In 2021 We Reached 85% Renewable Energy Across Our Business And Announced Renewable Energy Projects Across 18 Countries
Our first solar projects in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates came online, and we announced new projects in Singapore, Japan, Australia, and China. Our projects in South Africa and Japan are the first corporate-backed, utility-scale solar farms in these countries.
We also announced two new offshore wind projects in Europe, including our largest renewable energy project to date. As of December 2021, we had enabled more than 3.5 gigawatts of renewable energy in Europe through 80 projects, making Amazon the largest purchaser of renewable energy in Europe.
Curiosities About Solar Energy
Use of solar energy is near a solution. This was the headline in the New York Times on 4 April 1931. It turned out to be a premonition, since, 80 years later and electricity is being supplied to millions of human beings in the world from renewable energies such as solar. Humanity has now declared its readiness to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, conscious of the finite nature of fossil fuels and their prejudicial effects on the environment as the main cause of global warming.
As the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda chimed in El Sol: I am a man of light, of so much rose, such predestined clarity, I will die from shining.
Solar energy, on the other hand, will never die of shining, since the Sun still has 6.5 billion years of life according to NASA. Indeed, in rather less time, solar technology in some countries has evolved to compete with conventional sources of electricity generation. In just a few decades time, it will become the major part of a sustainable energy system for the world.
Additionally, the conditions for the development of solar energy could not be more perfect: the Sun bathes the Earth hourly with enough light and heat to fulfill global needs for a whole year in other words, solar radiation can satisfy our energy needs 4,000 times over.
As the publication Renewable Energies Info estimates, the Earths surface receives 120,000 Terawatts of solar irradiation, which represents 20,000 times more power than the whole planet needs.
Wind Energy For Greenhouses
Wind turbines used to produce electricity from wind have the potential to produce a large portion of the average power needs of a greenhouuse, however must be located in high wind . Coastal and mountainous areas and the Central Plains typically experience higher average wind speeds and are thus more attractive as generating sites. Wind maps have been compiled for all regions of the US and these maps are useful for a first approximation of the average wind speed at a given. However, local topology, vegetation, and building structures significantly affect the average wind speed. Where possible, use local wind speed measurements to determine whether a site is appropriate for wind generation. Currently, an average wind speed of 9 mph for small wind generators and 13 mph for large generators is considered necessary for the economical use of wind power.
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The Energy Transition: Momentum Builds Daily
The change is happening across America, in business sectors and society.
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Its an undeniable fact. The energy transitionaway from fossil fuels and toward wind, solar, electrified transport, and efficient buildings and industryis well under way.
From our vantage point, its easy to see. But unless you are a part of the industry helping create the future of clean energy, or one of a fast-growing number of leaders already advocating for change, the details and pace of the transition are likely opaque.
Sure, utilities are marketing their intentions to lower carbon emissions, more leading corporations are committing to using 100% renewable energy, and governors in some of our most populous states are doing the same. All around us, there are more electric vehicles on the road and more solar panels on rooftops.
Yet the wave of change is still forming, and how that wave is gaining momentum is, on the surface, incredibly complex. Its like three-dimensional chess.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the transition is behavioralthe choices we make from the highest levels of government, to our local communities, and finally in our everyday lives at home and at work.
Accelerate was created to help illuminate the energy transition in ways that are both tangible and accessible to broad audiences. As youll see, were doing more than building momentum. Were actively improving the future for generations to come.
What Is Solar Energy
Solar energy is that produced by the Suns light photovoltaic energy and its warmth solar thermal for the generation of electricity or the production of heat. Inexhaustible and renewable, since it comes from the Sun, solar energy is harnessed using panels and mirrors.
cells convert sunlight directly into electricity by the so-called photovoltaic effect, by which certain materials are able to absorb photons and liberate electrons, generating an electric current. On the other hand, solar thermal collectors use panels or mirrors to absorb and concentrate the Suns heat, transferring it to a fluid and conducting it through pipes to use it in buildings and installations, and also for electricity production .
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What Makes Solar Energy Green Is Solar Energy Really All That Green
The energy sources we use have their history rooted in the sun5: coal, oil, natural gas, and wood. Today, science promises us green energy harvested from the sun using solar panels. But what makes solar energy green?
Global energy consumption is rising. By the middle of our century, scientists predict that our energy needs will have doubled. About 80% of global electric power comes from fossil fuels – usually from burning petroleum, coal, oil, and natural gas.
The negative impact of using these fossil fuels on our environment is broad. First off, energy producers extract this fuel from below ground level, which requires mining and drilling.
This process often results in contamination of water bodies. Pollution is common. Further, the refinement process also releases toxic gases1, known as greenhouse gases, into the environment. The presence of these gases in our atmosphere contributes to what we know today as climate change.
