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Rooftop Solar Taking Off In China | Earth Wise

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The total amount of solar power generating capacity in the world has been growing rapidly.  In 2008, there was a total of only 15 gigawatts installed world-wide.  By 2012, the total was 100 gigawatts.  As of this spring, there is now 1 terawatt – that’s 1,000 gigawatts – of solar power installed in the world.   About a third of that total is in China, and solar power is really booming there.

Estimates are that China will install 108 gigawatts of solar capacity this year, which is about double the amount installed in 2021.  Much of the growth in solar in China is in the form of rooftop solar, as opposed to utility-scale solar farms.

China is aiming to have 50% of new factory rooftops carry solar installations by 2025.   By the end of next year, China’s National Energy Bureau is aiming for solar panels to cover 50% of rooftops on party and government buildings, 40% of schools, hospitals, and other public buildings, 30% of industrial and commercial buildings, and 20% of rural homes.  This new initiative will drive China’s installed solar capacity to impressive levels in the coming years.

After China, the leading installers of solar energy capacity are the European Union, the United States, and Japan. 

These figures are for generating capacity.  What ultimately matters is solar’s share of total electricity consumption.  In China and the EU, solar provides over 6% of the electricity used.  In the US, that figure is about 3.5%.  In Germany and Australia, solar power provides 10% of electricity needs.  All these numbers will continue to go up rapidly as solar installations grow.

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China Sees Rooftop Solar Take Off as New Policies Bolster Growth

Photo, posted June 17, 2022, courtesy of Nguyễn Mỹ Hoa via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Continued Renewables Growth | Earth Wise

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In 2021, the world added a record amount of 295 gigawatts of renewable power.  According to the International Energy Agency, it is on pace to surpass that amount in 2022.

Almost half of the renewable buildout in the world is taking place in China.  In 2021, China accounted for 46% of worldwide renewable energy additions.  The EU and United States are the next two leaders.  The rapid buildup is especially impressive given the challenges developers have faced from the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain issues, and various construction delays.

Predictions are that the global total added this year will be about 320 gigawatts of renewables.  This amount is equivalent to the total power demands of Germany, which is the world’s fourth-largest economy.  Solar photovoltaics are forecast to account for 60% of the increase in global renewable capacity this year. 

The rapid growth in China and the EU are driven by strong pro-renewable policies.  In our country, wrangling over climate legislation and investigations into potential trade violations by Asian suppliers have held back our progress.  But over the next several years, offshore wind will begin to have a real impact on U.S. renewable installations.

According to the report by the International Energy Agency, renewable energy growth is likely to plateau in 2023 unless stronger climate policies are enacted. 

There are now more than 3 terawatts – that’s 3,000 gigawatts – of renewable generation capacity globally.  This compares with a little over 4,000 terawatts of fossil fuel generation.  Global renewable energy generation is currently projected to surpass that of fossil fuels by 2035.

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Following Record Growth in 2021, Renewables on Track for New High in 2022

Photo, posted October 17, 2016, courtesy of B Sarangi via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Upgrading The U.S. Power Grid | Earth Wise

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The Department of Energy has launched the Building a Better Grid Initiative to accelerate the development of new power transmission lines.  The initiative aims to upgrade the nation’s grid, connect more Americans to clean electricity, and reliably move clean electricity to where it is needed most. The initiative is a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was signed into law in November.

Under the initiative, DOE will identify critical national transmission needs and support the buildout of long-distance, high-voltage transmission facilities as well as support transmission planning, financing mechanisms, transmission-related research and development, and efforts on energy justice.

DOE will deploy more than $20 billion in federal financing that includes more than $10 billion in grants to states, Tribes, and utilities to enhance grid resilience and prevent power outages.  It will also coordinate with other agencies to streamline permitting for transmission infrastructure. 

Seventy percent of the US grid’s transmission lines and power transformers are over 25 years old.  There is also insufficient transmission capacity, especially for transmission that facilitates transfer of power across regions.  The current grid is vulnerable to harsh weather and needs improved reliability.

