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Sharks and rays in a warming world

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Sharks and rays belong to a group of cartilaginous fish called elasmobranchs, which have been swimming in the world’s oceans for 450 million years. The resilient species have survived five mass extinction events, and are older than dinosaurs, trees, and Mount Everest. 

But despite their resilience, many species of sharks and rays today are threatened by human activities, including overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change.  In fact, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria, more than one third of the shark and ray species known today are severely under threat. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Biology, found that higher carbon dioxide levels were having a negative effect on sharks and rays, ranging from impacts on the animals’ senses to changes in the skeleton during embryonic development.  An examination of fossil records found that higher CO2 levels had contributed to the extinction of individual shark and ray species in the past. 

But the study also found that global warming could be creating opportunities for sharks and rays.  Rising sea levels and higher temperatures have historically expanded shallow coastal habitats and warm waters, supporting species biodiversity.

But according to the research team, the rapid environmental changes, combined with the impacts from human activities, outpace the ability of sharks and rays to adapt, making it unlikely that they will benefit from global warming.

Protecting sharks and rays is crucial not only for their survival but also for maintaining entire ocean ecosystems. Without top predators, these ecosystems could collapse, impacting both marine life and the people and industries that depend on it.

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Sharks and rays benefit from global warming – but not from CO2 in the Oceans

Myths About Sharks and Rays

Photo, posted November 27, 2007, courtesy of Laszlo Ilyes via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

La Niña has arrived

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After seven months of waiting following the end of the recent El Niño condition, La Niña finally showed up in the eastern Pacific Ocean in early December.

El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide.  Normally, trade winds in the Pacific blow west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia.  To replace the warm water, cold water rises from the depths.  During El Niño, trade winds weaken and warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the Americas.  As a result, areas in the northern U.S. and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual.

During La Niña, trade winds are stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia.  This results in more upwelling of cooler water from the depths.  This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.  During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North.

According to the report published in January by NOAA, the La Niña that has arrived is not a particularly strong one.  Sea surface temperatures are only about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit below average in the tropical Pacific.  The report also suggests that the La Niña condition may not stick around very long.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon adds a natural source of year-to-year variability in global temperatures.  The presence of La Niña for at least part of this year may temporarily keep the lid on rapidly climbing global temperatures.

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La Niña Is Here

Photo, posted November 23, 2011, courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A big year for battery storage

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A decade ago, the ability of utilities to store large amounts of electricity in batteries was basically nonexistent.  In the past several years, growth in battery storage systems has exploded.  As of the end of November, the US had about 24 gigawatt-hours of storage capacity in place.  This is 71% more than just a year ago.  Nearly half of the battery storage in the US is located in California.  Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are also leaders in deploying battery storage.

Battery storage allows solar and wind generating plants to keep operating when there is reduced demand for their output and have the electricity that they produce be available later when demand rises.  Storing this excess electricity essentially extends the hours of the day when clean energy can be used.

Equally important, the existence of battery storage reduces the need for peaker plants, the fossil-fueled power plants that only turn on at times of peak demand, such as during hot afternoons.

There are 1,000 peaker plants in the US and they are generally heavily polluting, inefficient, and expensive to operate.  Some 63 million people live within a three-mile radius of one of them and are exposed to harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.  Peaker plants also release more greenhouse gases than other power plants do for every unit of electricity they generate.

Many battery storage facilities are co-located with, or otherwise support, solar energy plants.  The amount of solar energy in the US is growing rapidly and surpassed the 100-gigawatt mark in 2024.  As solar power continues to expand, so will battery energy storage.

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Battery projects soared again in 2024

Photo, posted August 3, 2024, courtesy of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Capturing hot carbon dioxide

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Decarbonizing industries like steel and cement is a difficult challenge.  Both involve emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide both from burning fossil fuels and from intrinsic chemical reactions taking place.  A potential solution is to capture the carbon dioxide emissions and either use them or store them away.  But this sort of carbon capture is not easy and can be quite expensive.

