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Solar power in Europe

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In June, solar power was the largest source of electricity in the European Union for the first time.  Solar supplied a record 22% of the power for the 27-country bloc.  At least 13 of the countries produced new monthly highs for solar power in June.  The Netherlands got more than 40% of its electricity from solar power and Greece 35%.  Other countries with record solar generation included France, Germany, and Sweden.

These solar records are for the most part a result of continuing installations of solar power in recent years as well as long stretches of hot and sunny weather.

Across the EU, nuclear power was the second largest source of electricity, followed by wind, natural gas, and hydropower.  Coal generated only 6% of the EU’s electricity, a new monthly low.  In fact, 15 countries in the EU don’t use any coal to generate electricity at all, including Austria, Belgium, and Ireland, which shut down its last coal plant in June.  All fossil fuels combined generated less than 24% of EU electricity in June, just a little more than the record low of 22.9% set in May, 2024.  Natural gas generation was somewhat higher than last year because of lower levels of hydro and wind generation.

Europe has been grappling with brutal heatwaves with triple-digit temperatures in multiple countries.  The heatwaves were, of course, accompanied by plentiful sunshine, which at least provided abundant solar power at midday, when there was the greatest demand for air conditioning.  This helped to take some of the pressure off the grid and helped to prevent blackouts.

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In a First, Solar Was Europe’s Biggest Source of Power Last Month

Photo, posted May 28, 2025, courtesy of Mike Popp via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The human footprint on Earth

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The Earth is a pretty big place, and it is easy to think that humans and their activities occupy very little of it.  But the impact of human activities on our planet continues to grow.  Recent satellite images from NASA’s Earth Observatory show the staggering extent of the human footprint on Earth.

Agriculture is a major part of it.  Farms and pastures take up almost half of the world’s habitable land – land not covered by ice or desert.  Greenhouses have recently proliferated tremendously and now cover 3.2 million acres, an area the size of Connecticut, and they even have effects on local climates.

More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, which are expanding rapidly.  Enormous cities in Asia are changing the landscape in places like Thailand and Indonesia.  Apart from taking up lots of land, many of the world’s cities are immersed in clouds of air pollution that they generate.

Greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, and temperatures continue to rise.  The effects of this on the planet are increasingly evident.  Seas are rising, ice is melting, glaciers shrink away, and wildfires continue to burn.  The massive wildfires in and around Los Angeles have made major changes in the local landscape.  Rising seas have flooded coastal wetlands and elsewhere, rivers and lakes have shrunk.

There are also human impacts visible from space that represent positive signs.  Large solar arrays supply the cheapest form of energy in most parts of the world and the number and size of solar installations are at a record high.   These solar installations provide some hope that global warming can be slowed.

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The Growing Human Footprint on Earth, as Seen from Space

Photo, posted July 28, 2012, courtesy of Beth Scupham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The year in energy

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Last year saw some major trends in the global energy sector. Perhaps the most dramatic was the shift to renewable power, which continued to outpace the projections of both financial analysts and industry experts.  2024 saw new highs in renewable installation, largely due to China, which accounted for more than half of all the solar power installed globally.  Huge solar installations also came online in California and Nevada during the year.  On the other hand, the amount of coal burning for the year also exceeded expert predictions, also largely due to China.

A second trend was increasing sales of electric vehicles, which reached a new high, although short of expectations.  A major driving force in EV sales is the dropping price of lithium-ion batteries, which fell by 20% in 2024.  Again, China was a major factor with roughly half of all its domestic vehicle sales being electric.

Coal’s decline is being slowed by the rising demand for electricity.  The increased use of electric heating and cooling along with the increasing use of EVs are major factors.  But the proliferation of energy-hungry data centers incorporating artificial intelligence capabilities is driving up the demand for power even more. 

Perhaps the clearest indication of the future for global energy comes from investors, who put about $2 trillion into clean energy last year.  That is twice as much as invested in oil, coal, and natural gas.

The history of energy has seen the Age of Coal and the Age of Oil.  By all indications, we are now heading into the Age of Electricity.

