How much energy do we need and what do we use it for? In this part, it is determined that the world needs 435 TWh per day, of which 87% comes from fossil fuels. This energy is needed in 3 sectors for 3 different purposes (3x3 energy rule). The sectors are transportation, industry and buildings. The purposes are heating, transport and electricity. Depending on the region, most of our energy is required in the transportation sector and for heating purposes.

How much biomass is produced each year and how much can we sustainably harvest? In the first part of this series, we find that the annual global production of land-based biomass is 50 billion tons, of which roughly 8 billion tons of biomass can be sustainably harvested each year. This is determined by dividing biomass into four distinct groups suitable for energy production: wood, agriculture, food waste and manure. For each group, the amount of annual ‘production’ and the amount suitable for sustainable ‘harvest’ is determined, adhering to the ‘food, feed, fiber first’ principle.

A tsunami of subsidized electric models is flooding the market and disrupting old car-sales models; never have this many occasions been sold as in the month of July 2020 in the Netherlands and Germany.

China announces it is considering carbon neutrality as part of its long term climate plan, a critical step in preparation of the COP26 UN climate summit in 2021.

Elon Musk made some big announcements. The company is planning to get rid of Cobalt in their batteries and to manufacture its own “tabless” batteries, called 4860 cells. This type of battery is six times more powerful, and the range will be increased by 16 percent. The new battery technology will make a $25,000 Tesla car a reality.

A new “wave” of economic disruption and societal change is upon us, driven by renewable energy technologies. Covid-19 acts as an catalyst for this transformation.

Europe and China double-down on renewables, investing hundreds of billions into electric vehicles, solar, wind and hydrogen. Not despite the corona crisis, but fueled by it.

Because a Universal Basic Income proves to be a sustainable tool to increase freedom and economic resilience for a society, especially in times of crisis such as a pandemic.

Politics is a tug-of-war for power and control of resources. Democracies are best in guaranteeing prosperity because the leaders depend on the citizens’ well being to remain in power.

The facility from 1PointFive and Carbon Engineering will capture CO2 directly from the air and store it safely, permanently and securely deep underground in geological formations.

Solar PV is integrated with the local water treatment system on Tengeh Reservoir in Singapore, offsetting 6% of its annual energy needs for 25 years.

Semi-transparent solarpanels can prove to be a game-changer in the businessmodel of greenhouses.

Bits of microplastics are showing up inside human tissues. We still don’t fully know the health impact of plastics inside our bodies.

Full electrification of buildings is a crucial step in the energy transition. To reduce fossil fuel dependency in buildings, heat-pumps are key.

Getting rare materials from the ground into your phone is ugly. The mining industry is responsible for air and water pollution and the destruction of entire landscapes. But what if we could replace the mining industry on Earth with a clean process that can’t harm anyone? Well, we can. All we need to do is look up.

In IMO’s fourth greenhouse gas (GHG) study, a consortium headed by research establishment CE Delft has found that GHG emissions from global shipping are growing and are expected to continue to increase.

Carbon capture and storage is often brought up as a solution to climate change, but do we really need it, how much of an impact could it really make, and is it in fact just an excuse to keep burning fossil fuels, letting heavy polluting industries off the hook? It's time to find out the truth.

Kind of what you expect. A full-scale behavioral analysis of a 4 [MW] floating solar system by Foresys. Made in Orcaflex.

It is summer 2020. We have ‘survived’ the first wave of Corona. The future is uncertain. There is much talk about impending economic doom. As the eternal optimist however, I present a different view. One that can propel us to a sustainable all-time economic high. If we play our cards right, I believe we could create another “roaring twenties” in the coming decade.

Investment in renewables reached 273 billion dollars in 2018. Why not nuclear? Countries that produce a lot of low-carbon energy (like France) pay way less for their killowatt-hours. So why are baseload providing nuclear power reactors losing the battle against natural gas stations? Let’s dive into the economics of nuclear power stations.