United Kingdom | Good News For Humankind

U.K. use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957

By Peter Schulte / January 2, 2024 / Good news links

The UK’s gas power plants last year generated 31% of the UK’s electricity, or 98 terawatt hours, according to a report by the industry journal Carbon Brief, while the UK’s last remaining coal plant produced enough electricity to meet just 1% of the UK’s power demand or 4TWh. Fossil fuels have been increasingly squeezed out of the electricity system by a surge in renewable energy generation combined with higher electricity imports from France and Norway and a long-term trend of falling demand.

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In Scotland, renewable power has outstripped demand

By Peter Schulte / January 1, 2024 / Good news links

For the first time, in 2022, Scottish renewables generated more power than the country used, new government figures show. The growth of wind power, coupled with a small drop in electricity consumption, meant that the volume of electricity produced by renewables in Scotland was equal to 113 percent of demand.

World’s first commercial-scale ocean thermal energy generator to be built off the coast of São Tomé and Príncipe

By Peter Schulte / November 14, 2023 / Good news links

The Dominique barge is designed to provide a net output of 1.5 megawatts year-round, enough to supply nearly 17% of the nation’s entire 78 million-odd kilowatt hour energy consumption. London company Global OTEC plans to begin commissioning the project in 2023.

Quick, simple blood test helps diagnose bipolar disorder

By Peter Schulte / October 26, 2023 / Good news links

The researchers from the University of Cambridge found that, on its own, the blood test could diagnose up to 30% of patients with BD, but combining it with the online psychiatric assessment significantly improved the diagnosis rate, especially in people whose diagnosis was not obvious.

Scientists in the U.K. say they may have made biggest cervical cancer treatment breakthrough in 20 years

By Peter Schulte / October 23, 2023 / Good news links

In the study by the UCL Cancer Institute, 250 women with cervical cancer received the new treatment – an intensive six-week course of carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy. Five years later, 80% of those who had received the new treatment were alive, an 8% improvement over the control group.

National Museum of Scotland returns stolen totem pole to Nisga’a people after 100 years

By Peter Schulte / October 2, 2023 / Good news links

It was a historic “rematriation” for the Indigenous nation of around 600 people in what is now known to many as Canada’s British Columbia. The return of the Ni’isjoohl pole could also set a precedent in a broader repatriation movement gaining steam around the world.

U.K. use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957

In Scotland, renewable power has outstripped demand

World’s first commercial-scale ocean thermal energy generator to be built off the coast of São Tomé and Príncipe

Quick, simple blood test helps diagnose bipolar disorder

Scientists in the U.K. say they may have made biggest cervical cancer treatment breakthrough in 20 years

National Museum of Scotland returns stolen totem pole to Nisga’a people after 100 years

World Health Organization approves second malaria vaccine for children

Pig kidney functions in human patients for two full months for first time ever

Scottish government plans trial of four-day week in civil service

Environmental leaders from 185 countries launch Global Biodiversity Framework Fund