Providing more transmission capacity in areas where it doesn’t exist today is essential for the integration of more large-scale renewable generation sources into the grid.  The national goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035 is not just about decarbonizing the generation sources.  A substantial upgrade to the transmission infrastructure is necessary and the Building a Better Grid Initiative is a major step in the right direction.

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The big upgrade to the US power grid is kicking off

Photo, posted February 2, 2020, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Big Year For European Solar Power | Earth Wise

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The installed solar capacity in the European Union grew by 34% in 2021.  This means that Europe is on pace to quadruple its solar energy generation by 2030.

During 2021, the 27 countries of the European Union installed 25.9 gigawatts of new solar capacity, compared with 19.3 gigawatts in 2020.  This was the biggest year yet for solar growth, beating out the previous record of 21.4 gigawatts set in 2011.  A gigawatt of solar electricity is enough to power about 300,000 homes, so the 2021 installations can produce enough electricity for about 8 million households.  The European Union is home to about 450 million people.

SolarPower Europe, an industry trade organization, projects that solar energy capacity in the EU will increase from the current 165 gigawatts to 328 gigawatts in 2025 and as much as 672 gigawatts by 2030.

The EU has the goal of generating 45% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, which is an important milestone in achieving climate neutrality by 2050. 

Challenges still facing the EU include obstacles to permitting, electricity grid bottlenecks, and assurance of solar panel supplies.  Much of Europe’s supply of solar panels comes from China.  The EU wants to boost its own production of solar panels to 20 gigawatts per year by 2025.

The US currently has about 113 GW of installed solar capacity and is projected to install about 300 gigawatts of new capacity over the next 10 years.

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For the European Union, 2021 Was a Banner Year for Solar Power

Photo, posted May 3, 2007, courtesy of Bernd Sieker via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Large Solar Projects In The U.S. | Earth Wise

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The United States now has over 108 gigawatts of total solar generating capacity, which is enough to power about 19 million homes.  There are more than 3 million solar installations across the country, the majority of which are residential systems.

The growth in solar power has been enormous over the past 13 years.  In 2008, the total solar capacity in the U.S. was 0.34 gigawatts.

In recent times, utility-scale solar installations have been on the rise.  At least 10 systems in excess of 100 megawatts have come online just in 2021.  These systems have been built in Georgia, Ohio, California, Texas, and Nevada.  Other large installations have come online in Virginia, Utah, Indiana, and Florida.  Overall, Texas has had the most new installations, followed by California and Florida.

The largest utility-scale solar project completed this year is the Eunice Solar Project in Andrew, Texas.  The 420-megawatt project is part of the Permian Energy Center which also features 40 megawatts of battery energy storage.

The pipeline for new utility-scale solar projects under construction includes more than 17 gigawatts, so there is strong continuing growth in the industry.

The Biden administration has proposed a blueprint for the nation to produce 45% of its electricity from solar power by 2050.  Currently, solar energy contributes about 4% of the country’s power.  Being able to produce almost half the country’s electricity from the sun by 2050 would require a vast transformation in technology and the energy industry.  Whether there is the political will and the wherewithal to achieve this remains to be seen.

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U.S. Solar Market Insight

Photo, posted March 7, 2019, courtesy of Hedgerow Inc via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Energy Storage Boom | Earth Wise

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Global energy storage deployment is increasing at a very rapid pace.  According to recent industry forecasts, there will be 12.4 gigawatts of new energy storage capacity online in 2021 breaking the previous annual record of 4.9 gigawatts set last year.

To understand these numbers, the world only reached 1 gigawatt of new capacity in a year for the first time in 2016.  Five years later, 1 gigawatt represents a good month.

Industry projections are that new global storage capacity will increase each year, reaching 70 gigawatts by 2030.