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The Year in Energy in Four Charts

Photo, posted November 23, 2024, courtesy of Mussi Katz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renewables progress

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According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, the world is on track to produce nearly half of the electricity it uses from renewable sources by the end of this decade.  The report also finds that in nearly every country, large wind and solar plants are the cheapest forms of new power.

Between now and 2030, countries will add more than 5,500 gigawatts of new renewable capacity.   That is as much as China, India, the U.S., and the EU combined have at present.  Most of the new capacity will come from solar power.

China is aggressively pursuing renewable power installations with massive solar and wind projects.  By 2030, China will account for nearly half of the world’s renewable power capacity.

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference, held in the United Arab Emirates, established the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030. 

The growth in solar power continues to outperform industry expert projections as manufacturing ramps up.  India and the U.S. are both expected to triple their solar manufacturing capacity by the end of this decade.  Manufacturing, largely based in China, is already outstripping demand.

By 2030, solar and wind power are expected to account for about 30% of global electricity generation, hydropower about 13%, and other renewables such as geothermal power about 5%.

These estimates are based on existing policies and market conditions.  Governments could speed up the shift to clean energy by cutting red tape and by making it cheaper for poorer countries to finance solar and wind projects.

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Renewables 2024

Photo, posted November 23, 2023, courtesy of Rick Obst via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Potential for floating solar

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As installations of utility-scale solar power continue to expand around the world, there is the issue of where to put them.  They do take up considerable amounts of space and, in many places, available land is at a premium.

An alternative to taking up available land with solar panels is to deploy them on the surfaces of lakes and reservoirs.  A study by researchers at Bangor and Lancaster Universities in the UK calculated the potential electrical output for floating photovoltaic installation on nearly 68,000 lakes and reservoirs around the world.  The lakes and reservoirs selected were no more than 6 miles from a population center, were not in a protected area, and didn’t dry up and didn’t freeze for more than six months each year.  The calculations were based on covering just 10% of the surface area of the bodies of water.

The calculations were evaluated country-by-country.  Five countries could meet their entire electricity needs by floating installations including Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.  Many countries, mostly in Africa, South America, and Central Asia, could get between 40% and 70% of their electricity this way.  Most European countries could only meet a few percent of their electricity needs from floating solar, but even that could be significant. 

There are other benefits to floating solar apart from freeing up land.  The panels stay cooler, making them more efficient, and reservoirs lose less water through evaporation and the growth of algal blooms is reduced because there is less light reaching the water.

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Some countries could meet their total electricity needs from floating solar panels, research shows

Photo, posted November 25, 2015, courtesy of Smabs Sputzer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore wind in the U.S. at last

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There have been large offshore wind farms in Europe for over 30 years.  Five Asian countries have had offshore wind installations for 7 years, with China now leading the world in total installed capacity.   The United States has been talking about offshore wind power for a long time and has been moving toward actually installing it in fits and starts.

As of early December, there is finally a wind turbine off the coast of eastern Long Island that has begun sending electricity onto the U.S. grid.  The South Fork Wind Farm will soon have 12 turbines generating 132 megawatts of offshore wind energy to power more than 70,000 homes.

Meanwhile, the first five turbines for the Vineyard Wind I project off the coast of Massachusetts have been installed and will be sending 65 megawatts of power to the electric grid in Massachusetts just weeks after the New York installation turned on.

Vineyard Wind I is planned to expand into a 62-turbine, 806-megawatt project when fully operational.  That is enough electricity to power an estimated 400,000 homes and businesses.

There are multiple offshore wind projects in various stages of development along the eastern seaboard.  There are also various projects in the planning stages on the west coast, where the deep seabeds require the use of much more challenging floating turbine installations.

While it is encouraging to see that offshore wind is finally happening here in the United States, it is sobering to realize that there is more than 63 thousand megawatts of offshore wind power capacity installed globally comprising more than 11,000 turbines.  We have a lot of catching up to do.

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Decades after Europe, South Fork Wind sends first commercial wind power onto US grid

First five turbines installed at Vineyard Wind 1

Photo, posted June 14, 2022, courtesy of Stephen Boutwell/BOEM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Buildings and birds

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Birds face a wide range of dangers.  Billions of them each year face violent deaths.  Concerned individuals point at such things as wind turbines, which in fact do kill hundreds of thousands of birds.  But the great majority of bird deaths are caused by cats.  And that’s a danger that isn’t going to go away.