We must also consider transportation costs. Further emissions can be added due to energy burnt transporting these fuels to consumers. This happens across the globe.
Of course, as end consumers, we burn fossil fuels. Providing energy to our homes, cars, and factories also produces greenhouse gas emissions, as does burning fossil fuels to generate electricity used in the home.
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About Apex Clean Energy
Apex Clean Energy is a leading independent power producer in the U.S., with over 30GW in its diversified renewables portfolio. Apex develops, constructs, operates, and owns utility-scale wind, solar, energy storage, and green fuels facilities across North America.
Apex conducts a robust project design and optimization phase to identify the optimal efficacy of solar technologies for inverters, racking, modules, and energy storage. This often leads to technologically complex projects which pair the best products available in line with constructability constraints and market opportunity.
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Just How Renewable Is Solar Energy Examining This Clean Power Source
In any given hour, the sun sends down enough energy in the form of to power our entire planet for a whole year.1 And since NASA expects the sun to be around for another 4.5 billion years, Earth will enjoy plenty of sunlight for a long, long, long time.
Because solar can quickly be regenerated and is literally always available without needing eons of production time , solar energy is renewable by every possible traditional definition. In fact, its the fastest growing renewable energy source in the market today in terms of acceptance, technology, and electricity generating capacity.2
However, some environmental and sustainability advocates express concerns about the expansion of the solar power industry. Specifically, they have issues with the materials and processes involved in the creation of the solar panel technology used to generate electricity.
Our goal with this article is to make the case that solar power truly is renewable energy by facing those constructive criticisms head-on. Because if were going to combat climate change, decrease global warming, and reduce our carbon footprint by decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels, the solar industry has to be a committed leader.
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Biomass Energy For Greenhouses
Biomass is fuel that is developed from organic materials, a renewable and sustainable source of energy used to create electricity or other forms of power. Bioenergy is carbon neutral electricity generated from renewable organic waste that would otherwise be dumped in landfills, openly burned, or left as fodder for forest fires. Biomass can be made from agricultural and forestry residues and some industrial wastes and crops grown solely for energy purposes.
Biomass Boilers and Furnaces
Biomass boilers and furnaces can be divided into two main groups: those that require manual stoking, or loading, and those with automatic stoking . Manually stoked boilers and furnaces are generally fueled by cordwood or waste wood, while automatic-stoking boilers and furnaces can handle a wide variety of biomass, including wood chips, wood pellets, biomass pellets , paper pellets, and grains
Biomass System Design
Biomass systems are customized to the growers needs and conditions in order to fully utilize the advantages of the biomass concept: auger sizing, types of screening used, burn capabilities and most importantly the size of the boiler required. Biomass boiler system manufacturers generally size the units to 60 percent of the total capacity needed to heat the greenhouse in question.
Components of Biomass Systems
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Challenge: Integrating Advanced Solar Technologies
New technologies such as bifacial and storage are becoming increasingly common in the U.S., offering a step change in operational efficiency through the sector. However, solar stakeholders are navigating fresh uncertainty around hardware tariffs and significant global supply chain volatility, driving asset owners to use these technologies effectively to add value to their portfolios.
According to the NREL, bifacial modules â which generate electricity on both sides of the panel â may already comprise up to 50% of installed U.S. capacity. There have been question marks around the industryâs capability to utilize innovative module designs fully.
Storage is another strong area of growth for the solar sector, holding the key to a wider roll out of photovoltaic technology. At present, there are still issues around managing charge and discharge cycles in a coordinated way with regard to the interconnection limits, market power prices, and grid congestion.
The effective integration of bifacial solar projects and solar plus storage has been hampered by a lack of high-quality albedo data â a measure of reflectance â and accurate sub-hourly time series data. This may lead to widespread underperformance, reducing investor confidence in the technologies.
How Sustainable Is Solar Energy
Measuring how sustainable solar energy is means using a life-cycle assessment for all of its environmental impacts. What is the effect of solar power plants on land-use patterns and habitat loss? How much fresh water is used in the production of solar panels? What is the source of the energy used to produce solar panels, and how much greenhouse gas do they emit? How are the raw materials extracted, and how renewable or recyclable are those materials? And perhaps most importantly, how do all those assessments compare to the alternatives? For example, it may be more sustainable to produce solar panels in an area of the world with low levels of solar insolation and install them in areas where lots of the suns energy reaches Earth , unless each of those areas contain fragile ecosystems or the transportation of materials halfway around the world involves burning more fossil fuels than the panels replace.
Its worth remembering that all energy on Earth comes from the sun. Ideally, the most sustainable use of that energy is the one that is most efficient at converting the suns energy to usable final energy with the least environmental impact. While fossil fuels are energy-dense, they do not contain a lot of solar energy that plants converted using photosynthesis during the Carboniferous period. This makes them far and away the least efficient source of energy, independent from their environmental impact.
