How China Won the Clean-Energy Race
NEW YORK – In the coming weeks, the US Congress could cement China’s lead in the clean-energy race by passing the Republican Party’s “big, beautiful bill,” which, among other things,…
Solar Energy
Mojave Desert Solar Power plant scam in California should teach a lesson or two to political leaders at the Centre and in States in India
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Minister of Finance Dear Smt Sitharaman, Kindly refer to my letter of 23rd November 2024 on the recent indictment of the Adani Group by a US District Court…
Unleashing Solar Power’s Bright Future
Co-written by Fatih Birol and Ajay Mathur PARIS – Solar power has been the star of the clean-energy transition, delivering major benefits for the climate, the cost of living, and…
Brazil’s Climate Push Must Start at Home
AMSTERDAM – Ever since Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023 and told the world that Brazil is “back on the world stage,” the government…
Gavin Newsom’s War on Rooftop Solar Is a Bad Omen for the Country
California Governor Gavin Newsom appears to be taking climate change seriously, at least when he’s in front of a microphone and flashing cameras. His talk then is direct and tough.…
China’s Lightning-Fast Renewable Triumphs
A few years ago, China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry shook hands on a pledge to triple renewable energy by 2030. China took the challenge…
How a Neighborhood Co-op Started by Teens Helped Communities Around the U.S. Adopt Solar Power
The nonprofit Solar United Neighbors (SUN) is one group working to help communities move away from fossil fuels toward solar power. In our time of climate crisis, there is an…
Are PLI beneficiaries importing solar panels from China violating the law of the land? Calls for an investigation
To Shri Bhupinder Singh Bhalla Secretary (MNRE) Govt of India Dear Shri Bhalla, I understand that the government has given subsidies to solar companies under the somewhat contentious Production Linked Incentive…
Budget announcement on solar rooftops are welcome- More important to move away from centralised solar power plants
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, I welcome your statement in the latest Budget Speech on solar rooftops ("Through rooftop solarization, one crore households will be enabled to…
SELCO Illuminates Dark Lives in India
Little did Harish Hande know that the trip to Dominican Republic in conjunction with his doctoral thesis at the University of Massachusetts, would dramatically change his worldview and vocation forever.…
Agrivoltaics: The Farm-to-Solar Trend That Can Help Accelerate the Renewable Energy Transition
Using the same land for the production of both agriculture and solar energy is a win-win for the climate and farmers. Access to solar power is increasing in rural parts…
A Realistic ‘Energy Transition’ Is to Get Better at Using Less of It
Being an early adopter of solar technology has given me personal insight into some of the practical limitations and difficulties of the energy transition. In 2022, I authored two articles expressing doubts about…
US and China cooperation In building and linking super-grids
Asian and North American super-grid interconnection can represent the capstone of global renewable energy development There is a path for renewable energy cooperation through the development and then interconnection of…
Virtual Power Brightens the Future
Imagine the impact of a United States white-glove clean power system with costs benefits to individual homeowners in a Virtual Power Plant network (VPP) extending coast-to-coast with every household, en…
Is the Energy Transition Taking Off—or Hitting a Wall?
With the Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government is illogically encouraging the increasing use of fossil fuels—in order to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The passage of the Inflation Reduction…
Promote decentralised solar electricity generation
Letter to the Prime Minister Subject: Promotion of decentralised solar electricity generation, in preference to large centralised solar generation projects To Shri Narendra D Modi Prime Minister Dear Shri Modi,…
Sustaining the Unsustainable: Why Renewable Energy Companies Are Not Climate Warriors
In the fight to address climate change, renewable energy companies are often assumed to be Jedi Knights. Valiantly struggling to save the planet, wind and solar interests are thought to…
The Gritty Reality of Solar Power
by Priti Gulati Cox and Stan Cox Time is fast running out. The world’s affluent nations, with their abundant greenhouse emissions, have to finally drag themselves across the starting line…
Pavagada solar plant shines, but at what cost?
Last year, BJP and Congress quarrelled over who was responsible for establishing Asia’s largest Solar Plant at Pavagada Taluk in Tumkur district of Karnataka. BJP claimed the largest solar park…
Solar is now ‘cheapest electricity in history’, confirms IEA
The world’s best solar power schemes now offer the “cheapest…electricity in history” with the technology cheaper than coal and gas in most major countries. That is according to the International…
After George Floyd’s Murder: Social and Ecological Justice Converge
The visceral reaction to the murder of George Floyd unleashed deep personal reflection about racism, social justice, and fairness, and launched a powerful, broad based social movement. The pursuit of…
SMART? – Solar In Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (“DOER”) will finalize by July 15 regulations doubling the size of MA SMART solar photovoltaic program from 1,600 to 3,200 megawatts (MW). On the surface…
Our Photovoltaic Future: The Metabolic Revolutions of the Earth’s History
Illustration from the recent paper by Olivia Judson on "Nature Ecology & Evolution (2017) "The Energy Expansions of Evolution". Olivia Judson published a very interesting paper this March on "Nature Ecology & Evolution".…
Clean Solar Energy, Brings Light To Kenya’s Villages
Picture a small village somewhere in rural Kenya. Darkness has fallen and there is no light to even go to the fields to relieve yourself. The only succour are kerosene…
Renewable Electricity: Falling Costs, Variability, And Scaling Challenges
Costs to utility companies from the introduction of distributed solar PV are somewhat balanced by the fact that added solar capacity helps reduce the strain on electric grids on summer…
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