Renewable energy can save the natural world – but if we’re not careful, it will also hurt it

A vast transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is crucial to slowing climate change. But building solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy infrastructure requires mining for materials. If not done responsibly, this may damage species and ecosystems.. Our results suggest mining of renewable energy materials may increase in currently untouched and “biodiverse” places. These areas are considered critical to helping species overcome the challenges of climate change.

 War and subsidies have turbocharged the green transition

They may have knocked as much as ten years off the timeline.

Renewable energy saves lives

Building wind and solar farms helps to reduce the human impact on climate change by displacing noxious emissions from coal-fired power plants. A new study says there’s another important benefit to renewables development: cost savings from cleaner air that saves lives.

Finally we can power the planet on renewables alone – here's how

Ditching fossil fuels to go 100 per cent renewable is a dream within reach – thanks to new tech that keep things humming even when wind and sun aren’t there

Renewable Energies

The future of humanity and the planet depends on how we produce energy: a reliable, affordable and decarbonized energy system is essential.

Climate and health benefits of increasing renewable energy deployment in the United States

Use of fossil fuels contributes to climate change and health impacts of air pollution. Electricity generation is a major source of CO2, one of the main greenhouse gases (GHGs) driving climate change. Electricity is also a major source of air pollutants that harm health—sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

Environmental & Health Concerns With Solar Power

Solar power may seem like the perfect energy source, but a life-cycle assessment reveals that the manufacture of solar power equipment has some negative consequences for human health and the environment.

Fighting climate change is opportunity to improve public health

DRIVING a car and eating red meat are not only bad for the climate – your health suffers too. All the more reason to curb our carbon habit, says a report by the Climate Health Commission. This panel of health researchers was appointed by The Lancet journal to assess the potential health benefits of tackling climate change, as well as the likely consequences of failing to do so.

Fighting Climate Change, One Building At A Time

But the biggest change, Higgins says, is "the shift in the dialogue from kilowatt-hours to carbon." Building owners now understand that the goal is not just saving energy. They're helping to save the world from catastrophic climate change.

Is 100% renewable energy realistic? Here’s what we know.

Reasons for skepticism, reasons for optimism, and some tentative conclusions.

Is Renewable Energy a Realistic Option for Hospitals?

A growing number of healthcare centers are shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy as energy costs continue to rise and the government tightens the regulations on carbon emissions.

Medical Facilities Take a Healthy Interest in Solar

Solar energy is a natural fit for healthcare organizations — and not just because solar reduces air pollution and makes the world a cleaner, healthier place.

Meet the Clean-Energy Pioneers Who Could Help Solve Climate Change

VICE founder Shane Smith meets with pioneers in the industry to understand how we currently make and use energy, and how the world can realistically move away from burning fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable energy sources.

Renewable energies will provide health benefits to workers

“The energy sector remains one of the most dangerous industries for U.S. workers. A transition to renewable energy generation utilizing sources such as wind and solar could potentially eliminate 1300 worker deaths over the coming decade,” says Dr. Sumner.

Solar energy can power healthcare sector during pandemics

The clean energy sector offers significant opportunities to provide power for critical healthcare infrastructure.

Solar Power Could Be Key to Improving Health Care in Sub-Saharan Africa

Communities across sub-Saharan Africa face challenges in accessing essential health care services, But solar technology could be part of the solution.

The Dark Side of Renewable Energy: Negative Impacts of Renewables on the Environment

What scientists, engineers, companies, and nations expanding their power capacities need to focus on, is implementing solutions that keep negative impacts of renewables in check.

The Experts: What Renewable Energy Source Has the Most Promise?

Two renewable energy sources are already major energy sources. Hydropower currently provides about 16% of the world's electricity, which is greater than the percentage produced by nuclear power, and a far greater share than all other renewables combined. In fact, the largest power plant by capacity in the world, as well as four of the five largest power plants in the world are hydroelectric plants. However, most of the world's best sites for hydropower have already been developed, so global growth in new hydropower capacity is forecast to be slow. The second major source of renewable energy is traditional biomass, which accounts for two-thirds of the renewable energy in the world.

The global transition to clean energy, explained in 12 charts

Despite all the progress, we’re still struggling to hit the climate emergency brake.

The hidden harm of health care: air, water, and other pollution

Some hospitals and health care systems are already working to improve their environmental performance. More than two dozen health care organizations across the country, from California to New England, have committed to meet the Paris Agreement climate action goals. Many others, including Massachusetts General Hospital, where I work, have committed to 100 percent renewable electricity, in addition to existing efforts to reduce waste and polluting emissions.

The Power of The Sun: Solar Energy Helps Healthcare Facilities Deliver Essential Services

With major health facilities now struggling to maintain their operations amid dwindling fuel and power supplies, healthcare services are being reduced, rescheduled, or stopped. So how can we fight COVID-19, meet the power demand, and boost the resilience of healthcare facilities?