The second largest cause of bird deaths is collisions with building windows.   Building collisions kill hundreds of millions of birds each year in the U.S. alone.  As other places have seen glass skyscrapers proliferate, such as in Chinese cites, these collisions have become a major global factor in bird mortality.

There are growing efforts across the U.S. and Canada to reduce bird collisions.  Many businesses are taking part in “lights out” programs in which their buildings dim lights during spring and fall migrations.  Some buildings now use special glass that birds can see and avoid.  Some communities even have adopted ordinances that require bird-friendly glass in new construction.  Keeping bird attractants away from windows is another important way to reduce bird strikes.  All these measures have been proven to be effective in reducing the number of bird collisions.

 Companies sell vinyl film with tiny dots that can be affixed to windows.  Both businesses and homeowners have seen substantial reduction in bird collisions with such films installed.

Bird collisions are not a new problem but is one that wasn’t really taken seriously until at least the 1970s.  There isn’t much to be done about the greatest threat to birds – namely cats – but how buildings are constructed and operated is something we can control.

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As Bird Kills from Buildings Mount, Cities Look for Solutions

Photo, posted December 24, 2017, courtesy of Nicolas Vollmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Powering Britain with sun and wind

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The United Kingdom is quite small in size compared with the US, but its population of 67 million makes it a fairly large country with substantial energy needs.  A recent study by Oxford University looked at the ability of wind and solar power to provide for those energy needs over the course of time.

According to the study, Britain’s energy needs could easily be met entirely by the two sources of clean power.  Wind and solar can provide significantly more energy than the highest energy demand forecasted for 2050 and nearly 10 times the current electricity demand. 

Britain currently requires 299 TWh per year.  The Oxford study found that wind and solar could generate as much as 2,896 TWh per year. Furthermore, the researchers stated that these estimates are intentionally conservative, taking into account concerns around land use and the visual impact of installations.

The analysis assumes that offshore wind would produce nearly three-quarters of the energy required.  Onshore wind would contribute about 7%, while taking up only 0.07% of the country’s land.  Utility-scale solar would add about 19% of the power.  The small remainder comes from rooftop solar.  The researchers do point out that the power grid would require significant upgrades to handle all this renewable energy and that there would need to be appropriate quantities of energy storage. 

According to the authors of the study, achieving these results is a question of ambition rather than technical feasibility.  So far, the UK government has not been aggressive in making the transition to renewable energy.

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Wind and solar power could significantly exceed Britain’s energy needs

Photo, posted November 4, 2021, courtesy of Steve Knight via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar Panels On Canals | Earth Wise

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There has been growing interest in installing solar panels on top of reservoirs to make use of the available space to make electricity and reduce evaporation.  There has been far less interest in installing solar on canals and aqueducts.  But that is changing and a new project in California is part of that change.

A study by the University of California, Merced estimates that 63 billion gallons of water would be saved by covering California’s 4,000 miles of canals with solar panels.  All that installed solar would generate a significant amount of electricity.

The idea is going to be tested in the Turlock Irrigation District in Central California with Project Nexus, which is the installation of solar panels over 1.8 miles of canals that are between 20 and 110 feet wide.  The panels will sit between 5 and 15 feet off the ground.  UC Merced researchers will study impacts ranging from evaporation to water quality and use the results to make recommendations with respect to wider use of the technology.

California isn’t the first place to put solar on a canal.  India pioneered it on one of the largest irrigation projects in the world.  The Sardar Sarovar dam and canal project brings water to hundreds of thousands of villages in the dry, arid region of India’s Gujarat State.

Meanwhile, the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona received funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install solar panels on their canals in an effort to save water and reduce stress on the struggling Colorado River.

The world of water infrastructure does not embrace change easily but covering canals with solar panels is an idea whose time may have come.

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Solar panels on water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren’t they widespread?

