The twentieth century way of life has been made available, largely due to the miracle of cheap energy. The price of energy has been at record lows for the past century and a half.As oil becomes increasingly scarce, it is becoming obvious to everyone, that the rapid economic and industrial growth we have enjoyed for that time is not sustainable.Now, the hunt is on. For renewable sources of energy, for alternative sources of energy, for a way of life that is less dependent on cheap energy.Â
Bloomberg Energy reported last week that the renewable energy sector in the US now employs more people than coal and is firmly entrenched in rural America where renewable energy income is keeping farmers on the land. Wind and Solar Energy are now cheaper than new coal, costing less than 100 US dollars to produce one Continue Reading →
News that the City government of LA is totally powered by renewables follows rapidly declining costs of solar electricity and advances in community owned generation models. A conference held earlier this month identified major opportunities for community based power generators using renewable energy. Reporting on the conference in South Wind, energy writer Peter Boyer wrote Continue Reading →
Recent ABC reports that India is stepping away from coal fail to understand the nuanced report by the Central Electricity Agency (CEA) that predicts falling demand for new coal power. Their report indicates that the government has overestimated general economic growth and individual demand for electricity. Despite this, the government intends to proceed with its Continue Reading →
The 53 million tyres thrown away in Australia each year may become a valuable source of energy thanks to a company that has developed a commercially viable process for producing diesel oil from the rubber. The process reduces the tyres to oil, steel, carbon black and methane gas. 100% of the material from the tyre Continue Reading →
Conservative financial publisher Bloomberg reports that 70 Gigawatts of Solar energy 70 gigawatts of solar production was installed in 2016 compared to 60 gigawatts of wind and much lower amounts of gas and coal. Solar is the cheapest form of energy in 58 developing countries where electricity prices are high. In developed countries natural gas Continue Reading →
Activist groups around the country are preparing to defend the Wangan Jagalingou lands in the Galilee Basin from coal mines. The recently approved Adani mine will provide less than 1,500 jobs and will consume 12 billion litres of water each year and create a hole in the ground 64 square kilometres in size. Direct action Continue Reading →