Going plastic-free worldwide

There's a lot going on around the world in terms of reusable shopping bags and switching from single-use plastic to more sustainable options.

A number of communities around the world are saying 'no' to single-use plastic which is so detrimental to the environment, and are saying 'yes' to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Read the story from OnYa - “Going plastic-free worldwide.”

Is Buying Renewables Anti-American?

COUNTRIES AROUND THE world are embracing renewable energy like solar and wind power and switching from coal to natural gas. But as they plan to invest billions of dollars in such infrastructure projects, they might also have to pick a side.

With the U.S. betting heavily on natural gas and China tightening its grip on the manufacturing of solar panels, choosing one technology over the other might risk alienating – or could end up currying favor with – one superpower or the other.

In short, new solar facilities – while friendly to the global environment – could one day become seen as the anti-American choice.

Read the U.S. News and World Report story - “Is Buying Renewables Anti-American?”

Electrify Everything & Save The Planet!

Have you ever wondered why so many of the items we use on a daily basis are switching away from fossil fuel power to electricity? About 80% of the world’s GHG emissions are a direct or indirect result of extraction and burning of fossil fuels. Electricity offers a more efficient, lower-cost, and sustainable energy alternative to fossil fuel power.

Yes, we need to electrify everything.

Consumer energy technologies fall into two basic types: those that run on electricity (anything that plugs in or has a battery) and those that directly combust fuels like oil, gasoline, natural gas, or biomass. Let’s zoom in specifically on vehicles to understand the importance of electrification.

The gas-powered internal combustion engine is intrinsically inefficient. Less than a quarter of the energy consumed is used to drive the vehicle — the balance is rejected as waste heat. The preferable scenario is to choose electricity to drive our vehicles of all sizes and capacities. If that were the case, more than 90% of the energy devoted to our personal transportation would be deployed usefully. Let’s translate that in a different way. We could provide the driving potential of a gallon of gasoline by substituting as few as 8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity.

Read the story by Carolyn Fortuna on CleanTechnica - “Electrify Everything & Save The Planet!”

Making renewable energy available to low-income people

S

witching to higher cost renewable energy isn't always an option for people on low incomes — but that doesn't mean they wouldn't like to use more green power in their homes.

Listen as Fran Kelly, the Breakfast host on Radio National discusses “Making renewable energy more affordable.”