Almost all of this new storage capacity is in the form of batteries and most of that is lithium-ion batteries.  The largest battery storage facility in the world – the Manatee Energy Storage Center in Florida – is scheduled to be completed before the end of this year.  But there are other battery technologies that offer promise and there are other storage technologies apart from batteries.

Pumped hydroelectric storage is long established technology that still represents the largest amount of storage capacity in the world with more than 181 GW of capacity.  There is not much room for expansion of pumped hydro, which is limited to specific locations.   But it will be years before battery storage catches up to this total.

The United States and China have a large majority of energy storage capacity and projections are that the two countries will still have nearly three-quarters of the world’s total capacity in 2030.

With the ongoing rapid expansion of wind and solar power, the need for energy storage continues to grow and is the driving force for the energy storage boom.   It is not clear how it will all shake out, but energy storage is going to be a big deal from now on.

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Inside Clean Energy: Taking Stock of the Energy Storage Boom Happening Right Now

Photo, posted March 15, 2013, courtesy of Portland General Electric via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wind Power Update | Earth Wise

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The Department of Energy recently released three reports showing record growth in land-based wind energy, a growing number of offshore wind projects, and the continuing reduction in the cost of wind power.

The U.S. installed a record amount of land-based wind energy in 2020.  In total, 16,836 MW of new utility-scale land-based wind power capacity was added during the year, representing $24.6 billion in new wind power projects.  This was more added than from any other energy source and represented 42% of new U.S. energy capacity.

For the year, wind energy provided more than 10% of in-state electricity generation in 16 states.  Notably, wind provided 57% of Iowa’s electricity and more than 30% in Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

As wind turbines continue to grow in size and power, they are producing more energy at lower cost.  Turbine prices have gone from $1,800/kW in 2008 to $770-850/kW now.

The pipeline for U.S. offshore wind energy projects has grown to 35,324 MW, a 24% increase over the previous year.   The Bureau of Ocean Management created five new wind energy areas in the New York Bight with a total of 9,800 MW of capacity. 

Distributed wind power, which are systems connected on the customer’s side of the power meter as opposed to those on the utility side, also saw increased growth last year. 

Wind power is a key element in the adminstration’s goal of having a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035.

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DOE Releases New Reports Highlighting Record Growth & Declining Costs Of Wind Power

Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of Adam Dingley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Record Low For Lake Mead | Earth Wise

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Lake Mead is the reservoir that was formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.  The lake spans the Arizona-Nevada border.  It is the largest reservoir in the United States in terms of water capacity.  The lake is part of a system that supplies water to at least 40 million people in seven states and in Northern Mexico.

As of August 22, this year, Lake Mead was filled to just 35% of its capacity.  This low water level is happening while 95% of the land in nine Western states is under some level of drought conditions and 64% of the land is under extreme drought conditions.  A so-called megadrought has been going on for 22 years and may be the worst dry spell in the region in twelve centuries.

As of the end of July, the water elevation at the Hoover Dam was 1,067 feet above sea level, the lowest it has been since April 1937 when the lake was still being filled after dam construction.  The level has dropped by 132 feet since July 2000.  At maximum capacity, Lake Mead reaches an elevation of 1,220 feet and holds 9.3 trillion gallons of water.

With Lake Mead at 35% of capacity, Lake Powell on the Colorado at 31%, and the entire Lower Colorado system at 40%, water allocations for the coming water year are being cut back. Mexico will see a 5% reduction, Nevada will be cut 7%, and Arizona will lose 18% of its apportionment.   This unprecedented official declaration of a water shortage demonstrates the severity of the drought and low reservoir conditions.

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Lake Mead Drops to a Record Low

Photo, posted August 7, 2018, courtesy of Renee Grayson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saving Water At Power Plants | Earth Wise

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Nearly 40% of all the water taken from lakes, rivers, and wells in the U.S. isn’t used for agriculture, drinking, or sanitation.  It is used to cool power plants that produce electricity by burning fossil fuels or with nuclear reactors.   Two-thirds of these power plants use evaporative cooling, which produces huge white plumes billowing from cooling towers.

