net zero

With metropolitan-borough and city councils in England and Wales already driving decarbonization initiatives, local government bodies could do so much more if given adequate powers and funding.

Almost every weekend since Easter, European generators have been paid to power down plants but some Northern European nations are experiencing record electricity prices. An energy system set up for fossil fuels is in urgent need of reform, according to Gerard Reid, co-founder and partner of Alexa Capital.

Everoze Partner Abdul Sotayo highlights some of the issues that continue to hold back progress on clean energy in Nigeria, where energy poverty remains a problem, despite the nation’s vast solar potential.

A flurry of clean energy announcements in the European Union this year bodes well for the expansion of renewables but there will be a race against time to get key legislation adopted before next summer’s European elections.

Coal-dependent Indonesia has huge solar potential but progress toward a net zero economy has been sluggish, explain Daniel Kurniawan and Fabby Tumiwa from the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), an Indonesian thinktank.

Non-synchronous renewable energy affects grid stability but storage-as-transmission (SAT) assets offer grid companies a trump card. Whether it’s “virtual transmission” in Australia, Germany’s “Grid Booster” program, or the giga-scale pipeline of projects emerging in the United Kingdom, energy storage is finding a way.

Promising to replace fossil fuel jobs with an identical number of clean energy roles in coal-dependent communities is overly simplistic and ignores the fact that communities need to be brought onside with credible expectations of better-quality employment.

Despite the ever-growing number of nations committing to attaining a net-zero economy, there appears little prospect yet of a future free of fossil fuels, as Roger Lewis, an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) expert at Downing LLP explains.

Indonesia is a coal-dependent country in which conventional power grids are problematic. The archipelagic nation is turning to floating PV (FPV) to help accelerate its energy transition. Sorta Caroline takes a look at the state of play for water-borne solar and the problems that still need to be overcome.

Tony Danker, head of the Confederation of British Industry, in January warned the UK is at risk of squandering the vast economic opportunities available to nations investing in the energy transition. Christophe Williams, CEO of solar thermal company Naked Energy agrees, and here spells out some of the urgent actions Rishi Sunak’s government must take to place solar thermal – and PV – at the heart of a green revolution.