The most common method for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial plants uses chemicals called liquid amines which absorb the gas.  But the chemical reaction by which this occurs only works well at temperatures between 100 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cement manufacturing and steelmaking plants produce exhaust that exceeds 400 degrees and other industrial processes produce exhaust as hot as 930 degrees.

Costly infrastructure is necessary to cool down these exhaust streams so that amine-based carbon capture technology can work. 

Chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a porous material – a type of metal-organic framework – that can act like a sponge to capture CO2 at temperatures close to those of many industrial exhaust streams.  The molecular metal hydride structures have demonstrated rapid, reversible, high-capacity capture of carbon dioxide that can be accomplished at high temperatures.

Removing carbon dioxide from industrial and power plant emissions is a key strategy for reducing greenhouse gases that are warming the Earth and altering the global climate.  The captured CO2 can be used to produce value-added chemicals or can be stored underground or chemically-reacted into stable substances.

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Breakthrough in capturing ‘hot’ CO2 from industrial exhaust

Photo, posted March 3, 2010, courtesy of Eli Duke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Slow-moving landslides

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Landslides are mass movements of rock, earth, or debris down a slope.  They can be initiated by rainfall, snowmelt, changes in water level, erosion by streams, earthquakes, volcanic activity, or by various human activities.  Most landslides we hear about are sudden events that can cause all sorts of calamities.  But not all landslides are rapid occurrences.  There are also slow-moving landslides.

A new study by the University of Potsdam in Germany has found that as urban centers in mountainous regions grow, more people are building homes on steeper slopes prone to slow-moving landslides.  Slow-moving landslides can move as little as one millimeter a year and up to as much as three meters per year.  Locations with slow-moving landslides can seem safe to settle on; in some cases, the movement itself can be inconspicuous or even completely undetected.

Slow slides can gradually produce damage in houses and other infrastructure and there can also be sudden acceleration from heavy rain or other influences.

The study compiled a new database of nearly 8,000 slow-moving landslides with areas of at least 25 acres located in regions classified as “mountain risk.”  Of the landslides documented, 563 are inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people.  The densest settlements on slow-moving landslides are in northwestern South America and southeastern Africa. 

In all regions of the study, urban center expansion was associated with an increase in exposure to slow-moving landslides.  As cities expand in mountainous areas, people are moving into unsafe areas, but poorer populations may have few other options.

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Slow-moving landslides a growing, but ignored, threat to mountain communities

Photo, posted March 4, 2015, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Much more energy storage for New York

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As solar and wind power play an ever-growing role in the electricity grid, the need for energy storage also grows.  Even if sun and wind can provide more energy than is needed at a particular time, they can’t provide it at all times.  The ability to store excess energy waiting in reserve for when the sun and wind are not providing it is essential to avoid the need for burning fossil fuels to take up the slack.

The New York State Public Service Commission has announced that it has approved a new framework for the state to have in place a nation-leading six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030.  This represents at least 20% of the peak electricity load of New York State.

An extensive set of recommendations to expand New York’s energy storage programs describe cost-effective ways to unlock the rapid growth of renewable energy across the state as well as to bolster the reliability of the grid.  The buildout of storage deployment is estimated to reduce projected future statewide electric system costs by nearly $2 billion.  New York has previously established goals to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040.

The new roadmap includes programs to procure an additional 4.7 gigawatts of new energy storage projects across large-scale, retail, and residential energy storage sectors across the state.  These future procurements, when combined with the 1.3 gigawatts already being procured or under contract, will allow the State to achieve the 6-gigawatt goal by 2030.

Energy storage plays a critical role in decarbonizing the grid, reducing electricity system costs, and improving the reliability of the electricity system.

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New York approves plan to add six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030

Photo courtesy of NineDot Energy.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

EV growth and oil demand

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There has been lots of talk recently about the transition to electric vehicles sputtering out.  Several automakers have delayed their EV programs citing reduced demand for the vehicles and lack of profitability.  In the bigger picture, the auto industry as a whole is in a rough patch as rising interest rates and other factors have reduced car buying.

