The 10 Cities That Are Leading The Way In Urban Sustainability

Take all of the best qualities of these municipalities–effective road management, cap and trade, sustainable energy, excellent public transportation, a zero waste program, and so on–and you have an urbanist’s dream city.

Master in Regenerating Intermediate Landscapes

Cities are the laboratories where the most innovative ideas for surviving in the future can be tested. These 10–from New York to Tokyo to Bogota–were just awarded City Climate Leadership Awards for their work.

With a few exceptions, national governments aren’t going to make a big dent in climate change and associated environmental problems. They’re too big, slow, and in many cases, don’t even want to acknowledge a problem that’s so politically inconvenient. Over the past half decade or so, it has become increasingly apparent that cities are leading the way–and ultimately, have the greatest chance at boosting our chances for survival in the face of declining resources and rising seas.

This week, Siemens and C40 (the Cities Climate Leadership Group), announced the 10 winners of the inaugural City Climate Leadership Awards, given to municipalities around the world that have demonstrated “excellence in urban sustainability and leadership in the fight…

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Solar Energy Prospects in Hawaii

See on Scoop.it – Renewables

For the longest time now, Hawaii has been one of the most robust markets for solar panel installations in the US. Hawaiian residents have reason to turn to solar power as enthusiastically as they h…

See on www.cleantechloops.com

Sweden tops new ranking of countries best equipped.

The report takes into account 17 factors and have applied this knowledge to country level analysis, ultimately finding that Sweden is the most sustainable country on Earth–meaning it’s best equipped for the future.

A new report ranks the world’s countries not on their economic indicators, but on their ability to “safeguard the needs of its future generations.” We normally judge which countries are “doing best” by looking at economic growth–a realm in which places like China and India thrive, despite their environmental and other problems. A more grounded approach might look at a range of factors, from a country’s social factors such as investments in education, governance factors such as aging policies, energy mix to its democracy. Such sustainability factors, country’s strengths and weaknesses, are  frequently overlooked by rating agencies.

That’s what a new report (measuring country intangibles) from investment advisors RobecoSAM does, and the results are quite different from the standard narrative. Robeco and RobecoSAM have worked together to develop a comprehensive and systematic ESG ranking framework for countries. By focusing on selected ESG factors such as aging, competitiveness and environmental risks – which are long term in nature.

The report takes into account 17 factors and have…

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Renewable Energy in Germany

See on Scoop.it – Renewables

Germany has been called “the world’s first major renewable energy economy” as the country is one of the world’s most prolific users of renewable energy for power, heating, and transport.

Salman Zafar‘s insight:

Germany is the world’s third largest market for renewable energy investment which totalled $31billion in 2011. Sixty-five percent of investment in Germany was directed toward solar, with 29 percent ($8.5 billion) directed to wind. In addition, 700 MW of biomass capacity was added in 2011

See on www.bioenergyconsult.com

Solar-Powered Desalination for Middle East

See on Scoop.it – Water Board

Conventional large-scale desalination is cost-prohibitive and energy-intensive, and not viable for poor countries in the MENA region due to increasing costs of fossil fuels. In addition, the enviro…

Salman Zafar‘s insight:

Seawater desalination powered by concentrated solar power offers an attractive opportunity for MENA countries to ensure affordable, sustainable and secure freshwater supply. The growing water deficit in the MENA region is fuelling regional conflicts, political instability and environmental degradation. It is expected that the energy demand for seawater desalination for urban centres and mega-cities will be met by ensuring mass deployment of CSP-powered systems across the region. 

See on www.ecomena.org

Which Countries Use the Most Renewable Energy? By Percentage

Germany has become the world’s largest producer of solar power, while diversifying their energy portfolio with large portions of wind and biomass electricity as well. As of 2011, Germany generated roughly 20% of their electricity from non-hydro renewable energy, 8% from wind, 8% from biomass, and 3% from solar. Since then, the country has expanded solar production to account for close to 10% of their average annual electricity needs!

rethink. renew. revive.

Last week I posted a list of the 5 Countries that produce the most renewable energy.  Not suprisingly, the countries on the list tended to be large countries that also consumed the highest amounts of electricity.  In fact, three of the countries on the list were also in the top 5 Coal consumers.

While it is definately worth recognizing those countries for increasing the amount of renewable electricity generation in their country and worldwide, I thought (and readers agreed) that we should take a look at which countries produce the largest portion of their electricity from renewable sources.  In this way, we can see which countries have invested the most in setting up a sustainable energy future, regardless of size.  So, with that I give you the Top 5 Renewable Energy Producer’s by Percentage:

note:  This ranking was tough to determine, based on several different sources, with different classifications…

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Tips And Hints On Solar Power And Your Home

While turning your lights off to save energy is old advice, it’s still relevant. You may be shocked by the amount of electricity you can save by starting this simple habit.