Lorraine Chow – Dutch Trains Are World’s First to Run on 100% Wind Power

The Netherlands, aka Windmill Country, is now operating 100 percent of its electric trains with wind energy. As of Jan. 1, 600,000 daily train passengers have been traveling completely carbon neutral, according to an announcement from the Netherlands’ principal passenger railway operator, NS. Dutch electric trains are running on 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of wind energy supplied by sustainable energy supplier, …

Nika Knight – China Leaves U.S. in Dust With $361 Billion Renewable Energy Investment

While climate activists in the U.S. mount a resistance to the incoming climate-change-denying Trump administration, on the other side of the Pacific, environmentalists have reason to celebrate: China on Thursday announced that it will invest $361 billion in renewable energy by 2020. Reuters reports: The investment will create over 13 million jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said …

Ruth Milka – 2016: The year solar panels became cheaper than fossil fuels

It’s finally happened. The renewable energy future has arrived. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), installing new solar panels is cheaper than a comparable investment in coal, natural gas, or other options. Solar and wind is now the same price or cheaper than fossil fuels in more than 30 countries. According to Michael Drexler, head of development investing at …

Nadia Prupis – US to Fail Paris Emissions Pledge Without ‘Fundamental Change’: Report

The U.S. is on track to miss its 2025 emissions reduction pledge agreed to in the Paris climate accord last year—because it doesn’t have the proper policies in place to meet the target, according to new research. In fact, the country is so far behind in emissions slashing that even if it implemented a slew of new clean energy programs now, it …

Ugo Bardi – A 100% Renewable World Is Possible? A Poll Among Experts

I am reporting here the results of a small survey that I carried out last week among the members of a discussion forum; mainly experts in renewable energy (*). It was a very informal poll; not meant to have statistical value. But some 70 people responded out of a total of 167 members; so I think these results have a certain …

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 12.17.15

WHAT HAPPENED IN PARIS? The new climate accord is being widely hailed as an historic turning point. Energy expert PAUL GIPE tells us why he thinks Paris will make a huge difference in RENEWABLE ENERGY and the transition to a green-powered Earth.

Paul currently works in Bakersfield, California, and describes a major victory just won in defeating a big carbon burner there. We also track the history of Denmark’s world-changing decision to go with wind power instead of nuclear, confirming the impact that Solartopian activism can have on our future.

Most of all, Paul describes the latest spectacular advances in wind and solar technologies, and how they can and will be owned by the communities that use them.

Paul’s new WIND POWER FOR THE REST OF US will be published in 2016. You can reach him at www.wind-works.org. And if you want the real story on the future of green power, don’t miss this show!

Michael T. Klare – A New World Beckons

Historically, the transition from one energy system to another, as from wood to coal or coal to oil, has proven an enormously complicated process, requiring decades to complete. In similar fashion, it will undoubtedly be many years before renewable forms of energy — wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, and others still in development — replace fossil fuels as the world’s leading …

Gaurav Agnihotri – How Much Longer Can The Oil Age Last?

History has been so fascinated with oil and its price movements that it is indeed hard to imagine our future without oil. Over the last few months, we have witnessed how oil prices have fluctuated from a 6 year low level of $42.98 per barrel in March 2015 to the current levels of $60 per barrel. It is interesting to …

Deirdre Fulton – With Renewables on the Rise, Dirty Fuels Losing Competitive Edge

Wind and solar power are “much more competitive” against dirty energy sources than they were even just a few years ago, according to a detailed global analysis published this week. In fact, according to the findings from the research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), wind power is now the cheapest electricity to produce in both Germany and the U.K., even without …