A new company using technology developed at MIT has the goal of reducing the water needs of power plants and helping to alleviate water shortages in areas where power plants strain the capacity of local water systems.

The technology is relatively simple in principle but developing it to the point where it can be applied at full scale at industrial power plants was a greater challenge. 

The basic idea is to capture water droplets from both natural fog and from the plumes from power plant cooling towers.  The MIT researchers had to improve the efficiency of fog-harvesting systems, which previously captured only 1-3% of the water droplets that pass through them.  They found that water vapor collection could be made much more efficient by zapping the tiny droplets of water with an ion beam, giving them a slight electric charge, thereby making it easy to capture them with the metal mesh of the harvesting system.

The system can essentially eliminate cooling tower plumes and produce large quantities of high-purity water in the process, which has uses at many power plants.  The new company, called Infinite Cooling, has arranged to install their equipment on two operating commercial power plants later this year.  They expect the system to reduce the overall need for water by 20%.

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Vapor-collection technology saves water while clearing the air

Photo, posted March 5, 2019, courtesy of Sam LaRussa via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Offshore Wind In New Jersey | Earth Wise

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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities recently selected to fund Ocean Wind 2, a 1,148-MW offshore wind energy project proposed by the Danish company Ørsted.  The agency also awarded Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind a contract to develop 1,410-MW of offshore wind capacity.

Ocean Wind 2 will develop the second section of the Ocean Wind federal lease area and will provide enough power for half a million New Jersey homes.  The first Ocean Wind project, also under development by Ørsted, was awarded in 2019. It’s expected to come online in 2024, and is located 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey. (The second project will be located adjacent to the first).

As part of the project, Ørsted is contributing to an expansion for the EEW facility in Paulsboro, where monopiles, which are foundation supports for offshore wind turbines, are manufactured.  That facility will be home to 500 full-time jobs and represents a $250 million investment into southern New Jersey.  The project is also bringing a commitment from GE Renewables to locate one of the country’s first offshore wind nacelle assembly facilities in New Jersey.  (This facility will assemble the nacelles for Ocean Wind 2 as well as other American offshore wind projects).

Overall, Ocean Wind 2 is expected to generate nearly $5 billion in net economic benefits for the state of New Jersey. 

The Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project will be located 10-20 miles off the coast of New Jersey between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light and will bring about $850 million in local economic benefits to the state, including a variety of investments in local communities.

Overall, New Jersey has the goal of supplying more than 3.2 million homes with offshore wind power by 2035.

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New Jersey moves forward with two offshore wind projects representing almost 3 GW of capacity

Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of TEIA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Insanely Cheap Energy | Earth Wise

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The International Energy Agency, founded in 1974, keeps track of the world’s energy systems and anticipates how they are likely to change over time.  Policymakers around the world look to the agency’s annual World Energy Outlook publication for guidance.

In 2000, the agency made the prediction that by the year 2020, there would be a total of 18 gigawatts of photovoltaic solar power installed.  Within seven years, that number was already too small.

The IEA was not the only source to miss the mark on solar power.  The head of solar analysis at BloombergNEF in 2005 expected solar to eventually supply 1% of the world’s electricity.  It is already 3% and Bloomberg now predicts that it will be 23% by 2050 and expects that to be an underestimate. 

What has happened is that the world has unexpectedly gotten to the point where solar is the cheapest source of energy in most places.  Over the past decade, every time solar production capacity has doubled, its cost has dropped by 28%.

Historically, a combination of groundbreaking research in Australia and intense Chinese industrial development led to the creation of a massive new industry.  When Germany passed laws encouraging the use of solar power, suddenly there was massive global demand and a struggle to keep up with supply.

The industry had its fits and starts, and many players fell by the wayside.    But at this point, solar technology continues to get better and cheaper.  Market forces are pretty hard to beat and when solar technology can supply insanely cheap energy, it is going to be used in more and more places.

