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Renewables Global Status Report 2009 Update

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The year 2008 was the best yet for renewables. Even though the global economic downturn affected renewables in many ways starting in late 2008, the year was still one to remember. As Table 1, on page 22, shows, in just one year, the capacity of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants (larger than 200 kW) tripled to 3 GW. All forms of grid-tied solar PV grew by 70%. Wind power grew by 29% and solar hot water increased by 15%. Annual ethanol and biodiesel production both expanded by 34%.

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How Much Surface Area Would It Take to Power the World Completely With Solar or Wind?

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Ever wonder how much space we would need to use to power the entire world with solar energy or offshore wind power? So did the good people at the Land Art Generator, who created two infographics that show the amount of surface area required to power our planet with renewable resources. According to Land Art Generator, 496,905 square kilometers are needed to power the world with solar energy. That's less than the surface area of Spain. And just a piece of the Sahara Desert could power all of Europe and North Africa.

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Scientists Believe the True Cost of Climate Change Is Far Higher Than Anticipated

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Scientists, led by Professor Martin Parry, the former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, are set to warn that the UN negotiations aimed at combating climate change are based on unachievable low costs. The real costs are likely to be 2-3 times greater than estimates set out by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, according to a new report published by the International Institute for Environment and Development and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London.

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Warning: Oil supplies are running out fast

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The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned. Higher oil prices brought on by a rapid increase in demand and a stagnation, or even decline, in supply could blow any recovery off course, said Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which is charged with the task of assessing future energy supplies by OECD countries.

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Community Sustainability Metrics List

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This spreadsheet was developed and revised by the SDRSP Metrics Task Force over a two year period ending in 2009. The intent was to review many other community sustainability metrics, and come up with a generic list of metrics that appeared important to measure (in a developed country). The MTF had to follow a fine line between what we thought was important to be measured and what could actually be followed and reported on to the community. We settled on a much smaller list of measures than what we wanted to include, due to several disparate reasons.

Water Shortages Rising Across the Globe, But Especially India

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Grail Research has just released a study on water shortages across the world. Fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce, and in countries like India and China that are rapidly growing, the scarcity will hit hardest as the culture moves towards consumerism. The study's findings illustrate how current reserves must be managed more effectively if scarcity is to be mitigated, but at the current rate, an estimated 3 billion people will live below the water stress threshold by 2025.

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New NDRC and Google Map Tool to Guide Solar, Wind Placement

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Where should new solar and wind power facilities go? Seems many of the best potential sites, including rugged, windswept regions in the Rocky Mountains to the sun-baked Mojave Desert, contain swathes of land legally set aside as national parks, or support what remains of an endangered species' dwindling habitat, for example.

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