s tiny capital with a population of 32,000—sits at the base of the Juneau Icefield, and the Mendenhall glacier. “The Glacier,” as it is known there, is an icon that draws hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world. Unfortunately, it is melting at an alarming …