Climate crisis | Good News for Humankind

World’s largest rooftop solar power plant to be built in Denmark

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

Danish solar company SolarFuture has landed the order to establish a 35 MW rooftop solar power plant at DSV’s new logistics center in Horsens. The building at DSV’s logistics center is over 300,000 m2, an area that corresponds to the world’s 5th largest building, of which the majority of the roof surface will be covered by solar panels. The establishment of the construction site has just begun and is expected to be completed in December 2024.

Utility solar dethrones coal as the cheapest power source in Asia

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

According a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie on the levelized cost of electricity for the Asia Pacific region, the cost of renewables reached a historic low in 2023. Renewable energy costs in Asia last year were 13% cheaper than coal and are expected to be 32% cheaper by 2030. Utility solar is now the cheapest power source in 11 out of 15 APAC countries. New-build solar project costs are expected to fall by another 20% by 2030.

The Dominican Republic reforests a fifth of the country in 10 years

By Peter Schulte / February 29, 2024 / Good news links

Plan Yaque, founded in 2009, brings together 30 organizations to conserve the Yaque River basin, the Dominican Republic’s lifeline. The plan’s simplicity rests in convincing landowners that reforestation is not only an ecological need but also beneficial to their well-being. By 2019, Plan Yaque and other environmental efforts have restored 18 percent of damaged land, ranking as Latin America’s second-largest land recovery.

Aerial view of large electrical power plant with many rows of solar photovoltaic panels for producing clean ecological electric energy in morning

South Australia fast-tracks 100% renewables target to 2027

By Peter Schulte / February 28, 2024 / Good news links

The South Australia state government says it has fast tracked its target of “net 100%” renewables to 2027 – rather than 2030 – as a result of the state’s new wind and solar developments and its ambitious hydrogen plans. “Net” 100% renewables means producing enough wind and solar to meet the annual demand figure.

Birds eye view of tropical rainforest deforestation. An earth mover removes trees which are then burnt

E.U. Parliament votes to criminalize most serious cases of ecosystem destruction

By Peter Schulte / February 27, 2024 / Good news links

The European Union has become the first international body to criminalize the most serious cases of environmental damage that are “comparable to ecocide.” Ecosystem destruction, including habitat loss and illegal logging, will now be punished with tougher penalties and prison sentences. Member countries will have two years to put the updated directive into national law.

96% of all new power capacity in the U.S. in 2024 will be carbon-free

By Peter Schulte / February 23, 2024 / Good news links

In 2024, the U.S. power industry is choosing clean energy for almost all its new capacity additions. The latest federal forecast for power plant additions from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows solar sweeping with 58% of all new utility-scale generating capacity this year. In an upset, battery storage will provide the second-most new capacity, with 23%. Wind delivers a modest 13%, while the long-delayed final nuclear reactor at Vogtle in Georgia will add 2% of new capacity.

U.K. quits treaty that lets fossil fuel firms sue governments over climate policies

By Peter Schulte / February 22, 2024 / Good news links

The U.K. will quit the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT) after efforts to align it with net zero emissions plans failed. The treaty allows fossil fuel investors to sue states for lost profit expectations in an opaque corporate arbitration system set up to protect fossil fuel investors in the former Soviet economies in the 1990s.

Turkish scientists develop “bumpy” solar panel concept that can harvest up to 66% more energy

By Peter Schulte / February 18, 2024 / Good news links

Solar cell efficiency may get a bump from bumps. New research from Turkey’s Abdullah Gül University suggests that building tiny domes into the surface of organic solar cells could boost their efficiency by up to two-thirds, while capturing light from a wider angle.

Denver will now pay residents who commute on bikes

By Peter Schulte / February 17, 2024 / Good news links

The city’s new Bicycling Rewards Program aims to encourage community members to ride a bike instead of driving. The program comes as a response to the city’s lagging climate goals. According to Denver Streets Partnership, transportation was responsible for 30% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, and this incentive is part of a larger research project to see what motivates locals to ditch their cars.

Super Bowl 58 first to be fully powered by renewable energy

By Peter Schulte / February 11, 2024 / Good news links

This year’s Super Bowl was the first ever to be fully powered by renewable energy, thanks to the host stadium’s agreement with a solar farm. More than 621,000 solar panels found in a barren area of the Nevada desert help power Allegiant Stadium, home to the Las Vegas Raiders and host of Super Bowl LVIII. According to CBS News, the Les Vegas stadium entered into a 25-year agreement with NV Energy to buy power from its new solar installation.