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‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world

Photo, posted January 10, 2020, courtesy of Tony Webster via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New Records For U.S. Wind Power | Earth Wise

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Wind-powered electricity has been increasing its contribution to the American energy mix for years as the number of installed turbines has rapidly grown.  In the final months of 2020, wind power set a number of new records.  Strong wind conditions in November and December, especially in the central states, led to record output from wind turbines.

On April 10, 2019, the U.S. set a record for daily electricity generation from wind turbines in the lower 48 states by producing 1.42 million megawatthours.  That record stood until several different days during November and December.  The newest record was set on December 23 when wind generation reached 1.76 million MWh.  That constituted 17% of total electricity generation in the U.S.   For the entire year of 2020, wind power accounted for 9% of U.S. electricity generation.

Late 2020 also saw new records set for hourly dispatch of wind resources.  On December 22, between 9 and 10 pm Eastern Time, 82 gigawatts of electricity sourced from wind power was dispatched across the U.S., breaking the one-month-old previous record of 73.4 GW.  Wind power varies considerably over the course of a day.  During December, wind power across the country varied between that record of 82 GW to a low of 14.6 GW.

The contributions from wind power are expected to continue to grow.  The U.S. currently has over 112 GW of installed wind capacity.  Project developers and grid operators plan to add another 12.2 GW of new wind capacity to the U.S. grid by the end of 2021.  More than half of that new capacity will be in Texas and Oklahoma.

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U.S. wind generation sets new daily and hourly records at end of 2020

Photo, posted July 12, 2010, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New York Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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Norwegian energy company Equinor and its strategic partner bp have been selected by New York State to build several offshore wind power installations that will be one of the largest renewable energy projects in the United States to date.  When completed, the projects will provide 1,260 megawatts of offshore wind power from Empire Wind 2 and another 1,230 megawatts from Beacon Wind 1 and these will be added to the 816-megawatt project already awarded to the companies for Empire Wind 1. 

The two phases of Empire Wind are located 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island and span 80,000 acres. Beacon Wind is located 60 miles east of Montauk Point and 20 miles south of Nantucket and covers 128,000 acres.  The overall development will provide 3.3 gigawatts of homegrown, renewable electricity to New York.

The projects will comprise up to $8.9 billion in investments including $664 million provided by the state.  As part of the award from NYSERDA, the companies will partner with the State to transform two New York ports – the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and the Port of Albany – into large-scale offshore wind working industrial facilities that position New York to become an offshore wind industry hub.

In Albany, Equinor will join forces with wind industry companies Marmen and Welcon to help the port become America’s first offshore wind tower and transition piece manufacturing facility, where it will produce components for Equinor’s projects.

New York’s goal is to have 9 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035.  The Equinor projects will contribute more than one-third of that goal. 

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New York Selects Equinor for Largest US Offshore Wind Award

Photo, posted March 24, 2016, courtesy of TEIA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Largest Renewable Energy Project In The World | Earth Wise

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India has broken ground on what is planned to be the largest renewable energy project in the world:  a 30-gigawatt wind and solar power project in the state of Gujarat.

The renewable energy park will have two zones:  a 122,000-acre hybrid park zone that will accommodate 25 gigawatts of wind and solar power plants and a 57,000-acre zone entirely dedicated to wind power.  Multiple developers will be building the power plants in the hybrid zone.  A single company has been allotted the wind power zone.  The selected developers have to develop 50% of the total generation capacity in the next 3 years and finish the project in five years. The project is expected to create jobs for 100,000 people. Total investment in the project will be about $20 billion.

This is not technically a single standalone project but is rather an aggregation of multiple projects in a single general area.  Nonetheless, it represents the largest renewable energy development ever.  By comparison, the entire United States has a total of 50 gigawatts of installed solar power in large plants – which does not include any rooftop solar.  Total wind power capacity in the U.S. is a little over 100 gigawatts.  So, the 30-gigawatt Indian project is huge by any measure.