Photo, posted December 11, 2005, courtesy of Dave Parker via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renewables In China | Earth Wise

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A couple of years ago, China set an ambitious goal for renewable energy capacity – which includes wind, solar, hydroelectric, and nuclear power – for it to exceed fossil fuel capacity by 2025.  According to a recent report by Reuters, China has hit this goal two years ahead of schedule.  Renewables now make up 50.9% of the country’s power capacity.

The rapid growth in renewable capacity has largely been driven by investments in wind and solar megaprojects in the sparsely populated west of the country that export power to the manufacturing centers in the east.  China’s most recent 5-year plan calls for 570 gigawatts of wind and solar power to be installed over that period, which more than doubles its installed capacity.  The plan makes use of what it called “clean energy bases”, which utilize sandy and rocky deserts, other types of barren lands, and wastelands left behind by coal mining.  The largest clean energy bases make use of vast deserts in Inner Mongolia and Gansu.

One cautionary note is that power capacity refers to the maximum amount of electricity that a power plant can produce under ideal conditions.  Thus, for example, it refers to how much electricity a solar farm can generate at noon on a cloudless day.  So, the new figures from China don’t necessarily reveal how much electricity China is actually drawing from renewables.  In reality, China still gets a great deal of its power from coal.

China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide – more than twice as much as the United States, albeit from nearly 4 times the population.  The rapid growth of renewables is at least moving that country in the right direction.

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Fossil Fuels Now Account for Less Than Half of China’s Power Capacity

Photo, posted December 2, 2015, courtesy of IBM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Community Solar On The Rise | Earth Wise

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Community solar is a way for people who can’t put solar on their own roofs to still take advantage of its benefits.  Whether they can’t afford to install their own panels, have too much shade on their roof, or don’t even own a home, community solar is another way to participate in green energy.

Community solar – also called “shared solar” or “solar gardens” – is a kind of development in which consumers can subscribe to a large solar installation in their area and receive credits on their monthly utility bills for their share of the solar electricity produced.

The large majority of community solar installations are in six states:  Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York.  After substantial growth in community solar in 2022, New York now is the national leader, thanks to initiatives by the state government and the nonprofit sector.  Some programs focus on giving low-income households access to solar.  As of last fall, New York had over 728 community solar projects online.

One should understand that electrons are indistinguishable.  The power generated by a community solar installation is not piped directly to subscribers’ homes.  It just goes into the grid.  Subscribers get credit for their share of the power, but that is essentially a matter of bookkeeping, not physics.

The federal government now has $7 billion that can be used for community solar as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund within the Inflation Reduction Act enacted last August.  The EPA plans to award up to 60 grants to assist projects deploying residential and community solar.  Research firm Wood Mackenzie forecasts the community solar market will double by 2027.

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Community Solar Is About to Get a Surge in Federal Funding. So What Is Community Solar?

Photo, posted November 18, 2008, courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore Wind In The Gulf Of Mexico | Earth Wise

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The US has a goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.  This is an ambitious goal given that the current installed offshore wind capacity in the US is a total of seven turbines capable of generating just 42 megawatts of power.  So, there is a long way to go in a relatively short amount of time.

Since 2021, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the Department of the Interior, has held three offshore wind lease auctions, which grant rights to developers to install offshore wind in specific marine areas.  The first two auctions involve sites in the northeast, including areas in New York.  The third auction, held last December, offered sites off the California Coast – the first US sites in the Pacific.

In February, the Department of the Interior proposed a new offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.  It identified a 102,480-acre area off the coast of Louisiana, and two similar-sized areas offshore from Galveston, Texas.

The proposal is now in a 60-day period of seeking public comments before deciding whether to move ahead with the sale.  As was the case for the other lease auctions, there would stipulations associated with accepted bids including efforts to build up domestic industry for the supply chain and labor force.  There would also be requirements to establish and contribute to a fisheries compensatory mitigation fund to address any potential negative impacts to the fishing industry.

About two-thirds of offshore wind resources in the US are located in deep-water areas that will require floating platforms.  A federal program called Floating Offshore Wind Shot has the goal of developing cost-effective technology for this purpose.

