Everything we do needs energy. The type of energy we use shapes the world around us, from how clean is the air we breathe, to how shock-proof our economies are.A rapid transition in energy use is at the centre of solving climate breakdown. The world still uses coal, oil and gas for over 80 percent of its energy needs. But the rise of renewable energy around the world is beating all expectations. Meeting climate targets means more than just having lots of solar panels and wind turbines, though – it means leaving fossil fuels in the ground, and radically reducing the amount of energy used in high-consuming countries and groups of people.
Story of change
Reclaiming power: The rapid rise of community renewable energy and why the added benefits of local, clean power can help accelerate transitionRenewable energy is on the rise. It made up more than a quarter of global electricity generation (27%) in 2019 and is outpacing all other energy sources’ growing capacity. Nevertheless, it is...
A rapid transition to clean and lower energy use can bring jobs, a wide range of health benefits, cleaner air and a more stable climate. Evidence shows that where communities own and develop renewable energy schemes the benefits spread more broadly and any problems are more easily overcome. It’s around energy that some of the most rapid and promising changes are happening right now.
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Commentary
The need and opportunity for green recovery & why we need ecological interest ratesIf the Chancellor can get his carbon sums right, he can help save the economy and the climate together – the CEE Bill and an ecological interest rate...
Commentary
The most efficient way to decarbonise may not be what many thinkThe most outstanding successes of decarbonisation policy in China, India, Brazil and Europe have come from targeted investment policies, including...
Story of change
The jump to pumps: how Finland found an answer to heating homesHow to heat homes and workplaces without relying on fossil fuels is one of the more difficult challenges for moving rapidly to zero carbon economies. Within...
Reset series
The joy of slow travelOne of the clearest signs of the global pandemic disrupting the rhythm of everyday life was in changes to travel. As people largely stayed at home, they...
Story of change
The Great Switch – lessons from when 14 million homes and businesses changed fuel in less than a decadeIn 2019 the UK’s official advisor, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), warned that the nation’s homes were ‘unfit for the challenges of climate...
Story of change
The Great Staycation – how the coronavirus pandemic could push a rapid transition to creative domestic holidaysIn the Northern hemisphere, summer is arriving and many families are deciding what to do for their holidays; trying to balance concerns about their finances...
Commentary
The gas price crisis – in a hole, stop digging, here’s how to climb out…Does it seem odd that in a gas price crisis, there are people arguing we should dig ourselves deeper into the grip of that particular fuel? We’ve been...
Story of change
The dash away from gas: how the Netherlands kicked a big fossil fuel habitOne of the biggest problems in making a rapid transition away from fossil fuels is because whole industries become dependent on them and infrastructures get...
Story of change
The cooling, cleansing power of canopies – urban tree planting takes rootFrom the London borough of Hackney and Barcelona in Spain, to Freetown in Sierra Leone, increasing the number of trees in cities has been shown to be an...