State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

renewable energy13

  • Tapping into Ocean Power

    Tapping into Ocean Power

    The oceans of the world are a vast unexploited source of clean, reliable and predictable renewable energy. Could this energy help replace fossil fuels and be a solution to climate change?

  • The Urgency Of Adapting To Climate Change

    The Urgency Of Adapting To Climate Change

    While ideologues continue to deny the reality of climate change, local governments do not have the luxury of indulging in the Tea Party and Koch Brothers’ favorite environmental fantasy. The impacts are real. We don’t need to shut down the economy, but we need to learn to run it without burning the place down or…

  • Putting Garbage to Good Use with Waste-to-Energy

    Putting Garbage to Good Use with Waste-to-Energy

    Burning garbage to produce electricity is a strategy for sustainable waste management that is finding favor in Europe and China. Why isn’t it practiced more in the U.S.?

  • No Free Passes: Making Renewable Energy Responsible

    No Free Passes: Making Renewable Energy Responsible

    As the world rushes to invest in clean energy, the potential impacts of these projects on the rights of local individuals and communities need to be properly addressed.

  • Solar New York

    Solar New York

    Governor Cuomo has set the goal that in less than a decade and a half, 50% of New York State’s energy will come from renewable resources. To some, that goal seems to be a stretch, but the chatter I’m starting to hear indicates we might even do better.

  • Turning Sunlight into Fuel

    Turning Sunlight into Fuel

    The world uses little more than one percent of the sun’s energy for our electricity needs. A major obstacle to tapping into its full potential is that it is intermittent. Solar fuels could one day store, transport and use solar energy to produce electricity and replace fossil fuels in vehicles.

  • California’s First In The Nation Climate Plan

    California’s First In The Nation Climate Plan

    The goal of the energy transition is to create a renewable energy system that is as effective and reliable as the current fossil fuel-based system. Microgrids provide backup capacity and vastly increase the reliability of power systems for consumers. A second goal of the energy transition is to switch off of fossil fuels and rely…

  • For Climate Change, Carbon Pricing is No Silver Bullet

    For Climate Change, Carbon Pricing is No Silver Bullet

    Many economists and policy experts believe carbon pricing is the most effective way to deal with global warming. But others argue that carbon pricing is not a silver bullet for dealing with climate change. Here’s why.

  • Quiet Moves Toward a Renewable Resource Based Economy

    The transition to a sustainable, renewable resource based economy will take decades to complete. Just as our organizations learned to incorporate occupational safety, financial reporting, performance measurement, customer relations, employment law, social media marketing and many other elements into their standard operating procedures, so too will they need to incorporate a concern for the physical…

  • Tapping into Ocean Power

    Tapping into Ocean Power

    The oceans of the world are a vast unexploited source of clean, reliable and predictable renewable energy. Could this energy help replace fossil fuels and be a solution to climate change?

  • The Urgency Of Adapting To Climate Change

    The Urgency Of Adapting To Climate Change

    While ideologues continue to deny the reality of climate change, local governments do not have the luxury of indulging in the Tea Party and Koch Brothers’ favorite environmental fantasy. The impacts are real. We don’t need to shut down the economy, but we need to learn to run it without burning the place down or…

  • Putting Garbage to Good Use with Waste-to-Energy

    Putting Garbage to Good Use with Waste-to-Energy

    Burning garbage to produce electricity is a strategy for sustainable waste management that is finding favor in Europe and China. Why isn’t it practiced more in the U.S.?

  • No Free Passes: Making Renewable Energy Responsible

    No Free Passes: Making Renewable Energy Responsible

    As the world rushes to invest in clean energy, the potential impacts of these projects on the rights of local individuals and communities need to be properly addressed.

  • Solar New York

    Solar New York

    Governor Cuomo has set the goal that in less than a decade and a half, 50% of New York State’s energy will come from renewable resources. To some, that goal seems to be a stretch, but the chatter I’m starting to hear indicates we might even do better.

  • Turning Sunlight into Fuel

    Turning Sunlight into Fuel

    The world uses little more than one percent of the sun’s energy for our electricity needs. A major obstacle to tapping into its full potential is that it is intermittent. Solar fuels could one day store, transport and use solar energy to produce electricity and replace fossil fuels in vehicles.

  • California’s First In The Nation Climate Plan

    California’s First In The Nation Climate Plan

    The goal of the energy transition is to create a renewable energy system that is as effective and reliable as the current fossil fuel-based system. Microgrids provide backup capacity and vastly increase the reliability of power systems for consumers. A second goal of the energy transition is to switch off of fossil fuels and rely…

  • For Climate Change, Carbon Pricing is No Silver Bullet

    For Climate Change, Carbon Pricing is No Silver Bullet

    Many economists and policy experts believe carbon pricing is the most effective way to deal with global warming. But others argue that carbon pricing is not a silver bullet for dealing with climate change. Here’s why.

  • Quiet Moves Toward a Renewable Resource Based Economy

    The transition to a sustainable, renewable resource based economy will take decades to complete. Just as our organizations learned to incorporate occupational safety, financial reporting, performance measurement, customer relations, employment law, social media marketing and many other elements into their standard operating procedures, so too will they need to incorporate a concern for the physical…