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Gulf of Mexico may be next up for offshore wind leases

Photo, posted May 13, 2011, courtesy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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California has tremendous potential offshore wind resources.  The state set a preliminary target of 15 GW of offshore wind by 2045 earlier this year and may increase that number to 25 GW.  But installing offshore wind on the West Coast is much more challenging than it is on the East Coast.  The reason is that the ocean floor drops off rapidly on the Pacific Coast and it is simply not practical to attach wind turbines to the sea bottom.  Instead, floating turbine technology will be required.  That is more complicated and more expensive.

Despite the challenges, offshore wind in California is moving forward.  The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that the auction for rights to develop waters off central and northern California will be held on December 6.  This will be the first wind auction ever along the U.S. Pacific Coast.

The auction will include three lease areas in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area and two proposed areas in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area.  Combined, the two areas cover over 370,000 acres and could potentially host over 4.5 GW of wind generating capacity.  The projects developed in these areas are likely to become the first floating offshore wind projects in operation in the U.S.

Apart from the challenges of building floating wind installations, there will be the issue of the electric grid in the proposed regions being able to support the added generation from the wind farms.  Substantial grid upgrades will be needed to accommodate all the power coming from the offshore facilities.  In addition, California offshore wind projects will need to jump-start new supply chains in the U.S.

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Date is set for California offshore wind lease auction

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Prospects For Floating Solar | Earth Wise

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Countries are trying to figure out how to get enough energy from solar and wind generation to completely decarbonize their economies.  According to some estimates, nations might have to devote between half a percent and five percent of their land area to solar panels to get the job done.  Half a percent is about the amount of the U.S. that is covered by paved roads.  While there is lots of open land in many parts of the country, covering it with solar panels might not be acceptable to farmers, conservationists, or other interested parties.

One way to deploy more solar panels without using up land is the use of floating solar panels.  Floating photovoltaic systems – also known as floatovoltaics – are becoming increasingly common, especially in Asia.  This year, China installed one of the largest floatovoltaic systems in the world on a reservoir near the city of Dezhou.

Floating solar panels stay cooler and run more efficiently than those on land.  The panels also help prevent evaporation from their watery homes and the shading they provide also help to minimize algal blooms.  Solar installations on reservoirs generally puts them near cities, making it easier to feed power into urban grids.

On the other hand, floating solar systems need to be able to withstand water and waves and are generally more expensive to build than land-based systems.

At present, the installed global capacity of floating solar is only about 3 gigawatts, compared with more than 700 gigawatts of land-based systems. However, reservoirs around the world collectively cover an area about the size of France.  Covering just 10 percent of them with floating solar could produce as much power as all the fossil-fuel plants in operation worldwide.

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Solar Takes a Swim

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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.

New York Bight Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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Late in February, the U.S. completed the most successful offshore wind lease auction in history.  The auction for rights to develop offshore wind in the New York Bight brought in a record $4.37 billion from the companies bidding for them.

The New York Bight is an area of ocean off the coasts of New York and New Jersey that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has divided into six lease areas for offshore wind development.  It covers a total of 480,000 acres.  The more than $4 billion secured in the auction is more than three times the revenue received from all U.S. offshore oil and gas lease auctions over the past five years.

Five out of the six winning bids have European connections in the form of various partnerships.  Europe has a far more advanced offshore wind market than the U.S. with a total of 25 GW of installations as of 2020.  Winning bidders included participation by RWE from Germany, British-owned National Grid, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, among others.  Chicago-based Invenergy was the only American company without a European partner to have a winning bid.

The expected installed capacity for the 6 leased areas in the New York Bight is expected to be between 5.6 and 7 GW, enough to power 2 million homes.  The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said capacity could be even higher.

The successful action has set the tone and expectations for auctions to come.  BOEM has six more offshore wind auctions planned over the next three years.  Forthcoming auctions are for areas of the Carolinas, Northern and Central California, the Gulf of Mexico, the Central Atlantic, Oregon, and the Gulf of Maine.

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New York Bight: 5 takeaways from the record-breaking offshore wind auction

Photo, posted August 13, 2013, courtesy of Larry via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Batteries On Wheels | Earth Wise

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Transportation accounts for nearly a quarter of the direct carbon dioxide emissions coming from burning fuel.  As a result, electrification of transport is one of the major ways we can reduce emissions.  Increasing the number of electric vehicles over time is essential for meeting emissions targets.

