Tag - renewables

 
 

RENEWABLES

A worker inspects solar panels in Gansu Province, China, in 2013.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 16, 2024
China’s U.S. solar plants undermine domestic push, report says
The report comes amid increasing scrutiny of Chinese investment in U.S.-based manufacturing of the solar tech key to the transition away from fossil fuels.
Solar panels and wind turbines at a power plant in Hami in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. and other countries have described China’s actions against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, a key cog in the cleantech supply chain, as a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire culture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 16, 2024
How China’s dominance of solar and batteries is impacting Japan’s energy transition
China has thrown its industrial might behind cleantech, putting Japan in a tough spot as it weighs human rights concerns against its climate targets.
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, “He greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy (Japan),” would make a hell of an epitaph for Mike Cannon-Brookes. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024
An activist investor could green Japan for $700 million
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, "Greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy” would make a hell of an epitaph.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the United Nations' COP28 climate change conference in Dubai on Dec. 2. Harris and Donald Trump are poles apart when it comes to climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024
America’s coming climate election
Clearly, the positions of the two U.S. presidential candidates on the climate crisis could not be more different.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a green transformation (GX) conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Japan to discuss 10-step process for decarbonization strategy rollout
The list includes ways to make it easier for businesses to invest in carbon-free power sources such as renewable energy and nuclear power.
A Rapidus factory construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido, on July 24. The plan to ramp up renewable energy usage in the region to 60% by 2030 is part of a larger concept known as “Hokkaido Valley.”
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Aug 26, 2024
Hokkaido more plugged in to renewable energy than rest of Japan
The local government aims to raise its share of renewable energy to 60% from the current 40%, but Hokkaido's grid needs to be upgraded first.
Solar cell panels over the water surface of Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. Four countries in Southeast Asia including Thailand account for more than 40% of solar module production capacity outside of China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 21, 2024
Southeast Asia’s solar boom threatened by U.S.-China trade tension
Chinese firms that set up shop in the region over the last decade are being accused of skirting U.S. import levies on their home market.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses for a group photo with other regional leaders prior to the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) leaders meeting in Tokyo in December.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2024
Japan's energy diplomacy reflects global divide over how to reach net zero
Japan’s focus should be on advancing truly innovative and effective renewable technologies, rather than prolonging fossil fuel use.
A Plug Power hydrogen plant in Woodbine, Georgia
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 14, 2024
Why almost nobody is buying green hydrogen
Many of the projects now touted with great fanfare by countries vying to become 'the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen' will likely never get built.
Power lines on the highway between Shanghai and Suzhou, China, on Oct. 23, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 12, 2024
China rapidly expands battery fleet but needs to start using it
China’s new energy storage capacity jumped to 44 gigawatts at the end of June, a 40% increase from the start of the year.
A fisher on his way to inspect fish pens in Laguna Lake in the Philippines. About 13,000 people depend on the lake for their livelihoods, according to the Laguna Lake Development Authority.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 12, 2024
Philippines fishers worry solar farm on lake will hurt incomes
A group of fishers is opposed to the government's plan to place solar panels atop Laguna de Bay, one of the country's biggest sources of freshwater fish.
A solar farm in Dunhuang, northwest of Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China. Last year, China broke records in adding new wind turbines and solar panels. This year, it’s set on making sure people use them.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 9, 2024
China’s policy blitz shows fresh resolve to support clean energy
China's latest moves signal a change in priorities taking place in Beijing to move to cleaner energy.
A charging cable is connected to a Hyundai electric vehicle at the 2022 Busan International Motor Show in Busan, South Korea, on July 14, 2022.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 8, 2024
Seoul EV explosion sparks safety fears, prompting charging rethink
Over 700 people were evacuated and 23 hospitalized after an unplugged electric Mercedes-Benz sedan caught fire in a Seoul underground parking lot.
The shadows of workers from EKI Energy Services at a ReGen Powertech wind farm in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India, in 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 8, 2024
Climate crisis hinges on green power for those in need, study shows
Some of the poorest nations also have the world’s best solar energy potential, the report stated.
Inside TSMC’s plant in Taiwan. Chip plants, with rows of advanced equipment, require massive amounts of electricity.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 5, 2024
TSMC’s Kumamoto plant pledges to use 100% renewables despite high costs
The move is not just an exercise of corporate responsibility but also a response to demands from the chipmaker's large customers.
As metal prices rise, so do cases of theft, with more and an increasing number of metal cables being stolen from solar power plants in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Japan's solar plants see over 9,000 cases of cable theft since 2023
The survey were the first to be conducted by the National Police Agency on the situation, at a time when metal prices are rising.
Taro Kono, digital transformation minister, speaks to reporters in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 1, 2024
Taro Kono softens line against nuclear power ahead of LDP leadership race
The minister has said he now believes that the country should look to restart idled nuclear power plants ahead of a predicted rise in electricity demand.
A gas blending station for testing gas and hydrogen mixtures in Germany. The energy transition in Germany became urgent after its supply of relatively inexpensive gas from Russia ended following the Ukraine war.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / EXPLAINER
Jul 26, 2024
How Germany's hydrogen economy could transform energy use
For some, Germany's bet on green hydrogen is a gamble, but for others, it is a world-leading example.
A lone tree stands near a water trough on the outskirts of Walgett, in New South Wales, Australia, in 2018. Energy analysts said high construction costs, plus Australia's lack of nuclear expertise and abundant land and sunshine, make nuclear a less logical choice in the country.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2024
Nuclear wildcard reignites Australia's climate wars
Ahead of expected polls, the country's federal opposition has unveiled plans to slow the roll-out of renewable energy and build a network for nuclear reactors.
Homes are surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Sargent, Texas, on July 8.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2024
The great climate change wealth transfer is here
Fossil fuel profits are sky-high, as are the costs of climate change. By subsidizing oil and gas while putting tariffs on green tech, governments are making things worst.

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A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?