India already gets over 30% of its electricity from renewable sources, making it one of the largest renewable energy markets in the world.  The country has a goal of 60% renewable energy by 2030, amounting to 450 gigawatts of capacity.  This will require the country to double its already substantial renewable capacity in less than 10 years.  The Gujarat energy park will represent substantial progress towards that goal.

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Largest Renewable Energy Project In World Will Be 30 Gigawatt Solar–Wind Project In India

Photo, posted October 16, 2019, courtesy of Jonathan Cutrer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewable Growth During The Pandemic | Earth Wise

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According to a new report published by the International Energy Agency, global renewable energy installations will hit a record level in 2020 in sharp contrast with declines in the fossil fuel sectors caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the year, almost 90% of all new electricity generation will be renewable, with only 10% powered by gas and coal.  This progress puts green power on track to become the largest global electricity source by 2025, displacing coal-powered generation, which has been dominant for the past 50 years.  By that year, renewables are expected to supply one-third of the world’s electricity.

Solar power capacity has increased by 18 times since 2010 and wind power by four times.  In 2010, hydropower provided 77% of the world’s green power, but its share has fallen to 45% – not because there is less hydropower but because solar and wind have grown so much.

Growing recognition of the need to tackle the global climate crisis has made renewable energy increasingly attractive to investors.  According to the IEA report, shares in renewable equipment makers and project developers have outperformed most major stock market indices and the value of shares in solar companies has more than doubled in the past 12 months. Fossil fuels have had a turbulent time in 2020 as the pandemic has caused demand from transport and other sectors to plunge.

While renewables continue to see dramatic growth in electrical generation capacity, electricity represents only about one-fifth of all energy use.  The burning of fossil fuels in transport, industry, and heating continues to make up the bulk of energy emissions.

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Renewable energy defies Covid-19 to hit record growth in 2020

Photo, posted October 2, 2020, courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr. Photo credit: Clearway Energy Group.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Cost of Cleaning Up Ocean Plastic | Earth Wise

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Small island developing states increasingly find themselves with large amounts of plastic waste.  A recent study looked at the financial cost for removing it.

Aldabra Atoll is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Seychelles.  It is the world’s second-largest coral atoll and is the home of 307 species of animals and plants, including the largest population of giant tortoises in the world.  Aldabra has been called one of the wonders of the world and one of the crown jewels of the Indian Ocean.

Last year, a team from the University of Oxford and the Seychelles Island Foundation, spent five weeks removing litter that had washed up on Aldabra’s shores.  In total, they removed 25 tons of plastic litter which, to their surprise, was dominated by waste from the fishing industry.  The researchers now estimate that over 500 tons of litter remain on the island, 83% of which consists of buoys, ropes, nets, and, of all things, over 300,000 individual flipflops.  This is the largest accumulation of plastic waste reported for any single island in the world.

According to the study, the cost to clean up the entire island would be nearly $5 million, requiring 18,000 person-hours of labor.  A project of this magnitude is beyond the capacity of non-profit organizations like the Seychelles Islands Foundation.

The plastic pollution in Aldabra is related to the fishing industry in Seychelles, which provides tuna to high-income markets around the world.  The research highlights how even remote highly protected island ecosystems are impacted by global pollution and how difficult and costly it is to remedy.

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Millions of dollars to clean up tuna nets and flip flops from island state

Photo, posted December 27, 2016, courtesy of David Stanley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Recycling Solar Panels | Earth Wise

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It is inevitable that the things we make and use eventually outlive their useful lives and become waste that we have to deal with.  Solar panels, despite their impressively long lifetime, can’t escape this general principle.   As pioneering solar panels near the end of their 30-year electronic lives, they could well become the world’s next big wave of e-waste.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, nearly 90 million tons of solar panels will have reached their end of life by the year 2050, resulting in about 7 million tons of new solar e-waste per year.

Solar photovoltaic deployment has grown at unprecedented rates in recent years.  The total global installed capacity is about 600 GW today; projections are that there will be 1,600 GW by 2030 and 4,500 GW by 2050.