But electric vehicles have the potential to do more than deliver emissions reduction; they can also provide other energy services.

More and more electric cars provide over 200 miles of driving range, but most cars are actually driven no more than 30 miles a day.  As a result, the fleet of electric cars represents a huge bank of energy stored in battery packs and mostly sitting around unused.  This presents an opportunity to leverage this resource.

Car battery packs could be used to absorb excess renewable energy generated in the middle of the day (for example from solar installations) or at night (from wind farms) and potentially then to export stored energy to power homes and support the grid.  This energy system is known as V2G, or vehicle-to-grid technology.

The University of Queensland in Australia has launched a unique international trial to see if the spare battery capacity in vehicles could be used for these purposes.  The university has partnered with Teslascope, which is an online analytics platform used by Tesla owners to track the performance of their cars.  Tesla owners wishing to be part of the study authorize the collection of their data and, in turn, receive a free 12-month subscription to the Teslascope service.  The study will collect data from Tesla owners in Australia, the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and the UK.

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Can EV spare battery capacity support the grid?

Photo, posted February 8, 2009, courtesy of City of St Pete 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.

Iron Flow Batteries | Earth Wise

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Lithium-ion batteries power computers, cell phones, and increasingly, automobiles.  They started out being rather expensive but have become dramatically cheaper over the last decade, with prices dropping about 90%.  Batteries are needed to store clean power from wind and solar generation and lithium-ion batteries are increasingly being used for that purpose as well.

Utility-scale energy storage requires substantial battery installations and battery cost is still very much an inhibiting factor in the widespread adoption of the technology.  Lithium-ion battery costs continue to drop but because they require expensive materials like lithium and cobalt, there are limits to how low their prices are likely to get.

As a result, researchers have continued to seek ways to produce batteries made out of cheaper materials.  Among the more promising technologies are flow batteries, which are rechargeable batteries in which electrolyte flows through electrochemical cells from tanks. 

Flow batteries are much larger than lithium-ion batteries and include physical pumps to move electrolytes.  They typically are sold inside shipping containers.  Clearly, such batteries are not suitable for use in vehicles, much less in consumer electronics.  Nevertheless, they represent a practical option for grid storage.

A company called ESS has developed an iron flow battery suitable for utility energy storage.  Clean energy firm CSB Energy plans to install iron flow batteries at several solar projects across the U.S. that will store enough energy to provide power 50,000 homes for a day.  According to ESS, the iron-based batteries should sell for about half the price of lithium-ion batteries by 2025 and be able to store energy for longer periods.

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New Iron-Based Batteries Offer an Alternative to Lithium

Photo, posted March 21, 2021, courtesy of Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar Power In Australia | Earth Wise

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Historically, the electricity sector in Australia has been dominated by coal-fired power stations.  Even now, coal accounts for about 60% of Australia’s electricity generation.  But since 2005, wind power and rooftop solar have led to a fast-growing share of renewable energy in total electricity generation.

Australia is the second-largest exporter of coal in the world and has proven reserves equivalent to over 1,200 times its annual consumption.  Australia is home to four of the world’s ten biggest coal mines.  But despite this abundant resource, the country is increasing its use of renewable energy.

For just a few minutes on a sunny Sunday afternoon in August, more than half of Australia’s electricity came from solar power.  Low demand and sunny skies resulted in the contribution from coal dropping to a record low of 9,315 MW while solar power provided 9,427 MW.

In 2020, 24% of Australia’s electricity came from renewable energy, up from 21% the year before.  The increase was driven by a boom in solar installation.

Australia is still a long way from meeting its commitments under the Paris Climate Change agreement.  The country ultimately needs 51 GW of new renewable energy generation by 2042 but only 3 GW of new wind and solar projects have been committed to date.

Overall, Australia has promised what has been described as the fastest energy transition in the world.  It is all very ambitious, but Australia has a lot of work to do.

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Solar power in Australia outstrips coal-fired electricity for first time

Photo, posted November 30, 2017, courtesy of D. O’Donnell / European Space Agency via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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