The World's Biggest Battery

Which is why the biggest quest in energy right now is a way to store all that beautiful solar energy. Solve this problem, and you are well on your way to solving global warming.

‘We Need an Energy Miracle’

Bill Gates has committed his fortune to moving the world beyond fossil fuels and mitigating climate change.

Coronavirus is not the only global health crisis. Just ask ½ billion people

Universal healthcare and universal access to electricity are both global development goals. While hospitals in developed countries struggle to allocate medical resources to a population strained by COVID-19, health facilities in developing economies cope every day with infrastructure and energy access challenges.

Does ‘green energy’ have hidden health and environmental costs?

There are a number of available low-carbon technologies to generate electricity. But are they really better than fossil fuels and nuclear power? To answer that question, one needs to compare not just the emissions of different power sources but also the health benefits and the threats to ecosystems of green energy.

How Renewable Energy Can Help Improve Health

The fact that renewable sources technologies produce little to almost no greenhouse gases leads toward less air pollutants into the air. This smaller carbon footprint, quite naturally, paves the way for a complete positive impact on the environment.

A beginner’s guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy

Imagine powering civilization entirely with energy from renewable sources: wind, sun, water (hydroelectricity), naturally occurring heat (geothermal), and plants. No coal mines, oil wells, pipelines, or coal trains. No greenhouse gas emissions, car exhaust, or polluted streams. No wars over oil, dependence on foreign suppliers, or resource shortages. Sounds nice, right?

A ‘Complete’ Energy Transition Is Needed By 2030 to Avoid ‘Existential Threat’ to Humanity

A Swiss government-backed study suggests that we could see major warming in the near future if we do not have a "fast and complete" renewable energy transition.

Clean energy technologies threaten to overwhelm the grid. Here’s how it can adapt.

The centralized, top-down power grid is outdated. Time for a bottom-up redesign.

Cobalt is critical to the renewable energy transition. How can minimize its social and environmental cost?

Demand for cobalt is expected to soar in coming years as electric vehicles take to roads everywhere.

Considering health when switching to cleaner electricity

Power plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels emit not only planet-warming carbon dioxide, but also pollutants linked to breathing problems and premature death. Policies proposed to mitigate climate change, however, often fail to fully account for the health benefit of switching to cleaner technologies. Researchers show that emphasizing health concerns in such policies can alter the optimal locations of these upgrades.

Could the Health Benefits of Renewable Energy Cover Your Electric Bill?

Renewable energy provides a chance to curb greenhouse gas emissions, lower the cost of electricity, and empower communities. It’s also better for public health.

Energy transitions: why countries respond differently to the same problem

Energy is becoming a software business.

Even ‘clean’ and ‘green’ energy have an environmental impact

If only it were so simple. Assigning words to energy such as “clean” and “dirty,” or “good” and “bad,” is disingenuous. The unfortunate reality is that all energy, at scale, has environmental effects. We are better served in the long run by open, fact-based conversations in our schools, workplaces, governments and universities about the challenges and benefits of all energy.

Five ways to jump-start the renewable energy transition now

For renewable energy technology to be a global public good - meaning available to all, and not just to the wealthy - it will be essential to remove roadblocks to knowledge sharing and technological transfer, including intellectual property rights barriers.

How Does Your State Make Electricity?

America isn’t making electricity the way it did two decades ago. Now the future of the nation’s energy mix has become a major election issue.

It’s not necessary to trash the environment to extract metals needed for renewable energy

Can we change mining technology to reduce its footprint? There is an active community of researchers that says yes.

No, The Blackouts In Texas Weren't Caused By Renewables. Here's What Really Happened

Blaming wind and solar is a political move, Bird says. What's really needed — in Texas and elsewhere — is better preparation.

Renewable energy can generate billions of dollars in health benefits, study finds

Researchers at MIT foresee a healthier Rust Belt as a result of renewables.

Solar for Health: Five Ways Solar Power Can Make Universal Healthcare a Reality

For too long, a lack of reliable power has prevented people in remote and rural communities from accessing the healthcare they need, when they need it. As the race for universal energy access picks up pace, here are five ways renewable energy can help protect quality healthcare for the world’s poorest.

The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the nation’s environment

What happens to old solar panels, windmills and high tech batteries?

The energy transition will be expensive

But not catastrophically so.

The Shift to Renewable Energy Is Speeding Up. Here’s How.

Wars have unintended consequences. Russia’s war in Ukraine seems to have sped up the global energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

Three ways governments can accelerate the renewable energy transition

To fight climate change, governments must redefine policies and regulatory frameworks to unlock private investments into renewable energy.

Why the Grid Isn’t Ready for a Transition to Renewable Energy

Its transmission capacity is wholly inadequate.