Despite all this doom and gloom talk, sales of electric vehicles will hit an all-time high this year.  Adoption of EVs is accelerating more quickly than many people expected and government policies in China, the United States, and Europe have had a significant impact on vehicle sales.  In China, 37% of new cars sold last year were electric.  The country hit its 2025 target three years early and this year the figure could hit 45%.

But even as electric car sales rapidly increase, oil demand has continued to climb, reaching 100 million barrels a day, slightly more than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.  The International Energy Agency expects that oil demand will peak before the end of this decade, but oil consumption could remain strong for decades unless there is further policy action encouraging the transition away from it.

Some experts say that the IEA’s models don’t take into account how quickly the world is changing.  New emission rules are expected to speed the adoption of EVs and plug-in hybrids.  In addition, falling battery costs are making the economics of electric vehicles increasingly attractive.  If EV adoption accelerates more rapidly than these models predict, then oil consumption could drop much more quickly.

However, the oil industry is deeply embedded in modern life and is not likely to fade away without a fight.

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EV Sales Are Taking Off. Why Is Oil Demand Still Climbing?

Photo, posted September 9, 2020, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A common plant could be a valuable food source

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A new study by researchers at Penn State University has found that a common water plant in the eastern U.S. could be a valuable green fertilizer, a feed for poultry and livestock, and even a life-saving food for people in the event of a catastrophe or disaster.

The plant is the Carolina azolla.  It is sometimes called mosquito fern, fairy moss, or water fern. It is a water plant that grows very rapidly; it can double its biomass in two days.   There are many varieties of azolla, but the Carolina strain is more digestible and nutritious for people than any of the others.

Azolla species have been used across the world for centuries as a livestock feed and as a fertilizer.  They have not been good for human consumption because of high polyphenolic content, which can be 10 times more than that of common food plants.  Polyphenols are abundant compounds in many plants and, in low concentrations, are beneficial antioxidants.  But in high concentrations they act as antinutritional agents.

It turns out that the Carolina azolla – described as having a crisp texture and neutral taste – has a polyphenolic content comparable to many fruits, nuts, and vegetables.  Furthermore, cooking significantly decreases the polyphenolic content in foods.

Carolina azolla has significant nutritional value including high mineral yields and calories,  and moderate protein content.  Whether it is used as a quick-fix in a disaster situation or as part of a long-term resilience plan, the study concludes that Carolina azolla holds excellent potential for use as a fast-growing, short-season crop that requires minimal effort to grow and process and could be used to increase food security in a hungry world.

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Common plant could help reduce food insecurity, researchers find

Photo, posted October 8, 2020, courtesy of Dana L. Brown via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Shrinking African glaciers

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We don’t usually associate Africa with glaciers, but the continent has had glaciers on its highest peaks for the past 10,000 to 15,000 years.  Africa’s glaciers are found in three regions:  the Rwenzori Mountains along the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Kenya.  At the turn of the 20th century, there were 43 glaciers scattered across 6 peaks within the Rwenzori Mountains.  In the intervening years, things have greatly changed.

 Since the early 20th century, Africa’s glaciers have shrunk by 90%.  Because all these glaciers are close to the equator, they are especially vulnerable to warming.  According to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research: Climate, in the last two decades, Africa’s glaciers have lost roughly half their area.

This rapid decrease is alarming to climate scientists because they represent a clear indicator of the impact of climate change.  A major factor in the decline of the glaciers is the reduction in cloud cover over the mountains.  Sunshine is melting glaciers and turning ice directly into water vapor even when temperatures are below freezing.  Reductions in snowfall at the same time means that the melting glaciers are not being replenished.

Scientists believe that the tropical glaciers of Africa may all but disappear over the next 25 years.

Roughly three-quarters of the Earth’s freshwater is stored in the world’s more than 200,000 glaciers.  According to scientists, if the world reaches but maintains 1.5 degrees of warming, half of the world’s glaciers could be gone by the end of this century.  If the world continues to warm as it has been without slowing down, more than 80% of the glaciers will disappear.

