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by Martin Abbugao SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Thousands of panels glinting in the sun stretch into the sea off Singapore, part of the land-scarce city-state’s push to build floating solar farms to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It may be one of the world’s smallest countries, but the prosperous financial hub is among the biggest per capita carbon dioxide emitters in Asia. And while authorities have been pushing to change that, renewable energy is a challenge […]
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Wind and solar produced a record 10 percent of global electricity in the first half of 2020 as the world’s coal plant fleet ran at less than half its capacity, analysis published Thursday showed. Despite a near-record drop in power demand due to the pandemic, renewables accounted for 1,129 terawatt-hours in January-June, compared with 992 in the first six months of 2019, according to a report by the […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Skywatchers from Saudi Arabia and Oman to India and Singapore were treated to a rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse Thursday. Annular eclipses occur when the Moon is not close enough to the Earth to completely obscure the Sun, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible. While these types of eclipses occur every year or two, they are only visible from a narrow band of Earth each time […]
by Paulina ABRAMOVICH LA HIGUERA, Chile (AFP) — A rare total solar eclipse plunged a vast swath of Latin America’s southern cone into darkness Tuesday, briefly turning day into night and enthralling huge crowds in much of Chile and Argentina. Hundreds of thousands of people — including large crowds congregated in La Higuera in Chile, a country that hosts some of the world’s most powerful astronomical telescopes — looked to the skies captivated by the […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — California on Wednesday became the first US state to require solar panels on all new residential buildings as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The California Energy Commission said the new building standards, adopted unanimously by its members, will go into effect on January 1, 2020. “We are the first, we will not be the last,” commissioner David Hochschild said after the new mandate was adopted. “This […]
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A solar system with as many planets as our own has been discovered with the help of NASA’s Kepler space telescope and artificial intelligence, the US space agency said Thursday. “Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star,” NASA said in a statement. However, none of the planets are expected to be hospitable to life. The eight-planet […]
by Nick Perry Agence France Presse GANDHINAGAR, India (AFP) — Air pollution is diminishing India’s capacity to harness power from the sun, experts say, undermining billions being invested in renewables as the energy-hungry giant emerges as a solar superpower. New research has found the smog and dust that sickens millions across India every year is also sapping solar power generation by more than 25 percent, far beyond levels previously thought. In the first study of […]
Reuters — An autonomous robotic parasol that tracks the sun and charges itself with integrated solar panels was demonstrated this week at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin. Developed by United States-based company Shadecraft, the Sunflower’s main purpose is to provide shade just like a regular parasol. But it is also packed with connected technology including a built-in security camera, a microphone, speakers, and lights. Throughout the day the Sunflower follows the sun – […]
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse CHARLESTON, United States (AFP) — On Monday, when a total solar eclipse sweeps across the United States for the first time in 99 years, people gathering in Charleston, South Carolina, will be the last on the continent to experience it. They are ready. Historic Charleston, with its cobblestone streets and elegant antebellum mansions, was clearly a-bustle on Sunday, in full pre-eclipse mode. Its restaurants were packed and downtown parking […]
SHANXI PROVINCE, China (Reuters) — In a country where anything from chopsticks to slippers can be designed to look like pandas, one Chinese energy company is going a step further by building 100 solar farms shaped like the bears along the route of the ambitious Belt and Road initiative. Panda Green Energy Group has already connected one such 50-megawatt (MW) plant to the grid in the northern province of Shanxi, the first step in a […]
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Millions of people, from students to rocket scientists, are poised to contribute to a massive scientific effort to study the total solar eclipse that will sweep across the United States August 21. The entire country will fall into shadow as the “Great American Eclipse” passes, though the darkest path, or “totality,” will be contained in a 70-mile (113-kilometer) ribbon that moves from Oregon to […]
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (Reuters) — A student solar racing car team says its newly-created five-seater model has two purposes – to win the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) its third successive Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (WSC) and to make sun-powered vehicles sexy. Solar Team Eindhoven’s Stella Vie has fewer solar panels than its previous four-seater models – Stella and Stella Lux – but spokesperson Beatrix Bos insists this is no problem. “Even though we have one […]
