Some positive news amid the negativity.
Unless, of course, you are an oil and coal stalwart.
What part excites you most?
Concerns you?
Renewables ramping up.
With news of Keystone and tar sands and coal-crazy China, it's easy to think that renewable energy is going nowhere, but we'd be wrong. Between 2008 & 2012, the U.S. nearly doubled its renewables capacity. And in the first 3 months of this year, 82% of newly installed domestic electricity-generating capacity was renewable. Plus, installed capacity of new solar units during the first quarter of this year is more than double that of same period last year.
Globally, 13 countries now get 30% or more of their electricity from renewable sources. And Germany—with cloud cover worse than Alaska's—gets 21% of its electricity from renewables. In 2010, Germany, which is slightly smaller in size than Montana, produced about half the world's solar energy. That could depress you, or, it could remind us of the vastness of untapped potential. In April, at the first Pathways to 100% Renewables conference in San Francisco, I heard scientists declare that there's absolutely no technical obstacle to our planet's reaching 100% renewable energy in a few decades. Abetting the process, the cost of renewables is plummeting worldwide—that of electricity from large solar power plants fell by more than half, from $0.31 per kilowatt-hour in 2009 to $0.14 in 2012. Wind wows. Denmark's wind energy alone provides about 30% of the country's electricity, making it the world leader as ranked by the share of a country's electricity that wind power provides.
And U.S. wind power? We're 2nd only to China among the world's wind energy producers, with wind power equal to about 10 nuclear power stations or 40 coal-fired power stations. Growing up in oil-centric Texas, I would have been the last person to predict my home state's leadership. But in the 1990s 8 utility companies brought groups of citizens together to learn & to think through options. By the end of the process, they'd ranked efficiency higher than when they began, & the share of those willing to pay for renewables & conservation increased by more than 60%. Apparently, the utility companies listened:
If Texas were a country, it would now be the world's 6th ranking wind energy producer.
Cities, states, countries pledge to go clean: Eight countries, 42 cities, and 48 regions have shifted, or are committed to shifting within the next few decades, to 100% renewable energy in at least one sector (like electricity, transportation, or heating/cooling). In California, San Francisco, Lancaster, & San José have officially set their goal at 100% renewable electricity within the next decade. And if you're thinking, "Oh yeah, that's just California": Greensburg, Kan., set its goal at 100% renewable power for all sectors after the town was wiped out by a tornado in 2007. Colorado's target is 30% renewable electricity by 2020, a standard that's helped spur success—especially when it comes to wind. And Vermont's energy plan is set to get the state to 90% renewable energy in all sectors by mid-century.
And whole countries? Iceland already gets 100% of its electricity from renewables—three-quarters from large hydro and 25% from geothermal. In Costa Rica, it's about 95%—mainly from hydroelectric (which it's working to diversify), along with wind, biomass, & geothermal. Costa Rica's sights are set on becoming the world's first carbon-neutral country in time for its 2021 bicentennial. Absorbing more carbon will speed it along, so Costa Rica's forestry-financing agency is working with landowners to plant 7 million trees on cattle and coffee farms in the next few years. Monaco, Norway, New Zealand, & Iceland are also shooting to become the first carbon-neutral country. And Ethiopia unveiled plans to become a middle-income carbon-neutral country by 2025.
Citizens clobber coal.
Just since 2005, as part of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, citizens across the country have stopped more than 165 coal plants from opening & successfully pushed for the retirement of more than 100 existing ones. The campaign aims to retire one third of America's remaining 500 coal plants by 2020. And if you're not registering how important this is, consider that coal accounts for more than 1/3 of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Forests forever.
In India, ten million families take part in roughly 100,000 "forest-management groups" responsible for protecting nearby woodlands. Motivation is high, especially for women, because firewood still provides three-fourths of the energy used in cooking. Working collaboratively with the Indian government, these groups cover a fifth of India's forests; and they're likely a reason that India is one of the few countries in the world to enjoy an increase in forest cover since 2005.
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