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Africa’s Tropical Glaciers Have Shrunk by 90 Percent, Research Shows

Photo, posted February 26, 2022, courtesy of Ray in Manila via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Little ice on the Great Lakes

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In an average year, the Great Lakes end up about 40% covered in ice.  But this is not an average year.  2023 was the warmest year on record and, in fact, the global temperature was more than 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial average for the full year.  That hasn’t happened before.  As a result of the record-breaking warmth, as of mid-February, the average ice cover on the Great Lakes was only 5.9%.

Lake Erie and Lake Ontario tied their records for the lowest ice cover, which has been tracked since 1973.  Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior are at historic lows.  Some parts of the Great Lakes have experienced the winter without any ice cover.

The warming air temperatures have led to rapid ice loss and warming summer temperatures.  According to experts, if the planet continues to warm, more than 200,000 lakes may no longer freeze every winter and 5,700 lakes may permanently lose ice cover by the end of the century.

Studying the Great Lakes is important because their ice melt can be a significant indicator of the progress of global warming.  Decreasing ice cover can affect hydropower generation, commercial shipping and fishing, and have environmental impacts such as the development of plankton blooms.

Since the 1970s, there has been a 5% decline in Great Lakes ice cover per decade.  Unfrozen lakes bring more rain than snow which has environmental, cultural, and societal impacts.  The Great Lakes hold 21% of the world’s freshwater supply and over 30 million people depend on them for drinking water.  They are also linked to over $3 trillion in gross domestic product.

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Great Lakes Winter Ice Cover Averaging Just 5.9%: NOAA

Photo, posted November 7, 2007, courtesy of Jim Sorbie via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Pollinator-friendly solar power

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Global insect biodiversity has been in decline as a result of habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.  Restoring insect habitat is a way to reverse that trend.  Expanded use of solar energy is a critical part of mitigating climate change.  In order to meet the grid decarbonization goals the U.S. has set, approximately 10 million acres of land will be needed for large-scale solar development.  According to a new study by Argonne National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, these two efforts are complementary.

Disturbed lands such as former agricultural fields are ideal locations to install solar panels.  These lands can also be established as excellent habitats for insect pollinators and other wildlife that provide important ecosystem services.

A five-year study looked at two solar sites in southern Minnesota that were built on retired agricultural land.  The sites were planted with native grasses and flowering plants in early 2018.  Over a five-year period, the researchers conducted hundreds of observational surveys for flowering vegetation and insect communities, evaluating changes in plant and insect abundance and diversity.

The team observed increases for all habitat and biodiversity metrics.  The total insect abundance tripled, while native bees showed a 20-fold increase in numbers. 

The research highlights the relatively rapid insect community responses to habitat restoration at solar energy sites.  If properly sited, the solar sites can offset the losses of natural areas created by solar farms and actually make prime farmland more productive through the pollination services provided by habitat-friendly solar energy.

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Insect populations flourish in the restored habitats of solar energy facilities

Photo, posted February 28, 2014, courtesy of Tom Koerner/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

One in five cars will be electric this year

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There has been lots of turbulence in the electric car industry of late.  Part of it is aggressive publicity campaigns spreading misinformation and part of it is the natural fits and starts associated with major change.  But apart from the ups and downs of individual companies and countries, analysts are projecting another record year for the sales of electric vehicles and are expecting that plug-in cars will account for 20% of all car sales globally.  Much of the growth will be driven by China, where 38% of new car sales will be electric cars.

Global sales of plug-in cars are expected to grow by 21% this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.  Total projected sales are 16.7 million cars, including 1.9 million in the U.S., 3.4 million in Europe, and 9.7 million in China.  Because of the rapid adoption of electric cars in China, that country is expected to reach peak gasoline demand this year.  In other words, the use of gasoline in China will be diminishing from now on.