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‘people Don’t Want Them’
In Montcalm County, northwest of Lansing, voters recently rejected wind turbines in three townships and derailed a major wind project.
“People don’t want them,” said Erik Benko, who is the administrator of a Facebook group opposed to the wind farms and who recently won election as one of two trustees in the county’s Sidney Township. At least seven elected officials have been recalled in the area this year, including one in Sidney Township in May.
Residents in southern Ingham County townships are pressuring local officials to change rules to restrict wind turbines in an effort to stop what would be the next big wind project in the state, the Kalamink wind project.
Leroy, Stockbridge, Ingham and Wheatfield townships cover much of the hundreds of acres sought by Apex.
The proposed wind farm would generate 300 megawatts of electricity a year, enough to power 72,000 homes and on its own would make Ingham County the fourth-largest generator of wind energy in Michigan. The developer, Apex Clean Energy, points to a similar project in Isabella County, which it expects to generate $100 million in rental payments to farmers and $31 million in local taxes over 20 years.
Construction on Meridian Wind began in early 2021 and the next big wind projects in Montcalm or Ingham counties have been either rejected or are being actively opposed.
What Are The Two Main Disadvantages Of Solar Energy
The two main disadvantages of solar energy production are high initial cost and weather dependency.
The investment required for even a small project is high, and it will take years before a solar panel pays for itself, at least seven and often more. As the industry grows, however, costs will come down, and panels become more affordable. Also, running costs are minimal, with little in the way of a maintenance program needed.
Solar panels dont currently work at night and inefficiently when there is cloud cover. That is inevitable and means an inconsistency of supply. On the other hand, they dont rely on clear blue skies and bright sunshine to function, though that is when they will generate the most power. Using multiple renewable energy sources goes a long way to resolve this problem, but advances in electricity storage are also helping.
Storage is the long-term answer, and, as we have already seen, battery technology is moving forwards all the time. Recently, the auto industry has embraced the electrification of transportation, which has driven an advance in the ways that batteries are designed and used. Moving forward, it is easy to see that power storage solutions will boost the adoption of renewable energy sources.
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What Makes Solar Energy Green
Solar electricity is about as clean as it gets. No energy source is completely clean. Unlike fossil fuels, the suns beams do not emit toxic compounds to generate energy. There are no carbon emissions or pollutants when the suns power is harnessed for energy, and nothing hurts the environment.
However, photovoltaic panels, which turn light into power, must be made. This consumes energy and raw materials, and some processes produce toxic consequences. Silicon tetrachloride, produced when polysilicon is created from metallurgical-grade silicon, is a famous example of these byproducts.
Although the technology exists to recycle and render such trash harmless, not all manufacturers are willing to invest in the pricey equipment. This problem can be alleviated by better rules, incentives, and regulations.
While this is true, solar energy is still far more environmentally friendly and clean than non-renewable energy sources. As a result, it is one of the most viable clean, renewable energy options. Its also very conceivable that in the not-too-distant future, well be able to make the process completely green.
Solar energy is becoming more widely used. Its scalability is one of the reasons for its appeal. While solar farms are becoming more common worldwide, the millions of tiny individual arrays on homes and commercial land are also important.
Visit our blog page to learn more about what makes solar energy green.
Renewable Energy In Morocco
| This article needs to be . The reason given is: Desertec is pretty much dead in water and belongs to History section. Morocco itself together with its international partners such as World Bank is investing in CSP and renewables in general. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. |
As of 2019, renewable energy in Morocco covered 35% of the countrys electricity needs.
Morocco has a target of sourcing more than half of its electrical energy from renewable sources by 2030 and a plan to have 2,000 MW of wind and 2,000 MW of solar power plants by 2020, looking to add 1.5GW renewable capacity annually. These targets, alongside other climate change policy, helped Morocco be rated second most prepared country in the 2018 and 2019 Climate Change Performance Indexes.
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Is Solar Energy The Future
Yes renewable energy is our only option for the future, and solar energy will play a key part in supplying the world with electricity. The world cannot carry on using the polluting and unsustainable fossil fuels it has relied on for generations. But no one source of energy can provide all the power an expanding population demands.
Solar power is part of the answer. Along with wind, water, geothermal and other clean energy sources, solar power can help transform the way we live. According to the International Energy Agency 2, solar PV is growing faster than other renewables, particularly by individuals and small-to-medium-sized enterprises. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions estimates that electricity produced by solar power will rise to 48% of the renewable energy generation in the U.S. by 20503. The International Renewable Energy Agency stated that globally installed solar capacity reached over 700 gigawatts in 20204.
