Renewable Energy

Denmark has announced a massive project; building a giant island in the North Sea, providing enough energy for 3 million households.

The project, which has been given the green light by Denmark's politicians, could be up to the size of 18 football pitches (or 120,000sq m), with hopes to be able to make it three times that size (460,000sq m).

The 'energy island' which would be a hub for 200 giant offshore wind turbines would be situated about 80km (50mi) out at sea, with ownership being split with at least half being owned by the state.

This will be the biggest contraction project in Danish history, estimated to cost in the region of 210 billion Danish kroner (€28bn; £24bn: $34bn).

It has been announced that it will not only supply electricity to Denmark, but to other neighbouring countries' electricity grids too. However, which countries these may be have not yet been announced.

The planned start date is earmarked for 2033, although a Danish green group, Dansk Energi, has doubted whether the island would be up and running by this planned date.

The plant substance capsaicin makes chilies hot and it makes solar cells more effective, as scientists from Sweden and China have now discovered: capsaicin is said to minimize power loss and make solar cells more resistant to water. They have processed capsaicin in a perovskite solar cell.

This type of solar cell is seen as the hope for a new generation of photovoltaic systems. They are easy to manufacture with inexpensive materials. Adding the chili ingredient increased the solar cell's efficiency from 19.1 to nearly 22 percent.

New electricity from Hamburg's roofs: Hamburg will be the first German state to introduce mandatory photovoltaics from 2023. Starting in two years, corresponding systems must be installed on new buildings or roofs that are being fundamentally renovated. The generated solar power is expected to save over 60,000 tons of CO2 by 2030.

According to experts, renewable energies such as wind and solar power covered almost half of Germany's electricity consumption this year.

This means that the share of green electricity has continued to rise, compared to 42.5 percent in 2019. According to preliminary calculations by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) the share of electricity from wind, photovoltaics, biomass and other renewable energy sources made up around 46 percent of gross electricity consumption.

One of the reasons for this shift, however, is the lower electricity consumption, in particular as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the Port of Hamburg, ballast stones with electrothermal energy storage systems can store renewable energy from wind or sun in the form of heat. The project, in which Siemens Gamesa and the Technical University of Hamburg, among others, have been involved since June 2019, is called ETES. ETES stands for Electro-Thermal Energy Storage and could be used in the future to become independent of weather conditions. This would make it possible to draw on the energy generated even when the sky is overcast or there is no wind.

The Filipino Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has announced a moratorium on endorsements for greenfield coal-powered plants.

Instead, the government will pursue natural gas as a major source of energy, not just for power generation but also for industrial, commercial and household sectors.

However, with the coal-based projects that are already in the works and proposals already submitted to the government not covered by the moratorium, coal is set to remain the dominant power source for years to come.

Cusi stated that "We see that we have enough supply for baseload power and we're looking at a more flexible source like gas, geothermal, hydro and others,".

Japan will aim to become carbon-neutral by 2050, said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in his first policy speech since taking office in September. The country emitted 1.24 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2018.

Environmental groups have criticized Japan in the past for its slow progress in cutting emissions. This new commitment was commented by Greenpeace as "precisely the kind of action the world needs" while cautioning that it must be met by the policy.

Following a visit by Cop26 president-designate Alok Sharma, president Moon Jae-in has announced that South Korea will commit to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “By replacing coal power generation with renewable energy, we will create new markets and industries and create jobs,” he said.

Earlier this year, Moon presented plans for a Green New Deal investing $37 billion in clean energy, green infrastructure and electric vehicles by 2025. A further $7 billion investment in carbon-cutting measures was announced last week.

International Energy Agency has reported that solar is now the cheapest form of electricity for utility companies to build.

In their report, they claim that risk-reducing financial policies around the world have benefited this development and underlines the importance of these for the future development of renewable energy sources.

A study led by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research observed a reduction of 71.9% of bird deaths from turbine collisions if one of the three blades was painted black. The study was conducted at the Smøla wind farm, along the West Norwegian coast.

Bård Stokke, one of the study's lead authors, stated: "Our hope is therefore that these measures, given their positive effects on birds and the fact that they are relatively simple and low cost, will be used in future wind energy developments both in Norway and abroad."

Under the leadership of the African Union the three in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) involved countries Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt have announced that they'll continue negotiations over the management of the dam.

The water and foreign ministers of the countries have agreed "to work on unifying the texts of the agreements submitted by the three countries" according to the water ministry of Sudan.

Apple has announced the self-commitment to become a carbon-neutral company for all products it produces and its supply chain, stating that the company is already carbon neutral worldwide in regards to its corporate emissions.

The communicated date to hit the goals is 2030 and Apple aims to achieve this by reducing its emissions by 75 percent and in addition using technology to remove carbon from the environment. These "innovative carbon removal solutions" will be developed by Apple themselves with the aim to close the remaining 25 percent of carbons.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that "climate action can be the foundation for a new era of innovative potential, job creation, and durable economic growth. With our commitment to carbon neutrality, we hope to be a ripple in the pond that creates a much larger change".

The city of Sydney has announced that it has begun switching 100% of the electricity for the city to energy from renewable sources. According to the official announcement on the cities website they struck a deal to purchase energy from three different generators in New South Wales that is equivalent to 100% of the city's usage. The electricity comes in 3/4 from wind generation and 1/4 from solar generation and will be added to the electricity grid of the city.

Since the 1st of July, the city has started getting electricity from these generators with the aim of completing the switch to getting 100% of the cities electricity from these sources in 2021.

According to the energy company EDP its Sines coal power plant will be shut down in 2021, accelerating the original 2023 shutdown plans. This will make Portugal the third country in the European Union to end the energy production from coal-fired power plants.

EDP has stated that they are "now evaluating the development of a green hydrogen production project in Sines" and are "committed to fulfill all labor obligations towards the 107 workers at the plant".

The Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Dr. Seleshi Bekele has announced that the country has started filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. He later stated on his Twitter account that "The inflow into the reservoir due to heavy rain fall and runoff exceeded the outflow and created natural pooling.This continues until overflow is triggered soon".

Talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan had ended with no agreement as Ethiopia aims to become a large energy supplier for its' population and generate revenue by exporting the surplus, while Egypt fears that the Nile will provide too little water for the country.

The ride-sharing provider Lyft has announced that it plans on transitioning to electric or zero-emission vehicles by 2030. They stated that "100 percent" are the goal and according to the co-founder and president, John Zimmer "Now more than ever, we need to work together to create cleaner, healthier, and more equitable communities". Lyft did not close how much the project will cost.

The Spanish Government has proposed a new energy plan to surpass the efforts made by the European Union. The goal is to cut greenhouse gas reductions by 20 percent compared to 1990, which would be six points higher than the requirement of the European Union. In addition, Spain aims to revoke all fracking permits after 2040, ban the registration for CO2-emitting vehicles by 2040 and in the same year abolish all subsidies for fossil fuel emissions.

Unilever Plc has announced that it plans to invest one billion euros over the course of ten years into a fund for climate change projects. The goal is to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions for the entire product offering to zero by 2039. The projects include reforestation and water preservation.

With a decreased electricity demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic of 15-20%, the United Kingdom has hit the milestone of two months without the need for coal based energy. In addition to the decreased demand renewable energy sources have generated and contributed more electricity than ever before.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) has published a report called "Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019". The organization concludes that "Since 2010, the cost of energy has dropped by 82% for photovoltaic solar, by 47% for concentrated solar energy (CSP), by 39% for onshore wind and by 29% for wind offshore".