The auto industry is in flux.  The traditional big automakers are currently slowing down EV manufacturing as they work to come up to speed with the technology and market demand.  Meanwhile, EV-only carmakers such as Tesla in the U.S. and BYD in China are ratcheting up production. BYD is focusing on emerging economies with its lower-priced offerings.

In the U.S., EV adoption has been slowed somewhat by high interest rates and the slow rollout of EVs by the Big Three automakers.  But many new vehicles by a growing list of automakers will provide customers with more and more choices of EVs to suit diverse tastes and needs.

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This Year One in Five Cars Sold Globally Will Be an EV

Photo, posted November 18, 2023, courtesy of RL via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars And Cleaner Air | Earth Wise

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Cities are awash in microscopic soot and other pollutants from the tailpipes of vehicles.  Apart from contributing substantially to the warming of the planet, these emissions have a significant impact on human health.  Research at Cornell University has determined that the continued growth of electric cars will lead to cleaner air and reduced human mortality in most if not all U.S. metropolitan areas.

The study, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, estimated the health impact and consequential economic impact of cleaner air in American cities as a result of the transition to electric vehicles.

For example, by 2050, Los Angeles will have 1,163 fewer premature deaths annually, corresponding to $12.6 billion in economic health benefits.  Greater New York City could see 574 fewer deaths a year leading to $6.24 billion in associated economic gains.

Global sales of electric cars have grown steadily.  In 2016, they accounted for less than 1% of the market.  That share grew to 2.2% in 2018, 4.1% in 2020, and 6.6% in 2021.

In the U.S., electric cars accounted for 4.5% of sales in 2021, but in many cities, the numbers were much higher. 

These trends are likely to accelerate as a combination of government policies and major decisions by automakers drive a rapid transition to electrification.  While mitigating the effects of climate change continues to be the main driving force for that transition, the human health benefits will be a very significant reward for doing the right thing for the planet.

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Electric car sales drive toward cleaner air, less mortality

Photo, posted May 11, 2021, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Permafrost Thaw | Earth Wise

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We’ve talked about permafrost before.  It is the frozen soil, rock, or sediment piled up in the Arctic that has been there at least for two years but, for the most part, for millennia or even over a million years.  Permafrost holds the carbon-filled remains of vegetation and animals that froze before they could start decomposing.   Estimates are that there are nearly 2,000 billion tons of carbon trapped in Arctic permafrost.  To put that in perspective, annual global carbon emissions are less than 40 billion tons.

Keeping all that carbon frozen plays a critical role in preventing the planet from rapidly heating. The ongoing warming of the Arctic is causing the subsurface ground to thaw and release long-held carbon to the atmosphere.

Scientists from Europe and the US are working together to better track permafrost carbon dynamics.  They are trying to understand the mechanisms that lead to abrupt thaws in the permafrost that have taken place in some locations.  These rapid thawing events are not well understood.  Researchers are also studying the effects of the increasingly frequent wildfires in the Arctic on the permafrost.

Researchers are using satellites to better understand the effects climate change is having on the Arctic environment and how these changes, in turn, are adding to the climate crisis.  Permafrost cannot be directly observed from space, so that its presence has to be inferred from measurements like land-surface temperature and soil moisture readings.  Terrestrial observations are also necessary for understanding how greenhouse gases – both CO2 and methane – are being emitted from the Arctic.

Thawing permafrost is a ticking timebomb for the environment that demands the growing attention of the scientific community.

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Permafrost thaw: it’s complicated

Photo, posted January 24, 2014, courtesy of Brandt Meixell / USGS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Why The Arctic Is Warming So Fast | Earth Wise

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The Arctic has been warming at the fastest rate of any place on Earth.  There have long been observations of amplification of Arctic warming, meaning that its temperature increases have been well above what would be expected from the global temperature rise.

Many climate models have attributed this warming to the melting of sea ice.  As the bright white ice disappears for longer periods of the year, the dark surface waters that are exposed absorb sunlight rather than reflecting it back into space the way the ice does.  This is known as the ice-albedo feedback.  But it does not entirely explain the amount of warming in the Arctic.

Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have developed a new theory that helps to explain what is going on.

In the areas of the Arctic Ocean where there is sea ice, the water is actually warmer at depth and colder near the surface.  The deeper waters are fed by the relatively warm Pacific and Atlantic Oceans while the surface water is cooled by the ice.  The increasing temperature difference between surface and deeper water causes a greater upward flow of heat.  This was first observed in research cruises that revealed evidence that the Arctic Ocean water was becoming more turbulent over time.

According to computer modeling, this phenomenon is responsible for about 20% of the amplification of global warming that occurs in the Arctic.

There are multiple ongoing studies looking at the Arctic warming trend.  Other factors that have contributed over time are the presence of chlorfluorocarbons in the atmosphere.   That contribution is waning since the use of CFCs has been phasing out over time.

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Researchers Find New Reason Why Arctic is Warming So Fast

Photo, posted April 19, 2017, courtesy of Markus Trienke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Rapid Antarctic Melting

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The Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica is the world’s largest ice shelf, covering an area roughly the size of France.  Scientists have spent several years building up a record of how the northwest sector of the enormous ice shelf interacts with the ocean beneath it.  Their results show that the ice is melting much more rapidly than previously thought because of in-flowing warm water.

In general, the stability of ice shelves is thought to be mostly influenced by their exposure to warm deep ocean water.  But the new research has found that surface water heated by the sun also plays a crucial role in melting ice shelves.

The interactions between ice and ocean water that occur hundreds of meters below the surface of ice shelves have a direct impact on long-term sea level.  The Ross Ice Shelf stabilizes the West Antarctic ice sheet by blocking the ice that flows into it from some of the world’s largest glaciers.

When ice shelves collapse, the glaciers that feed them can speed up by a factor of two or three.  None of the collapsing shelves in the past have come anywhere close to the size of the Ross Ice Shelf, which is more than 100 times bigger.

The new study by New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research showed that sun-heated surface water flowing into the cavity under the ice shelf near Ross Islands caused melt rates to nearly triple during the summer months.  This indicates that the loss of sea ice resulting from climate change is likely to increase melt rates in the future.  While the Ross Ice Shelf is still considered to be relatively stable, the new findings show that it may be more vulnerable than previously thought.

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Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean

Photo, posted February 15, 2009, courtesy of Alan Light via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewables Taking Over In Britain

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A year-and-a-half ago, we reported on the steep decline in the use of coal in Britain, including the conversion of the giant Drax Power Station from burning coal to running on wood chips.  Since then, Britain has been steadily moving away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources.  The transformation is being driven by a surge in offshore wind farms currently under construction or about to begin operating.  Britain is in the process of adding over 6 GW of offshore wind to its current total of 8 GW.  Renewables generated one-third of the UK’s electricity last year, and half of that came from wind power. 

In 2018, coal- and gas-fired power stations generated about 131 terawatt-hours of electricity in Britain.  Renewable energy plants – including wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower – produced about 96 terawatt-hours.  Based on the new projects coming online, renewable sources could generate 121 TWh by 2020 and fossil fuel plants are likely to fall to 105.6 TWh as more coal plants are retired.  Thus, within the next year or so, renewables in Britain are likely to surpass fossil fuels in electricity generation.

The transformation in Britain has been rapid and dramatic.  In 1974, the country generated 80% of its electricity using coal.  By 2016, that number had dropped to 9%.  Last April, the British power grid went three days in a row without burning any coal.  The UK is expected to shut down its remaining coal plants by 2025, if not sooner. 

At the same time, Britain’s renewable energy capacity has more than quadrupled since 2010, jumping from 21 TWh that year to 96 TWh last year.  Britain’s energy mix is changing fast and getting significantly cleaner every year.

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Renewables Could Surpass Fossil Fuels in Britain by 2020

Photo, posted August 2, 2008, courtesy of Richard Allaway via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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