Green Energy

China’s Rooftop Solar Record: Emissions Fall for the First Time!

China has set an unprecedented rooftop solar installation record, leading to its first-ever decline in carbon emissions. This solar surge is reshaping the nation's energy mix and accelerating the global clean energy transition. The scale and speed of deployment are nothing short of historic.

Germany recently took a massive step forward in the country's transition away from dirty energy to clean energy. According to Electrek, the first of dozens of giant 15 megawatt wind turbines is in place at the He Dreiht wind farm in the North Sea, Germany's largest offshore wind farm under construction. The He Dreiht wind farm is the first in the world to use the 15 megawatt turbines, manufactured by Vestas.

The turbines are so powerful that just one spin of one of the rotors produces enough energy to power four households for an entire day. When the entire wind farm, all 64 turbines, is up and running, it will produce 960 megawatts, enough to power roughly 1.1 million homes. It's expected to begin operation in late 2025.

To put that in perspective, 1,100 pounds of coal needs to be burned to produce one megawatt of power for one hour (one megawatt-hour), according to FreeingEnergy. So that's 1,056,000 pounds of coal that would need to be burned per hour to match the output of the He Dreiht wind farm.

Per the Environmental Protection Agency, just one megawatt-hour worth of coal creates about 2,180 pounds of carbon pollution, one of the main drivers of the planet overheating, causing increased extreme weather.

A study conducted at a Lightsourcebp solar farm in Wellington, Australia, followed more than 1700 sheep, half of which were raised in a traditional environment and half of which were allowed to roam beneath the solar panels. The study results showed the co-location of solar farming with sheep grazing is not negatively impacting wool production, even in the case of pre-existing high-quality standards. Some parameters even indicated an improvement in wool quality, although conclusive benefits require further long term measurement.”

The findings challenge conventional assumptions about livestock welfare in modified environments, according to a report this week by the Farmingdale Observer in upstate New York. Sheep grazing between solar arrays showed no negative health impacts. Instead, researchers documented enhanced wool quality with increased fiber strength and growth rates. The solar infrastructure created microhabitats that benefited both the animals and the underlying vegetation.

“The promising results indicate we’re on the right track,” explained Brendan Clarke, acting environmental planning manager at Lightsourcebp for Australia and New Zealand. “Close collaboration with farmers remains essential as we continue to expand our knowledge in this field.”

Archived copies of the article:

• archive.today
• web.archive.org

Li-CO₂ batteries could be a two-in-one solution to the current problems of storing renewable energy and taking carbon emissions out of the air. They absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into a white powder called lithium carbonate while discharging energy.

These batteries could have profound implications for cutting emissions from vehicles and industry—and might even enable long-duration missions on Mars, where the atmosphere is 95% CO₂.

To make these batteries commercially viable, researchers have mainly been wrestling with problems related to recharging them. Now, our team at the University of Surrey has come up with a promising way forward. So how close are these “CO₂-breathing” batteries to becoming a practical reality?

archived (Wayback Machine)

For context, US oil extraction has been falling since the start of the year

archived (Wayback Machine)

related: A Critical Look at UN IPCC's Emissions Accounting

Under the agreement, the partners will evaluate the feasibility of exporting renewable energy from Vietnam to Malaysia and Singapore via a new subsea cable, wheeled into and through the Peninsular Malaysia National Grid, the consortia said in a joint statement.

As governments rush to secure supplies of the transition minerals needed, activists want a treaty with stronger governance rules

“We need to have a mandatory agreement to assess the whole value chain with transparency and traceability at the international level,” (...)

archived (Wayback Machine)

The decades-long struggle to find a permanent place to dispose of nuclear waste will continue, probably for many years to come.

Around the U.S., about 90,000 tons of nuclear waste is stored at over 100 sites in 39 states, in a range of different structures and containers.

• Nickel mining on Kabaena Island has caused severe environmental degradation, threatening the health, livelihoods and cultural identity of the Indigenous Bajo people and resulting in child deaths due to toxic sludge.
• Investigations by environmental groups revealed dangerous heavy metal contamination, deforestation and violations of environmental laws, linking the mining operations to politically exposed persons and global electric vehicle supply chains.
• Indonesia’s Environment Ministry has acknowledged the crisis, pledged enforcement and is developing restoration plans but has so far avoided criminal charges.
• Local activists and experts call for a moratorium on mining permits and stronger law enforcement, stressing that temporary fixes and economic gains must not come at the cost of human lives and ecological collapse.

archived (Wayback Machine)

"China could be on its way to becoming the world’s first major “electrostate”, with its electrification rate climbing to 30 per cent, ahead of the EU and US where electricity as a final share of energy has plateaued at about 22 per cent in recent years."

Trump, for his part, called on the Senate to pass what he calls the “one, big, beautiful bill” as soon as possible. “There is no time to waste,” the president said on his social media platform Truth Social Thursday.

Companies have invested more than $161 billion in large solar and battery storage projects since the IRA passed in 2022, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Rhodium Group.

Solar and battery storage is the fastest growing energy source in the U.S., making up 81% of expected power additions to the grid in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration.

But the tax bill would basically kill the two tax credits that have done the most to enable the surge of solar power. It terminates the investment and electricity production credits for clean energy facilities that begin construction 60 days after the legislation is enacted or enter service after 2028. This also applies to wind power, which is growing at slower place in the U.S.

Article is almost a year old, but thought it was interesting enough still.

archived (Wayback Machine)

The bill has not yet passed the Senate, so those in the USA can still call their senators about it.

archived (Wayback Machine)

The rapid uptake in the use of LFPs, which are much cheaper than traditional batteries and do not use cobalt and nickel, is sending shockwaves through the already depressed markets for those metals.

archived (Wayback Machine)