Clean & renewable energy

Wind turbines

Offshore wind sites are delivering power to the grid for the first time in U.S. history

By / / Good news links

In December 2023, Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource announced that their first turbine was sending electricity from what will be a 12-turbine wind farm, South Fork Wind, 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York. Now, the joint owners of the Vineyard Wind project have announced the first electricity from one turbine at what will be a 62-turbine wind farm 15 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.

Aerial view of London and the Thames

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

By / / 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.

american public power association eIBTh DXW w unsplash

In Scotland, renewable power has outstripped demand

By / / 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.

Biogas plant in agricultural landscape.

South Korea to require producers of organic waste resources to make biogas

By / / Good news links

According to the East Asian nation’s Environment Ministry’s new biogas law, public and private industries that generate organic waste such as livestock manure and food waste will now be required to produce them in the form of biogas. Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, plant material and manure and can be used in vehicles that operate on natural gas.

Car exhaust|Traffic on a bridge

Canada to end sales of gas-powered cars by 2035

By / / Good news links

Under the new rules, electric or hydrogen-powered cars will account for 20% of new sales by 2026, 60% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. The rules mirror similar 2035 phase-out mandates in China, South Korea, the U.K. and several U.S. states, including California, New York, and Massachusetts.

Silhouette of an airplane

Denmark introduces “green tax” for sustainable aviation

By / / Good news links

Revenue from the new measure is expected to contribute to sustainable fuel use in domestic air transportation by the end of the decade, as well as a pensioner bonus increase of approximately $2.18 billion annually for those receiving the smallest benefits. The Danish government’s goal is to have the nation’s first exclusively green-fueled domestic route operating by 2025.