State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Tag: solar power3

  • The Race for Better Batteries

    The Race for Better Batteries

    The worldwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way, but to integrate all this variable power into the grid, battery storage is key. Researchers around the world are working on developing better and cheaper batteries.

  • As a Leading Environmental Organization Closes, Its Leader is Upbeat

    As a Leading Environmental Organization Closes, Its Leader is Upbeat

    Lester Brown, the global environmental leader, turned 81 this year and is closing The Earth Policy Institute, the environmental research organization he founded in 2001. His new book “The Great Transition” asserts that the world is shifting from fossil fuels to solar and wind energy.

  • The Greening of China

    The Greening of China

    China became the world’s largest carbon polluter in 2006, surpassing the U.S. But it is also rapidly going green through cutting coal use, investing heavily in renewable energy and launching the world’s largest carbon trading system.

  • Solar Power Lights Up New Business in Uganda Village

    Solar Power Lights Up New Business in Uganda Village

    One-hundred twenty light bulbs were switched on in Ruhiira for the first time last year, using the innovative Shared Solar system installed by the Millennium Villages Project (MVP). The impact on villagers’ lives has already been tremendous.

  • Osmotic power — prospect of sustainable energy, or water liability?

    Today, Statkraft, a company in Norway, opened the world’s first osmotic power plant—a model of a sustainable energy system which uses osmosis to harness the energy of fresh water’s natural movement toward salt water through a membrane. The idea for power generated through the movement of water, due to osmosis through a specially designed membrane,…

  • The Race for Better Batteries

    The Race for Better Batteries

    The worldwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way, but to integrate all this variable power into the grid, battery storage is key. Researchers around the world are working on developing better and cheaper batteries.

  • As a Leading Environmental Organization Closes, Its Leader is Upbeat

    As a Leading Environmental Organization Closes, Its Leader is Upbeat

    Lester Brown, the global environmental leader, turned 81 this year and is closing The Earth Policy Institute, the environmental research organization he founded in 2001. His new book “The Great Transition” asserts that the world is shifting from fossil fuels to solar and wind energy.

  • The Greening of China

    The Greening of China

    China became the world’s largest carbon polluter in 2006, surpassing the U.S. But it is also rapidly going green through cutting coal use, investing heavily in renewable energy and launching the world’s largest carbon trading system.

  • Solar Power Lights Up New Business in Uganda Village

    Solar Power Lights Up New Business in Uganda Village

    One-hundred twenty light bulbs were switched on in Ruhiira for the first time last year, using the innovative Shared Solar system installed by the Millennium Villages Project (MVP). The impact on villagers’ lives has already been tremendous.

  • Osmotic power — prospect of sustainable energy, or water liability?

    Today, Statkraft, a company in Norway, opened the world’s first osmotic power plant—a model of a sustainable energy system which uses osmosis to harness the energy of fresh water’s natural movement toward salt water through a membrane. The idea for power generated through the movement of water, due to osmosis through a specially designed membrane,…