Solar panels contain valuable materials, including silver and high-purity silicon.  But current recycling procedures are not cost-effective.   Only about 10% of panels are currently recycled in the U.S.   The rest go to landfills or are shipped overseas to become another country’s problem.

Before solar waste becomes a major problem, the industry needs to better address the issue.  Strategies include improving the design of panels to align with recycling capabilities as well as developing new recycling methods that can more efficiently extract and purify the valuable materials in the panels.  Industry researchers are also looking into ways to repair and resell panels that are still in good condition and to repurpose old panels for less demanding functions like e-bike charging stations and housing complexes.

Like most things, solar panels do fail over time and with a rapidly growing number of them in the world, we need to figure out how to avoid them adding to the world’s problems.

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Solar Panels Are Starting to Die. Will We be Able to Recycle the E-Waste?

Photo, posted January 6, 2006, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Ocean Currents And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Oceans cover more than 70% of the earth and absorb 94% of incoming solar radiation.  As a result, oceans play a major role in the climate system.  With their massive size and capacity to store heat, oceans help keep temperature fluctuations in check.  But oceans also play a more active role.  Ocean currents are responsible for moving vast amounts of heat around the planet.  

According to a paper recently published in the journal Nature Communications, the world’s strongest ocean currents will experience more intense marine heatwaves than the global average in the coming decades.  These strong ocean currents play key roles in fisheries and ocean ecosystems.  

Sections of the Gulf Stream near the United States, the Kuroshio Current near Japan, the East Australian Current near Australia, and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current will all see more intense marine heatwaves over the next 30 years. 

Scientists from the University of Tasmania and CSIRO in Australia relied on high-resolution ocean modeling to carry out their research.  They confirmed the model’s accuracy by comparing outputs with observations from 1982-2018.  They then used the same model to project how marine heatwaves would alter with climate change out to 2050.

The model projects, for example, that intense marine heatwaves are more likely to form well off the coast of Tasmania, while more intense marine heatwaves along the Gulf Stream start to appear more frequently close to the shore from Virginia to New Brunswick, Canada. 

Marine heatwaves are on the rise globally, but knowing where they will occur and how much hotter they will be will help policymakers, ecologists, and fisheries experts in their regional decision-making. 

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Where marine heatwaves will intensify fastest: New analysis

Photo, posted April 17, 2016, courtesy of Nicolas Henderson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar On Commercial Buildings | Earth Wise

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The United States installed 3.6 gigawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity in the first quarter of this year to reach a total installed capacity of 81.4 GW.  That is enough to power about 16 million American homes.  More than 2/3 of that capacity has been installed during the past five years.  

There has been a boom in solar installations in recent years and, until the Covid-19 pandemic stuck, 2020 was expected to be the biggest year yet.  Now the unprecedented health, social, and economic conditions in our country creates great uncertainty in such forecasts.

Nevertheless, the opportunities for growth in solar power continue to be substantial.  A new report from the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie looked at the prospects for using the roof space of commercial buildings for solar power.

Currently, just 3.5% of commercial buildings in the U.S. have solar panels on their roofs.  Another 1% of those buildings are attached to solar projects located off-site.  The report looked at how many buildings are potential targets for solar projects.

After accounting for buildings that are too small or that use too little electricity to make solar power a worthwhile investment, the report estimated that 70% of commercial buildings in the U.S. – amounting to some 600,000 sites – are candidates for solar installations.  Doing this would provide 145 GW of new solar capacity, which is nearly twice as much as currently exists in this country. 

Commercial solar installations have their own unique logistical and financial challenges.  While utility solar can scale to lower costs and residential solar has financing opportunities, commercial solar has neither.  But ultimately, it represents an important opportunity for our future energy system.

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U.S. Commercial Rooftops Hold 145 Gigawatts of Untapped Solar Potential

Photo, posted June 25, 2014, courtesy of Rob Baxter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)